Croatan_Kid
How's your hammer hangin'?
- Joined
- Nov 4, 2007
- Location
- New Bern
I absolutely love the 01-02 bullnose look of the Chevy 2500HD trucks and I kinda wanted another diesel, so when I found a very clean 2002 2500HD with a Duramax, I went ahead and snagged it. There's zero rust, only a few cosmetic issues, and the interior was in damn good shape. It's BONE stock, except for a 4" downpipe back exhaust. I did the normal things that I do when I buy any vehicle....change the oil, check all the fluids, air filter, fuel filter, thermostat (in this case, two of them), fresh coolant, etc. Runs great, just smokes at idle and will slowly fill the crankcase up with fuel. Naturally, since it's an LB7, it needs injectors 
.
So...I went on the quest of finding out what motor I could put in it that didn't have such a problem. I was also thinking that a 6 speed Allison would be nice vs. the 5 speed.
As luck would have it, the LBZ comes with a 6 speed and I found a company that makes a wiring harness for just such a swap in an 01-02 truck. 03-04 trucks are more or less a plug and play ordeal. I also found an LBZ/6speed Allison/transfer case on Craigslist for 2500 bucks. I'd spend that much on JUST the injectors and a few seals/gaskets to get the job done and there's no telling how long the next set of injectors would last. Not to mention, I could potentially break even by selling the LB7 and 5 speed Allison!
I've heard the power difference is astonishing between the LB7 and LBZ just in stock trim, but I know it won't stay stock for long. I'm looking forward to this project and while it wasn't exactly something I planned before I bought the truck, I think it'll work out for the better in the long run.
If anybody has done this before, feel free to help me out! I'm doing as much research as I can, but can't find a whole lot of pictures. Several people have done it though and I've gathered that I need as much stuff from the LBZ donor truck as I can get my hands on.
.So...I went on the quest of finding out what motor I could put in it that didn't have such a problem. I was also thinking that a 6 speed Allison would be nice vs. the 5 speed.
As luck would have it, the LBZ comes with a 6 speed and I found a company that makes a wiring harness for just such a swap in an 01-02 truck. 03-04 trucks are more or less a plug and play ordeal. I also found an LBZ/6speed Allison/transfer case on Craigslist for 2500 bucks. I'd spend that much on JUST the injectors and a few seals/gaskets to get the job done and there's no telling how long the next set of injectors would last. Not to mention, I could potentially break even by selling the LB7 and 5 speed Allison!
I've heard the power difference is astonishing between the LB7 and LBZ just in stock trim, but I know it won't stay stock for long. I'm looking forward to this project and while it wasn't exactly something I planned before I bought the truck, I think it'll work out for the better in the long run.
If anybody has done this before, feel free to help me out! I'm doing as much research as I can, but can't find a whole lot of pictures. Several people have done it though and I've gathered that I need as much stuff from the LBZ donor truck as I can get my hands on.
