Diesel Chevy Blazer

[farmboy12]

Do you guys have an opinion on a good price for the following-

1984 Chevy 5/8 ton Diesel Blazer
-4x4
-4 or 5 speed manual; a little late but not bad
-military used, just released
-heavy duty bumpers
-38,000 miles
-second row of seats
-pintle
-rust through only inside front fenders, and bottom of tailgate
- runs great

What's a good price to pay for that? Seller's price is unknown, haven't asked yet. Thanks!


Kyle

 

[Diamondpilot]

I am guessing its a 6.2 or a 6.5 in which case I would not give a dime for. The reason it only has 38,000 miles on it is it probally spent most of its life in the service bay getting wrenched on.

Chris

 

[farmboy12]

It has a 6.2. Actually, military vehicles get very few miles put on them. I've seen big 6x6 trucks that are much older (usually 60s), that have only 20,000-30,000.


Kyle

 

[farmboy12]

In fact, I just saw one. An 8x6 that has been used from '91 to now, when it was put up for sale. I've seen it up since about mid-'08. Still, almost 20 years old with- just over 9k miles.


Kyle

 

[Runner]

Even if it had a bad engine, it might be a fun vehicle to drop a big block in if you could buy it cheap enough....

 

[farmboy12]

A big block?! I'd stay diesel for sure.


Kyle

 

[JESSE1]

I bought an '83 GMC Jimmy new with the 6.2 and auto overdrive trans. Got great fuel mileage and had decent power. Never had any problems with the engine but the trans blew at around 50,000 miles.
I think the 6.2's can be rebuilt and beefed up. Banks used to make a turbo kit for them. In stock trim they only made about 130 hp and 250 torque but that was good for about 22 mpg.
Had a new '82 GMC 2500 that blew 2 head gaskets within the first 3 months I had it. Traded it for a new '82 3500 dually and by the time I traded it (while it was still in warranty) it had blown 2 headgaskets and cracked a head.

 

[farmboy12]

Very interesting story, Jesse.

Also, very sorry, and I feel pretty stupid, but the tranny is an auto.


Kyle

 

[Builder]

Buddy of mine had one in college. No speed demon but we wheeled the bijeeziz out of that thing. It was tough off road!

I rode in a GMC 1&1/4 ton 4x4 ex-military and it had lockers front & rear. Even had an engagement knob on the dash for it. It had the 6.2L. Yeah, it was a dog, but what diesel in a light truck wasn't a dog back then?

If it's good enough for the military, it's probably good enough for me. If it has a manual trans, that's much easier to maintain on a vehicle that old.

 

[JESSE1]

The Blazer/Jimmy and 1/2 ton pickups with the 6.2 were classified light duty emissions. The 3/4 and 1 tons were heavy duty emissions. Supposed to have been a difference in the heads. Most of the head gasket problems were with the heavy duty emission trucks. I was told the heads were not milled flat from the factory. Don't know if that was the reason for the headgasket problems but sounds likely.
These are real simple engines compared to what we have today. Can't compare the performance to the new trucks but they ran pretty good for their day.

 

[Builder]

Even if it had a bad engine, it might be a fun vehicle to drop a big block in if you could buy it cheap enough....

Heck, even a 4 bolt 350 would make that truck run great.

 

[farmboy12]

Buddy of mine had one in college. No speed demon but we wheeled the bijeeziz out of that thing. It was tough off road!

I rode in a GMC 1&1/4 ton 4x4 ex-military and it had lockers front & rear. Even had an engagement knob on the dash for it. It had the 6.2L. Yeah, it was a dog, but what diesel in a light truck wasn't a dog back then?

If it's good enough for the military, it's probably good enough for me. If it has a manual trans, that's much easier to maintain on a vehicle that old.

I wish it had a manual...


Kyle

 

[atgreene]

I just sold my '82 1/2 ton diesel 6.2. Great little runner, no power, but great for plowing. They were a tough motor when properly set-up and maintained.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Heck, even a 4 bolt 350 would make that truck run great.

My father in law has that era Chevy 3/4 ton that had a 6.2 and that is what he had to do. Could not keep the diesel running. It was before my time but he still has the truck although it gets 30# lighter each year due to the rust.

Chris

 

[DieselPower]

Having worked at a GM dealership I to dispise the 6.2/6.5 engines. The owners seemed to have them in the shop more than on the road. Now having said that I also run across people who have them, love them and never seem to have problems. Being a mechanic you get to see all the bad ones. Stil seemed like there were numerous more complaints with them than praise. I just got done doing a engine swap in one of these trucks last month. Got a 4 cylinder 3.9 B series Cummins (just a 5.9 with 2 cylinders wacked off) out of a old chip delivery truck. Did a some tweeking on the fuel system, installed gen-set injectors and put a slightly larger turbo on it. That baby will smoke the rear tires now.

 

[newbury]

First of all the OP said military, so he means surplus.
These vehicles are being cleared from inventory. If you can get a half dozen and wrench them together you probably can get two or more vehicles, but at least one. My brother-in-law bought about a half dozen and has two good runners and a bunch of parts cars.
The basic quality of the vehicle was pretty good, the main problem was the nut that held the wheel. Very few drivers were concerned much about the vehicle, but then a lot of them spent their entire mileage on military posts with low speed limits.

 

[crashz]

I have had two 6.2L diesel pickups, one of which still resides with me, repowered with a 454 back when gas was 96 cents/gallon. I could tell you a myriad of horror stories regarding them, however once running, they ran like champs and got great fuel economy. 90% of the problems related to getting them started. The one I traded had a ton of miles (I can't remember now but it was well over 200K) and literally rusted away, otherwise I'd still be using it.

With enough time and money, these can be great trucks. One caution, the military trucks use a 24 volt system.