v8 diesel

I've got a 75 with a Brunswick 6.5 in it. Love it!

No idea what fuel economy it gets, but it seems pretty bloody good to me. If I drive it lightly, it appears to use bugger all, give it to it and then the usage starts to climb but not through the roof by any stretch of the imagination. It sounds great, goes great, it's reliable, it's simple, it's a diesel and it's a Chev V8: what more could you want?

Reading that back, this must be one of my most useless posts yet. Sorry bout that ;-)

All I know that with two long range tanks in my 75, I can go a hell of a long way and it doesn't seem to cost me much so I'm very happy. Doesn't seem far off the old 2H engine.

Sounds like a great trip you're planning, I'm green with envy. (best allow an extra week too, because wherever you go, strangers walk over and want to see what's under the bonnet and ask questions - they're a real crowd pleaser those 6.5's)

Fuel is like electricity and water to me - I can't change the price, I don't want to sit at home watching television all my life, I don't want to drive a POS, I can't get my life back again, so I just pay what it costs and enjoy the ride while I'm here :-) - let the misers worry about the sky falling down and just enjoy yourself. Have a beaut trip!

Hi smiley & kell. When doing an engine conversion for the sake of fuel economy you may have to consider the benefits you achieve & what you are going to recoup by the exercise. Is your existing powerplant in good condition or does it need an overhaul? If so then I recommend a chevy conversion. When I had the 6.5 chevy fitted to my troopy 12 years ago the cost of a recon 1HZ long motor ($7,500) to a chevy conversion ($9,000) was within my buget & to make things more cost effective Brunswick Diesels gave me a good trade-in of my old donk ($2,000). The costs of conversion since then have changed dramatically.
On a trip with the vehicle fully loaded (3.3 tonne) I average around 13ltr/100km (22mpg) & around town 15ltr/100km (19mpg). My cruising speed is 100km/hr @ 2000rpm & provided I don't go over it too much the fuel consumption is resonable. To achieve this I had high speed diffs fitted otherwise with standard diffs
keeping your rev range within 2000rpm (which is the economical range for the chevy), your cruising speed will be around the 90km/hr mark.
The chevy now has 120,000 on the clock & has never missed a beat. Regular oil changes at 5000km & oil & filter change every 10,000km is all I have done to the engine (apart from fuel filter change-primary 20,000km-secondary 10,000km) & air filter when necessary (depending on conditions). Hope this helps in making your decision. Cheers.

thank you very much for the responses guys, very pleasing. just wondering what type of diff lock did you go for, and is it worth doing while the diffs are getting changed over. thanks again, and i'm looking forward to the grumble of the 6.5l.....

There have been several Chev V8 diesels - some worth avoiding. Briefly;
5.7 non turbo
6.2 non turbo
6.2 turbo diesel
6.5 non turbo
6.5 turbo diesel (mechainical injection)
6.5 turbo diesel (electronic controll diesel).

Avoid the 5.7 at all costs! The 6.2L in all forms and 6.5non turbo are light on for power (compared to the last two).

There are several injection pumps on the mechanical injection versions - look for the stanadyne version.
The electronic controlled injection version produces more power, but the electronics are relocted away from the valley where the injection pump is located for durability.

Note that most of these engines are low rev engines, with peak torque at around 1700rpm. If you fit larger tyres you can maintain reasonable revs and ecomomy (say 34's or 35's which will also help your offroad capabilities)

Essentially you will be doubling the on road power with the 6.5L TD engines in comparision to the 2H