F1 6x6 Engine Conversion

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Originally Posted by 101 Ron

For on road work the 4x4 was better and it had the same size body on the back.
The best and easist conversion is a V8 petrol crate engine and no gearing corrections would be needed and performance would be brilliant, but that is not what you are looking for.
With diesel you would be looking for Three different ratio diff centres.
The diesel would really need to be a in line motor.
Extensive sound deading would be needed and difficult to install enough in a limited space.
Power steering with the extra weight of a diesel would be a must.
Standard gearbox is a very good one, but you need to learn the old ways of gear changing which many people are not prepared to do anymore.

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I definitely considered a Mk3/4 as well, however the chassis didn't quite have the length. If I am not mistaken, the trays are different size and are 4x4/6x6 specific.
I'm not following on the three different ratio diff centres, do you mean each diff centre will need a different ratio? What is the reason for that?

Sound deadening will be done through CLD tiles, CCF and MLV. I have a fair bit of experience with these on past projects so while I'm not expecting a quiet ride, I think with ceramic shielding under the cowl/body and the above on the inside it will be quite bearable.

I was lucky to be taught double clutching and speed matching as a kid, though I must admit it's been a long time since driving anything of the sort so it will take a little to get used to :)

bodies on a 4x4 and a 6x6 interchange.
The 6x6 has jerrycan/tool box behind cabin ?
To change overall gear ratios , the easy way would be to change out all three diff centres for ones of higher ratio, assuming you can find higher ratio items from another model truck which used the same type of diff.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 101 Ron

bodies on a 4x4 and a 6x6 interchange.
The 6x6 has jerrycan/tool box behind cabin ?
To change overall gear ratios , the easy way would be to change out all three diff centres for ones of higher ratio, assuming you can find higher ratio items from another model truck which used the same type of diff.

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Ahah! That makes sense, I got a bit confused between the cab body and tray. Yes, the 6x6's did have jerry can/tool box's behind the cabin, well at least some from what I have seen. There are differences between the tray's on the back, but yes, cabs are the same.

And yes, all three centres will be changed out if gearing needs to be sorted, that won't be a problem. For a moment I thought you meant all three would need to be different ratio's (as in separately/independant ratios) and that had me scratching my head.

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What I meant was the rear tray/body is the same on both the 6x6 and 4x4.
The Australian army International series was extremely inter changeable.
There was slight differences with the driver cabins between earlier and later versions.
The 4x4 had a syncro clark? 5 speed gearbox while the 6x6 had a much bigger Australian made one off 5 speed constant mesh gearbox.
transfercases were the same.
6x6 have stepdown boxes on the rear diffs, not for gearing purposes, but for tailshaft and ground clearance purposes.

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Originally Posted by OVR1

Haha, no problem :p

Lots of good info there, thanks. I am not familiar with the 6BB1, is this is earlier variant of 6BD1's?

I have a few considerations with heat, there is a company out of the UK that makes a flexible ceramic heatshield which has been picked up by Formula One and other racing circles the last couple years. They make various thickness aluminium backed pads and one gold. The thick aluminium sheet reflects/stops heat absorption by 85% and the gold works to 98%. Quite expensive for the thicker aluminium sheet ($300 for a 500x900 sheet), but in relativity to what it is doing I think entirely worth it.

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The 6BB1 is an earlier or at least smaller capacity 327CID (5393cc) Isuzu engine used in the early SBR trucks the 6BD1 was 5785cc and came in both NA and Turbo variants. The Isuzu turbo variants have oil squirters under the pistons to keep them cool and therefore are more reliable. I like the B series Isuzu engines because they are still mechanical. No electronics or common rail problems or radio interference.

You can get ceramic done in Oz, a Land Rover mechanic friend recently designed a set of extractors for a Land Rover straight six, in production (Moorebank Sydney) the sets are ceramic coated. The heat output of the extractors is noticeably less than the standard manifold. There is no reason why you couldn't have the standard manifold and the engine/turbo pipe ceramic coated before fitting. Not sure if you could also have the turbo coated too.

They could probably ceramic coat heat shields once you had designed then for the truck.

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Originally Posted by 101 Ron

What I meant was the rear tray/body is the same on both the 6x6 and 4x4.
The Australian army International series was extremely inter changeable.
There was slight differences with the driver cabins between earlier and later versions.
The 4x4 had a syncro clark? 5 speed gearbox while the 6x6 had a much bigger Australian made one off 5 speed constant mesh gearbox.
transfercases were the same.
6x6 have stepdown boxes on the rear diffs, not for gearing purposes, but for tailshaft and ground clearance purposes.

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Ah, ok. I had been told contrary and that there were differences in the tray's between 4x4 and 6x6. Thanks for clearing that up and the extra info, much appreciated.

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Originally Posted by Lotz-A-Landies

The 6BB1 is an earlier or at least smaller capacity 327CID (5393cc) Isuzu engine used in the early SBR trucks the 6BD1 was 5785cc and came in both NA and Turbo variants. The Isuzu turbo variants have oil squirters under the pistons to keep them cool and therefore are more reliable. I like the B series Isuzu engines because they are still mechanical. No electronics or common rail problems or radio interference.

You can get ceramic done in Oz, a Land Rover mechanic friend recently designed a set of extractors for a Land Rover straight six, in production (Moorebank Sydney) the sets are ceramic coated. The heat output of the extractors is noticeably less than the standard manifold. There is no reason why you couldn't have the standard manifold and the engine/turbo pipe ceramic coated before fitting. Not sure if you could also have the turbo coated too.

They could probably ceramic coat heat shields once you had designed then for the truck.

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Cheers Lotz-A-Landies. The 6BD1T is still looking like a great engine. My main draw back is lack of experience with WVO/Biodiesel. I might start searching more though over the next month and see what I can find.

Yes, will definitely get the manifolds ceramic coated and wrap them with an exhaust wrap. The tiles I mentioned are called Zircoflex by a company named Zircotec (bit of an odd name really), check them out if you like. They are quite unique in the automotive application in that they are a self adhesive type roll and can easily be stuck on the underside of cabs/firewalls etc. They run just under a mm thick with the reflective coating.

I have been concerned that trapping too much heat under the cab and not allowing it to escape through conducting into the cab may actually make the engine work too hard. Any thoughts?

One good thing about Isuzu diesels is that the cabs of the trucks rust away so the engines become available. I think you have to go to the 6BG1-T engines to get the double overdrive boxes, but worth the trouble.

The engine cowl does drop down behind the engine so there is a little obstruction, but there is lots of space between the chassis rails either side of the engine and box.

Hi Everyone,
I have just started looking for information on the ACCO 6x6 ex army trucks as I have purchased one now. My idea is to put the 6bt Cummins diesel engine in with a 4 speed 48re + gear vender over drive or a 68fe 6 speed + overdrive unit, this covers the drive line problem. With heat I will use ceramic coating through out the engine and if there is limited room in the engine bay the turbo can be place to the rear of the engine.
Water injection also helps with keeping the combustion tempeture down.


Does anyone know what other diff ratios will fit into the diff centres?
If anyone else has done a simular conversion or is thing about it please contact me at vanderhee@hotmail.com or 0418193479