Outer Limits 4x4 Board

hi all, just a general inquiry

i checked the bible didnt have what i was looking for.

im keen on an engine swap for my 86 SWB sierra - what would be a better choice...

turbo diesel or vit G16B or gti G13B???

pros and cons of a diesel over a petrol and vice versa in a zook???

im after the better option - reliablity, low down grunt, power ect but would prefer knowledge of more experienced dudes so fill me in on what would be the better option.

what would you guys use?

in the near future i will be using my sierra for beach work, medium to hardcore tracks deep water crossings mud ect ect off road fun.


diesle or not to diesel....

cheers everyone

Most of us with Zooks would love turbo diesel but what engine is a good fit and is as light as a Zook 1.3 petrol motor? Nothing I can think of except maybe VW 1.5 or 1.9 but they are pretty thin on the ground here.

really what about a 2.6 hilux diesel? bloke at ABC wreckers said he had a sierra with a 2.6 hilux diesel, hilux diffs ect and said it was unstoppable what engine is that out of - what model?

has anyone heard of this swap or done it before?


so u would go a diesel over a petrol if possible?

turbo diesel and auto


cap51z is selling the 1.8diesel out of his if your interested

yes im interested price on it and location?

whats the pros and cons of a diesel?

thanks for the help all

diesel = more torque at lower rpm where its needed
better fuel economy
no electricals to fail when it gets wet on water crossings

PM sent with contact details

j-top paj wrote:diesel = more torque at lower rpm where its needed
better fuel economy
no electricals to fail when it gets wet on water crossings

sounds like diesel is the way to go i guess - i was reading up on biodiesel as well thats what got me interested in a diesel donk for my sierra

is anyone running biodiesel in a vehicle?

as with water crossings - no electricals??? as in no spark plugs ect?? dont know much about diesels.

so if u so happend to stall a diesel while submerged u can start it back up again??

Im pretty sure that hiluxes either had a 2.4 diesel or a 2.8 diesel, AFAIK there was never a 2.6.

Diesels are generally pretty heavy and can upset the balance of the car. The 2.4 weighs around the same as a sbc from memory. Thats alot (too much?) of motor for a zook.
The other big problem that I can see is that when you are geared down for offroading, your revs are fairly high when you're on the freeway and diesels hate revs.

Having said that, an rf diesel from a mazda or a toyota 2ct are still high up on my conversions shortlist, as long as I can find a way round the gearing issue.

hmm...


the engine conervsion your planing - is that a diesel into a sierra too?

so far you guys a swingin me towards a diesel which to me sounds like the way to go for what i wanna do.

those 2 diesel engines - how big are they and from what models?

v840 wrote:
Diesels are generally pretty heavy and can upset the balance of the car. The 2.4 weighs around the same as a sbc from memory. Thats alot (too much?) of motor for a zook.

i know of a 3.1turbo diesel thats going into a zook should see it driving fairly soon i hope

islandvitara wrote: bloke at ABC wreckers said he had a sierra with a 2.6 hilux diesel, hilux diffs ect

Why didn't he just buy a hilux instead (it is already spring over aswell) would have saved a heap of $$$$.
Peter.

haha true ae, hilux engine and hilux diffs with a sierra body...think he called it a hierra

I'd love a deisel zook but as mentioned they are too heavy for a zook. The way to make them work is to add weight to offset the engine, ie: big diffs, big tyres, big cage over the rear and some sort of chassis/wheel base extension to the rear. After all that you may aswell buy a hilux as mentioned.

v840 wrote:

Having said that, an rf diesel from a mazda or a toyota 2ct are still high up on my conversions shortlist, as long as I can find a way round the gearing issue.

I have driven a GV with the RF and auto and it went pretty good actually, surprised me a bit. I tried to find one for my last lwb Vit but nobody could help me source one at the time. Apart from the GV they were also fitted to Vits in some markets. They had 4.3 diff ratios and the 4 speed auto. The early ones weren't intercooled. They do have an issue with cracking heads though but I had a couple of ideas to solve that one. I think mud4b put one in a sierra for Australia Zoo if I recall correctly.

I have also been watching the progress of a VW diesel install in a Sierra and there is a bit to it.

Did you want an engineering cert for the engine swap? not only does the zook not handel well with a heavy front (what iv heard) but its very hard to engineer it after exceeding a percentage of weight over the original engine (what i know) was talking to an engineer today about it.
I started looking for engin options about 4 months ago and for the first month was dead set on diesel for EXACTLY the same reasons you are, even wanted to run biodiesel. i reckon it was a month wasted. the best option i found was as said the 1.5 or 1.9 TD volkswagon engins. thers a company in the states that makes a conversion kit for them http://www.rocky-road.com/diesel.html
Now uv got to source the engin, nil stocks australia preety much sums it up. importing is an option as there are stacks in USA and europe. A quote from an email i got from a couple of guy's in scandinavia
"The choice of the VW engine is do to the fact that it is a pure mechanical diesel (extreme off-road + electronics = :( and is manufactured in billions, VW Golf II/III D, TD, GTD, Passat 86 D, TD."
But after weighing up the extra tourqe and economy of the diesel verses hassels with fitting/ cost of importing/ lack of experiance in aus with other people doing it and searching through LOTS of old posts all condeming it i went against.
Also went and looked at a 2L (parently same block as 1.8L) hilux diesel from wreckers, now two people can lift my 1.6L G16B vitara engine (that i got on the wkend) with some sweat. man i reckon 4 people would struggle to lift that hilux iron monstrocity.

Would be great if you can find a way of puting the hilux donk in and making the zook handle ok, when ya do give me a bell. actually make a kit and then give me a bell and ill buy it of ya
any way just sharing my experiance over the past couple of months. PM me if you want e-mails of some of the guy's i talked to oversea's or links.

does anyone remember the gemini deisels? would that engine be a option for the sierra

I can lift a 1.3L long motor

there is one running around newcastle . it has a gemmi gearbox or so i've been told but cannot confirm it .boner

i have a ford 1.8td in my zook and it goes pretty well, i bought it with it allready in, so cant give much more info of how it goes together but the bloke i bought it off reckoned it was cosworth gearbox then the sj410 transfer box, its pretty nice though
but anyway didnt ford bring out something small like a lazer in oz? its been a while since i was there, and dont know if they did a diesel version but i could be worth a look

v840 wrote:Im pretty sure that hiluxes either had a 2.4 diesel or a 2.8 diesel, AFAIK there was never a 2.6.

Diesels are generally pretty heavy and can upset the balance of the car. The 2.4 weighs around the same as a sbc from memory. Thats alot (too much?) of motor for a zook.
The other big problem that I can see is that when you are geared down for offroading, your revs are fairly high when you're on the freeway and diesels hate revs.

Having said that, an rf diesel from a mazda or a toyota 2ct are still high up on my conversions shortlist, as long as I can find a way round the gearing issue.

I haven't heard of any 2.6 for the Hilux either. The 2C-T motor came out in the Townace, Camry and Corolla of late 80's to about mid 90's. Mainly Jap import stuff. Good reliable motor but pretty gutless. 2 litres of pure diesel go, doesn't like revving though. Pretty heavy too.
I think the Ford/Mazda diesel is 1.8? Could be wrong. I think they also had turbo'd ones too.
The bio-diesel seems to go really well in the old mechanical diesels but don't ever go near it with with the new common rails!!! Not unless you want to be forking out big dollars in repair bills.

Also went and looked at a 2L (parently same block as 1.8L) hilux diesel from wreckers, now two people can lift my 1.6L G16B vitara engine (that i got on the wkend) with some sweat.

G16B 89kg You gotta stop letting your nanna's do all the lifting for you

GRPABT1 wrote:I can lift a 1.3L long motor

Quote:
G16B 89kg You gotta stop letting your nanna's do all the lifting for you

Hardy ha ha, well ill havta get You Lil'loki and GRPABT1 to help me out come install time.... you 2 can just lift the zook up and place it down on top of the donk! show of them internet muscles.

built4thrashing wrote:does anyone remember the gemini deisels? would that engine be a option for the sierra

thats what cap51z has/had

Isn't there a turbo diesel vitara in NZ?

THere are lots of jap imports in NZ, like the aforementioned townace which could be options, I would look there.

anyone know any more details on the gemini deisels? Weights and power out puts?

tazmanier wrote:

GRPABT1 wrote:I can lift a 1.3L long motor

Quote:
G16B 89kg You gotta stop letting your nanna's do all the lifting for you

Hardy ha ha, well ill havta get You Lil'loki and GRPABT1 to help me out come install time.... you 2 can just lift the zook up and place it down on top of the donk! show of them internet muscles.

If we're doing it that way… (lifting the zook), we might need nanna's help as well!

I have a LWB sierra ute that I have fitted a 1.8l diesel from a Gemini. It has been a project that has been going on for a long time. When I started, my research suggested that I had a choice of two engines. The Gemini and the 1.5l VW. (it was easy finding rusted out cats with good engines at good price) The 1.9TD VW was available but was fetching a fairly high price. Another engine I would definitely consider today is the Fiat Punto 1.3l TD

VW 1.5l naturally aspirated
37kW @ 5000rpm
82Nm @ 3000rpm

Holden Gemini 1.8l naturally aspirated
40kW @ 5000rpm
105Nm @ 2000rpm

VW 1.9l Turbo 1995-1997
66kw @ 4000rpm
202Nm @ 1900rpm

Fiat 1.3 Turbo 2006-date
66kW @ 4000rpm
200 Nm @ 17500rpm

Suzuki Sierra 1.3l
47kW @ 6000rpm
100Nm @ 3500rpm

Suzuki Sierra 1.0l
34kW @ 5500rpm
76Nm @ 3000rpm

Fiat 1.3 Turbo 2006-date
66kW @ 4000rpm
200 Nm @ 17500rpm

thats a nice revvy deisel motor.