300 tdi 5 sp conversion - anyone done a build thread ?

[Ean Austral]

Gday All,

Tossing up changing the 1990 3.9 to a 300tdi . done a search and see plenty mention it , but ,has anyone done a tutorial or a build thread ?

Past experience tells me a donor D1 would be the way to go , guessing re-welding engine mounts - that's not a biggie. Anything else that might throw a curve ball ?

Thanks and cheers Ean

[weeds]

The guys around the corner from me has done two from memory, I’ve checked out his LSE conversion and pretty ute he had done another........both using D1 Auto’s.

He is grey nomading these days in his D4

[Scouse]

There's a few ideas & links in this thread:
300tdi into RRC Advice

[bee utey]

The mechanicals are a doddle, having the donor vehicle nearby allows you to measure and cut easily. There will be a number of possible issues such as rocker cover clearance under the plenum, not sure if the '91 is much different to the '87 I did recently. A bit of reshaping was needed on that.

Wiring too, unlike the soft dash where the TDi is a plug in fit you'll need to adapt the two harnesses. I used the TDi engine harness and adapted it to reach the various connections on the RRC. Using the TDi under bonnet fuse box allows you to fuse a few more things than the original RRC. I stripped a lot of wires out of the TDi harness where the RRC had those functions already, e.g. condenser fans.

The intercooler fouls on the passenger side chassis rail brackets for left hand drive models, they can be cut off easily before refitting the replacement engine.

Not sure but I think you should be able to use the D1 pedal box, haven't done a manual conversion yet.

Lastly there's the air cond hoses but that shouldn't pose too many difficulties for you.

[DoubleChevron]

The mechanicals are a doddle, having the donor vehicle nearby allows you to measure and cut easily. There will be a number of possible issues such as rocker cover clearance under the plenum, not sure if the '91 is much different to the '87 I did recently. A bit of reshaping was needed on that.

Wiring too, unlike the soft dash where the TDi is a plug in fit you'll need to adapt the two harnesses. I used the TDi engine harness and adapted it to reach the various connections on the RRC. Using the TDi under bonnet fuse box allows you to fuse a few more things than the original RRC. I stripped a lot of wires out of the TDi harness where the RRC had those functions already, e.g. condenser fans.

The intercooler fouls on the passenger side chassis rail brackets for left hand drive models, they can be cut off easily before refitting the replacement engine.

Not sure but I think you should be able to use the D1 pedal box, haven't done a manual conversion yet.

Lastly there's the air cond hoses but that shouldn't pose too many difficulties for you.

wouldn't the diesel only need one wire to its stop solenoid ..... so it could run ? It should simplify everything hugely!

[loanrangie]

wouldn't the diesel only need one wire to its stop solenoid ..... so it could run ? It should simplify everything hugely!

Yes but still need to route the harness to the ancillaries.

[Vern]

wouldn't the diesel only need one wire to its stop solenoid ..... so it could run ? It should simplify everything hugely!

Yes, thats all i did when i fit the 4bd1 to me soft dash, cut most of the engine harness out, found the few engine ancillary wires needed, and re routed them, piece of cake

[bee utey]

wouldn't the diesel only need one wire to its stop solenoid ..... so it could run ? It should simplify everything hugely!

Stop solenoid, starter, oil pressure light, alternator feed and warning light, a/c compressor, tacho, condenser fan switch, reverse lights, neutral park switch come to mind. You have the choice of running a rats nest of new connections to the old V8 ends or using the factory diesel harness and carefully adapting that under the dash where most of the wires actually originate.

Like car paint jobs, vehicle wiring shouldn't be done by the electrical equivalent of rattle can wielders.

[bee utey]

Also don't be tempted to reuse the original V8 muffler just because it fits. Lower back pressure and a mild note can be achieved by fitting a nice big straight through muffler to the middle and losing the resonator.