I might be completly mad but here goes

I've got a bay window 1970 sopru camper, and would like to upgrade the engine once i get it repainted and any cancer cut out, and would like to know if anyone has gone the Diesel road?

I currently have an R2 Diesel from a 1980's mazda E2200 that could be used as I know its history.


:alien

cant be of much help really other than in the uk or somewhere round there running bays with diesel engines in them seems common, i read it in some vw mag ive got, seemed like they thought it was alright too, but they have alot cooler weather aswell, also, they ran the radiator in the spot where the normal rear lid would be, so mounted just outside the engine bay on the rear, hope this helps somehow

there was a split Panel built in the UK a few years back with a VW TDi motor in it. It was very nice. Don't know if that helps. The only thing I can think of with going diesel is that if you do lot's hwy travelling you'll need a very tall 4th gear to get the most out of engine.

what sort of revs does the diesel run at? My 1600tp is running at about 4000rpm and 100kmh. if that helps with your gearbox calculations. reckon a diesel bay would be uber cool! and it would sound great as well.

gearing is the easy part, just buy taller gearing. Albins offroad gears make just about anything.

My 0.70:1 4th only cost me $350 (then add labour to fit it).

My personal opinion is that any diesel worth putting in is too expensive to buy in the first place. You just can't easily buy cheap diesel jap front cuts yet...

I had a TDI Caravelle in Germany a couple of years ago and it revved out to about 4k from memory. It was 1600 Oertinger (hope I spelt that right) It cruised at around 120kmh on the Atobahns pretty sweetly as well.

Current mazda diesel I have runs at 3000rpm @ 100kph not far off the ball park althou that is using a 5 speed box with pizza cutter rear tyers (12in)

Thanks for all your replys

Mood still optimistic

Deutz and Tatra make air cool diesel motors I doubt any would be suitable in a kombi though.
T3 kombi's had diesel motors as an option, and 5 speed GB from ~'83 onwards. Unfortunately the gear selector moved so not an easy swap into a T2

try this - hes a mate of mine and has been running around with this ford for a while. Mail him - I think he has a load of other links you might find useful as hes putting together a website - tell him I sent you.

http://www.volkszone.co.uk/VZi/showthread.php?t=218431 

as you can see from the thread he got a bit of grief for the ford engine.
Pug conversions are also popular over here - all cheap and available.

he didn't start well when he bagged out aircooled motors. Although, I agree with his sentiments. Nice to see Aust isn't the only place with anti-conversion rednecks.

Everyone kept saying, "you should have got a VW TDi motor." No idea what it takes to do a conversion let alone how expensive any decent VW motor is whether it be aircooled or TDi. I bet most of them are the kind with standard 1600s in bog stock beetles. All talk, no action.

sweet conversion though. just needs a turbo an it'd be tops.



[ Edited on 17-12-2005 by pete wood ]

hi, there is a fella down here that has a camper with a holden rodeo motor in it. He did all the conversion himself. He has done a ripper job and he has very little problems with it

Hi,

Interesting to hear your views on gearboxes as I'm running a standard 1600 box on my ford 1800 Diesel and find it drives really well and don't really feel the need to change the cogs though would be nice to drop the revs a bit in fourth but the cost of a rebuilt gearbox I think I'll spend the money elsewhere first.

I did actually do a test last week of speed in each gear unfortuately no rev counter so would need to find out when rev limiter kicks in to tell you what revs I was doing.

Ok
1st 15 mph (25kmh)
2nd 40mph (65kmh)
3rd 65mph (105kmh)
4th 90mph+ (speedo only goes up to 90) (145kmh)

Obvously I can't verify the accuracy of the speedo but have checked at 60mph with Mrs following me and was pretty spot on with her modern day motor.

Pics of my Diesel Conversion below
http://jp.tripout.co.uk/photos/cars/vin/ 

I will be going Turbo over the winter to give me a little more umph.

Diesel is def the way to go in the uk for cheap motoring as you get far better MPG from a diesel engine and they go for ever... another bonus is their pulling power up hills and they sound a bit like crappy aircooled engines

[ Edited on 19-12-2005 by VWKD ]

VWKD,
so what car is the ford diesel out of? Any idea on it's normal rev range?
Not that I know what your motor is, but small diesels out of your typical Euro car will rev a lot harder than the commercial diesels we see here, not to mention the restriction on what comes to Australia due to the poor quality fuel we have to put up with.

Hey Pete, "I bet most of them are the kind with standard 1600s in bog stock beetles. All talk, no action."
What the hell is wrong with stock

Quote:

Originally posted by Andy Hey Pete, "I bet most of them are the kind with standard 1600s in bog stock beetles. All talk, no action." What the hell is wrong with stock

That must be me
I see what you mean though. :thumb

It revs out at 4000 rpm I believe.

Hi all,

Can anyone tell me if a 2l kombi gearbox fits into a 1971 (Complianced 9/70) lowlight?

Haven't lost the idea of the diesel yet

Fits straight in no probs, might need the 2lt startermotor as well.





The V6 lowlight camper
http://www.geocities.com/gazman_4/kombiv6.html 

are you sure you won't need a big nasty (geared) starter to turn it over with, I personally can't see a 2l starter doing the trick, their not that big, but then my subie is being turned over by a bog stocker 1800 starter. suck it and see I guess.

I have been out checking what is in our lowlight at the moment and its a 5 rib gearbox attached to a twin port 1600 and I've got a 3 rib spare box for our spare single port 1600 motor

As for the starter motor I've noted that I may need up to 1.8Kw starter to get the diesel going could be interesting

sounds like you need a geared starter. try one of the VW shops around and see what they say. I know there are geared starters available. Other thing is, earthing is really important. You might find (like I did) that cold the motor starts fine, but warm the starter really struggles. This is a combination of higher compression in a hot motor and lower conductivity of hot cables. I ended up running a dedicated earth strap from the mounting bolt of the starter to the -ve side of the battery.

Hey Jerry, you might like to check out some of the "dirty diesels" on

http://www.vwkd.co.uk 

JP, who posted as VWKD further up this thread set the site up just for H2O conversions in Aircooled VWs.
Along with here there's been some good stuff going on there.

I meant that the 2lt starters have a different offset than the 1600's. We got a high torque starter from John Sherman at Volks Conversions, easily cranks over the commodore v6. you could give him a ring




The V6 lowlight camper
http://www.geocities.com/gazman_4/kombiv6.html 

Hi

I understand the appeal of a diesel engine. What I hate about diesels is the crap all over the floor at the bowsers, you feel like you need a bath to get clean after using one. I wont even stop at a bowser that serves diesel and petrol to fill my petrol car.

Steve

unfortunately, diesel is the fuel equivalent of CV grease. I sticks to anything and stays there...

however, I can hack the occasional oily hand when my 2l HDi pug gives me an easy 800km from a 60litre tank. Last week we filled up, drove from Sydney to Forster, drove around town and such for a week, then drove back from Forster to Sydney. When the fuel light came on the trip computer still gave us another 80km of range. All on ONE TANK OF FUEL. And this car cruises happilly on 120 eating any hill you throw at it.

As for your local servo. Tell the operator and they generally fix it up. Fuel everywhere is a risk and they don't like it either.

At the Buses By The Bridge event I saw a fellow with a 5-cylinder Audi diesel in a baywindow. Apparently this can be done with VW parts as there is a transmission bellhousing to mate the Audi engine with the 091. The engine fit inside the stock engine bay. IIRC, he was running stock 091 gearing.

He was running a radiator in the deck lid, but was not happy with it as it overheated in warm weather. He had three fans on the radiator (!) and normally ran one continuously, turning on the others as the temps rose.

He was happy with his conversion and apparently runs all over Baja with it.