Recent grenading of my 98 6.5 TD has left me the choice to sleeve the block and get new crank and pistons or get a reman short block. I am in favor of the latter and was wondering if anyone knew who sold a well priced and gaurenteed short block or if you could give me an idea of what kind of cost I am looking to rebuild my motor. I can do it but the time thing gets to me as the machine shop will need it for a couple days, then I have to do pre-assembly, then final assembly and that would take a few more nights and end up being almost more than a week project. I would rather go with the short block here since I have two new heads that were on the motor. Any info appreciated. Thanks

What happened to the motor and how many miles on it?

6.5 block is not a sleeved engine...which means you need to buy a short block outright, or a rebuild + a core or pay the core charge...not good, certainly not cheap.

Try the Peninsular Marine Diesel site................

Id swap in a 12V cummins before i put another 6.5 in it.Engines are readily available,theres an adapter for almost any trans,and youll have 4x the durabiltiy and double the power easily.

What would you term, readily available? I'm sure you could find one, if your checking account is just as ready. The engine alone, while it is far superior in almost every aspect, its not cheap. Yes there's adapters available, and you can make it work, its been done before. The cost of even a complete longblock 6.5 installed pales in comparison to what you would pay to drop a 6BT in its place. Your better off buying a Dodge if thats the powerplant you want.

If you buy another 6.5 do not get a 97-99.5 block with pistion spray cooling these are comparitively weaker than 6.5's before and after this time frame, could even be one of the reasons you lost this engine. Sleeves are far better material than the cast iron blocks are made of, but if you install them in this motor you could still be facing the weak block problem, so back to the first part of this post. IMO-for whatever it's worth. I have checked out the cummins as well and have figured that with the cost of the engine plus conversion would at least be double replacing the 6.5 since mine has 200K miles and shows no signs of giving up any time soon that would mean 400K miles before I'd reach the cost if a cummins. Anyways I'm openly bias toward Chevy's and wouldn't buy a cummins unless it came in one.

I am considering rebuilding the motor now. I found a new rebuild kit with the dished low compression pistons with bearings, gaskets, timming set, rings, everythink minus crank for 900.00. The machine work would be about 225. and othe misc parts would be another 100.00 and a reman crank at 250.00 so for around 1500.00, I could have a low compression motor that I could boost and get a little more power and fuel economy. Think this is a good idea? I can do it, not a problem, built many SB and BB chevy race motors. I am torn here, should I get a long block at close to 4000.00 with a warrenty or rebuild the motor and save close to 2500.00? What are your thoughts? Also, what about this long block here? Is this a good idea to replace my '98 F code motor?http://www.hiperformer.com/am_general-hummer-rebuilt_engines-gmc_395tlb_1.html

the "Warranty 100,000 Mile / 7-Year" might be nice to have but I believe it comes down to what you are planning to do with the truck, and how long you want to keep it?

powerbilt sells shortblocks with the new block for about $3K

I'd recommend a long block and be done with it. I can get short blocks, but do not offer them. It is far better to have a fresh set of heads and it leaves little to question in the event of a warranty claim.

All of my long blocks are in NEW cylinder blocks.

Get a new long block and change out the pistons to low comp. and have it all balanced and put back together.

Also, what about this long block here? Is this a good idea to replace my '98 F code motor?http://www.hiperformer.com/am_general-hummer-rebuilt_engines-gmc_395tlb_1.htmlJust so everyone knows. I called these guys and even though their website says $2819 for a long block, The guy on the phone (Chris) told me that the sale price is $5800.:wtf: I told him I want the one on the internet for $2819 and he kinda blew me off

Sounds like bull**** to me, anyway you slice it.

Tim

That is not cool. It is false advertisement like that that makes me angry when I am looking for parts on the net. I am thinking long block right now though. It is just that it is a lot of money for me right now and the heads on the truck are BRAND NEW, valves, springs, keepers, the works. I would hat to have to give it all up for the core charge. I am still gonna have the block inpected though. Are Mahle pistons any good? There is a kit for 900 bucks with

New Mahle Low Comp Pistons with Pins and Clips (STD, .020, .030, .040)
New Mahle Moly Rings (STD, .020, .030, .040)
New Mahle Rod Bearings
New Mahle Main Bearings
New Mahle Cam Bearings
New Cloyes Double Roller Timing Chain
New Brass Freeze Plugs
New Cam Plug
Complete Victor Reinz gasket set which includes
valve stem seals
front and rear seals
New Melling Oil Pump
is this a good deal? That is what I was gonna use as my rebuild kit. What do ya think.

Hey TDP you got a PM

What is a PM?

That is not cool. It is false advertisement like that that makes me angry when I am looking for parts on the net. I am thinking long block right now though. It is just that it is a lot of money for me right now and the heads on the truck are BRAND NEW, valves, springs, keepers, the works. I would hat to have to give it all up for the core charge. I am still gonna have the block inpected though. Are Mahle pistons any good? There is a kit for 900 bucks with

New Mahle Low Comp Pistons with Pins and Clips (STD, .020, .030, .040)
New Mahle Moly Rings (STD, .020, .030, .040)
New Mahle Rod Bearings
New Mahle Main Bearings
New Mahle Cam Bearings
New Cloyes Double Roller Timing Chain
New Brass Freeze Plugs
New Cam Plug
Complete Victor Reinz gasket set which includes
valve stem seals
front and rear seals
New Melling Oil Pump
is this a good deal? That is what I was gonna use as my rebuild kit. What do ya think.
Last I heard Mahle had NOT released their low comp pistons yet. I'm not a Victor gasket/seals fan personally.

Its a personal message, when you log on, your name and stuff will be at the top right hand corner, it will say" Welcom CHICAGO TDP" and underneath that will have if you have any messages, just click on Private Messages and it will show you your messages.

The kit says that they are Mahle low compression Marine pistons and Mahle moly rings. This is good stuff though, right? Not junk?

What would you term, readily available? I'm sure you could find one, if your checking account is just as ready. The engine alone, while it is far superior in almost every aspect, its not cheap. Yes there's adapters available, and you can make it work, its been done before. The cost of even a complete longblock 6.5 installed pales in comparison to what you would pay to drop a 6BT in its place. Your better off buying a Dodge if thats the powerplant you want.Actually, this is looking attractive to me. You can buy a running dodge for ~$4000 for a '96-'98 1 ton dually singlecab, as the new cummins is dropping the price of the old. I'd really like to put one in a chevy at least once.

And I totally agree with Kennedy. His new long block would be a better motor than any rebuilt '97-'00 motor.:offtopic:

Im going to be doing a Cummins B into a C/K chevy soon. If you look on the TDR in the conversion section theres lots of good C/K swaps. You shouls be able to get everything for the swap for less than a new 6.5.With the 6.5 your limited in HP,theres the electronic pump ,and the engine is juts not in the same league as the Cummins. The Cummins repower would give the truck new life,and the weak link will be some where else,not under the hood. This one is my favorite http://turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?t=111489

That's what I'm talking 'bout. I'd go for that in a heartbeat. After driving a srw K3500 CC, I've had my eye on a dually. It's even a nice blue. A 1000+ ft lb torque potential is hard to beat.

Well, the block is cracked, cam is trashed and the crank is toast. I am guessing that I am now in the market to buy a long block. Now I have to find a good, reasonable short block. :confused:

The kit says that they are Mahle low compression Marine pistons and Mahle moly rings. This is good stuff though, right? Not junk?
If they are misrepresenting them as Mahle marine low compression pistons just how well can you trust them? How much do they know about the 6.5???