I'm at high elevation, so that effectively reduces the high-static-compression.
I'm wanting an Olds diesel in my '84 trans Am. If I go with the 350 V8 version, I will do the best ARP Pro-series with the Victor-Reinz.
I'd want to boost it to 200 HP.
Can it be done?
If not, can the Olds 4.3L V6 be boosted to 150 HP?
One or the other, the real question is: which?

Your lucky that engine has not handgrenaded N/A. I sure as hell would not put a turbo on it.

Your lucky that engine has not handgrenaded N/A. I sure as hell would not put a turbo on it.

What?
I don't have either one.
I'm waiting for dieselolds to answer. But I didn't PM, so everyone can learn.

I'm at high elevation, so that effectively reduces the high-static-compression.
I'm wanting an Olds diesel in my '84 trans Am. If I go with the 350 V8 version, I will do the best ARP Pro-series with the Victor-Reinz.
I'd want to boost it to 200 HP.
Can it be done?
If not, can the Olds 4.3L V6 be boosted to 150 HP?
One or the other, the real question is: which?

sure it can be done, it has been done, theres a guy on y-tube, you probably seen it already... dieselolds is the man for this, and dont listen to those that spread negative, if theres a will theres a way.... the 6.2l was not designed for a turbo either, and just look now at all the turbo 6.2l trucks running around.... the most important part will be which turbo, i would not use a gm turbo unless you keep the boost under 8 psi... you looking for 200hp at the wheels? if so, you might be looking for trouble, i would suggest fire ringing the block to make the gaskets stronger... i take it the olds diesel is to make a statement, otherwise you would be using a 6.2l..... either way we are subscribed, should be a cool conversion for sure... got any pics of the car? is it a shaker hood style?

:nopics:

Thank you!
Mine has the hood with the bulge on the driver's side.
The Olds is for MPG as much as for something different, and will be technically an emissions-legal swap.
I wasn't thinking RWHP, since the pump is supposed to be limited to 25 HP per cylinder. If I can get 200 HP at the crankshaft, at 4500' elevation where I live, then I'll be very happy.
I was thinking maybe the turbo off an early '90s Mitsu Eclipse, since those made 210 HP.
I'll be adapting it to a 700R-4, so I can keep my stock torque-arm, and using a 3.54:1 gear with 27" tires.
I already test-fitted my 6.2 into this car, it wouldn't go. I'm not willing to notch the crossmember, and I didn't have a spare oil pan to modify. So I found another pickup truck for my 6.2
It came out of an '83 C-10, and is now sitting in a '79 C-20.
So, I may install a gasoline 4.3L Chevy V6 while hunting / building a diesel 350 from '84 or '85, to keep it truly legal.

4.3 will be a much better motor.

The biggest weakness of the Olds 350 was the gasser crank.

I use to work for Olds many years ago and I worked for a guy who was on that project when it was developed. His favorite story was the doomed at launch 350 Diesel. Bean counters wouldn't let them swap out the crank in the gas-to-diesel conversion. He was raised on a farm and knew Diesel dynamics. He insisted it was a must and that the gasser crank would not survive. told them it would come back to haunt them -- and it did. It cost Olds Millions in warranty and probably another $1B in lost vehicle sales over the following 2 decades.

Sounds like a neat nostalgic hobby build with a few inherent shortcomings. The 4.3 V6 was a good little Diesel for that era but never had a prayer under the dark cloud of the 350.

I'm at high elevation, so that effectively reduces the high-static-compression.
I'm wanting an Olds diesel in my '84 trans Am. If I go with the 350 V8 version, I will do the best ARP Pro-series with the Victor-Reinz.
I'd want to boost it to 200 HP.
Can it be done?
If not, can the Olds 4.3L V6 be boosted to 150 HP?
One or the other, the real question is: which?

The olds though is a fragile engine.The weakest link is the lack of clamping force upon the headgaskets.With only 10 bolts per bank,you can see why this is a problem.ARP fasteners do add tremendous reliablity though.Especially on engines such as the olds diesel.

I slapped on a set of aluminum under-drive pulleys and boy,did it ever wake both engines up.It was a cheap bolt on,but the engine performed much,much better.It really suprised me after I bolted them on.

The olds 5.7 is a short stroke engine.It was never designed for high amounts of power output but just to deliver decent fuel economy.

I equipped both of my olds engines with ARP fasteners in critical areas but both of mine are just naturally aspirated.I left the max fuel rating alone on both injection pumps and set the timing exactly to specification.For me,naturally aspirated is just fine.

Can you turbo it?Sure you can.You'll of course need to use head studs and it would'nt hurt to use main studs either.I know of a guy on youtube that turbocharged his olds diesel but he had the pistons machined to lower the compression ratio just a tad.I also believe he had the engine punched out to accept .020 oversize pistons.

The biggest weakness of the Olds 350 was the gasser crank.

I use to work for Olds many years ago and I worked for a guy who was on that project when it was developed. His favorite story was the doomed at launch 350 Diesel. Bean counters wouldn't let them swap out the crank in the gas-to-diesel conversion. He was raised on a farm and knew Diesel dynamics. He insisted it was a must and that the gasser crank would not survive. told them it would come back to haunt them -- and it did. It cost Olds Millions in warranty and probably another $1B in lost vehicle sales over the following 2 decades.

Sounds like a neat nostalgic hobby build with a few inherent shortcomings. The 4.3 V6 was a good little Diesel for that era but never had a prayer under the dark cloud of the 350.

Actually,the crank used in the 5.7 diesel does not come from any other oldsmobile gas engine.It shares the 3" main bearing journals like those used on the olds 455 gasoline engine for strength purposes but the similarities end there.The stroke on the 5.7 olds is 3.385" whereas the stroke on the olds 455 is much different.The crankshaft on the olds diesel is only a cast nodular design.

Small block olds 260,307,350,403 use the 2.5" main bearing journals and many of those blocks were "windowed".The olds diesel does not have a "windowed block".

Quality control issues with cranks were probably the issue and definately lack of head bolts per bank.

ahh yes -- that story is 25 years old so I forgot about the cast crank. He said he was in planning meetings calling them crazy and pounding his fist on the desk :D They went ahead with the cast crank to save money. Bean counters aren't mechanics :nono:

ahh yes -- that story is 25 years old so I forgot about the cast crank. He said he was in planning meetings calling them crazy and pounding his fist on the desk :D They went ahead with the cast crank to save money. Bean counters aren't mechanics :nono:

Well if the cranks were forged and the head bolt quantity per bank were increased,things would have been much different but to reduce costs,cast iron cranks were used and of course that came back to haunt GM dearly.

The 4.3 V6 olds diesel held up better with head gaskets since two additional head bolts were used to increase clamping load on the gaskets.The two extra bolts were slightly smaller than the rest,but never-the-less it did the job adequately.

i think that fire ringing the block and machining the piston down could go a long way to making it boost worthy... fire ring it like this.....tooling costs less than $400.00 (including hammer, allen keys, feeler gauges, etc...). This combined with the ARP head studs is a good upgrade for any head gasket.

i think that fire ringing the block and machining the piston down could go a long way to making it boost worthy... fire ring it like this.....tooling costs less than $400.00 (including hammer, allen keys, feeler gauges, etc...). This combined with the ARP head studs is a good upgrade for any head gasket.

Nicely done:)Awesome job there.Fire ringing definately adds reliability.

Nicely done:)Awesome job there.Fire ringing definately adds reliability.

yeah check out the build in 6.2l.. replacement motor... in point of fact the fire ringing is awesome, too bad the motor blew 200km after we built it...:eek:... threw the 2nd connecting rod bearing(1/8" slack in the rod now) maybe a scrap-yard used oil cooler, or the HV oilpump drained the oilpan dry(starved)... we had crazy oil pressure fluctuations with it.... we have not did the autopsy yet, just pulled the pan, then built another... the fire rings are holding good on the replacement-replacement motor though...

HV pumps do suck the sump pretty darn fast.I know they were used on 6.5 diesels with oil squirter blocks.I put new rod and main bearings in my 6.2 but I just used a new standard replacement oil pump.

I like the idea of a turbo. I am hoping to build a high powered 5.7 to replace my stock motor in a 84 olds 88. I have a new block (never bored) with splayed main caps & studs. Thought of going with 9/16 head bolts and fire rings. Any suggestions or input for making 200HP at the crank that will live in a DD?