Thread: 4BD1 into Defender

G'Day Dervish.
Perentie spec 4BD1 is 66 kW at 3200 rpm (max revs) and 245 Nm at 1900 rpm. I have seen a few dyno sheets from Tenix rebuilds that have them with ~55 kW ATW. 102x 118mm bore/ stroke. 17:1 SCR
4BE1 rated at: 74@ 3500, 242 @ 2000. Square bore at 105mm. 17.5:1 SCR
Quite similar.
Perentie spec 4BD1T is: 90kw@ 3000 (max 3600) , 314nM@ 2200. 1012x118mm Bore/ stroke. 17:1 SCR

I have driven a 3.6lt, 4BE1/ LT95, Defender and was pleasantly surprised at how sprightly it went. Much less vibration than a 4BD1.
I have just purchased it and will report how it goes in the rough stuff once registered.

Some more info on conversions here:
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/isuzu-land...4be1-info.html

My understanding is the 4bd1(Truck variant) was last produced in 95(other people say earlier) and falls foul of emission/adr regs for vehicles made after that.

This makes it very tricky to engineer.

my choice would be a buying a cheap soft top perentie in a couple of years time after someone else realises they can't live with it and putting the defender body on it with proper sound proofing as you go. Then part out whatever is left of the defender.

Unfortuately you've got an old defender and your trying to fit even older parts to it. You would be able to get a rebuilt tricked up 300tdi for the money the above options would cost at a guess unless you can do all the work yourself and know a engineer to sign off on it.

Still good luck I'd love to see someone go through the process as I'm considering buying a perenti at some point and putting my county body on it.

Side question sorry to derail but is the county axle housing any stronger on the front I didn't think it was ?

Shame your not closer. You could take mine for a drive. I took a stock puma for a drive recently. My conclusion was that while air con, interior refinements & reduced cab noise was good, I liked the torque of the turbo Isuzu and 4 speed better. This combination means you don't changes gears as much, and the 4 speed is ok on the highway. I suppose it's personal preference. Mines running really well at the moment (except for an unresolved alternator problem). A recent tappet adjustment improved noise and drivability.

It's not that big a job to change the body over. I did it the hard way. I would remove the perentie fuel tank and fit your seat base, put a fuel tank in the rear and fit a rear wheel carrier. Leave the firewall, front guards, bonnet, loom etc in place. You can pick which windscreen you want to use.

Originally Posted by Barefoot Dave

G'Day Dervish.
Perentie spec 4BD1 is 66 kW at 3200 rpm (max revs) and 245 Nm at 1900 rpm. I have seen a few dyno sheets from Tenix rebuilds that have them with ~55 kW ATW. 102x 118mm bore/ stroke. 17:1 SCR
4BE1 rated at: 74@ 3500, 242 @ 2000. Square bore at 105mm. 17.5:1 SCR
Quite similar.
Perentie spec 4BD1T is: 90kw@ 3000 (max 3600) , 314nM@ 2200. 1012x118mm Bore/ stroke. 17:1 SCR

I have driven a 3.6lt, 4BE1 Defender and was pleasantly surprised at how sprightly it went. Much less vibration than a 4BD1.
I have just purchased it and will report how it goes in the rough stuff once registered.

Some more info on conversions here:
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/isuzu-land...4be1-info.html

Thanks for the info Dave, 55kW ATW sounds very healthy for an engine that is only supposed to put out 66kW. They might be a little more powerful than the spec says, good... I'd like to hear how the 4BE1 goes - is that coupled to an lt95? If it's in front of a 5 speed I'd be interested in how it compares to your recently departed Personnel Carrier up hills at 80+kph (i.e. does the extra ratio help?).

Originally Posted by Distortion

My understanding is the 4bd1(Truck variant) was last produced in 95(other people say earlier) and falls foul of emission/adr regs for vehicles made after that.

This makes it very tricky to engineer.

...

You would be able to get a rebuilt tricked up 300tdi for the money the above options would cost at a guess unless you can do all the work yourself and know a engineer to sign off on it.

...

Side question sorry to derail but is the county axle housing any stronger on the front I didn't think it was ?

Thanks to Dave's link it seems that the 4BD1 is fine to engineer into Landies built prior to 2002. There's also a thread entitled "diesel into P38" that explains that the change in '95 was to Euro I emissions standards, to which the 4BD1T complies. Apparently C H T has a '98 ex-300tdi with a 4BD1T, which I didn't know - I'll have to PM him.

I could get a tricked 300tdi, but I think it's some kind of miracle that the little 300 can shift my Defer in touring mode at all - I cringe at the thought of stressing it any more. Yes, it will probably cost more - but I've been putting pennies away for this for a while

I believe all Landies with 4BD1s had stronger axle casings, but hopefully someone more knowledgeable will confirm that.

Originally Posted by rar110

Shame your not closer. You could take mine for a drive. I took a stock puma for a drive recently. My conclusion was that while air con, interior refinements & reduced cab noise was good, I liked the torque of the turbo Isuzu and 4 speed better. This combination means you don't changes gears as much, and the 4 speed is ok on the highway. I suppose it's personal preference. Mines running really well at the moment (except for an unresolved alternator problem). A recent tappet adjustment improved noise and drivability.

If all goes to plan I'll be moving to the Sunny Coast in October, so maybe we could do Fraser

I have a Perentie (that I wont be pulling apart), so I know how the lt95 feels - I just wonder whether an extra ratio might help with the weight of the Defender. Particularly carrying speed up hills. If this is the route I take chances are the Defender will have the lt95 in it for a time during the conversion process; so if I like it, it can stay.

Originally Posted by rar110

I would remove the perentie fuel tank and fit your seat base, put a fuel tank in the rear and fit a rear wheel carrier.

This is a brilliant idea - you may have just convinced me. I will still have to find a rear wheel carrier for the Perentie chassis. How was the engineering process for the body swap?

Originally Posted by Dervish

...unfortunately the grubb is absent, so the best option for a gearbox now would seem to be fitting it to the r380.
...

If it was me I would fit an isuzu box, divorced LT230 setup and run a cable-shift from a corolla or similar like Bush65 has.

The 4BD1T will eat a 300tdi. Even an NA 4BD1 is much nicer to drive than the 300 below 80km/h. But there is no point doing the conversion unless you fit a turbo.

Although the chinese copy 4BD1s say they comply with Euro1, I have not seen any evidence from ISUZU. Just because some have done it I wouldn't take it for granted that you can.

Dervish, it is an LT95. If it is on the road AND still in my driveway, we will go for a drive head to head.

Hi Dervish,

Bearman has done the conversion of a early 50th anniversary county body onto a perentie chassis. I have put a V8 county body onto my Ex 2door FFR perentie and have had it engineered . The front diff is not reinforced at all on a perentie. I have just welded up one today that the army guys have smashed into a rock, let all the oil out and then went splashing through a creek (filling diff with water) then a leisurely 150km drive home where it all failed with lots of noise! They treat their gear so well!
The difference is the 300tdi deafener has later model diffs with finer spline axles and smaller CV joints. I don't think that would be a real issue at all unless you are fitting lockers and you will be going down the 'replace everything with stronger, more expensive stuff' route anyway. I reckon the swap out with the perentie chassis and engine/gbox into the deafener would be the go for all the best bits. The 1997 body with a 198-something chassis would have the engineer scratching his head. It may be easier to do all the work and then put the body plates from the wrecked perentie on in place of the defender compliance plate (usually a 2door setup) and have it engineered for just the seating capacity change like what I have done. Probably easiest way for engineering.
The fuel tank on the perentie can be 'modified' to fit quite well with all the breathers and fillers after all they did make the senior commander which is essentially a defendererentie. (Yeah yeah with the santana doors)

Cheers,
Brian.

Rego was probably made easier as my compliance plate doesn't state the number of seats. It was also previously registered as a 10 seater. Two up front and 4 each side at the back.