[hereismylife]

Hello all,

my truck

95 chevy suburban 2500 6.5 turbo
373
4L80E
4x4

I was reasearching different ideas for my chevy burban for the last year. I now think I might be interested in the conversion to the 6bt. I do know you need some things for this conversion.
1. engine
2. trans adapter plate
3. intercooler
4. electronic changes

I am still battling in my mind to convert this or build my 6.5 up. If I go with my 6.5 I will have about 275-300 at the wheels. If I go with the 6bt I will have a little less then that stock if I am correct. I do not want to make tons of power. I just would like to hold 70-75 mph in my burban with some more hp to spare. I am looking at a 5 yr plan and I do not want to keep buying things to make more hp latter on. I do know this sounds confusing.

Basicaly

6.5 performance engine about 250 hp at the wheels in a burban
6bt stock with 4 inch exhaust, cold in take system, fuel turned up a little

That is what I am against in my mind. Also keep in mind I want it to sound like a dmax stock tone....NOT LOUD IN THE CAB....

Something like my 6.5 sounds with a 4 inch exhaust with 2 times the take off and pulling power.

Anyrate this is what I am against. What do you guys think.

Thanks joe

 

[CrewCab59]

The cost to make that kind of power from a 6.5 and it won't last long,it will still have injection pump problem,fuel pump ect and after all that it will be maxed out.

The Cummins will be cheaper ,can have more power and you'll be happy in the end !

CrewCab59

 

[hereismylife]

Ic what you are saying. Is there a way to keep the noise and smoke to a minimun with this 6bt engine?

 

[tndonor]

Well you hit it on the head with "performance 6.5 at 250"

Have you researched what it takes to get a 6.5 to that level? There are many areas of concern on the 6.5 engine series.

You then compare that to a 6B with the fuel turned up a little (easy and free if you know how), and a cold air kit (about 300). This is vastly cheaper, easier, and more reliable in the long run to ge the same power level.

Look at service life of the two, recalls, TSBs, etc and you'll see why we are bent on the B motors!

I am not going to say the 6.5 is junk and anything buy a Cummins isnt worthy. Just weigh you options for the duration you intend to keep it AND costs/longetivty of the motor options in question

 

[tndonor]

There is a guy here who has built a 6.5 up. Ill let hime chime in and give his experience. I think his handle is DieselDog. PM him, Im sure he'd like to tell his side of the GM story!

 

[hereismylife]

Thanks. There is alot of new things happening with the 6.5 now but I am not sure if that will be enough. I was thinking on the lines of
1. new update marine block
2. new scat crank
3. 18:1 pistons
4. rebuild the heads or get mine built up
5. fluid damptner
6. phazer timing set
7. hy 35 turbo

Once that is done I am not sure where I will be at form there...:idea:

This is where the cummins came into play.

 

[hereismylife]

Well you hit it on the head with "performance 6.5 at 250"

Have you researched what it takes to get a 6.5 to that level? There are many areas of concern on the 6.5 engine series.

You then compare that to a 6B with the fuel turned up a little (easy and free if you know how), and a cold air kit (about 300). This is vastly cheaper, easier, and more reliable in the long run to ge the same power level.

Look at service life of the two, recalls, TSBs, etc and you'll see why we are bent on the B motors!

I am not going to say the 6.5 is junk and anything buy a Cummins isnt worthy. Just weigh you options for the duration you intend to keep it AND costs/longetivty of the motor options in question

Do you know if you can keep the noise down with doing all of this? I am not tring to go deaf or wake up my neighbors when I leave at 3am.
thanks

 

[xyz12383318]

Come drive mine

I used an early 12 valve and I don't think it is loud. It is straight piped and my wife says it is too much but I absolutely love it. If you wanted to get the noise down you could use a common rail Cummins. If you want to you cn come drive mine if you are in town it is a 95 with an early VE 12 valve.

 

[hereismylife]

I used an early 12 valve and I don't think it is loud. It is straight piped and my wife says it is too much but I absolutely love it. If you wanted to get the noise down you could use a common rail Cummins. If you want to you cn come drive mine if you are in town it is a 95 with an early VE 12 valve.

What about using a resinator on the exhaust? Maybe if I put 2 on it would quiet it down alot?

 

[sdstriper]

Keep the noise down? I run a 4" with a huge Donaldson muffler, much better than straight thru for noise and IMO the valvetrain is more annoying than the exhaust is, this set-up is supposed to flow better than straight also. I was running a 454 with a mandrel bend exhaust and performance mufflers and that thing was abnoxious, I was actually pissed at the shop that put it on. I worked a lot of nights out of my home and I am not 16 yrs old, the neighbors had to be irritated but luckily never complained. The 4-5 mpg was bad enough but that exhaust really chaffed my arse...

 

[66gaza]

I had a chevy 6.5 n/a diesel in my Landrover, I had assembled all the bits to turbo it and b4 I did the head developed a crack. Head was now junk, getting a new head from the US was going to be expensive for shipping, I thought long & hard about what to do, a new head would be the easiest and cheapest option but to me it was the final straw (the last of many problems). I decided to put a 6BT in and although it has taken quite a while to do I am glad I did. If you look on the chevy forums alot of the posts seem to be about problems, overheating, cracked heads cracked blocks etc etc. if you look at the cummins forums most of the posts are asking how to get more & more power/torque, the reliability problem is the transmission because the engine is so strong. I don't expect the 6bt to be trouble free but I do expect it to be there for a very long time. I wish you well in what you decide.
I had done a bit of work on the engine and it wasn't easy to do anything,for example changing the water pump is quite a job ( I did it twice) on the cummins it takes longer to get your 13mm socket out than it does to change the pump. also have to take a head off the chevy it is easier IMO to take the I/P off aswell. This is just another benefit a cummins has it is so damn easy to work on atleast compared to a chevy diesel . I'm rambling now one more thing according to the chevy forums my heads were the heads to have ( casting numbers) well they are welcome to them.

Gaza

 

[DarylB]

If you're wanting a quiet engine like a duramax - you're going to need a later model engine with pilot injection (very expensive). A old 6BT 12 valve is going to be louder than what you currently have. A good resource for the 6.5L diesel is over at www.thedieselpage.com if you're looking to rebuild. Lots of good stuff over there to make a reliable 6.5L. There's a guy named Ronniejoe who has a suburban like yours, who's tricked it out. Lots of good stuff.

I've got a 2002 Duramax, and love it. My next big truck will probably have a Cummins but I have yet to wear out the D-max. I cant justify another new diesel truck for quite sometime after buying this one new. The new trucks are going for $40-50k.

 

[HCannon]

The Cummins would be more work to install but should be well worth it. The noise level is going to be higher than the 6.5 and it is not going to be as smooth running. I have one Chevy 6.2 replaced with the 4bt and it really works well. Can the transmission be mated to Cummins to where it will work OK? The rpm range of the Cummins is a lot lower than the 6.5. The 6.2 and the 6.5 run great, if only they would stay together. Tryed to run the 6.5 Chevys for several motors. I have been running Dodges now for several years with no motor problems. Cant say that about their transmissions.

 

[hereismylife]

Thanks guys for the info. I got my engine now. It is a 97 6bt. I was told I can get some sound killer material and that will help out with the noise. The noise I am talking about is the DRONING from the exhaust. I just want to be able to have a nice normal conversation while driving down the road. I drove a stock 95-97 pick up that was stock and it does vibrate more then the 6.5 but both me and my wife agreed if the idle and the way it sounds in this truck is like my burban than that would be great.

Also I guess I am going to use a 47 rh trans. I was told the diesel 4l80e would not hold up for long without putting some more money into it.

As far as getting this engine and trans in it seems like it will go in ok. I was told I need at least 1 1/2" inch body lift but they recomended 3 " I guess we will see how that goes.

 

[CrewCab59]

If your truck came with a diesel ,than you already have the extra sound pads
Like floor,fire wall,the hood You can always add more.
Exhaust you need to use a a good flowing diesel muffler this will drop the inside noise and make sure you run your exhaust all the way to the rear.

CrewCab59

 

[hereismylife]

yea It had a 6.5 in it before. I want to run a 4" for the good flow also. I did not know that it had any of this stuff already. The exhaust will be like the factory behind the wheel.