Question about Engine Swaps on the M715

I have a '68 M715 with an engine that's pretty much shot. I'd like to swap it out for a diesel. I know it has been done before, but does anybody have any tips or suggestions. What engine to use? What are the pitfalls of this sort of swap? What sort of expense are we talking about?

Thanks...

Jon

These guys can also help over on the M715 zone. I've thought about putting a diesel in my M715 too. The 230 runs too good right now to make a swap though.
http://www.m715zone.com/vb/index.php

The easiest way to go is a 6.2 with a two wheel drive 465 trans behind it. Yes, the boys on the zone will give good info.

The GM 6.2 or 6.5 with trans as stated above will work very well as has Cummins 4BTs out of bread/delivery trucks with attached transmission also work.

yup. the 4bt cummings would be a great swap. the 3 i have seen had a gm th400's attached. although i haven't seen one in a 715/725. and now that i want a 4bt, i can't find one locally.

McInfantry did a 4BT/NV4500 swap in his and it performed great. He called it the M715A1. He was pretty close in my opinion.

I've done both, gas and diesel in my 715's. Here's pics of a 427TD BBC and a 6.2L GM V8 diesel. Oh, and there's enough room to fit so we better not catch you in the shop with a 'BFH' making room--

cummins swap

i,am just finnishing up a cummins 4 bt-t98 ( stock ) trans. swap now. it fits really good and isnt a hard swap . my customer wanted to keep his m715 as stock as possible with exception of tires & wheels , t-case, r&p gears and engine. turnning out really nice. i,ve drove lee ,s m715 quite a bit and was very impressed with the engine. but to be honest its the most costly swap so if your on a tight budjet a 6.2 might be a better choice. also i might add the 6.2 & 6.5 is a very problem prone engine in the bottom end. ( main webbibg cracks )
bob

RE: cummins swap

use a stud girdle on the lower end, the 6.2 is an easy swap into anything,

THE 6.2 & 6.5,S CRACK IN THE MAIN BEARING WEB OF the block, above the crank....

Cracking 6.2 blocks

I know that when I was selling remanufactured running complete 6.5 GM diesels, we had to scrap @ 80-85% of the blocks & use new castings...

That being said, the 6.2's tended to be better on longevity -

Also, I understood that the main cap bolts were switched from 12mm to 10mm in order to
leave more material in the main webs -

Tanner

RE: Cracking 6.2 blocks

I like the 6.2 diesel engine its a great engine all around

RE: Cracking 6.2 blocks

In the Mid 70s i would buy 715s and convert the to small bock chevys we did over 100 some manual some with th400 automatics the rear end gearing was always a problem yes you could change the gears but anouther thing to do and more cost. My Personal M715 has just over 200,000 miles on it, and small block #4 is about done ive decied to use the CUCV 6.2 (as it has more Horsepower than the civilan engines) attached to a beefed up 700 R4 with its transfercase this way i get an overdrive to lower engine RPMS at higher road speed and eliminate the devorced transfercase, end result more power, speed, less noise and viration.

RE: Cracking 6.2 blocks

The 715's are great platforms to dump in just about any engine you want. Neat trucks with a little lighter parts then deuces or up-

RE: Cracking 6.2 blocks

I've got a 68 with a intercooled 4bt, nv4500, dana 300, and 4 wheel disc brakes

Re: RE: Cracking 6.2 blocks

jaylsworth said:

I've got a 68 with a intercooled 4bt, nv4500, dana 300, and 4 wheel disc brakes

Click to expand...

the 6.2 is a poor choise under powered,head problems.bt4 cummins is better,but under powered.the bt6 even better except its to long,unless you fabricate and mount radiator in bed.the at6 is about 5 inches shorter,great fit,but harder to find and a little more expensive,also under powered but can be resolved easily.you will also get better mileage and and way more miles with cummins over 6.2 if you want v-8 diesel go with duramax its probably around 400lbs lighter than the 900lb+ bt6 and duramax uses chevy mounts and you can buy adapters to mount to stock frame mounts.im selling my bt6 and looking for an at6 for my m715.

"looking for an at6 for my m715." Do a search for the 6at over on the Zone. You might want to re-think.

I fit a 6.2 liter Diesel engine to my M715 a little over four year ago. Now I have about 370 engine hours on it (it was a new one from the box) and the performance is ok. I need about 17 to 18 liters a 100 km without trailer and 20 to 22 liters a 100 km with M101 trailer.

A fellow MVer close to me has a 715 with a Gama Goat powerplant and trans in it, yes a supercharged 353 Detroit and a 4 speed,NO power,LOTS O smoke and NOISE,NOISE and more NOISE!!!!,he is looking for a bell housing right now to adapt a Deuce trans to the 353 for more road speed!!!