Thread: Diesel engine conversion

Originally Posted by Series3 GT

The 200TDI makes sense, you could look into the 2.25 Diesel with a few mods if you aren't power hungry. An Izuzu 4BD1 is a good engine but not sure how well they fit in a Series. A nissan 2.8 4cyl would be another good option cause it doesn't have too much grunt to break things but is small enough to fit and quite economical. Just my 2c worth.

I've adopted this idea somewhat:

Nissan RD28 6-cyl diesel
low-boost turbo (we're at 4000ft so I need some "altitude compensation")
Nissan 4- or 5-speed manual box (Patrol or Skyline)
Nissan leafer axles
Nissan T100L transfer case

So basically an early patrol drivetrain under a Series Chassis and body.

I get stronger axles, and an engine matched to the gear ratios and diff ratios.

Spring Over Axle will be considered..........

Originally Posted by land_do

Gday all! i'm looking into doing a diesel engine convertion on my S111, it currently has a crapy holden six. what would be the best easiest drop in way you go convertion? and is there any major isues with swaping pet to diesel? Cheers!!

hiya, i've little to no idea of what conversions are available down there (i'm the other side of the world) but i've so far fitted three 200tdi disco engines into Series motors

the first question you need to answer is are you fitting it into an 88" or 109" as the chassis rails are different depths and the 109 needs scalloping to clear the 200 turbo or you can tilt the engine/gearbox to lift the turbo above the chassis rail or finally you can do as i did and fit a 300 turbo onto the 200 engine

if it is going into an 88" then you can ignore the above as the turbo will sit above the chassis rail

the engine will sit on the original mounts that you remove from the old Series engine, i also use 4x 3mm thick penny washers (the ones from the shock top mounts do nicely if you have spares) one above and below each engine mount to lift the engine 1/4" to help prevent the crank pulley hitting the axle (it will still touch but nowhere near as hard) i also put the cast iron pulley on my lathe to modify them slightly (pictures to follow)

it is advised that you "clock" the turbo compressor housing, this is relatively simple in that you unbolt the wastegate actuator, stick a hammer handle into the outlet and lift to the desired position, mark the housing where the bolts go and then remove it to redrill and tap (huge circlip pliers required) refit and rebolt the actuator, this saves you cutting the inner wing and wrecking it as it vibrates to bits as i found out with my first conversion

i keep the 200 radiator as this has an oil cooler built in and reconnect it up correctly with new flexis crimped onto the union pipes, watch the flexi doesn't hit your drop arm from the steering box very carefully as once punctured you'll hose all your oil out onto the road

i've also started to cut the 200 rad surround down on my last two conversions so that i can mount it in the original Series position, i then weld on four lugs so that i can mount a TD5 intercooler in front of it (pictures to follow or links to my albums) or you can work out how to use the standard intercooler

the Series alternator mount will bolt onto the 200 engine casting as the mounting point is there and drilled/tapped to accept it (no idea why) you'll just need to make up a spacer of 30-32mm if i remember correctly to move it forward to get the pulleys aligned (i actually stack 10mm thick nuts on the bolts as spacers)

turbo outlet requires a flange making/obtaining to fit, i then fabricate my own straight through exhausts following the original Series path out of scrap pipes collected from my local exhaust fitting shops (50-52mm bore you could probably go to 65mm without excessive noise), not too loud (purrs when driven gently) but with a nice growl when you lean on the throttle

connecting the engine to the Series gearbox requires a Series friction plate and the pressure plate bolts straight up without any problem, connecting the engine to the gearbox requires removal of 4 flywheel housing studs at the lower edge, you can redrill and tap the housing the casting has the required areas should you be so inclined or if WoF requires it (i don't bother and have had no problems)

the under bonnet battery tray either needs removing completely or raising to clear the timing chest (make it removable if raising), i fit my battery under the passenger seat

rob the diesel filter and 10 spline 3.54 diffs from both disco axles (assuming you have a Rover axle under the rear, Salisbury can be changed as well though), fit diesel filter to your bulkhead, fit the 3.54 diffs in your axles for nice road cruising speeds without the engine revving out in every gear (90mph possible if on 7.50 tyres plus an overdrive fitted along with those diffs) plus the bonus of 30mpg at 55-60mph (36mpg with overdrive and driven steadily)

all you need now is to fit a return line to the tank to accomodate the leak off pipe and ease the job of bleeding the fuel system

your stop solenoid on the injector pump can be fed by the ignition low tension wire

i also have started using the Series thermostat housing top as that allows me to use two Series top hoses cut and joined to give me tidy pipe routing (you could also fit a thermoswitch in there for a coolant fan), keep the bottom disco hose as that will require a cut and shut job (i collect the correct bore pipes from scrapyards to assemble my own bottom hose)

you'll not have a fan on the engine as there's no space for it (i also cut the threads off the nose of the pump) so you'll require an electric fan, i used a pusher from a Citroen BX just wired via a switch from my dash in my 88"

the disco temperature sender doesn't match the Series guage but one of the lads on the S2 forum (DasLandRoverman i think) believes the 200tdi Range Rover one matches

i have started using Rover 75 saloon car expansion tanks as they're small and tidy to fit

you can use the disco airfilter and housing but i prefer the 90na housing with the legs cut off and fitted in the disco mounting straps (it's slightly smaller in all dimensions) work out where to mount it to suit yourself

none of it is hard and there is minimal welding involved

ok i think that's about all off the top of my head and here's the links to two of my photobucket accounts to help give clues on how "I" do it

if your gearbox is tired this conversion will finish it off (it may break anyway), definitely no racing starts if you wish to look after it and keep regular checks on your gear oil levels

i've not bothered with wiring up the glow plugs and my engines start easily down to minus 8c (maybe lower), during the summer i run 25-30% veg oil mixed into the diesel but this increases the frequency that engine oil changes are required

injector pump can easily accomodate a little tweaking

i developed very little of the fitting of 200tdi's into the Series as i'm a relative newbie to them, i just steadily collected other folks ideas and put my "twist" onto them, hopefully you'll take them the next step

there's obviously loads more info on the S2 forum and else where on the web

my first "Zebedee", a quick and dirty 3.5-4 day conversion in an 88"
Zebedee Photos by NiteMare_08 | Photobucket

my second "Big Ears", a 9 month 109 2a, full rebuild done with a fair bit more care
My 1965 109 Photos by NiteMare_08 | Photobucket

crank pulley damage and modification
http://s259.photobucket.com/user/Nit...;sort=3&page=1

p.s.
you "can" fit the longstick LT77 box and LT230 into the 88" without changing the front axle, it's been done enough times over here you just get a little kickback through the steering with tight manouvering (not done this conversion myself but am collecting the bits for "one day" )

p.p.s.

i've just thought of something else, was yours originally a six pot landrover ?? if so you may have difficulties i haven't covered as those engines came further back into the bulkhead (i've not converted a sixpot), the chassis crossmembers under the fly wheel housing and to support the gearbox are also further back than in the four pot versions, the bellhousing stud pattern is also different

so much of the above will not count for you and you'll have to do a fair bit of extra research, the S2 forum, carawagon forum or OLLR will be the places for information on converting a sixpot to 200tdi