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6.2 NA into a '71 Chevy C10 - Blog style build log

Pillow

Recruit
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Location
Warrenton, VA
Well I finally entered the 6.2 world last night! Thanks to Craigslist I found a local guy who bought a Lot (not a lot) of military surplus engines and had one for sale as extra. Very nice man who has a CUVV truck with a 6.2 and an International Scout 6.2 conversion project in the works.

This thread will serve as an on going blog of my progress in refreshing the military take-out 6.2 and installing it into a 1971 Chevy C-10 truck. Currently the C-10 has a stock 350 with a T-5 converted manual transmission.

Pics to come later! Hopefully I can get the engine out of the bed of my truck tonight!
 
She is home!

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Time for the teardown!

Clean :)
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Each of the pistons on the drivers side has "dents" in them... What is the deal? Are they bad or is this normal?

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FWIW the glow plugs were immaculate and looked like new, just a light coat of soot which wiped right off.

Head looks great!
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New gaskets and head bolts by Victor Reinz... The set was for my old '96 6.5, but they should do fine in the 6.2. Probably a few different gaskets, no biggie.

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Also I need some advice on injectors. Should I reuse the existing 6.2 injectors or use a good set of 6.5TD injectors that I have?

Thanks!

... Hopefully some more tear down tonight. I really want to pull the other head and then the oil pan to see what we are working with. Again other than the crazy piston "dents" everything looks great!
 
Dang it...

Can I reuse these pistons or am I screwed?

Granted it is really odd that all four have "dents".

Time to pull the other head and see what we have over there.

Thanks!!!
 
More guts!!!

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The piston skirts look new! No junk in the pickup screen or in the oil pan. Turns over nice and smooth. Overall I am very pleased with the motor and its condition.

The bad... 7 out of the 8 pistons have dents in them :(
 
As long as the skirts are good I wouldn't worry.

Edit, I mean the outer edges where the ring lands are
 
If you are adding a turbo any time I would get new pistons. Wonder if they went to change the glows and the tips were swollen and 7 broke off. Might check out the valves, what ever was in there had to go somewhere.
 
I knew an ex military mech who told me that the glows that were stuck they just broke off and ran them thru the engine. In his opinion it didn't hurt them, obviously the proof is here in pics. He acted like it was common practise and everyone did it.
 
No Turbo in the plans at all. (The exhaust won't fit as far as I have heard in a C-10 frame)

The skirts look good from what I can tell. Almost new as there is no skirt slap wear.

I knew an ex military mech who told me that the glows that were stuck they just broke off and ran them thru the engine. In his opinion it didn't hurt them, obviously the proof is here in pics. He acted like it was common practise and everyone did it.

Dang! But I guess we have proof right here as evidence. LOL That being said the heads look great, seems like they would be beaten as well if they ate glow tips. I suspect this motor was rebuilt, ran, and put on a shelf. It is too clean on the inside to have seen many miles. Why they would have re-used the beaten pistons is beyond me though.

More to come! But I think it is time to move from destruction to re-construction and acquiring parts! :)
 
I have 2 67-72 trucks with 6.2s! My favorite ones to drive!

One thing to look for on the pistons is if the rings still fit right. Sometimes when something hits the top of a piston it will compress the top slightly. I dont have the specs but there should be a ring clearance. Measure with a feeler gauge around the ring in its land. Could be fine but if it isnt it could save you from a stuck or broken ring. Broken rings destroy a cyl wall!
 
By all means ask away! if you dont hear back pm me so I get an email. Sometimes hard to get on here with racing stuff going on.
 
I did a 6.5 build that had glow plug dents on the pistons. When I went to replace the rings, they were tight in the pistons. Had to replace the pistons. If your rings fit ok, you are probably ok, especially if you aren't adding a turbo.
 
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