5L conversion in GU ute

[sheriff]

Hi guys thinking of putting a late model 5L in my GU ute 4.2 tD

I see afew of you are putting in LS1's but i wondering how a 5L would go i can get my hands on a 5L with all the wiring i need it pretty much a front cut really cheap off a mate with low kms on it

I put one in a 75ser cruiser i had afew years ago and it seem to go well but not really sure on the GU


cheers sheriff

[AFeral]

Having driven a turbo diesel gq and a holden V8 gq. I reckon the turbo diesel went better. The V8 made lovely sound and that was about it. I was dissapointed with the holden V8 in a GQ with the Gu weighing more I don't think it would be worth the effort. From what i have read on here The ls1 is leaps and bounds better than the holden 5l itre v8.

[chimpboy]

Yes. The TD42 is one of the most desirable engines around in a 4x4. The Holden 5.0L is a useless piece of junk that isn't that attractive in the original Commodore, and is even less attractive when you factor in the work involved in adapting it to something else.

[chunderlicious]

if you wanna do it, do it. yes theya re old and some call them pieces of crap but they will run on 4 cylinders and take all the shit you cn throw at it. they dont have any cooling issues, and even when they do over heat just let it cool down it itll run sweat again.

they have so many aftermarket parts available you can make a stock block capable of handling 1000+ hp (will be a $30K engine) im just making the point that if you can get it for a good price and dont like diesel (i dont, its slow and smelly) get it and then slowly add more power when the bug bites a bit harder.

I have been in some big dollar comp rigs and for the cost of their diesel motors which have 180rwKW etc. you could have a built 6ltr which has well over 200rwKW.

i dont mind 5Ls but id stroke it and blow it, even in a torana

[TheBigBoy]

All the 5 litre guys ive spoken too. Wouldnt do it again... In a hilux yeah. But not a cruiser or patrol. Youd hate to do it all and be dissapointed. My advice find 1 to test drive. Ask some of the guys on here. They might take you for a spin.

[tuflox]

had a 5.ol gq, doing a 5.0l gu conversion now,was happy how it went in a gq,cheap moters,cheap to mod,cheap to fix,compared to a geniii

[chunks]

Power up the TD42 mate, will be a much better all round package in my opinion...but I have one so I am biased!

[simcoe]

pm sent

i love mine in mu GU,
romps along when needed, sounds awsome, better on fuel then tb45(gas/perol) and is about a tough as an engine as you can get!
cheap parts and cheap to mod as Tuflox said!
getting it dynoed tomorrow so i can let you know how it goes!

as for is it worth it..well how much coin do you want to throw at your td42?
3,4,5,6,grand to get it to move??!!
lots of thing to looks at,what sort of fuel ecconomy are you looking at and do you plan to run duel fuel?
my 5.0l is gassed and runs bloody fine!(heads are set for it)
im not sure how good 5.7/6.0l run on gas?
and a worked td42 WILL use fuel! and will need to be serviced twice as much!

there will be lots of bias towards power up your td42 or go the 5.7/6.0!
i would go the 5.0l and put a 355 stroker kit and cam in it!
i didnt but at least i know it can be done down the track for CHEAP
good strong engine and will make as much or more power then a 6.0l!

[chunks]

Why would a TD42 need twice as much servicing as a worked 5 litre? Both should be getting done atleast every 5000km. Sure the TD42 takes twice as much oil + 2 large oil filters but it will also last twice as long as a 5 litre. I guess it depends what you want it for, if its just a play toy a worked v8 would be awesome fun and sound great, but if its a long distance tourer that you want to put 500 000km on then the TD42 is the go.

[simcoe]

plan on changing my oil every 7-8 thou, getting a work truck this week so i'd be lucky to clock up 10thou a year so i'l be doing it every 6 months!
the 5.0l sump is spot on 5l of oil not sure what the 4.2 is..9-10??

also when we stripped the engine down it was absolutly emaculate!!
it had done 350 thou and was an ex bt1 highway cop car till 100 odd thou!
cant imagine them treating it nice..
bloke down the road put 250 on it with everday driving
i reckon it would have been good till 500 thou easy!!

[AFeral]

If you take the TD 42T out and sell it as a complete package I guess you would get a $5000-8000. Eagle autos will sell you a new chevy 6lt create engine for $5500 That still leaves you with some change for custom wiring loom, computer etc. I cannot imagine there would be lot of differance in the price of convertion plates and exsausts etc between chevy and a 5 litre holden lump. I know which I would prefer.

[TheBigBoy]

Holden sells the 6 litre for $4400... There really isnt much difference in it between setting up a 5L and a 5.7, 6L. The difference is you can bolt a stock as a rock 350 in it and be happy. No work done to it like the 5L. No cams. No race pistons, new stronger valves. Will run for a very long time.

I wasnt happy with the dead slow crap heap 4.2td either. $5500 for about 135kw. Not worth it.

Sell the 4,2td for $8000 and then add the $5500 you where going to spend on the diesel upgrade. That will get you a 350 if you can do the work yourself..

The other difference is the 5L gets about 17-18 Litres per 100 and so does the 350. Both in standard form.

But as you said it a weekend toy. Do what ever is cheapest and have fun I recon. .

[money_killer]

5L would be tooo small.............

[TheBigBoy]

It would be like taking a knife to a gun fight!! .

Ps. Make sure you post your dyno pics for your 5 litre simcoe and put what mods youve done.

[swb_ute]

Go the Ls1 5.7 as the 6.0L you will have to use the fly by wire TB and its a real pita. You can pick up a ls1 on the net eg: eBay for around $1800-$2500 with comp and loom. I got mine all up for $1800. Look up killerlux here on outers he can mod the loom for around $450 and you only have i think 5 wires to wire into the dash and thats it. For the comp powertorq in Brisbane http://www.powertorqueengines.com.au/ can tune it for you give them a call on price. You can go with Mark's Adaptors http://www.marks4wd.com/products/engine ... atrol.html or Dellow http://www.dellowauto.com.au/main.html for the conversion Marks is $1020 and the dellow is $550. The dellow is the better conversion imo the only thing is with the dellow you have to give the firewall a bit of a flog with a hammer to get the heads on the motor to clear the firewall.The other things you need to do to get the ls1 in is move the ac pump and alt to another spot so they dont hit the chassis Marks have all the stuff you need to do the job also you need to get a rear drop sump of a chev truck there is one guy on ebay selling them for $450 just have a look around on ebay you should be able to find him. The other thing is engine mount i went with custom made ones from Dale at 2dextreme as i have heard the ones from marks are not that strong.

Imo it would cost around the same to do the 5.0l vs 5.7l and the 5.7l would by far be the better engine. If you have any questions just shoot me a PM and i will help.

Cheers
Ben

[DA DUDE]

ive got a Gu wagon running a 355 stroker EFI with a T700 with heaps of torque and no complaints.

just fitted a std Gen 3 into a mate's cruiser 100 series with toyota auto it's got good top end after 3000rpm but no torque down bottom

money can buy anything

[sidewayz]

i would definately go the ls1/2/3 option.

the only real cost diference is the engine purchase price. the rest of the conversion is basically the same.

even if you save 2k on engine purchase its going to cost u a lot more then 2k to get the same power as a ls1/2/3 in stock form with headers and ecu.

[simcoe]

my choice of the 5.0l was basically because it was a free engine,then spent 1100 on complete rebuild which included the hardened valves set for gas, heads shaved and ported!

gen 3's have a crappy plastic inlet manifold which requiers gas injection..another 2500 just for the front half of the gas kit..!

i know how easy the alloy tb45 heads can warp once hot and i didnt want the same problem!, you can run a 5.0l all day in the red!
which i doudt i will ever see! went away camping the other week towing a 800kg odd trailer full of gear plus a loaded car up soft sand on the beach for 20 odd km in 2nd gear doing 4grand! temp didnt even move! on the gauge that is..

i agree the engine is the main price differance when doing a conversion, but i like to look down the track for reliability issues as well!

also with the 5.0l at least i know that down the track i can stroke it out for cheap and still be reliable and have sh1t loads more go! but at the time i didnt realy want to part with the extra coin and dad can always do it in the shed at home one day!
As DA DUDE sais, he's very happy with his 355 and no doubt one day i will be as well but for now im happy with the 5.0l

dyno bloke didnt get a chance to finish my truck today, the auto elects gave us some dodgy instructions for the speed sensor which Gossy's had to fix up!
cheers

[TheBigBoy]

Your talking about reliability issues a 5 litre vs a gen3. All the 5 litre conversions Ive ever seen had lack of power issues and when they powered them up they broke down. They are just not a good base for that size truck. And a stock gen 3 will easily outlast a worked 5 litre. You will never convince me otherwise.... The 308 have always been a crap heap compaired to a 350.

Its like trying to compair a 253 vs a 308. The 253 drinks like the 308 and goes like a 6 cylinder. Been there done that.

You can get gen 3's with a solid cast block from the states. And what ever you do to the 5 litre you can do to the 350. I tow a 1 tonne trailer plus stuff on my tray for work all day every day. No drama's at all. Im glad your happy with yours but the 350 is the perfect size for the patrol. Its a pleasure to drive... Power to weight.

[swb_ute]

x2

[hollywood]

you guys must have money and time to burn id just trick up the ol diesel donk a littlle, the arabs can get em going alright check out youtube lambagini vs patrol or something like that now thats one quick mother diesel.

[lysdexia]

errr that's not a diesel beating the lambo champ.. it's a petrol 4.5 or 4.8 with a T51R hanging off the side..

[hollywood]

ok there you go, stuffs up my theory, still dont ned no v8 to do in a wogrod

[chimpboy]

ok there you go, stuffs up my theory, still dont ned no v8 to do in a wogrod

Engine size being equal, give me a strokey straight six over a shorter-stroke V8 any day, for a 4WD at least.

If I had the choice between a 5.15L stroker kit for a TB48 and a 5.0 commodore donk, I think the choice would be pretty darn easy. But even without any extra stroke I'd rather have the TB48.

[hollywood]

Engine size being equal, give me a strokey straight six over a shorter-stroke V8 any day, for a 4WD at least.

If I had the choice between a 5.15L stroker kit for a TB48 and a 5.0 commodore donk, I think the choice would be pretty darn easy. But even without any extra stroke I'd rather have the TB48.


what he he said x infinity

[Outer Limits Hilux]

You got a hard decision to make mate. i've had a gq ute, with a 5l slightly worked. even with an aluminium tray, the power was ok but not that great. but the fuel was unreal, the stock fuel tank, i think about 65L, got me about 350 km..... but that was with 35's too.

i guess if you go the 5L you'll be happy no doubt, but if you ever drove a 5.7 or 6L you'll regret not spending the $1500-$2500 on the bigger v8. and i can tell you now, the 5.7L is a f###in roller coaster out bush, fun as hell, just watch a few OBC's and you'll see what i mean.

Just my 2c mate.

[simcoe]

well my trucks done but didnt have a chance to pick it up this arvs..
was told it has about 158hp at the wheels on petty and 147 on gas and the power difference is only after 4000.
torque curv is alot flatter then what is was!
truck weighs 2.8t with 33's/12.5

now i want to say something that i dont think i have said yet, and that is that i didn't expect 350 power out of a 5.0l!!
if i want 350 power i will stroke it!
im not dissagreeing with the fact that 350's produce more power etc but this engine popped up and i decided to give it a go..first time for every thing as they say

sometimes i just think about all the money those poor people with zd30's have spent on repairs and mods to make them last and ask why would ya bother with a 3.0l..
i may have made a silly choice, but there's only one way to learn!

now as for the 4.8, if im running gas(mixer set up) i know which engine i'd rather! deffinately not the 4.8!!

dads mate who repairs heads has seen that many 4.8 it's not funny!
and now that mines set for gas i havnt a worry about valve reccession(spelling) etc and another bill for head repairs..
btw what a stroker kit cost for a 4.8??

now bring on the "haha i told ya so" comments
flame suit is on

[THICKNICK]

well my trucks done but didnt have a chance to pick it up this arvs..
was told it has about 158hp at the wheels on petty and 147 on gas and the power difference is only after 4000.
torque curv is alot flatter then what is was!
truck weighs 2.8t with 33's/12.5

now i want to say something that i dont think i have said yet, and that is that i didn't expect 350 power out of a 5.0l!!
if i want 350 power i will stroke it!
im not dissagreeing with the fact that 350's produce more power etc but this engine popped up and i decided to give it a go..first time for every thing as they say

sometimes i just think about all the money those poor people with zd30's have spent on repairs and mods to make them last and ask why would ya bother with a 3.0l..
i may have made a silly choice, but there's only one way to learn!

now as for the 4.8, if im running gas(mixer set up) i know which engine i'd rather! deffinately not the 4.8!!

dads mate who repairs heads has seen that many 4.8 it's not funny!
and now that mines set for gas i havnt a worry about valve reccession(spelling) etc and another bill for head repairs..
btw what a stroker kit cost for a 4.8??

now bring on the "haha i told ya so" comments
flame suit is on

any updates on how it all came along