76 chevy diesel gets around 30 mpg highway speeds

[yamahonkawazuki]

you made your own doors?¿? i am THOROUGHLY impressed, by that alone, and to add, the diesel, gearing, well done sir. you are now officially a god in Gm truck land

[diesel6point2]

@yamahonkawazuki Thanks for the comment but I didn't make the doors I purchased them already made but I did have to cut all the openings and mount the hardware. 

[heat1235]

hehe your truck gets almost the same MPG my skoda octavia 1.6liter gets:P

my car is at about 35mpg..

[pwarren1010]

I hear you all the way. My dad always bought GM and Ive have a few myself.But I had to buy a VW turbo diesel 5spd because of the cumuting I was doing.Gm pisses me off because they don`t build vehicles with people like me or you in mind.So when they cant sell cars in sluggesh times I don`t feel for them at all.

[diesel6point2]

@pwarren1010 I've been looking at the VW Jetta TDI Diesel I like it. I'm thinking about buying one but I'm going to wait a little longer because VW is suppose to come out with the blue diesel jetta that gets 60 mpg. They promised it would be available for sale in 2011 but it didn't happen.

[pwarren1010]

@pwarren1010 Have you seen all these guys swapping the VW TDI into the Samari s.Anyway my 93 VW TDI 5spd was a Golf and It wasnt noticably different milage than 89 VW1.8L gas 5spd.By the way Ive been wanting to do what youve done to your 1/2 ton for years.Very cool and different.Nice job!

[76ChevyC10]

What kind of rims are those?

[diesel6point2]

@76ChevyC10 The rims are simple chrome wheels from Jegs.

[Sarcasticscum]

Exactly what I'm going to do someday... Restore a classic, with modern components, which will be more efficient, at a cheaper price. Doesn't get much better than that.

[thedamnredneck]

very nice job!

[76ChevyC10]

I bet that thing breaks free pretty easily without any weight in the ass end.

[diesel6point2]

@76ChevyC10 Yeah it does break free real easy in fact, I took it to a car show, they had all the show vehicles park on grass. During the event it rained just enough to make things slick. The area they parked me was on a slight slope and I could not get out there. Being so light in the rear, high gear ratio, and tons of torque out of that diesel engine just did a hole.  A couple of guys helped push me out.

[76ChevyC10]

I have the same truck.. Mine does maybe 15mpg. Lol. Stock 350ci turbo 350 trans. headers. simple design

[diesel6point2]

If you are looking for good mpg's then a pickup truck is not a good pick because it's more than 6000 lbs. To do all fiberglass to lighten the load is just too expensive, these days the bed alone on my truck would cost around 10 grand. There's no way I would pay that much. What I'm working on now is putting a 6.2 diesel with a 700r4 transmission into a 85-92 camaro. The camaro is light weight only 3300 lbs and a better aero design so it should get somewhere around 35 mpg's .

[diesel6point2]

@diesel6point2 You're right at today's prices fiberglass is too expensive and a camaro is a good selection. I like the body style of the 85-92 the problem is I could not find one that was not all rusted out. So I put a diesel engine into a 97 camaro. See the video on youtube by searching: Diesel Camaro Chop, Cut, Rebuild Part 1

[bigdaddyitalia22]

I've been thinking about building a truck like yours

Do you have any advise

And or key information or key resources

Thanks for your time

[BIG379]

if you still want the fuel ecomony but would like to have pep go to banks engineering and get a banks turbo set up for the 6.2, the kits were offered through GM dealers as a dealer installed option, untill the turbo 6.5 came out, only problem was the aftermarket banks system made better power than the factory borg-warner system. the banks kits really REALLY wake up the ol 6.2 to the tune of about double the factory horse power, right arount 300hp. hope this helps.

[celloprof]

@BIG379 300hp, I don't think so?! I dont know of anything that can make a 6.2L jump up that high, OVER a 6.5L diesel. 6.5's already have a bigger engine. My dad has his 89' Suburban 6.2L BANKS Turbo that came with the vehicle in 89', well thats not a good comparison, because it never ran right in 08'. But the 6.2L should have just under the 6.5's specs 190 hp and 380 foot-pounds of torque assuming those specs are with a DB2 Fuel Pump. Of course theres the 1/4 turn of the DB2 pump that adds HP!

[ShnitzlHaus]

what diesel should I look for?

into a 85 chevy stepside short box?

[diesel6point2]

@ShnitzlHaus If you are looking for high MPG then a 6.2 chevy diesel J code model engine is what I would use.

[ShnitzlHaus]

@diesel6point2 thanks.

could you make a vid of yours with sound :D

[ShnitzlHaus]

@diesel6point2 would a 6.5 be just as easy to install?

is their a huge difference in mpg.

[diesel6point2]

@ShnitzlHaus The 6.5 is a good motor most likely a turbo, if you are looking for mpg the 6.2 is best, only 140 hp. The 6.5 has much more power but there goes the mpg's. The 6.2 falls a little flat at top end. A 700r4 connected to a 6.2 is a good combo. The 700r4 has a low first gear so you can run a higher rear gear and still get excellent speed taking off from a dead stop.

[ShnitzlHaus]

@diesel6point2 I did find a detroit but it was a 6.5 with 700r4 trans. 2500$.

I rather a 6.2, is the 6.5 computer or mechanical like 6.2

[diesel6point2]

@ShnitzlHaus I'm not 100% sure but I believe the 6.5 is computer controlled.

[ShnitzlHaus]

@diesel6point2 I found some 6.2's out of the military trucks. guy is selling them with the military transmission 400 HD AUTO TRANSMISION do you know anything about those? is it better then the 700r4?

[diesel6point2]

@ShnitzlHaus The 400 is a good solid transmission however, it doesn't have overdrive. The 700r4 has overdrive saving fuel.

[celloprof]

@ShnitzlHaus The very 1st 6.5's made MIGHT have been mechanical, BUT mine a 95 Suburban, is computerized, which means the FUEL PUMP is electronic CRAP, & so is the GAS PEDAL & so is the TRANSMISSION. We happen to have a relative with a junker 6.2L van, so we took off the DB2 Fuel Pump, Gas Pedal and linkage, & 700r4 Transmission. ALL those parts have to be changed for the mechanical transformation to work. ALTHOUGH Raptor transmissions has a Hydraulic adapter for the electronic transmission

[tpvalley]

with automatic transmissions can u adjust shift points by adjusting the cable from the accelerator to the transmission?

[bildozer22]

Well done sir. I was wondering where you picked up those fiberglass body parts? I have a 75 I have been working on and I would like to replace as much as possible with something that won't rust out in a few years.

Thanks!

[jrstanley21]

Nice truck man...Got a 75 I'm trying to restore, great job you need to give me some pointers on that console and the dash wrap. So why the fiber glass stuff?

[diesel6point2]

I used fiberglass because 10 years ago I used some aftermarket fenders and doors within two years they rusted out. Aftermarket body parts come from China and they are crap! The fiberglass is strong, light weight and in the long run saves money.  Best of all they are make right here in the USA.

[celloprof]

@diesel6point2 Sounds good. Anyways you could get better than 30mpg. For starters, add a 3"-4" exhaust and a K&N air filter. Personally 2" exhausts and smaller that I have seen on trucks and cars are so ASININE it's ridiculous! It's amazing some of those cars can even run, how do they breath?! I stuck a K&N air filter on my brothers 85' 190D Mercedes diesel and it revved up an extra 1000rpms.

[celloprof]

A guy stuck on a 2.73 in his"camaro"or something similar with a 6.5L turbo diesel and wondered why it didn't have much pickup,"here on youtube". Years ago my dad bought a 85' Chevy 2500 Van with a 6.2&had GM put in a 3.07 instead of the stock3.42 so it could get 25mpg on the Highway instead of 20mpg doing about 55mph in overdrive. He wanted to sacrifice0-60power for high mpg. Later,he did the opposite with his other 6.2van & stuck in a 4.11&gave it the same power as a 6.5turbo among other thing.

[diesel6point2]

@celloprof I didn't lose any take off power running the 2.73 rear gear because the 700r4 has a low first gear and the diesel engine makes tons of torque. I can burn the rear tires off if I so desire.

[diesel6point2]

@celloprof I'm already running a 3" exhaust with a turbo muffler, the sound is awesome.

[celloprof]

@diesel6point2 Is there a 3" exhaust in that picture? It doesn't look like it. You can burn the rear tires? How much does your truck weigh? I would think it weighs less than usual with fiberglass body parts which would make your truck have more pickup, although it has lots of torque. I guess I've never really seen a truck that small & light with a 6.2. I think my dads van and his current 6.2turbo suburban weigh in the 6000Ib range.

[celloprof]

I hate gas, I can't wait to sell my 93' Chevy 350V8 High Top conversion van that gets like 14.7mpg city GOING EASY and 14mpg hw, Although I haven't done a HW test recently with everything fixed. I'm hoping for a diesel of some sort; blazer, pickup or van even.

[diesel6point2]

@celloprof I don't know the actual weight but I can tell you its very light. In fact, with regular street tires on the rear its very difficult to take off from a dead stop, it just wants to spin the rear wheels. I put more aggressive tires on and it hooks up much better now. Your suburban is 6000lbs I would guess my pickup is half that.

[celloprof]

@diesel6point2 Oh yeah and of course you can also tow pretty much anything of a similar weight of your vehicle anywhere without worrying about getting bad mpg as long as I would think you would keep it in regular drive, driving on the highway.

[pfun41]

no ones commented on this video? man this thing is awesome, proof that a high mileage truck is possible, helps my decision to try to get 30mpg outta my truck.