caprice wagon with 6.5 turbo diesel swap?

Has anyone seen such a beast? This hit me home from work today as a possibility. The 6.5 was designed to fit where a 350 would and they are cheap and available. Thoughts?

Sounds awesome

I've been saying this for years, it even weighs about the same as a big block, so proper springs are readily available and the front end can handle it.

Seen it in a 4th gen fbody, if it fit in place of an LT1 in a cramped ass engine bay im sure it will fit in a caprice.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhmJhmW8vjY

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Lr1bcyeYFfM

6.5TD are the TBI 350 sbc of the diesel pickup world. Decent enough, but woefully inadequate compare to what came right after.

I'd rather a 4BT.

4BT would shake that thing apart. The engine bays are huge. I'd stick the newest thing I could in there.

In reply to HiTempguy:

Meh, a 6.2/6.5 oughta move a B body quick enough, better than the factory gasser depending on the year, and probably faster than any of the NA 4/5 banger benz diesels.

Here you go.

6.5L diesel turbo engine - $550

Make sure you do a build thread.

My whole thought is that it will probably bolt in using factory parts and a parts truck will cost all of a grand. 200hp is plenty and it would make 300 ft lbs at least. The main thought is cheap and fuel efficient. I bet a caprice with this swap world get at least 30 mpg.

singleslammer wrote: *snip* I bet a caprice with this swap world get at least 30 mpg.

One way to find out...

It should also be noted these use standard v8 bellhousings and they were offered with a stick, so flywheel is readily available. Toss in a 833OD or NV3500 and there's your unicorn wagon.

Here is a thread on another forum about a 6.2 diesel in a caprice wagon

Caprice wagon diesel

He says its gets about 30 mpg

Kenny_McCormic wrote: It should also be noted these use standard v8 bellhousings and they were offered with a stick, so flywheel is readily available. Toss in a 833OD or NV3500 and there's your unicorn wagon.

Go with the NV4500, it's what came behind them from the factory. I swapped out my 4L80E for the NV4500 behind my 6.5L and love it. should my truck ever get totaled. I would swap this thing into an El Camino in a heartbeat. would just have to figure out how to get the 4x4 stuff under there lol.

5.3 is the answer.

i love my 5.3 swapped impala, but go for the diesel for the hell of it.

there is a guy in canada who has swapped i believe a couple wagons and a fleetwood to 6.2/6.5 engines.

Two words: broken crank.

I'm rebuilding one currently. A virginal crank was $500. First one I've seen with a broken crank that didn't take the rest of the engine with it.

In reply to RoughandReady:

As I understand it the solution is two more words

Replace balancer.

In reply to t25torx:

Will a NV4500 even fit in a car without reworking the tunnel?

that's a lot of work to only get 30mpg- a torquey 350 will get that if it's geared right and driven nicely.

if you're gonna go diesel, then just step up to a Duramax with a tuner and be done with it..

Kenny_McCormic wrote: In reply to t25torx: Will a NV4500 even fit in a car without reworking the tunnel?

Yeah, probably not, it's big beastly thing, but the NV3500 isn't designed for the torque of the 6.5l. Guess you could use a T56, it would handle the torque and fit in the tunnel without too much complaint.

novaderrik wrote: that's a lot of work to only get 30mpg- a torquey 350 will get that if it's geared right and driven nicely. if you're gonna go diesel, then just step up to a Duramax with a tuner and be done with it..

honestly i was getting 26-27 highway with a stock tbi 350. throw the extra overdrive of the t56 in place of the 700r4 and you'll probably get your 30 with no extra effort.

Kenny_McCormic wrote: In reply to RoughandReady: As I understand it the solution is two more words Replace balancer.

Sadly no, that's a whole other issue with these engines. I've probably said it here before (I've said it many times elsewhere), cast iron cranks do not belong in diesel engines. What's worse is that the crank kits sold by the big box auto parts stores are re-welded, and quickly fail again. A virginal crank and a new damper buys time, the only real solution is a forged steel crank (that GM should have put in from the factory).

In reply to novaderrik:

Then I turn a 5k project into at least a 10k project and miss the point.