The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop duramax for my 69

thinking about a newer duramax and allison trans for my 69 chevy c10....any thoughts on this? what would a good donor vehicle be? i'm not committed to this, just curious but it might work out.

Sounds like something to think about. I,m not real familiar with that deisel as it came out after I retired but I understand it is a real horse. I think it would be too heavy for a 1/2 ton. It would probably work good in a 3/4 or 1 ton or even a big bolt. They came out in the early 2000,s. If you found one salvage it would be very expensive.

Go for it!

I'll second the 3/4 or 1 ton idea.

A good engine and /or Allison will be expensive.

It would help if you are mechanically inclined and a good fabricator, or have money.

Subscribe to the magazine called "Diesel Power" from Primedia. It's a great mag, and just this month they had several articles about diesel swaps, and a few months ago they had some Duramax swaps. You will learn a lot from it about what needs to be done for the swap, and what can be done for more power. Write a letter about your ideas, they should have some good answers and suggestions.

Grigg

I love my Duramax. Try to get a later one if you can. I saw a tv show, might have been Pimp My Ride, where they put a brand new Duramax/Allison in a '65 Impala and ran it on bio diesel.

Hey, Grigg, how about a small Diesel for a half ton. Didn't the Gamma Goats have a 3 cylinder Detroit Diesel?

The biggest problem you would have with this swap is that the Duramax is heavily dependent on it's computer controlled systems. You cannot even get the instrument cluster to work without the ECM. Not saying it cannot be done, but very expensive mods would be needed, on top of the very expensive engine and tranny. The Duramax swap has been made into the next generation('73-'87 trucks)at great expense, but there is also a bit more room in those engine compartments.

I'm currently building up a 6.2L early diesel, will turbo it with a 6.5 setup, to put into my '68. The 6.2/6.5 is roughly the same size and weight of a BBC, and uses the same mounts, making it an easy bolt into the '67-'72 series trucks. These engines ARE NOT the early Oldsmobile designed gas conversions. They were designed with a clean sheet of paper at Detroit Diesel. That being said they are still considered "light duty" diesels. Don't expect them to pull like 5.9 Cummins. The best part is they are cheap and plentiful. Plenty of good forum support, like here, is available on the web to help with any problems. They can't be beat for fuel economy. The 6.2 in my '82 one ton dually gave a consistent 21 mpg. I expect 24-26 mpg in the '68 with a 700R4 and 3.07 rear gears 31X10.5 tires.

Good choice Yachtcare. We have one in a rollback.
It weighs over 10,000 with a car on it & will get 15 MPG. It,s kinda sluggish though. Let us know how it turns out.

Yes, 3-53's with NO turbos, and some special GG only parts, like two oil pumps, they have aluminum blocks too.
I think that would be about the biggest Detroit I would try to put a 1/2 ton. If I thought the frame looked stout enough I would go for a cast iron 3-53T, as the Gamma Goat engines are decent, but almost considered disposable engines.

For a Detroit conversion on the cheap, a GG engine is probably the way to go.

Grigg

They're all kinda sluggish til you strap on a turbo. The 6.2's have to be limited to 10psi of boost due to thin piston crowns.
If you want to stay natural, moding the intake to get more air, turning up the fuel on the injection pump, and a set of Humvee headers from government surplus will get you some fairly impressive gain.

I've seen a '69 GMC for sale local to me that had a 3-53 detroit conversion. Been on the market a long time. I dont know much about them but 159 c.i.d. non turbo diesel seems like it might be a bit under powered?

Yes, a 3-53 with out turbo would be under powered in my book too.

It really depends on what you want out of it.

For a 1/2 ton truck that you want to get good mileage, and a top speed around 60-65, but not usually driven over 55 I think a 3-53 would be OK.

My truck (project) has a 4-53T, it's what I think is the ideal engine for me and what I want to do.

Grigg