6.5 diesel na initial swap report

[bobbywalter]

for the most part because i am lazy.



but add to that, power is adequate in normal driving...and i dont have allot of incentive to do much. i drive the fawk out of it and it is my main tool.

high range is a let down offroad, if i had lockers and was wheeling regularly i am sure i would have been turbo and on my 3rd engine by now so i think it is still alive because i left it na.

the trans is wounded so i need to clean the spare up, which would lead to dropping the spare 6.2 i have in there and putting the turbo on then...


thing is my psd van is getting ugly underneath rust wise....its eating it away to nothing. unfortunately that engine is about shot...the slop in the turbo is astounding yet it will rip a 6.5 turbo in half still...i think i fawked up a head gasket too......

yet i found myself out there when i got home from my last hitch measuring up my ranger for the 7.3

...i am thinking i will put my frame-rails 31.5 on center and it will plop right in there like a pig in slop....only bad there is i just made new spreaders not too long ago and i have a belly skid in mach up that will be in need of remake.

man that would haul some ass with that thing in there....


i am the kind of guy that will get pissed cause i have to follow some assclowns 40 miles cause my nutless 6.5 wont be able to pass on the two lane....... and get home.....rip that 6.5 out..... and start hacking and slashing the 7.3 in....


thats how i ended up with dana 60's....






so yeah.....


i dont have a real answer......theres a need for a turbo...yet no need....

and its possibly time wasted....put a turbo on it and boom......whoops.

 

[dragogt]

How did you do the engine mounts? Once upon a time I had seen 350 swap mounts, but damned if I can find them now; And the few threads I've seen with a sbc swap said they made them..

The reason I ask is I have a '87 2wd single cab that's been sitting for the past 5+ years and if I can get ever get a replacement title for it (I lost the original before transferring it) I've got a '94 k2500 w/ a nv4500 & 241 I can use...

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[bobbywalter]

i take it you dont work with gm.s very much?

if you put the clams on the k you can cut box to fit them.

basically channel and box...

works either way, clam on the motor or the chassis.

if your going sas theres several tubular k members for old school chevies on the market that can be fitted.

transdapt makes all kinds of simple shit thats really cost effective. i used those parts in a few applications from jeeps to f series. maybe use a s10 package from those guys.



dont know if this pic will work, but if you look at this you can see how to use box to mount this up...you will end up with a c made from the box, but its pretty easy to do, the 350 is as easy to install as the 302.

i went with a custom setup, and plan to change it again. i had pictures of it but they are lost, got lost when my cardomain shit got crashed/hacked.

 

[bobbywalter]

incidently i killed my trans last sat before i came back to detroit to play santa.



so....maybe i will end up with a psd in my rig...

 

[dragogt]

i take it you dont work with gm.s very much?

if you put the clams on the k you can cut box to fit them.

basically channel and box...

works either way, clam on the motor or the chassis.

if your going sas theres several tubular k members for old school chevies on the market that can be fitted.

transdapt makes all kinds of simple shit thats really cost effective. i used those parts in a few applications from jeeps to f series. maybe use a s10 package from those guys.



dont know if this pic will work, but if you look at this you can see how to use box to mount this up...you will end up with a c made from the box, but its pretty easy to do, the 350 is as easy to install as the 302.

i went with a custom setup, and plan to change it again. i had pictures of it but they are lost, got lost when my cardomain shit got crashed/hacked.

You're right I don't do much w/ GM and a sas is in the plain, I'm picking up a d30 (place holder) this weekend that got water logged for 50$ from an '87 cherokee.

The hardest part for me is I don't have access to a torch or welder so everything I do has to be "bolt on"; Think I need to go to the parts house and get hands on so I see wtf I'm doing.

Also just out of curiosity how much room is left over for the turbo?

incidently i killed my trans last sat before i came back to detroit to play santa.



so....maybe i will end up with a psd in my rig...

Oh snap, how big of a pita is the wiring going to be? For me that be a nightmare..

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[bobbywalter]

you can do it and make it all bolt in....drill and cutoff wheel on a grinder has gotten it done for me a few times. but its ugly compared to streamlined welded stuff and requires more drilling and big clearance holes to allow a few bolt heads to lay on the k member...give and take when you are working with what ya got right? but it works.


i dont really want to tackle the psd swap, i think it will be a cost issue of both time and money verse i really need my truck at this time of year. right now my psd is trapped in the yard by snow and my extraction rig is dead in the driveway.

the b2 might be able to get er out of there though.


as to the wiring, in this case its a total non issue. van is a 1st gen 1995 so its self contained for the most part just like the 6.5....slide it out of one and slide it in the other with minor ancillary adjustments and hookups.

with leaf springs i can put 2 turbos on with no issues...its tight under there but very manageable. with coils or coilovers things would tighten up quickly and custom work is in order if you want hoops....with coils if the coil buckets stay close to stock area then using normal 6.5 manifolds is a non issue. long travel shocks would have to be mounted after the turbo was installed to know what and where ect needed to happen.

air conditioning on the otherhand would be easiest if done custom with a narrow condenser. and if i ever get a decent cab i think ac will be something i install. my cab is just a junkpile of a hulk that keeps most of the rain off of me and is hard to heat or cool. i just got most of the cruise control stuff back out and want to use that too.


i personally would prefer the ls type powertrains. but sbf or any sb is better then a tired 2.9.

 

[ryanohn]

How did you hook up the motor to the cluster. using your rangers computer ? because im droping in 7.3idi im my truck in the week or so and woundering if i wire my rangers harness to the 7.3 harness would work?

 

[bobbywalter]

my cluster is not hooked up


just the speedo.


the donor cluster is hanging off my ashtray area


if i want to use the ranger cluster i would just use the oem senders.


my level of g.a.f. is low so i never wired the rig.....just layed the shit in there and got on with it.


usually i put the run and start functions on switching anyway.

 

[351ranger]

Heading up your way this weekend to possibly buy a camper maybe I can drag the tow dolly home!

 

[bobbywalter]

i have moved twice since fall....actually moving right now, just call me

 

[bobbywalter]

finally wounded the 6.5....


up dates after i tear into it.

 

[Exenos]

Just a questionable noise or something more damning?

 

[351ranger]

Get good at working on the 6.5 since my truck has one now. Haha she is almost rolling.

 

[ryanohn]

for swapping in the 6.5, did you use your old fuel tank or a fuel cell. but will the ranger fuel tank work for diesels fuel ?

 

[bobbywalter]

Get good at working on the 6.5 since my truck has one now. Haha she is almost rolling.

just call me ahead of time.... i am working on the bronco right now....i forgot i did not put the winter doors on after i busted another 9 inch....i thought 9 inch axles were supposed to be really strong or something??...it was a little full of snow whe i got out to where i pastured it......seems it actually snows up here sometimes and even gets cold

i have a real good source for 6.2/6.5 parts at the moment so let me know...

for swapping in the 6.5, did you use your old fuel tank or a fuel cell. but will the ranger fuel tank work for diesels fuel ?

well...you would laugh your ass off if you knew what i use for fuel tanks


sometimes its a 5 gallon bucket next to me with the batteries in the cab....sometimes its the actual old ranger tank....sometimes its my 15 gallon barrels....sometimes its the 34 gallon hard mount tank....

initially it was a 34 gallon steel tank from the donor in the bed as my main tank.

basically, if it holds liquid pretty good and is clean....it makes a good diesel tank.

the point of my swap was to be able to run alternative fuels....your idi 7.3 will do that even better, so i would plan on having more then one tank if i were you. mark knows the atrocities i shove down my poor 6.5's gullet...


i been driving it around locally with it spewing its guts out....sooner or later i will pull it and put the spare 6.2 in and have a look see at the motor and see what popped....its still goes....just severely wounded...

its like old faithful.......the geyser that is.....