Hello to The Diesel Page Members!

After doing a significant amount of research (and being very impressed by my friend's M1008), I'm in the market to retrofit a 6.2 and manual gearbox into a future Chevy pickup. Finding a good K10 or similar with diesel power down here in Bethesda is proving to be expensive, so if I'm going to have to do this myself, I figured I should ask the experts. I have a handful of questions, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

1) Are there any special mounts needed to retrofit the 6.2 into an early Chevy pickup, or will the engine bolt in?

2) I'm a big fan of manual transmissions. I've seen people talk about using T56s, NV3500s and NV4500s. What would be the 'best' O/D manual gearbox to use? Secondly, if the pickup already had a 4x4 transfer case, which manual O/D box would fit? I've never had any luck with the TH700R4 with anything I've owned, so manual it is.

3) What Flywheel / Clutch and Pressure plate should be used? How are you actuating the clutch - hydraulic clutch and slave or manual yoke (cable or hard linkage)?

4) It's going to come down to either an early (1967 to 72) K or C series retrofit, and barring that, higher on the range (73 to 89). All depends on what I can find.

I seriously fell in love with my friend's M1008 this past weekend; my eyes popped out when he told me he was getting low to mid 20s for MPG. The only disadvantage was the high gears (4.56) and the fact I can't find a truck in that configuration for under four grand.

Many thanks and best regards,

James F. Smith
Bethesda, MD