I was thinking the other day and figured I'd ask y'all if it were possible to take a gas engine out of a (heavy, of course) vehicle and replace it with a diesel. Would I have to change anything else (gas tank, transmission, brakes, suspension, etc)? Is this something that someone who has the skills to change out a regular engine can do ( I have, once long ago, had to replace and engine in a car - hard work, but do-able). How do I know if the vehicle is heavy enough to take a diedel engine? I live a few hours away from a Cummins diesel plant so shipping the engine (if I had to buy it new) wouldn't be an issue.

Also, saw at a car show a truck I fell in love with - a 37 chevy with a teardrop grill. Can these be restored with a diesel or are they too small? ANy hints, ideas, advice?

A

Also, saw a

-- Soni (thomkilroy@hotmail.com), September 17, 2000

Answers

Most fairly modern vehicles would accept a gas to diesel swap without modifications to suspension or brakes. The fuel tank and lines need not be changed, but you will need to make sure ALL of the gasoline is out of them. Also you will need extra filtering for the diesel to keep the injectors clean. You may also need a beefed up electrical system to accomodate the heavier electrical draw of a diesel starter.

Can someone with reasonable skills do the switch? Depending on the vehicle and which Cummins engine you use, you might just be able to buy the right motor mounts for a near bolt in project. On the other hand, they might need to be fabricated. Can't help you further.

On the diesel or other engine into an antique, the older Chevrolets were powered by inine engines. Doing engine swaps into them sometimes means that the exhaust systems and other items run into space problems with the steering box. If using a Chevy, you might even think about swapping out the older engine for a big "Six" such as the 292 cu. in. engine from the 1960s. Lot's of torque and lots of go. There used to be race cars that used sixes, so you might even be able to find some bargain basement prices on "power items." Putting in a V-8 will make the vehicle nose heavy without modifications. Brakes would need to be changed too. Most changes anymore are done with what is called a "front-end clip." A portion of an auto frame is cut from one vehicle and welded into place on another. This takes care of suspension, brakes, and motor mounts all at once. Sheet metal will need to be reworked to do this.

Good luck on a swap out, and let us know if you proceed.

Going back to the 6 cylinder "Junior Modified" race cars, during the 1970s our local racer used the Hudson Hornet Super Six. Now who would imagine that race parts would be available for such an engine?

-- Notforprint (Not@thekeyboard.com), September 17, 2000.

Soni: The swap could be made, but it would almost certainly require the replacement of your transmission or rear end. Diesels develop staggering amounts of torque at very low RPMs. They can cruise at 55mph turning 1400-1500 rpms. Gasoline engines must spin must faster to develop sufficient torque for cruising. This means that a typical truck with a gasoline engine is geared much lower because its engine spins faster. A low-revving diesel coupled to that transmission would not be able to maintain highway speeds without over-revving it. This would cause it to use much more fuel and wear out prematurely, taking away the two main advantages of diesels. If you want a truck with a diesel engine, I would suggest buying one that already has a diesel.

-- Jim (catchthesun@yahoo.com), September 17, 2000.

Soni, I know about regular engines but not too much about Diesels. But a guy came up last week to look to trade his truck for ours. He had a Chevy Luv with a Diesel. 83 I think. The truck sounded good but the frame and most of the body was completely rusted away. It was being held together with washers! I don't know what motor # it was, but it was a neat little motor. I would talk to people like you are doing. Like with me, if I put a regular old 6 in my 83 Chevy, the motor would work harder trying to move the heavy truck and the gas miliage would be no better. I need a fuel injected 6, and you have to be careful, some are computerized some are not. I would find an engine and transmission together, and make sure they are going to work first. What kind of truck is it? And what year? I will ask around.

-- Cindy in Ky (solidrockranch@msn.com), September 18, 2000.

My favorite truck as far as appearance is a '36-41 Dodge. Like the 39-46 Chevy also.

Anyway diesels do have extra heavy front springs. If transplanting into a truck that had a big block gas engine, thats pretty heavy too so might be ok to use same springs.

As to putting a diesel into a 30's era 1/2 ton. I would suggest you instead find a Ford Ranger diesel chassis/drivetrain (Dont know if S10 offered a diesel engine although GM had a nice diesel v6 they used in some front drive cars before diesel cars fell out of fashion.) and modify body mounts so you can just put Chevy cab and box over onto this chassis. If done well, you wont need to modify the cab and box much if at all so it can later be put back on original chassis if you or anybody ever wants to do an original restoration. Save a lot of hassle with old suspension, brakes, etc. and you dont use up the old parts. I have also seen fiberglass reproduction cabs for Ford, Dodge, Chevy, and Willys old trucks and some steel reproductions for Willys 30's era pickups. Hotrodders love them and the old sheetmetal (especially for the Willys) is rare and expensive. The Ranger and S10 are about same size as the old 30's era 1/2 tons. I once saw a '48 Chevy (bigger than 30's era trucks) that had been painstakingly reduced to 75% dimensions all around and mounted on a s-10 chassis. I think it looked better than the original. I have also seen full size late forties, and fifties pickups mounted on seventies full size stationwagon chassis. This gave modern big block engine plus suspension and brakes. More of a hotrod thing as car chassis cant handle the load a truck chassis can.

-- Hermit John (ozarkhermit@pleasedontspamme.com), September 18, 2000.

Soni, it's against the law to put a diesel in a '37 chevy with a teardrop grill-or at least ought to be!

-- BillyB (bloptoad123@cs.com), September 20, 2000.

Scene: Oriental fighting ring. SUBTITLE: "Ahh soo, BillyB, we meet again, only now you are on MY turf. HHHEEEIYAAAA!!

Ahem, where was I. Oh yeah. OH YEAH! And why is that, buster? Sheesh, ya think I was wanting to paint the Sistine Chapel over with the poker dogs composition. I have no "restoration" plans, nor do I have any "all original" hang-ups. I just want a super-cool looking workhorse of a truck, and a diesel '37 Chevy seems to fill that order. So whadda ya gonna do about it, huh, big man?!? And no fair taking away our EPA funding!!! (Note to all those who have no idea what this is all about - it's just spill-over from a more contentious thread. Call it friendly sparring)

-- Soni (thomkilroy@hotmail.com), September 20, 2000.

that's just like you liberals,just can't stand leaving it alone even if it works great like it is-and remember,you took the first shot on this thread,I was gonna leave ya alone cause swapping engines can be serios business and I sure wouldn't want you to not get enuff info and do sumpin stoopid.

-- BillyB (bloptoad123@cs.com), September 20, 2000.

I looked over some of your other answers and they're on the money. There's alot to be considered with doing a conversion on something like this. As far as whether it's a sin to put a diesel in a '37 teardop, I say it's all in the fun of custom building. Kind of like the S10 pickup I saw with a Detroit V-8 mounted in the bed, it's technically was kind of useless but it sure was cool to see going down the road. Now for your question, yes it can be done but I don't think it's going to be as easy as the engine swap you did before. I work on trucks for a living and can tell you that the possibilities are endless.

You didn't say what kind of truck you had to work with or what kind of work you wanted to do with it. To find out if the vehicle is heavy enough look at the Gross Axle Weight Rating for the front axle, decide what type of engine you want to use, (of which there are hundreds of possibilities), find the weight of the engine and estimate the the diference between the two engines. If there's a great deal of difference then the suspension will have to be changed as well as the brakes. However there are several small diesel engines available from companies like Isuzu and Hino. These would be small enough and light enough that you may not have to change your suspension. If you use one of these, you WILL have to change the trans. And like someone else mentioned, the diesel turns slower so you'd have to change the rear axle.

Other things that need to be changed is the fuel system. You'll have to put a return line in to the tank as well as the extra filter. You'll also have to change the radiator and the mounts to the frame. You may need to install an extra battery and run heavier cables to the starter. It really depends on the vehicle as to how hard it may be. If this is a project that you really want to undertake, you'll probably want to acquire the help of some friends who can do welding and fabricating. :) It mainly depends on how badly you want to do it, and your resources. I'll bet the thought of a '37 Chevy teardrop with an Isuzu diesel will probably set some people off! :))))) (though I'd think it'd be cool!)

Hope that I could be of some help to ya!

-- Bob (nevrthrst1@aol.com), September 20, 2000.

Someone told me today that if I put a 4.3 in my 83 full size Chevy, I would have to do ALL the wiring harnesses too. Is this correct, guys? That sure puts allot more work into it. I can swap motors, but electrical is something I have never messed with much. Just how hard is it do you think? Is there another motor that I would not have to do this with? (p.s. We traded Steve's 81 full size Chevy pickup for a 88 Ford Astrovan with a 3.0 today-straight across. We took all the bench seats out to make room for his tools) Nice van too. But I have to keep one big truck for hay and wood and things.

-- Cindy in Ky (solidrockranch@msn.com), September 23, 2000.

Check out off road mags website.. A guy put a nissan SD33T in a Jeep.

-- kevin (jungle @maui.net), October 30, 2000.

I have done 2 diesel conversions. I put a SD-33T Nissan diesel into a CJ-7 jeep, and then also put a 236 Perkins diesel into a 1977 CJ-7 Jeep. Both worked out great, and I love them both, will beat anyone offroad with a gas engine.

-- Scott (shuffman@udel.edu), December 05, 2001.

Well, I looked at some of the answers you received. A good swap candidate would be a S-10, and put in a 5.7, 6.2 or 6.5 diesel! Plenty of room, but make sure you beef up the front end. (min. of a spring change!) Also, the S-10 did come with a diesel! I currently have one for sale. There are not too many of them around, only made here for about 3 years! It came with an Isuzu 2.2 litre, 4 cylinder diesel. Kind of run like a slightly tired Iron Duke. Very fun to drive, though. You should see the looks you get at a traffic light, with the Diesel rattling away!!! GTreat fuel mileage!!! 31-37 M.P.G. Hope this helped a little! - Ed

-- Edward LaFond (lafondlafond@comcast.net), May 10, 2002.