I'm going to do this to my '78, 4x4... someday...

http://youtu.be/v5QivhT1FSU

http://youtu.be/yRjLBGID7hw

P.S. I'll be accepting donations for my "6bt conversion fund" in the form of functioning 6bt engines, cash, credit cards, food stamps, social security numbers, endentured servants, etc..

Funny, I commented on the first video about 4 months ago.

I happened to find a Duramax motor with ECM, Allison transmission and all the wires and do-dads to hook it up for $5k on CL the other day. (with modifications of course)
http://lasvegas.craigslist.org/cto/2785020475.html

If only I had the cash I would do this in a heart beat!

I wonder, how does GM's (Isuzu's) motors compare to the cummins? I have always heard that Dodge's diesel can't be beat. Probably why finding one for cheap is not easy to do.

The Duramax is one of the highest rated engines in it's class. The Cummins is a great engine, but a buddy of mine has on in his truck and it doesn't compare in performance with my two 7.3 diesels. He also has to work on it a lot more. If you want to swap in a diesel, the best thing to do is buy a wrecked vehicle so you have all the needed components and wiring harnesses.

Also keep in mind the Cummins is a strait six and needs a long space to sit. Dog house modifications.

Also, if it doesn't have a turbo, it's a dog, but will pull a house down.

The dmax I am looking at is from an 06 silverado (no other info) LLY motor which was rated at 310 HP and 606 Torque, very reliable thanks to Japan(?) unlike GM's original diesels (4.3 v6, 4.3 v8, 5.7 v8; 6.2, and 6.5 were OK but not great)

The Cummins is a tried and true extremely stout system, but treat it like you do your kids, with love but you gotta beat them every now and then haha. Only thing you have to look out for is the KDP (killer dowel pin) and replace it immediately with the proper kits to do the job right otherwise you will tear up everything as well as crack the block. More info on that. http://www.dieselpowermag.com/tech/dodge/0706dp_1997_dodge_ram_kdp/viewall.html

The 7.3 is probably the best diesel that Ford has ever built, the 94 and half IDI's and later were best, they were turbo charged. But after the 6.9 and 6.2 which were good but still had flaws, the 6.0 they had not long ago was a mess with their EGR clogging up too much but at least Ford saw the problem and fired International for it and built their own, the 6.7 with very few issues. but doesn't quite beat GM's 6.6 Dmax with these 2011-2012 units.

Great thing about diesels in general, 1)You can use them as daily drivers 2)can still pull a house down what have you 3)Low maintenance 4) Decent fuel economy 5)can be customized to practically NO end 6)can run on damn near anything, Propane, kerosene, lamp oils, veggie oils even bacon grease and "black diesel" (used motor oil) I dont' advise the last 2 though as they will clog fuel lines in colder weather and will take serious filtering. But got some old turkey cooking oil? filter it and dump it straight in.

Fuel economy, take the VW Jetta diesel for instance, if you tune it properly, turbo, injectors, intake, exhaust etc. you can easily get 80 mpg's and still have lesser emissions than that of a normal gas engine. That black soot you see is actually good for the environment, it's more so a fertilizer.

Good info. My main interest in the cummins 6bt is the fact that it doesn't have any brains. I'm not into the conspiracy theory sort of thing, but here's my goal with converting my van to diesel. Once the world falls apart and we're over run with zombies and liberals, and we all have to flee up into the mountains to save our families, I want a vehicle that doesn't require a mobile computer command center to fix if something goes wrong with it's computer controlled components. I'm a big fan of the KISS mentality (Keep It Simple, Stupid). If/When I break down, while running from a pack of spleen-hungry zombies, I want to be able to grab a wrench, hop out, fix the problem while beating out zombie brains with said wrench if need be, and get on with fleeing to the mountains. Also, I hear that waterproofing a cummins (or any diesel without tons of electronics) is really easy. That way I can drive right on through any rivers and such that might stand in my way... You get what I'm saying.

So as far as other brands go, are there any that run well, are dependable, and are purely mechanical in functionality? Basically what my intent is, is to have a ultra tough, fixable, versatile (in the fuel department) machine; an immortal miniature RV, to go anywhere I could possibly want to go, see?

Sounds to me like you need to make an engine that will burn Zombie juice

As far as I remember, the only 2 'normal' auto diesels that didn't need a puter were the Cummins and the old 6 Liter GM engines. From what I understand though, the injection systems on the old GM's are getting harder to find and are expensive to rebuild. I talked to a buddy recently that told me his dad had a job rebuilding them and it was more a time thing than a parts thing. He said they have to be metered and balanced and if it's done wrong they wont work well or at all.

So I guess the cummins may still be my best bet. I'm ok with that. Now all I need is to find one... and $835,737.56 to build it out the way I want.

Fully mechanical diesel would be the first models (1985 I believe) to about 1993 the 12 valve 6bt (don't forget the KDP). I could be wrong so don't quote me, these are not computer controlled at all. You could remove the battery, remove the alternator and lose all electrical throughout the entire rig and still keep on truckin. Snorkel would be advised, manual transmission is HIGHLY recommended, Dodge's automatics weren't quite reliable especially for those years unless you know how to fix one on the fly or can modify it to handle the torque the Cummins puts out. Throw in a one ton suspension if you've got the money to really burn get 2 corporate 14 bolt axles and have one converted to work for the front. Or a couple Ford 9 inch. Frame rigidity is a must make sure you have TONS of ammo and extra guns as well as extra parts. Before you trek out to higher grounds know your route and be sure to mark off local junk yards along the way. Every extra part counts. I've been planning for the zombie apocalypse for a while now too.

ford 7.3 was idi till 1994, and easy to add a turbo... AND you can run on any type of oil with these old idi diesels,

Note my van, a 1995 chevy g-30 6.5 non turbo diesel (the pick-ups of the same year had "brains")