Putting 6.2 in motor home

[Cabasa]

I have an older 28ft. class A motor home "78" that originally came with a 440. Motor is Junk (dropped a valve) so I decided to look around for a GM diesel. What I found was a 6.2 in a 83 blazer. Other than it not having a turbo do any of you know if this will be a good candidate for a swap? If I do get it I plan on tearing it down even though the current owner says it was rebuilt three years ago. With all the tech help on this site I hope to have a good running reliable diesel powered motor home. Any suggestions on what I should look for when going over this engine? Also how hard is it to get a vehicle converted to diesel legal? Thanks in advance for the help.

[Cabasa]

One more thing with gas being $2.05 a gallon and diesel being $1.50 around here it is a great motivation to spend a little extra now in going to diesel power. Plus the fact that I love Diesels!

[britannic]

WRT being diesel legal, your local DMV in Kalifornia should be able to help with that.

[gavio]

Some other folks who have put diesel engines into their former gassers (VWs they were) told me that all they did was to take the beasties to a smog referee after they were done and once they verified that they really had genuine diesel engines rattling around under the hood, they issued new titles stating that they were diesels with all the rights and priveleges associated. You should check this out to make sure it will be true for your particular situation.

Good luck!

[john8662]

6.2L engine from a blazer is likely to be a light duty 6.2. Meaning that it has the EGR system on that engine. So before using it in a heavy application you will need to give it a little more power with some J series heads and a J series intake (non egr intake). This will help give you a few more ponies to move a motorhome. Since you mentioned opening it up you might as well, besides the heads, intake and injection pump calibration both the C (light duty) and J series engines are identical.

[Cabasa]

Thanks guys for the info. Will it make a big difference if I stay with the origianal light duty heads and add a turbo later? That being I change out the pump and injectors of course. Also how about the fuel tanks. I am thinking if I just clean them out really good they will be acceptable for diesel. I am going to go ahead and get this engine today. What else do you guys think I should grab along with the engine?
Thanks

[britannic]

The J heads do make a difference, but not so much that you'd notice. In any case, if I was going to change the heads on a 6.2L, I'd go with the 6.5LTD for the optimum combustion chambers and better access to the injectors (requires 6.5L injector lines).

[Eric Deslauriers]

One more thing about my e-mail - my motorhome has a J-code engine. smile.gif

Sorry, work is wiping out the remaining 3 brain cells I have left. In a few weeks, I should be more lucid. ;)

[Cabasa]

Yeah I know how work can be. I am not looking forward to being gone for three weeks. (work related) Soon as I get home I plan on starting with the conversion.

[dieselbegreat]

Keep us posted Cabasa on your progress. I've got a 27-footer too with a 454 I wouldn't mind swapping.

[catmandoo]

if it had a 440 i'd be thinkin about grabbing all the accessories ps pump, pulleys, brackets etc plus the trans won't work either, turbo 400 would be the best choice .also if ya lived here in iowa if we change to diesel we just go in to title the vehicle and when they ask fuel type we just say diesel and they put a d in the fuel space and we go on our merry way.thats one advantage of living in a sparcely populated state with no emission laws.