Ok guys and gals, here is the project. I am wanting to put a diesel motor in my 1985 Corvette. Honestly I want to know what all will be involved and where I should start. Before people start saying not to do it, I want to let you know this is going to happen so saying not to has no place here. If I cross breed engine to car is that going to make it that much harder to pull off?

 

Can you find an Olds diesel car anywhere to steal the engine from? I converted an Olds diesel to a 350 Olds gas engine several years ago. The Olds was a pretty decent car after the conversion. As you probably know, the Olds diesel design was very similar the the gas engine. Bell housing and motor mounts bolted right up. The diesel took two batteries in parallel to start it!

True, the Olds trans mounting pattern isn't the same as a Chevy, but conversion plates are available. Diesels have no vacuum, so a vacuum pump is needed for accessories. Power brakes must use a hydraulic booster.

Sure hope you're not in California!

 

http://www.corvetteonline.com/news/v...l-c3-corvette/

Wouldn't be that hard to do. I doubt you will like it though.

Ive got a turbo diesel in my 2002 F250 and it makes so much power now it will twist the back axle straight up and destroy u-joints at the rear end if I play from a dead stop much. Does fine launching in 4wd. I need ladder bars to fix it but I never meant to have the power I have in it now so I doubt i'll add them.

Anyways... The powers there and its fun to play with but I wouldn't want that motor in my corvette. In the vette it would shake the thing to death over time. These cars turn into rattle traps with age all on their own with a nice smooth gas v8. Just picture it being vibrated constantly over a few years. Not to mention you would never get it to hook up torque wise. I can spin the tires at will on my jacked up 4wd in 4wd. No way a 2wd vette would be able to do anything with that much torque without fat drag slicks on the back.

Also diesels cost a ton more to maintain than gas motors. On a truck that you use to pull stuff the extra cost doesn't seem to bad. On a car it will get outrageous pretty fast. It cost me $138 to change the oil as I run synthetic but its not a bunch cheaper with dino oil. Its cost $136 to replace the antifreeze and yes you HAVE to change the antifreeze from time to time in a diesel.

The injectors in my truck are $300 EACH. Yes that's $2400 for 8 injectors.

The list goes on.

I think your wallet will thank you for finding another project to play with other than this one.

 

Just be sure to know the Olds diesel was not a 'true' diesel by design, it was a gasoline block converted to diesel.

Having had a pair of diesel Cutlas', here's my thoughts. First off, avoid the 260 ci, problem child engines. Avoid the ones with the 12v glowplug system. Those are harder to start in cold weather and have weaker blocks. The best one I had was an 84 with the 6v glowplug system.
Figure if you have weather like this (cold) you had better frequent truck stops for true #1 diesel. You better have 2 good batteries along with a block heater setup. You will have fuel geling problems in cold weather. It can take a long time to start in cold weather (if it starts) if not plugged in (think coming home from work etc)

If you deal with real cold weather, it's not an attractive combo IMO. Additionally when I moved here I had both the Cutlas (79 & 84) and something had changed here relating to the paraffin in the fuel, it was changed out. I was told because of emissions, they were using peanut oil instead (that's what the mechanic told me) and I went through 3 injector pumps in about 18 months. That got very expensive to continually have the injector pumps rebuilt in addition to the inconvenience of breaking down along the highway.

I liked diesels but went back to gas engines because of all the problems I had living here.

 

your car, your money. have fun.... personally, I don't get it -

 

The OP may be in a foreign country that has a good source for diesel, and a poor source for gasoline. Am I guessing right, Marshall?

 

??? - the OP's been a forum member for almost three years now, and that was his first post - maybe he's a sleeper troll -

 

IMO if a person has to ask that many questions they're not capable of doing a swap like this.

 

- to me, it looks like a big

 

Bingo, we have a winner. If you have to ask you are in over your head!

 

The Olds 350 Diesel is probably the best option from an ease of installation standpoint but parts availability for those is getting pretty scarce-
Remember, the last one came out of the factory in 84 or 85 and most have ended up in the scrap yard by now so complete, usable assemblies are going to get harder and harder to come by.

Installing a 'Truck' Diesel is going to take a bit more effort due to the shear size and weight of them and the space you have to work with on a C4.

Everything is doable with enough time, expertise and money but it's not a project for the faint of heart. Fuel system, exhaust, bracketry, suspension, electrical etc will all need to be addressed.

 

Wait so Im either a Troll, or incapable of something because I decided to ask what peoples thoughts on the best aproach to a major project would be? Lmao damn you people are sad. Note to self the Corvette tech forum is not the place to come ask Corvette tech questions! Im not a troll and the reason it has been 3 years is because I joined this page to read about my first car (said 85 vette), since I have moved to a small travel car for gas reasons, the corvette engine has since been swapped into a CJ5 jeep and I am looking to make a sunday driver/show stopper out of my pride and joy! I was thinking Cummins since the size restriction of the car, but wondering how much wiring issue that is gunna give me?

 

Its a $3000 conversion to a cummins 6cyl diesel. Also you will need a high rise hood to clear it as it will sit to high otherwise to clear the stock hood. The v8 motor is shorter in height. As for the olds motor that's a gutless wonder that sucked when it was new so isn't something I would recommend for anything ever.

If your wanting mpg then you want a 4bt 4cylinder diesel. Good power and killer mpg. Should get 50 mpg or close to it easy. The best bet for finding one is a retired bread truck as they were common in them. It should feel similar to the stock vette motor but a bit weaker power wise but very dependable, light weight and killer mpg. Plus vibration is less on it than most of them.

Whatever you go with make sure its a turbo diesel. Do NOT do any diesel that's non turbo. The turbo part requires nothing extra and makes the motor fun to drive. Any diesel without a turbo is a dog and will suck in a car for sure.

Im familiar with all these swaps if your serious. But again in an all plastic car its going to suck in the long run.

 

Asking how to put a diesel engine in a corvette is not a corvette tech question in my opinion.

It's going to be like any other engine swap out there. You start it and solve problems as you run into them.

 

Looking for killer Torque and somewhat impressive HP! The Hood and conversion price are no problem since I know Rome was not built in a day! Just looking to start a project and was hoping you guys would help me out!

 

I remember someone did an Olds 350 diesel for the Lemons race. Google it for pictures.

 

a i6 cummins engine is going to weight 2x as much as a 350

 

Stay GM look at the 6.2 or 6.5 diesel V8. Were in lots of Chevy trucks and are plentiful. Could be interesting but know they're heavy.

 

Got a better idea. Put the Vette engine back in the Vette and put a 4bt in the Jeep. Lotsa on this swap at Jeepforum.com and Wranglerforum.com. It isnt an uncommon swap over there.

 

But the 6.2 and 6.5 are dogs. He gains nothing by using one. Face it gm cant make a diesel worth a flip. The only thing gm has is from outsourcing and buying other companies and their products diesel wise.

Duramax, ford or cummins is the way to go. With the cummins being the ideal one from simplicity point of view. Plus the bt4 diesel gets him weight and mpg with decent power when modded a bit. Fits the bill for what he wants.

A chevy block weighs about 575 lbs so lets say 650 lbs dressed for use.

The 4bt is 800 lbs dressed for use.

So not to bad weight difference wise. Still against this but just providing info based on op questions.