[SRR]

Originally Posted by Ben M.

"Low opinion" because it isn't a performance monster (like a Pontiac 350) or "low opinion" because of serious design flaws and wear components (like a Pontiac 301)? I'm looking for reliability and usefulness, I am not much of a hot-rodder with a need for speed (SRR will tell you all about how strange that is for someone as young as me).

If Ben were to get a job driving Miss Daisy around she would tell him to hurry up.
Those earlier Diesels didn't have the brute power we now take for granted BUT they get good MPG and propel the truck they are in.
Hey Ben guess what I did with my old computer? Yep, I now have PY, CP and email in the garage!!! Yee-ha now I'll never get anything done. Albert suggested it after I put a clutch in his Xterra (what a beech, even for a stinking 4 popper) He had a spare 17" monitor, keyboard and set the tower up with XP. Even has a working DVD player. Works great but needs more memory (only 512K at the moment) and some speakers besides the ones in the monitor.

[Ben M.]

THe 6.2's a reliable engine but not the performer the newer engines are. I've got one in my 78 k20 4x4, straight 4spd trans, 4:10 gears and 33"tires. 20 mpg empty, 13 pulling 12k #'s against the govenor, the injection pump's turned up to the ragged edge of being a coal burner.

This is good info. I've seen a few with the 4 speed on the 'net, but none for sale. I do like the idea of a manual transmission, but I'm pretty sure that's not going to be easily findable =) As far as performer, every time I think of "diesel performance" is some knucklehead "chip"ing it and it belches black smoke while driving loudly down the road. That's not me. I drive low compression engines everywhere with 2 series gears, so screaming performance is not something I even understand, much less want ;-)

Originally Posted by SRR

Yep, I now have PY, CP and email in the garage!!! Yee-ha now I'll never get anything done.

Look at you now! You never got anything done anyways even with no computer out there ;-)

[stimpy]

I help take care of a fleet with 6.2's and 6.5's an early d maxes and a few bt6's , the 6.2's are mostly landscapers trucks and several of the high milers have spun or broke balancers but when I say high milers I mean 300K+ and its hard milage pulling heavy trailers and snowplowing , we had to pull the body off one ( i t was easy as the salt ate most of it away ) and just used the drivetrain to power a able chassis , when the balancer comes apart they last about 10 minutes .... most problems are the pressure vac pump and filters plugging/gelling ( which we ussually change out to a big truck type ) gutless wonder Yes but can't beat the milage ,especially the vans