4BE1 Defender Conversion

[94defenda]

Hi Guys,


After the death of my 300tdi in my 94' 130 I have been seriously looking at replacing the old girl with an Isuzu donk. A mechanic mate of mine has a 4BE1 in need of a rebuild that he is willing to give me. From the info ive read this engine would be a good solid conversion that would give the old girl a bit more go down low. I've fitted Great Basin Rover's 4.11's and 35's so im not looking to rebuild my 300. After reading as many threads as I could find it seems that the most common gearbox behind the Isuzu donks is either the Lt95 and 85.

Does anybody know if:

- An adapter kit is availible for the R380?

- Would custom engine mounts be required or would Isuzu powered County mounts be an option?

- Is an aftermarket turbo a relatively easy upgrade on the 4BE1 down the track and can a turbo from a 4BD1T be used?

- Are 12V alternators availible for the 4BE1?


Any help would be greatly appreciated.


Cheers,

Tim

[Vern]

What applies for the 4be1 is the same for the 4bd1, plenty of info on here.
You may want to consider changing diff ratio's though, you really want tall gearing for the Isuzu.

[87County]

...


You may want to consider changing diff ratio's though, you really want tall gearing for the Isuzu.

Easier to fit larger diameter tyres :)

[Vern]

What, larger than the 35's he already has;)

[94defenda]

Thanks Vern. After the new diff ratios and the 35's i found i had around a 10% reduction from standard. The new ring and pinions cost me a considerable amount as I bought them back when the aussie $ was worth around 70 cents, so I dont want to change them if I can get away with it. The vehicle isnt my daily driver so I donty really mind if its not a rocket ship. So the 4BE1 and 4BD1 take the same bellhousing?

[isuzurover]

Thanks Vern. After the new diff ratios and the 35's i found i had around a 10% reduction from standard. The new ring and pinions cost me a considerable amount as I bought them back when the aussie $ was worth around 70 cents, so I dont want to change them if I can get away with it. The vehicle isnt my daily driver so I donty really mind if its not a rocket ship. So the 4BE1 and 4BD1 take the same bellhousing?


All 4Bxx engines and even 6Bxx engines have the same bellhousing pattern.

[Vern]

See how you go, the 4be1 may like to rev a bit harder. Every isuzu i have driven with 35's and 3.45 gears was asking for another gear in the gearbox, i'd imagine 4.11 to be alot worse. If you keep the 4.11 you will want to change your transfer ratio from the 1.4 to a 1.003.

[isuzu110]

I had a county with a 4BE1. It revs about 300pm higher than a 4BD1.

[94defenda]

Thanks Isuzu110. Im hoping that extra 300 rpm might get me out of trouble.

After doing a few calculations, at 100km/h it should be sitting on around 2750 rpm.. Does that sound right?

Does anybody know where I could source an adapter kit to fit an R380?


Thanks,

Tim

[Vern]

That's about 700rpm to much.

[94defenda]

Although driving down the highway at 80 kms/h isnt really going to bother me, like you said before Vern, the 1.003:1 LT230 is probably my best option. Are these transfer easily available? From what I've read the Defenders were 1.4 and the Discos/ Rangies were 1.2..

[Ancient Mariner]

Have a look at the Ashcroft site they have a ratio calculator .As Vern said about 700 to high .Ideal revs at cruise should be fairly close to max torque revs

AM

[Vern]

The 1.003 came in the first of the auto rangies with the 727 box and later in the county I think. There are two variations from memory, a needle roller and a taper roller, taper being the better. 26D is the suffix number.

[Jock The Rock]

AFAIK there is no bolt on adaptor kit

Have a chat to CHT on this forum, he is one of the few people running an R380 behind an Isuzu. I'm pretty sure he had his custom made from an LT85 belhousing

[garryseries3]

AFAIK there is no bolt on adaptor kit

Have a chat to CHT on this forum, he is one of the few people running an R380 behind an Isuzu. I'm pretty sure he had his custom made from an LT85 belhousing

There are a couple of businesses that do the adaptor conversion I looked at it a few years ago and bought a LT85 Isuzu and R380 bell housing to get the conversion done but have never gone through with it and proberly never will. So if interested let us know, CHT can fill you in on his conversion.
Garry

[C H T]

AFAIK there is no bolt on adaptor kit

Have a chat to CHT on this forum, he is one of the few people running an R380 behind an Isuzu. I'm pretty sure he had his custom made from an LT85 belhousing

Jock is correct - we modified an LT85 bell housing by fitting the rear of an R380 bell housing to the front of the LT85 bell housing. The vehicle has now done about 240,000ks with an R380 behind a factory turbo 4BD1T and all still going strong. (5 times across the Simpson; extensive travel in the outback and the high country up and down the east coast etc etc).

C H T

[marcov]

Jock is correct - we modified an LT85 bell housing by fitting the rear of an R380 bell housing to the front of the LT85 bell housing. The vehicle has now done about 240,000ks with an R380 behind a factory turbo 4BD1T and all still going strong. (5 times across the Simpson; extensive travel in the outback and the high country up and down the east coast etc etc).

C H T

Hi CHT, Hope alls well with the Rover. Is the 4BD1T powered R380 still going 6 years on? I've just entered into defender ownership, and left a bit wanting on the power department. Looking to convert as I have a 4BD that needs a rebuild in the shed. Any updates and lessons learned would be appreciated.

[C H T]

Hi CHT, Hope alls well with the Rover. Is the 4BD1T powered R380 still going 6 years on? I've just entered into defender ownership, and left a bit wanting on the power department. Looking to convert as I have a 4BD that needs a rebuild in the shed. Any updates and lessons learned would be appreciated.

Marcov The 4BD1T/R380 is still going exceptionally well. The gearbox has now been behind the engine for roughly 300,000ks and is still going strong. The package works very well everywhere - from sand hills to rainforest and steep country. I can see no reason to use any other gearbox - the gear ratios with a 1.2:1 high-range transfer case are very well suited to the engine's power and torque characteristics. lift off torque is far better than the 300Tdi that was in the vehicle originally. The only negative with the Isuzu is the fact that it is governed to a bit above 3200 RPM which can be a slight hindrance on very long steep climbs in sand - gear selection becomes critical.

After nearly 13 years with the Isuzu in the vehicle, and with 300Tdi and TD5 experience, I sill think that a factory turbo 4BD1T is the best diesel option.

I will send you a PM with my phone number if you would like to give me a call.
C H T

PS It is very important to set up the engine etc correctly, especially if you turbo a naturally aspirated engine - there are some turbo options that are being used but my view is that the best turbo is the same as fitted to a factory turbo 4BD2T - I can supply the part number, and they are available ex Garrett Australia.

[Vern]

That turbo is a garret tb2568, its does the job fine if you are not trying to get max allowable power from the engine.

[C H T]

That turbo is a garret tb2568, its does the job fine if you are not trying to get max allowable power from the engine.

If I remember rightly it is a 466409-2 - I have just ordered a new one to replace mine which has come up due for replacement. Existing turbo was upgraded to 4BD2t spec many years ago and works exceptionally well hence going for another one.

FWIW

C H T

[Vern]

If I remember rightly it is a 466409-2 - I have just ordered a new one to replace mine which has come up due for replacement. Existing turbo was upgraded to 4BD2t spec many years ago and works exceptionally well hence going for another one.

FWIW

C H TYes, i have the same one on my county