Van vs Truck 6.5

[paintballrepins]

Hey guys, as some of you know I'm in the market for a rebuild or a crate motor right now. I may have found a cheap replacement until I find the money to buy or rebuild to exactly what I want. I found a guy that has a 99' van motor, it was running, but they parted the van out. I know the turbo setup is different, so long story short, will the rear turbo setup fit under the hood, or do I need to switch heads and use my current turbo setup?

 

[bk95td]

Switch heads and use current turbo set-up. I saw pics once of a australlin suburban that had right hand steer that had the center mount turbo. Finding the correct parts here to do that would be very difficult.

 

[paintballrepins]

thats what i thought, and therein lies the issue. I want to redo the heads when I rebuild the motor, so i guess ill need to find another setup

 

[bk95td]

I've seen heads at the junkyards around here for as little as $100 each. car-part.com and put in your area. Finding crack free ones isn't easy.I went through 6 sets of my own to find a pair that wasn't cracked between the valves.

 

[paintballrepins]

thanks for the heads up, im gonna take a look around, i was so happy when i heard a guy had a motor, and then he said it was from a van.

 

[bk95td]

You should be able to sell the turbo van/hummer heads for about the same price as truck heads.Diesel depot was looking for van heads. I traded a set for some work from them on another set of heads. Good luck getting ahold of them. He doesn't answer the phone most times.

 

[paintballrepins]

wow, never thought about that, thanks for the advice

 

[WarWagon]

I am in the same boat. 2 van engine available, 1997 for $1250 and a 2000 for $2000. I have a 1993 and likely good heads off the '93. How much better is the 2000 over the 1997?

So what exactly needs to be changed to use a van engine in a truck?

 

[NVW]

The 2000 will have the lastest gm block. pre navistar. the van heads will have to be replaced with the 93 heads.

 

[dragogt]

You should be able to sell the turbo van/hummer heads for about the same price as truck heads.Diesel depot was looking for van heads. I traded a set for some work from them on another set of heads. Good luck getting ahold of them. He doesn't answer the phone most times.

Whats the center mount turbo stuff worth???

 

[midniteplowboyy]

If your handy with a welder, just build a new upper plenum to tie the two van lower intakes together and keep the van heads and use your trucks turbo setup.

 

[turbovanman]

I am in the same boat. 2 van engine available, 1997 for $1250 and a 2000 for $2000. I have a 1993 and likely good heads off the '93. How much better is the 2000 over the 1997?

So what exactly needs to be changed to use a van engine in a truck?

Just the heads, plug off the turbo feed and drain holes.