All Things Chev

[Kimbo63]

You can have a drive in my rig mark no problemo

[MB]

You can have a drive in my rig mark no problemo

Thanks Kimbo, that would be really appreciated mate !

[Kimbo63]

Thanks Kimbo, that would be really appreciated mate !

no worries it will be good for you to compare with your truck mate

[MB]

no worries it will be good for you to compare with your truck mate

For sure mate, looking forward to arriving West soon :-)

[rainsey]

O/k,

I took the truck down to the engineer in Sydney South West today to get the engine conversion and GVM upgrade all engineered.

Bit of freeway driving but a hell of a lot of bumper to bumper peek hour traffic ( a couple of hours worth ). Just filled up... 14.4l/100km.

This brings my average to 14.1 with a brand new tight engine. So this is still on par with my ZD30 engine.

I am over the moon. If this averages out as the norm, I will be no worse off fuel wise.


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[rainsey]

Oh, also checked the odometer. It is 120meters out at 500km when measured against 2 GPS's.. Speedo is out to buggery but the odometer seems all but spot on so the mileage figures I am doing my economy figures on a re pretty accurate.


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[MB]

Awesome fuel Rainsey, you gotta be happy with that mate :-)
Worthwhile I reckon getting a dyno report done now whilst it's all fresh so you could comparatively refer back to it say yearly and or after any future possible mods like exhausts/air intakes etc.. I've somehow lost mine I had done when first purchased the truck complete. To the best of my memory mine only came in just under 100kw and I think 350-400nm range being a non turbo.
Blokes have asked me why I love the 6.5 so much with numbers like that from such a big donk.
Quite simply for me it all boils down to the suited personal usage of its massive inertia with all that yanky steel chugging around at low RPM's.
As a stupid crank stressing test I can be idling at 500rpm, on flat ground, drop it into 3rd gear, release clutch without accelator and she'll take off, recovering to idle in a few metres.
(I'm running 35's and 4.3 diffs currently which I believe is one step lower than most Brunswick setups of 33's and 3.9s)
Very hard to stall these things :-) !

[rainsey]

Ha ha,

Yeah I'm sort of too scared to get it dyno'd, not sure if I really want to know how low it is in on paper performance for such a big engine. Sort of cool just being in my happy place with it.

Even if I did dyno it I'd probably have to keep the results to myself as if the figures got into the hands of members of another forum who bagged the hell out of me for going this route, they would have a field day.

Re the gearing, it is definitely an interesting beast now. I very much like driving it now compared to the ZD30. I always used to bitch about the gearing between 3rd and 4th. Whilst the gear box gearing has not changed, I definitely do not seem to find the issue any more with the changed diff gearing.

1st gear is only there to start off in for about 2 seconds, and then it is a very leisurely up shift to 5th. It is almost like the truck does not have to prove itself anymore... It just goes..
yet to tow the camper yet... Will have a crack at this next weekend.

Kindest regards

Rainsey


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[rainsey]

Well today the missus convinced me to put the camper on the back and head up to the Wattagans to play.

Again, the 6.5 is never going to break any speed records, but one thing that, no two things that never happened today:-

1: totally forgot the camper was behind the truck when I was doing some serious uphill sections.

2: I never once cursed today that my truck was a gutless piece of crap.

This is not to say that I did not get into low range but in doing so, I just walked up the sections effortlessly.

I did not quite know what to expect. Infact my expectations were probably higher than what I experienced today if I was to be truthful, but in hind sight, sections that I would have been in 2nd low range, I was in 2nd high. I actually was cruising at times in 5th without realizing it.

The only thing I did notice was that the 6.5 under load got up to temperature very fast. That said, the EGT's never got anywhere near where the ZD30 would have.

From a water temp perspective, get under load and I am hitting the high 90's. Hit 105 at one point. But my EGT's at the same point never got over 300.

With the ZD30, my water temp was always under the 95 mark, but I struggled to keep under 600 on the EGT,s.

Obviously still a learning curve from this perspective.

Fuel did take a hit today but I expected it. Have not filled up yet to find the final figure but I expect it still to be under what I would have been with the ZD30.

I think I am happy with my decision. Unfortunately I have nothing other than the original engine to compare against and this is really not a comparison.

Actually, yes I am happy with my decision. With age I have moved away from the hard core technical stuff and now need a competent tourer. I think in keeping the body I know and like and putting the bigger engine I am ahead of where I was.
time will tell.

Kindest regards
Rainey


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[MB]

Great news Rainsey :-)
I'm starting to learn from the blokes on here and abroad that bigger oil coolers maybe could be good future summer idea options and engine bay heat release vents when under heavy loads too!
Wouldn't stress too hard about your current water temp readings in winter. I've had mine up around 115D shortly heavy hauling to Adelaide in 50km head winds and she didn't pop :-) (note;good HT coolants used)
Some yanky forums I've 'read only' reckon they'll handle up to 125D but I'm sticking with this blokes advice of 99D max for longevity :-)
http://www.heathdiesel.com