Hey folks. New to the site and figured I'd have a better chance of eating my own face than finding advice anywhere else but here. I just got myself a 1986 Chevy suburban 4x4....for $1000. Took it to my brother who is ASE certified and everything seems to be in order. Which means I just got a tank on the cheap. But to cut to the chase:

What should I do to this thing?  

 I already have plans for a 6.2/6.5 diesel. Found some donor trucks for that. Like the idea of a programmer for it too. Buit what else should I toss on? I live in the deserts of AZ so I wasz thinking maybe a better radiator and electric cooling fans. Trans cooler and such. Already have a 6in lift on the way (NO BLOCKS DAMMIT!) Have plans for a winch at some point. Anyone have any other ideas? And thanks for your time in advance.  

I would suggest maybe a gas motor as it would handle heat better. (you do not want to overheat a diesel) You do need to regear truck if you have not already done so. I consider this a must do if you want it to run wheel and have drive train last too. A burb is a heavy vehicle (I still own a 89 that I bought new) and it needs serious gears to make it go with a lift. Based on your lift you need to be thinking of 4.88 to 5.13 gears. Do not let these numbers scare you because the .7 OD of a 700R4 negates it cruising. These gears will make it get with the program rather than be a slug at times.  

I WOULD KEEP YOUR PLANS ON THE 6.5TD FOR THE SUB,YOU CAN BUILD GREAT POWER AND HAVE RELIABILTY,GOOD MILEAGE,AND GOOD PULLING POWER TOO.
I HAD A 82 6.2 DIESEL AND THE THING HAD GOOD POWER AND THE BEST MILEAGE I GOT OUT OF A TANK OF FUEL WAS 22MPG.
THE 6.2/6.5 STAYS PRETTY COOL TOO, GO TO (THE DIESEL PAGE),UNDER (MORE POWER!!! FOR THE 6.5TD)THEY SHOW YOU HOW TO BEEF THE DIESEL UP AND HANDLE 105+ DEGREE TEMP AND STILL NOT GET HOTTER THAN 205.GOOD FOR THE AZ HEAT!
I HAD A 4" FLOWMASTER KIT PUT ON FROM THE CROSS OVER PIPES BACK AND SOUNDED GREAT!
SO KEEP IT AND HAVE FUN W/IT

ROCK ON!!!!  

Not knocking a 6.2 but they are a lot more expensive to fix when old and can be very fussy in cold weather. As far as MPG, I have gotten as high as 19 with my 89 on a trip. It is not lifted and it has stock type "C" rated Michelin tires running near max pressure and constantly does 17 to 18 MPG on road even with A/C. It has never hit even 210 in 105 plus temps in Nebraska with A/C chilling. Old gas motors are simpler to fix and fuel for them is cheaper too and a lot more flexible off road because of a very wide power band and weight less too. Also consider that off road even the slightest ingested water slug can destroy a oil burner due to its high CR leaving little "safe" room for a water slug. A gas motor can suck a lot more water by accident and live.  

if you plan on running in water the 6.2/6.5 is pretty easy to seal off. about the only way the water can come in is through the intake plenum/and you dont have an ignition sytem to get wet(cap-rotor-plugs-wires-coil) like on a 350.dont get me wrong the 350 is a great powerful, reliable engine but theres more ways to get a 350 wet than a 6.5.
the trans should be a 700r4 and i would beef it up as well because my 6.2 ate 4-5 trannys before the last one had B&M guts put in and since then no problems.and definetly put a tranny cooler on if it dont have one on.  

you know...i wish i wasnt a stupid kid back then (15yrs agocause i would still have my diesel it was an awesome p-up...last i heard it was a chase vehicle running in the baja 500-1000! so that sucks to hear that too  

I am not worried about outside of engine, I am worried about splash induction. A old gas motor is tuff to beat off road for simplicity, reliability and power band. As far as you multiple tranny failures I would suspect that you where running stock gears. 700R4 can fail early with stock gear and lifts because the ride stall and slow bake.  

I am not worried about outside of engine, I am worried about splash induction. A old gas motor is tuff to beat off road for simplicity, reliability and power band. As far as you multiple tranny failures I would suspect that you where running stock gears. 700R4 can fail early with stock gear and lifts because they ride converter stall in top gears and slow bake.  

at the time of the tranny failure the p-up was stock height and 373s.only after the last beefed rebuild did i put a 4" lift w35" and never had a problem w/trans...it was a great rig
you wouldnt worry about splash induction if you run some type of snorkel above the cab,unless you do a swan dive off some bank! lol
everybody has there pros and cons on the 6.2/6.5 but i stand behind them  

alot of people put down the gm diesels but if you have knowledge about them and arnt afraid of them then you can do wonders to them, and nevermind what other people say about them  

I am not putting down a GM diesel. I am questioning is application here. Diesels do their best with a fairly constant load like a highway cruise or in a farm tractor plowing a field. They are not at there best when asked to operate over a wide RPM range which is required for true hard core off road. Gas engines thrive here and gas is cheaper the diesel these day negating most if not all of operating cost difference. Also, I would not want a truck with a silly snorkel on it to get caught in brush and detract lines just to try to prevent it from trashing in a big splash. Diesel are always sucking air even with foot out of it and when turbo'd they are like vacuum cleaners off road. Gas engine are not and when you get out of a gas motor, the air intake is nil and therefore its likelyhood of ingesting water too.  

go to project vehicles on this site and go to page 5 or 6
and look for (CHEVROLET BLAZER DIESEL-PROJECT BLAZER) it shows them adding a banks sidewinder on a 6.2 giving it good power and crawling on the rocks w/it too  

cut out the fenders, put the bushwacker flares on slap a set of load range E swampers @38.15.50 ,a set of detroits,in the 60's with 513 gears,a big ole rack on top so you can mount the lights and cb antenna on, a mattress in the back ..cause your gonna enjoy it so much you aint ever going home..Maybe...  

cut out the fenders, put the bushwacker flares on slap a set of load range E swampers @38.15.50 ,a set of detroits,in the 60's with 513 gears,a big ole rack on top so you can mount the lights and cb antenna on, a mattress in the back ..cause your gonna enjoy it so much you aint ever going home..Maybe...  

I do not need to go, I know the 6.2 well. It is a good motor to plug around in but it can not hold a match to a nice 350 in peak torque or RPM range. The 6.2 has prechambers  which do not turbo charge well for power gained and the 6.2 has weak heads too and boost it more than 5 to 7 PSI you can be buying new heads. It is best left unboosted. The 6.5 is kinda a improved 6.2 with stronger heads and a few more cubes so it can take some boost but even then I would not go much over 12 PSI or so if you want it to be solid and indirect injections engines (prechambers) do not yield big returns on boost like DI engine do. When I bought my burb new I was getting ready to order one (a 90) after looking for several months when I found this 89 I have now. I seriously debated getting a 6.2 at the time but I am REALLY glad that I did not. This 350 has been a jewel and runs well even today after over 180K miles. I have not put 300 bucks into it in over 18 years except for tires, brakes and oil changes. The "biggest" repairs where a water pump about 8 years ago and TBI to intake manifold gasket about a two years later and a new custom single exhaust with a flowmaster about same time. Thats it! had it been a 6.2 I would have been through few expensive injector pumps for sure, a set of glow plugs and maybe even more on engine. BTW,  TBI 350's respond well to about 6 to 8 degrees advance of timing and higher octane fuel. It wakes them up and improves MPG too. If you run them on 87, they do not do their best and if you advance timing with 87 it will knock. With my 40 gallon tank I can go around 600 miles on highway with still a 6 to 8 gallon reserve   and 500 miles is nothing. I have started and ran this burb at 40 below and once traveled almost 600 miles with temps of 15 below and colder and near blizzard conditions and never had to worry about it starting right now or fuel possible gelling because it was not mixed right. Back in 80's and early to mid 90s' this was a big problem too. Serious OTR rigs have heated fuel tanks and heated fuel lines and filters so this is not a issue for them as long as rig is running.