M1028: Turbo 6.2 or 6.5 swap?

[TortoiseSixTwo]

I have an M1028 CUCV in reasonable stock condition. I have done a bit of work on it, chiefly rebuilding the transmission and sending the IP to Huckstorf for a rebuild. I recently obtained a stock turbo civilian '96 6.5 engine, an aftermarket PMD relocate kit for the DB-4, and extra DB-4, and a set of marine injectors. I would like to hear some advice about which path would be the best to take to get some improved power out of the truck:

1: Swap the 6.5 in in place of the 6.2, stock

2: Swap the 6.5 in in place of the 6.2, with the DB-2 IP from the 6.2, the marine injectors, and the gear-driven timing from the 6.2 in place of the 6.5's timing chain.

3: Keep the 6.2 in place, but replace the passenger side manifold and add the turbo from the 6.5 to it, and swap the injectors.

 

[Barrman]

What are your end goals for the truck?

I ask because the 6.2 has the small throat combustion chambers. While the 6.5 has bigger throats. If you are just going to be cruising around at 50 mph empty and don’t want to slow down on hills and maybe accelerate 0-50 .001 second faster then putting the turbo on the 6.2 will be just right and your mpg will probably go up.

Putting in the 6.5 will have you using a little more fuel and more time on boost before coolant temps get out of control climbing hills aggressively or towing.

Either way, the cross over pipe will be in the way of the front drive shaft. Getting the down pipe to run inside the frame rails is another issue.