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1.9 TDI SWAP

C

cliff70chevy

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I have a Mint Low Low Mile (62K),1987, S10 Blazer Tahoe edition, 2.8 v6, 4X4. The interior looks like it was never sat in. Under the hood it looks like it was never on the road. I am hoping to find someone that would transplant in a VW 1.9 ALH Turbo Diesel. There is a complete kit on the market that mates an ALH to a Chevrolet TH700R4 Trans. I think it would be amazing to get 30+ MPG
 
Welcome to the forum!

There are specialty shops that each specialize in only conversion swaps for the VW 1.9TDI into their shop-specific platform, such as Toyota pickups, various Jeep vehicles, etc. These places are good, but NOT cheap, to do the conversion.

If you have a kit that is close to turn key complete with necessary mounts/adapters/brackets/harnesses and you have the skills and facilities to do it yourself, go for it and save yourself several grand!
 
Welcome to the Truck Stop cliff70chevy.

I know kind of where your coming from in reference to an 1987 Chevy with the 2.8, V-6. My dad bought a regular cab Chevy S-10 4x4, 2.8 V-6, 5 speed back in late 1987. Somewhere around 1993 he gave me that little S-10, it had about 32,000 miles on it then. That 2.8 lacks the power for sure, I use to tow a Coleman Pop Up Camper with it and these mountains would really challenge it. However I did see 24 MPG one time on the interstate years ago driving like Ms. Daisy of course. I gotta say the little truck went about anywhere I wanted to go in the snow and off road.

Years later I sold the truck to a co-worker, it had about 90,000 miles on it. He drove it a few years and finally rust got the best of the truck, he probably sent it to the scrap yard.
 
Pretty poor MPG in this day and age to be "amazed" at. The stack of $100 bills you are going to light on fire as a sunk cost to do this may never break even with any improved MPG. So just build the damn thing without concern for MPG or any pretend cost savings: because there will be none. You are paying someone to do this increasing the cost. Just saying wanting high MPG "cost be dammed" isn't doing what you assume of overall cost savings from better MPG. (Assuming you are in The USA with our low fuel prices and higher diesel fuel cost vs. gasoline.)

Build it to be unique, a conversation starter, or just because you can.

Don't forget the 2.8 Cummins drop in crate engine conversion out there.

shopcummins.com

Cummins R2.8 Turbo Diesel Crate Engine - Temporarily Out of Stock

Not all engines are crated equally. When critical components such as fuel pumps, filters, accessories, starters, and flywheels aren't included in an engine package, you have to piece together these components from various manufacturers, hoping for the best. For the vehicle specific components...
shopcummins.com shopcummins.com
 
I can say talking to 4 different shops here that specialize in conversions- the average cost of debugging after the install is complete is $2,000. And because that engine is not a frequently chosen one, expect hire numbers than that.

One guy I mentioned your desire to to see if he would take it on incase you would be willing to ship it to Vegas said a $10,000 deposit would e required just to allow them in the shop. Most shops wont take it on if the vehicle doesn’t have a resale value of over $30,000 when completed to recoup money because so many people think it will be a $5,000 job and abandon it when the money runs out.

He said you should expect about $12,000 in labor and shop costs, with 17k not being out ofthe picture.
 
Will L. said:
I can say talking to 4 different shops here that specialize in conversions- the average cost of debugging after the install is complete is $2,000. And because that engine is not a frequently chosen one, expect hire numbers than that.

One guy I mentioned your desire to to see if he would take it on incase you would be willing to ship it to Vegas said a $10,000 deposit would e required just to allow them in the shop. Most shops wont take it on if the vehicle doesn’t have a resale value of over $30,000 when completed to recoup money because so many people think it will be a $5,000 job and abandon it when the money runs out.

He said you should expect about $12,000 in labor and shop costs, with 17k not being out ofthe picture.
Click to expand...

That S10 ain’t worth more than $2K to $3K for the hull value.
 
Idk value. that’s really besides the point.
The time it takes —how many are already doing it —where that means companies have already done it and you can buy ready made kits.

Hummers rip out 6.5 and put in duramax. Average labor cost and accessories components for that is 50 thousand not counting engine, trans, xfer case. it happens that a nice condition hummer with 6.5 will sell for 30k and a duramax hummer will drag in near 100k. So the cost becomes justified. All the Upgrades to run the dmax just shove the price up.

look at the guys here that take a gmt400 and drop a cummins in it. They sell for two thousand more than the upgraded 6.5 ones at best. But they spent way more than 2,000 to get it done even diy. You pay a shop to do it and it’s now a $23,000 truck worth less than half that. You really have to have desire for it. Like a gold necklace, buy it is you like it not because you think it’s a good investment.

Doing it for the idea of saving money because of better mpg- nope. Only if diy or you are hiring someone still in or just out of highschool that wants to learn on your rig. You need a descent mechanic (shop time $85 per hour) that now has fabrication skills and equipment. That is a truck equipment shop- thats the kind of business I owned back in the day. Current shop time for those places- $140 per hour. Taking it to a custom mechanic shop - they usually want to do things like rip the engine out of a wrecked hellcat and drop it into a ‘69 charger. Those easily hit $80,000 pricetags. That car is built for fun, not economics.

Maybe with all the out of work people over covid you could find a well skilled and well tooled person to do it in their garage and do everything under the table. 5 thousand maybe? But when something goes wrong their is no recourse. Also the concern when people are starving that bad, sometimes the customers stuff gets stripped and sold for more cash after taking half down payment. Any out of work mechanic inows where to dump parts like this for a grand in 1-2 days.

I dont judge it. Some people spend hundreds of thousands to go fast, some are into hyper milage. Building my engine for my hummer they way I am with the details I am adding is not the best choice. It will outlive me, then will go to one of my sons who will play with it maybe once a year. Stupid ‘investment’- but it is what I want. All the improvements I make inside the engine will add maybe $2000 increase in resale value by the time I get $8,000 into it this go round, not counting the original cost of the optimizer.
 
It might be. But his rig choice and engine choice looks to me like there was planning on this combo.
So it is kinda like a bunch of us that like to get bigger power numbers from a 6.5. No it isn’t the smartest choice to do it with, it is what we want. Like my kids want to argue with their mom- not smartest , just what they choose because it is something fun to try! Haha.
 
An old timer over here would diesel every vehicle he had ever owned.
Last one he did was a reefer diesel into a 68 Ford F250 with a long box. He said it could do 50 to 55 on the highway but slow to 35 to 40 on the steeper hills.
In my opinion, not the smartest conversion, just something he wanted.
I think that VW diesel into that S10 would be a nice combination, but, thats just me and the way I roll. 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️😹😹😹
 
That Isuzu @Burning oil put in was out of one of those cab over chassis used for garbage trucks, box trucks, etc. Nothing small about it either displacement or size/weight-wise. It filled that engine bay on his Burb, was comparable in HP/tq to a 6.5, and why the transplant experiment was done. The thread on the conversion is on here somewhere.
 
Big T said:
Given that they plan to put a 4 cylinder Duramax into the Suburbans, looks like Leroy was ahead of the game.
Click to expand...

It's actually a I6 3.0L GM is planning on dropping in Suburbans. Frankly GM has no damn business designing a diesel engine on their own. The EcoDiesel GM had a hand in has been a zero or hero engine with many having spilled their guts badly, the 4 banger Duramax is known for breaking wrist pins of all things (Good Grief!) and this new I6 3.0 Abortion has a rear chain drive and a wet belt to drive the oil pump. It's one "SNAP!" away from scrap metal. Remove transmission to replace belt with expected 150K life... Yeah rubber in hot oil should hold up as well as our 6.5 oil cooler lines. It's already thermally limited by it's own overly complex cooling system that is one stuck coolant valve away from scrap metal. What could possibly go wrong with a needlessly complex Bean Counter Low Bidder GM diesel? Just drive more customers away with the Mark Of Mediocrity...

GM just can't be bothered to put a real V8 Duramax in like they did on the vans... Well, until some iD10T at GM dropped in the block ventilator 4 banger on a 3/4 ton van. :banghead:
 
Just think what the 2/4WD ½ ton p/u and vans would have been like with that 5.0 V-8 Caterpillar diesel in it with the GM/Allison 8 speed.
 
WarWagon said:
It's actually a I6 3.0L GM is planning on dropping in Suburbans. Frankly GM has no damn business designing a diesel engine on their own. The EcoDiesel GM had a hand in has been a zero or hero engine with many having spilled their guts badly, the 4 banger Duramax is known for breaking wrist pins of all things (Good Grief!) and this new I6 3.0 Abortion has a rear chain drive and a wet belt to drive the oil pump. It's one "SNAP!" away from scrap metal. Remove transmission to replace belt with expected 150K life... Yeah rubber in hot oil should hold up as well as our 6.5 oil cooler lines. It's already thermally limited by it's own overly complex cooling system that is one stuck coolant valve away from scrap metal. What could possibly go wrong with a needlessly complex Bean Counter Low Bidder GM diesel? Just drive more customers away with the Mark Of Mediocrity...

GM just can't be bothered to put a real V8 Duramax in like they did on the vans... Well, until some iD10T at GM dropped in the block ventilator 4 banger on a 3/4 ton van. :banghead:
Click to expand...

Somehow I thought that it was a 2.8 liter 4 cylinder producing 300 hp. Now I read it's a 6 cylinder that produces 277 hp and 460 lbs of torque, which is not much better than out supped up 6.5s. Disappointing. My sons F250 with 6.7 diesel is like 410 hp and 900 lbs torque and it's a rocket.
 
Big T said:
Somehow I thought that it was a 2.8 liter 4 cylinder producing 300 hp. Now I read it's a 6 cylinder that produces 277 hp and 460 lbs of torque, which is not much better than out supped up 6.5s. Disappointing. My sons F250 with 6.7 diesel is like 410 hp and 900 lbs torque and it's a rocket.
Click to expand...

Exactly! Take your 6.5 with ATT and a tune. You dont think you are over 277/460? They are just being dumb.

The suburban frame, suspension body could take it just like the pickup and van, but they couldn’t put a dmax in the suburban/tahoe from 2000 up. IDIOTS. They could take whatever powerhouse they feel they need in 1 ton trucks and slide that same engine, trans, transfer case under a suburban. Tune it down and make better mpg if they felt the need was there to soften the blow to the unidody build vs cab separate from bed. Just like The small block chevy went into everything under the sun, unless it needed a big block, but now a tune change is all thats needed in diesels. But they cannot figure how to make that profitable. Instead the try to modify and break every proven rule about diesels and will end up with more junkyard material and an even worse reputation from it.

They are proof shaken crack addicted babies don’t always die, they sometimes become engineers.

They are calling in laid off workers from other gm plants to try keeping up with truck demand. But can't figure out why they are selling so many diesels and not enough tahoe/suburbans?
B1245872-B124-42D5-A92C-7CFD3EC0E172.pngB5560FB0-3535-496D-AFA5-CFE335810502.jpeg

So back to the op- Cliff, have you had any luck finding someone? There has got to be a descent mechanic/ fabricator somewhere near ya. I would also say, take some videos of the engine running good to help sell it because that engine with that low miles on it ought to go for a few duckets to pay for some labor. Aren’t those the ones that would have the intake manifold gasket fail and leak coolant into the oil?
Those lil rigs did pretty good for basic off-roading but the ford from 86-89 was so awesome it didn’t let the chevy get it’s due credit.
With the torque of that diesel, it should do even better.
 
Will L. said:
Exactly! Take your 6.5 with ATT and a tune. You dont think you are over 277/460? They are just being dumb.

The suburban frame, suspension body could take it just like the pickup and van, but they couldn’t put a dmax in the suburban/tahoe from 2000 up. IDIOTS. They could take whatever powerhouse they feel they need in 1 ton trucks and slide that same engine, trans, transfer case under a suburban. Tune it down and make better mpg if they felt the need was there to soften the blow to the unidody build vs cab separate from bed. Just like The small block chevy went into everything under the sun, unless it needed a big block, but now a tune change is all thats needed in diesels. But they cannot figure how to make that profitable. Instead the try to modify and break every proven rule about diesels and will end up with more junkyard material and an even worse reputation from it.

They are proof shaken crack addicted babies don’t always die, they sometimes become engineers.

They are calling in laid off workers from other gm plants to try keeping up with truck demand. But can't figure out why they are selling so many diesels and not enough tahoe/suburbans?
View attachment 61801View attachment 61802

So back to the op- Cliff, have you had any luck finding someone? There has got to be a descent mechanic/ fabricator somewhere near ya. I would also say, take some videos of the engine running good to help sell it because that engine with that low miles on it ought to go for a few duckets to pay for some labor. Aren’t those the ones that would have the intake manifold gasket fail and leak coolant into the oil?
Those lil rigs did pretty good for basic off-roading but the ford from 86-89 was so awesome it didn’t let the chevy get it’s due credit.
With the torque of that diesel, it should do even better.
Click to expand...

When the Suburbans went to plastic bumpers, they truly became the vehicle of Suburban Soccer Moms. I've heard that the V8s in them are programmed to turn off cylinders to increase fuel economy. So when at highway speed, they are running on 4 cylinders, while still incurring the drag of 4 non-firing cylinders.
 
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