6.5L Diesel Corvette

[More Power]

1977 Chevrolet Corvette
6.5L Diesel
May 2002
By Buzz Bradley

I live in Cranbrook, British Columbia Canada and drive a diesel GMC Jimmy, a Chevy diesel conversion van and a 1977 Chevrolet Corvette powered by a 6.5L diesel. Some may wonder why I did this - install a 6.5 in a Corvette. To put it simply - fuel economy. Not many cars can handle the weight, is streamlined, won't rust, yet retains its value, and is a sporty - fun car to drive. The Chevrolet Corvette offers all these things. The engine and transmission were installed without any chassis or body modifications.

To reduce the diesel rattle, we re-calibrated the injectors to a lower fuel injection pressure. This reduced some of the diesel rattle, so once above idle, very little noise is heard from inside the vehicle, and there is very little smoke on full-throttle. Due to the low ground clearance of the Corvette, I needed to reduce the height of the oil pan. The ground clearance is only about 4-

[redbird2]

Cool looks like fun I have question what does this"We average about 48-mpg Canadian, and have seen a high of 55-mpg." equate to in US figures

thanks for posting this

[gophergunner]

Thats awesome. Looks as great as any other corvette.

And that kind of mileage........nothing to laugh at thats for sure.

[moondoggie]

Good Day!

I think there were 5 quarts in an Imperial gallon, so:

48 mpg Imperial = 38.4 mpg US;
55 mpg Imperial = 44 mpg US.

Still astonishingly good numbers.

Interesting aside: Canada went metric a LONG time ago - nothing but liters on their fuel pumps. But, Canadians still almost always report mpg in terms of US or Imperial gallons.

Blessings!