'83 Suburban Build Thread(6.2l to 6.5 turbo)

Normally not my style but I stumbled across a nice 1983 K10 Suburban 6.2 diesel for a deal nobody could pass up. Paid $500 but sold some of the unneeded spare parts it came with for $300 leaving me $200 invested in the burb. I was planning to drive it for a while and re-sell it but it's grown on me in the 6 months I've had it and am now going to put a little money into it and using it for a new backroads expedition rig.

I drove it for 6months problem free until the 700r4 went out. The 6.2 runs great but just doesn't have quit enough power for what I want.
Here is what I plan to do.
-Convert to a mechanical 6.5 turbo
-Rebuild the tranny
-3/4 ton springs, just to keep the back from sagging and maybe lift it an inch or two.
-Get 16" rims with 32" S/T Maxx tires.
-New brakes all around
-All new tie rod end
-Clean up the paint and interior, new radio and fix any minor issues.

My goal is not make a lifted monster truck, a drag racer or flashy show truck. I just want to breath little life back into this fairly clean rig and make it more practical for daily use.

Here are some pics as it was when I bought it 6 months ago(looks about the same now).

http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps92f837f4.jpg

http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...psac6a5e39.jpg

http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps0406a3c3.jpg

http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...psf9338cc3.jpg

http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps45e897f0.jpg

February 2015

I bought a 1993 K3500 6.5 4l80e to use as a parts truck. The body and interior are actually in great condition but the engine has a lot of blow-by.

I got the engine running and like the seller said, it smoked out of the oil filler and had two bad cylinders. I took and for a ride and the transmission was excellent(seller said it was rebuilt a year before the truck was parked). The engine really wasn't took bad considering it was down at least one cylinder. When I returned home the engine looked like it had a bucket of oil dumped on it, just little blow-by.

My plan was to rebuild the engine and use the 4l80e (in 1993 the trucks came stock with a stand-alone TCM, since the engine is mechanical).

I tore the motor down and found all cylinders to be slightly scored except one which had a hole in the piston and more scoring. The block also had many unrepairable cracks in the main webs. Time to look for a "plan b"

Would've been nice to be able to do a quick rebuild and be back in action but all is not lost, I got an excellent transmission and stand alone TCM, recently rebuilt injection pump, good turbo and all the external engine parts/accessories.

Here are the pics of the parts truck:

http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...psm79flpud.jpg

http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...pswdzppna4.jpg

http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps8fgs9egl.jpg

http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...psaxfamtas.jpg

http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...psikx7r1fq.jpg

http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...pstwaecltq.jpg

After no luck finding a solid block to rebuild and much research I decided to buy a military 6.5 from "Ted's Trucks", at the recommendation of many forum members. I was pretty skeptical of a military surplus engine but it sounds like they are carefully tested and in like-new condition and I found nothing but great reviews online. This is a newer GEP engine which uses the updated Navistar block.

It just showed up yesterday so hopefully I'll be able to start working on it again soon. I will use the turbo, injection pump and all external parts from the parts truck.

While the engine did add extra cost to my build it is probably for the best as I now have a stronger block and an engine that is likely much better than if I rebuilt something my self.
I also plan to sell the body/chassis from the parts truck, old 6.2 engine from the suburban and some other extra parts to hopefully recoup some of my money.

Pics of the new engine and my pile of parts:

http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...psgv6tyul9.jpg

http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...psjjshjswb.jpg

http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...psnrurulux.jpg

http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...psaetfxmii.jpg

http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...psirm8cgjh.jpg

http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps9jbslviw.jpg

Haven't made a lot of progress but do have a few updates.

Got the engine and drivetrain out of the Suburban

http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...psq7xo5ku6.jpg

http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps0bwgk60u.jpg

http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...psnp2izaxh.jpg

http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...pszzw5ktuh.jpg


Got a 32 spline NP208 transfer case which bolts up to the 4l80E.

http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...psc43hgo5o.jpg


Also sold the remains of the parts truck. Nice to get that out of my yard and recover some of my money.

http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...psw0vzfc13.jpg

Started getting the new engine ready tonight.

http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps9wwjvjma.jpg


Fuel pump lined up

http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...psoxvp81t6.jpg

http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...psobn4o42g.jpg

New HO waterpump, this is for a 2000 6.5. Compared to the stock 1993 water pump. I plan to use a new fan clutch also for a 2000 and then an early Duramax fan.

http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...psk1bam8jb.jpg

http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...psl8xhteoz.jpg

http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...psdvrfz1tr.jpg


Also got a dual thermostat housing. Still need to make a custom throttle bracket, as you can see.

http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...psmtendf4j.jpg


That's about it for today.

Finally tackled the A/C box conversion. The stock AC evaporator angles in towards the engine and would hit the turbo. To fix this I got a blower box from a late 80's S10. Its evaporator is almost the same size as the stock one but angles out towards the fender.
I used this thread as a guide: http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/63-...mod-turbo.html
The guys in that thread did a much better job explaining and a better job building than mine.

Stock blower box:
http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...psbh8wmuwa.jpg

Complete boxes, S10-top, Stock-bottom
http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...pskykuymzo.jpg

Used a hot-knife to cut the plastic S-10 box and a skillsaw to cut the fiberglass suburban box.
http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...psh5gx3ql9.jpg

Test fit on the truck:
http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...psirmjuves.jpg
http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...psqqamt6jo.jpg

Getting ready to glass them together:
http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...pshucui4vt.jpg

Did several layers of fiberglass. Then used bondo to coverup some of my marginal fiberglass work then painted over my marginal bondo job.
http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...psowohjdy7.jpg
http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps5hi7jfyx.jpg

Also cleaned all the crap off my transmission, put the rest of the engine together and bolted up the engine/tranny/transfer case. New motor mounts too.
Transfer-case is the stock NP208, passenger-side drop, but I swapped in a 32 spline input shaft so it would bolt up to the 4l80e.

http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...pseiersvgh.jpg
http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps8r9e7zep.jpg
http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...pslhet2ccd.jpg

Also installed all new door lock actuators and cleaned up the interior but don't have pics of that.

Nice pics.

Show us how you solved the frame interference problem with the side-mounted turbocharger's downpipe. That's always been a primary concern of mine when using a 6.5 factory turbo system in a 1980s body style pickup truck/Suburban.

4/15/2015

Got the wiring done, well as much as I can with the engine out.

Everything in blue loom is the transmission harness. For that I am using the main transmission plug, input speed sensor, output speed sensor, TPS, engine speed sensor. I will also need to hookup a wire to the brake switch. I used the harness from the parts truck, located the wires I needed to keep and stripped everything off. I will use the stock TCM and mount it in a waterproof box in the engine compartment somewhere.

Everything in black loom is for the engine. This is basically the stock 6.2 harness. Some parts were kind of a mess so I re-did any bad connections/splices and just cleaned it up in general. The glow plugs already have a manual override button so I removed all the wiring for the glow plug sensor. Also had to splice on the connector that matched the new alternator.

Wasn't too hard just little time consuming to straighten out the mess of wires.

http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...pslffffm1x.jpg

http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...pszyiyvzde.jpg

http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...psumjajn17.jpg

4/18/2015

Got the engine installed yesterday. Went in fairly smooth. Not much clearance between the turbo and A/C box but it does clear. Hopefully it won't get too hot.

I still need to make a spacer to got between the crossmember and transmission. The 700r4 had a much taller mount than the 4l80.

You can also see how tight the downpipe will be. Many people say to run it outside the frame but I'm going to see if the exhaust shop can get it inside. I've seen another picture on the forum where someone had it routed inside.

I'll try to get better pics, these are kind of dark.

http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...psoij4zjlu.jpg

http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps5dyu46xm.jpg

http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps2uzgozud.jpg

http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...pstvqvrf34.jpg

http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...psu62nxsp3.jpg

http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps74eovzra.jpg

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by More Power

Nice pics.

Show us how you solved the frame interference problem with the side-mounted turbocharger's downpipe. That's always been a primary concern of mine when using a 6.5 factory turbo system in a 1980s body style pickup truck/Suburban.

---

Thanks.
I still haven't tackled that yet. It's really tight but I'm going to see if the exhaust shop can get it inside the frame. I found a picture on another forum where it was routed inside the frame, so it is possible. I really don't want it going outside the frame and looped back under like many people have suggested.

Got the transmission mount and crossmember done. The 4l80 has a much shorter pedestal mount than the 700r4, the 4l80 is also about 1.5" longer. The 700R4 is about 7.5" from the center of the outputshaft to the base of the mount where it bolts to the crossmember. The 4l80 was only about 3.5". I used the stock Suburban crossmember and bushings. To make up the difference I got a piece of 2"x4"od rectangular tubing and drilled holes to act as a spacer.
Since the 4l80 was little longer I had to drill new holes in the frame for the crossmember.

http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...psb1l2ydrw.jpg
http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...pszkc6wjle.jpg
http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...psaxyr9nfu.jpg

Got the exhaust done. I took it to a small private shop here in town and the guy was able to route it inside the frame. Not the best pics but it looks GREAT. It is 3" downpipe, and 3" all the way back. I was thinking about going 4" back after the downpipes but it would've been more expensive and after doing some research I didn't think it was worth it. I'm not building a race car. I got some exhaust wrap for the downpipes which will hopefully keep some of the heat down.
Another issue is that the stock 6.5 crossover pipe comes right infront of the front axle yoke. The exhaust guy said he could modify that so it would clear the front driveshaft.

http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...pszmmyiiay.jpg
http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...psnfmz4egg.jpg
http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps44utsbm7.jpg
http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...pszdjgrzpo.jpg
http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps1xuc32mg.jpg
http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...psqzl7eboe.jpg
http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...pseepspaym.jpg
http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...psh9scfagc.jpg

Wrapped the downpipes and got the inner fender back on. Everything still fits like a glove.

http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...psctrtawji.jpg
http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...pseregrwa4.jpg
http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...psy30viem1.jpg
http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...psunbvlrua.jpg

Also got the new wheels and tires. Still need to do some suspension and brake work so they won't be mounted for little bit. The wheels are ProComp 16x8 and have 4" backspacing- just enough to clear the tierod end. Tires are Cooper S/T Maxx 265/75R16, which is about 32" x 10.5".

http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...pskecs549x.jpg
http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...psfrgs64v6.jpg
http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...pspc2kehu8.jpg
http://i940.photobucket.com/albums/a...psfjvxaphb.jpg

Thanks for keeping us up to date. Looks like quite a project!