Swapping in the 6.5

[frito-bandito]

True, that's the only reason I ever attempted such a swap, I had a 6.2 that when the crank snapped, it broke the bellhousing and busted the rear of the block, and I had a 350 laying around at the time.

 

[outalne94z71]

The 6.5 is a good diesel it's just mis-understood. It was built to be fuel efficient more than anything else.

At one time I had a Tahoe with the 350 and one with the 6.5. The 6.5 would out tow it any day of the week and average more than 10mpg more.

Mine has 270k and counting and has never been opened up. Doesn't leak a drop of fluid, and gets 22mpg on the highway.

If someone were to swap out a 6.5 for a 350 they would need their head examined unless the 6.5 was blown and they didn't have the $$ for a new diesel block.

my 6.5 gets even better mileage than that, if i stay at 60 on the highway and drive by watching the pyro i have gotten 28mpg(measured by gas can fillup to the same fill point) my towing ability though is less than desired, my buddies 98 k3500 reg cab with the 5.7 seems to pull my trailer and mud truck better, my guess would be the n/a heads i am using, i know they give better mileage but clearly the towing suffers

mine is on its 3rd motor that i know of, this one is a crate n/a 506 block without piston squirters and only has 40k on it now, the truck has 275k on it, last motor i drove it for 10k with the common 506 block lower end crack from the squirters into the water jacket, still be running if i had kept a closer eye on the coolant level

 

[stepside90]

Haha I leave for a weekend to go to Vancouver and everyone started posting on the thread. Hey, so yah i Know its a project to take on but yes Frito-bandito thats exactly it, I personally dont know of anyone putting one into a reg-can stepside.Im doing it for the unique factor and im sure people who do custom one-of kinda things can appreciate that. Well I could run it as a mechanical, that would be the absolute easiest way to do it..I havent ruled it out. Well the block is a 141 casting, so its thankfully not the 509 -block. Anyone on here able to run those numbers out of curiousity?
And most definately will be going over the motor and checkig everything before anything starts.Really hoping the block is good.It had some head gasket problems from what the guy said but he was towing with it and had no cooling upgrades so im not surprised.
Yah thats what i figured.Well the hunt for the nv4500 will continue.haha
And the fuel efficency will def be a perk.I talked to one guy who had teh 6.5 in his tahoe and he was getting 24mpg.That was stock with exhaust opened up to 4in.Im going for best of both worlds..mpg and some decent horsepower and good torque.I think when im done with it ill prob have bout 250horse(max) and probably bout 400-450 torque..maybe more.not sure yet.just quick calculations..

 

[stepside90]

and meant 506 block. Brain crossed firing sequence and was thinking 599 and 506 at same time haha

 

[Blue95]

MEchanical setup would be easiest to do and mod and get all swapped, goodluck man, just take your time. People are going to dog you you for picking a 6.5 to swap, but like you said you want the nostalgia and coolness and I think that is real cool.

 

[95C1500]

Wow!! That's pretty involved, id still probally swap a Cummins in if I wated a OBS with a good diesel

I would like a Cummins 6bt

 

[code-man21]

i was shopping for my truck and ran across a 95rclb k1500 with a 6.5 in it. i hadnt ever seen one of them before was it put in or did chevy come out with that from factory?

 

[Blue95]

Yes they did put them in the heavy half trucks, F44 was the RPO code for heavy half then you could get a 6.5 if you wanted, they have a factory diesel bumper on them.

 

[stepside90]

Thanks Blue95. Appreciate that. And ya I have seen one of those trucks too.Pretty sure they are def a rarity tho.Know they came in 2500s a fair amount.And thats what i usually see.Yah my stepside is a heavy-half actually! And then when I do the suspension lift Im probably gonna do the 6in lift with the add-a-leaf. At this rate im gonna put airbags in haha The original thing that concerned me with the swap was the clearance off the front-diff to the bottom of the 6.5 Wasnt sure it was gonna work out but Im thinkin with the susp lift it should be fine!
Hey! Anyone know the strength of the transfer case in these trucks?? Will it be able to take the torque of the diesel and 35s? And when i do find a nv4500 is it gonna work with it? never thought bout that :s

 

[Blue95]

THe T case will hold up to it fine if you wheel it some, but hard 4wd launches will kill it, as long as you treat it right it will be fine, I know the nv4500 will wok with the T case but I think that you will need a nv4500 from a 4wd truck as the tailshafts are different lengths if I am correct, but someone will have to verify.