Thread: Diesel Chevelle?

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I think a diesel is a chevelle would be a cool idea. THe 350 diesel with an aftermarket turbo would be the least painless to install. It would use a standard BOP trans and 350 olds motor mounts (can be had from a cutlass).

Since when did a shock help a car go through a corner! Just because it has never been done doesn't mean it is a good idea! Diesels are good for pulling and volkswagons if they had performance potential in a car it would be a common practice!

I personaly believe I would sell the 70 chevelle to someone who would keep the heritiage,and then go on the search for the late 70's or mid 80's cutlass that came factory with a diesel engine in it for the troubles and hassle your probably going to incounter. but if you must I would do the same as you've been told find you a good 6.2 chevy diesel and give it your best shot.If I just wanted differant I would just put a ford motor in it, so when you pop the hood around your chevy buddies they'll get a laugh.just kidding, differant folks differant strokes. good luck with your vision. wjr

Diesels are good for pulling and volkswagons if they had performance potential in a car it would be a common practice!

Go to Europe, you'll find that around 30% of the cars on the road are diesel, some are wicked fast.

A Chevy 6.5LTD came standard with a TH700R4. If built to the marine standard with 350bhp this combination should offer slightly better performance, including handling, than a 396ci/TH400 in the (hopefully) hypothetical 70 Chevelle. It would offer greater than 25MPG at the same time.

Hmmmm, the perfect Power Tour vehicle? Do the complete run on one tank of fuel?

Cheers, Mark

Originally posted by MAW
Go to Europe, you'll find that around 30% of the cars on the road are diesel, some are wicked fast.

A Chevy 6.5LTD came standard with a TH700R4. If built to the marine standard with 350bhp this combination should offer slightly better performance, including handling, than a 396ci/TH400 in the (hopefully) hypothetical 70 Chevelle. It would offer greater than 25MPG at the same time.

Hmmmm, the perfect Power Tour vehicle? Do the complete run on one tank of fuel?

Cheers, Mark

No thanks! no need for me to go to europe!! The whole power tour! That would be a big tank maybe you could rob some Semi fuel tanks to mount in the trunk, then some 5in stacks to go along with the whole truck theme!

You guys can try to explain to me how good diesels are all you want. I work on them daily and I have a high regard for them. Yes the europeans use more diesels, but that's mostly because it's far more cost effecient, and besides, they don't drive the amount tha we drive here.

Travis, I'm with you on this. I still want to know why? First off, they're heavier, bulkier. You're gonna have to fab mounts. They're usually more expensive to work on, definitly more expensive to rebuild. You're gonig to have to fab new wiring and depending on which one you get this could be extensive. Computers for newer ones. On the upside a good early model Cummins could get you better mileage and torque with minimal upgrades, at least electrically. You could build a good small block and still have money left over for tranny and all the little extras you might need to drop her in for the price of just the engine work on a diesel unit, much less the fab work to put it in.

That's just my opinion though, the station, management, and employess may not agree with my position.

P.S. Please tell me why? I need to know.

Originally posted by Dave Severson
Hemi cars didn't have shocks??? That's a new one on me.

Me too, I've never seen a production car without some kind of shock.

Originally posted by drg84
Actually, the 350N motors werent bad motors once they worked the bugs out of them. The problems were associated with the cranks and camshafts on the earlier motors. Get an 82-later and youll find good cranks and roller cams. However, there are also 4.3L incarnation of these motors that are found across the GM line. Not too familiar with them, but their good for somewhere around 35mpg highway. As for Hp from a diesel, a lot of rules apply from gas motors. larger valves, free flowing exhaust, ported intake, these all work. Finally, beware of head gaskets and ALWAYS replace the head bolts if you blow a gasket. better yet, put in head studs.

Take my work for it. Those engines were absolute junk. I worked at a Caddy dealer in the mid '80's, and if the car wasn't maintained, we wouldn't work on them. The engines were just useless and killed off diesel sales for 10-15 years.

WHY????

seems to be the question with a lot of criticism.

Well when the first fuel injection came out im sure there was a lot of people to ask the same question, when people chose to swap LS1s and so on into chevelles and camaros etc., they did it to be different and not have the same carb theme as well as gas mileage, tuning capabilities etc. I think if thats what floats somebodys boat the throw them an ore and maybe you will be suprised when a "diesel chevelle" makes the cover of your favorite magazine. DIfferent people have different taste. I say go for it if it interest you.

go head diesel cost alot more then regular gas. you have to work on them all the time they burn dirty STINK and sound like crap. and gee while you are at it you might wanna add a straight axel and a 5th wheel jeesh if the people coming into club hotrod are asking these kinds of questions (no offense) but your people are scary. i am afraid for the futrure of hot rodding if these are the kinds of questions being asked....scooter

i would get a cummins 5.9 24valve it would be costly but it would be an absolute hoss cummins is the way to go

http://www.veggiecar.com/

Need I say more?????

Just because a diesel is most commonly found in a truck in the US DOES NOT mean it isn't a good idea in a car. A 5.7l or 6.2 diesel doesn't way too much more than a 454.. If it was me, I'd do it and prove all you nay-sayers wrong. A diesel doesn't need to turn a lot of rpms to make power. Then you turbo the beast and you've got horsepower at low rpms. With the right gears you can get 25mpg at 100+mph in a car. THink about this, the VW golf, rabbit, truck, beetle, passat, and jetta are/were all available with a diesel. They also get 50+mpg day in and day out. I would go that route if I could afford a new car. Diesel prices are higher yes, but when I'm filling up HALF AS MUCH the cost difference is negligible. My advice to some of you is grow up, and think OUTSIDE the box. Just because society says something is wrong doesn't mean it is.... Stop listening to other people and do what YOU want. If someone else does'nt like it too bad. It's a free country (at least the us is), and we can do as we please. If it makes someone mad, oh well...

Do it and then go eat some camaros for lunch.

oh yeah and those vw's are such speed demons

pfolgle, I hope you didn't mis-understand what I was saying. I agree with everything that you say. Deisels are not a bad power plant and they do produce mad amounts of torque. I've had experience with some of the V dub diesels nad have no complaints about them. They were fine cars. As a matter of fact, if you would like to use a diesel, feel free. I never said it was a bad idea, I am just interested to find out from this fella why he wants to do it. Not why you would do it. I just think from a realistic stand point after all the fab work of tryin' to install a diesel into a '70 Chevelle you could've easily built a 350 that would eat it from light to light or 1/4 mile. Now the diesel would out pull it. It would be a great tow vehicle. But to get the usable power that you're takin' about, you'd be spendin' some REAL money. Yes, I've seen tha articles about some of the guys on the west coast buildin' 12 sec full size, 4 door, 4X4 trucks, but these guys are spendin' big coin. You could spend half the money on a 454 and get the same performance at the same altitude.

From a being different stand point I could see doin' it. I could see doin' it if you found a good B model cummins 6 cyl (Dodge truck) for fairy cheap and it was sittin' there and you were bored and wanted to practice your fabbing skills, I guess. I don't see it as a bad idea. I just don't see it as an inexpensive alternative. I'm not tryin' to be a "nay sayer". I'm just interested in why this gentleman woiuld like to do this. It would make a truthful answer to his question much easier to make

skolaiks, if you're still out there, this is an interesting subject to discuss. I would like to hear more from you on what you're thinkin'.

I think it is a great idea. With enough welding rods, bottles of oxy/acetylene and money, you can make anything fit. Deep pockets would be the most important factor in something like that I would think. As to the answer to the question "Why?", I guess my question would be, "Why Not?" Sounds like fun.
Good luck, keep us posted if you decide to do it, I for one would love to see some pics of that build.