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Old 09-15-2013, 02:38 PM   #33
lowrollin70gmc
Too many projects
 
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Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Fargo, ND land of the flat hills
Posts: 1,147
Re: Putting a diesel in my 69 GMC? What engine to use?

We're not trying to scare him, heck I want there to be more old trucks with oil shakers under the hood. But it is a large undertaking financially and time wise. If I added up my costs for just my engine and transmission you're looking at $4000

$2000 donor truck
$800 clutch
$200 hydro clutch stuff
$200 intercooler
$300 radiator
$100 steel tube and plate
$200 misc gaskets and fasteners
$150 drive shaft
$50 misc welding supplies, necessary tools
___________
$4000

And a month of leave doing the majority of the swap with a few weeks of odds and ends thereafter.


That's with a super cheap donor truck that I drove for a year and actually pulled my burb from SoCal to SoDak before I yanked the 6BTA out of it.

It also didn't include transmission options, I went with a 6 speed, but keeping the 5 speed would have cost some coin as well.

$2000 NV5600 or $1000 to rebuild Getrag 360 5 spd
$200 NP205 rebuild

And I haven't mentioned the coin spent on axles or improvements to the engine.

Now for comparison to drop a small block in.

$500 used engine
$500 used transmission
$100 bolts, gaskets, misc
________
$1100 and most of it recoverable if you pull it out later to toss in a diesel.

A decent weekend or two.

Go for it, but have a plan and parts on hand before starting; there are a lot of trucks that get torn apart to never be finished due to poor planning and short funds.
__________________
Andrew
84 GMC C1500 SWB 6.2 Diesel/700R4/3.42 "Grandpa's odd duck"
70 GMC C1500 LWB My first truck: shaved, bagged, and more: the lowrollin70gmc
68 K20 Suburban 12V Cummins/NV5600/NP205/D60/11.5AAM 3.73s "Dakota Cadillac"
63 Chevy II Nova Coupe 250 I6/T56/4.56s "Economy car"
53 Willys Wagon 350/NV4500/BW4401/HP D44/9inch “Winter Wagon”
30 Model A 16 Focus ST
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