CRD Diesel's

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Boony405hp

Boony405hp

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Notice everybody does the hemi 5.7/6.1 conversions, was wondering if anyone contimplated or has done a diesel conversion into their old a body? Be pretty cool and get wicked economy.

Just curious
 
maybe a small diesel would work, but a Lot of work,
and with diesle fuel $1.00 a gallon more tha regular why bother.

I think you would be better with an overdrive 4 speed and a
good slant 6.

Volvo made a nice small diesel for a few years,
I have seen installed in some "hot Rods"/.
 
I've heard of a few Nissan diesels (evidently pirated from diesel Maximas) dropped into A-bodies in the '70s or '80s, but that's the only cases I can think of where someone's pulled it off. A Mercedes turbodiesel in an A-body might be interesting.
 
Was thinking the diesel engine out of the 300c's. If cruising and km's were more your target it would be a good option despite the extra price of fuel, in Aus I think standard unleaded which is 91 i think is for example 1.35 on average, diesel about 1.55 per Litre. Giving the diesel engine guys are getting incredible figures for economy I thought I might see if that was a viable option. Only 160kW but with 500+Nm of torque I reckon in an A bodie it would be a quick car, not a new hemi but you can't have everything.Any thoughts??
 
Boony405hp said:
Notice everybody does the hemi 5.7/6.1 conversions, was wondering if anyone contimplated or has done a diesel conversion into their old a body? Be pretty cool and get wicked economy.

Just curious
Click to expand...

On top of the fact that it would be a *lot* of work, and cost a *lot* of money, just to acquire the donor drivetrain, what would the point really be? I never have been a big fan of doing something just for the sake of doing it, and this is a good example of that.
If you're driving your Early A every day, and you worry that much about fuel economy, then your priorities are out of whack, and you really need to just get a 91 Honda CRX that gets 50MPG. You can find a decent CRX for about $2500+/-.
If you want a diesel, go look on craigslist and find an old 300D Mercedes for about $2000 and have fun with it.

It's kind of like people who get musclecars or high-performance newer cars, and then complain about the fuel economy.

It comes with the territory.
 
I'm mearly throwing out ideas and options at the moment. I understand that by having an older musclecar that fuel economy etc goes out the window, believe me I've been around them my whole life. But If I was contimplating a conversion I'd sacrifice some power for a more fuel efficient vehicle, in saying that I'd want that car to be my A bodie as opposed to a honda civic (like the old days when the cars were driven daily).

If I could make my car into a everyday car instead of just a w/e car the money spent is much more justifiable and would take that sacrifice in power (however would probably out gun a lot of cars anyway), + get to enjoy the looks of the old school muscle, the economy of a modern car and the cost of one set of rego, and insurance as opposed to insuring two vehicles and registering two and the running costs of both.

And like you mention no one has really tackled that conversion meaning a lot of your own R&D is required and fabrication.

Just thought I'd see if anyone had contimplated the idea.


The hemi however has a lot going for it as the conversion has been done, parts required to do the conversion are readily available off the shelf, it does suffers in the fuel economy issue however is more fuel efficient and reliable then a period correct motor for the 340-350hp you are getting.

So I understand fuel economy and power don't go hand in hand, but Am trying to find a happy medium as I want to drive the car as much as possible. Not just a w/e warrior.
 
I've been toying with the idea of putting a diesel into an A body for some time. Over here in the states though we don't have a lot of choices for small diesels since very few passenger cars came with them. The engine would have to come from a utility type truck or a tractor. None of which sound like viable options to me. Hooking up a modern O/D trans either manual or automatic being the most challanging part.
 
Boony405hp said:
Was thinking the diesel engine out of the 300c's. If cruising and km's were more your target it would be a good option despite the extra price of fuel, in Aus I think standard unleaded which is 91 i think is for example 1.35 on average, diesel about 1.55 per Litre. Giving the diesel engine guys are getting incredible figures for economy I thought I might see if that was a viable option. Only 160kW but with 500+Nm of torque I reckon in an A bodie it would be a quick car, not a new hemi but you can't have everything.Any thoughts??
Click to expand...

An interesting idea... unfortunately, the 300C never came with a diesel in the US, so most of us Yanks wouldn't have thought about that one or have much info on it. The 5 cylinder diesel in the Sprinter van (which made it to the US and I'm pretty sure it was available in Australia too) might make a good candidate.
 
MadScientistMat said:
An interesting idea... unfortunately, the 300C never came with a diesel in the US, so most of us Yanks wouldn't have thought about that one or have much info on it. The 5 cylinder diesel in the Sprinter van (which made it to the US and I'm pretty sure it was available in Australia too) might make a good candidate.
Click to expand...


The Sprinter inline 5 cylinder and the later 3.0L V6 that is also installed in the Grand Cherokee both have the NAGS automatic O/D transmission behind them. Same trans that is in the V8 RWD Magnum, Charger and 300.

Besides the fact that they are all Mercedes (and damn I hate them!) they may be viable options. That 3.0L is pretty large though and requires a good size engine bay. Something an early A may not accommodate and a later A may be very tight. It's a tight fit in the GC and requires it to be removed from the vehicle to do much of anything to it.
 
I'm suprised that you weren't offered the diesel in the 300c as an option despite the price of it.

Guys over here running them have reported 35-40mpg.

Probably running the hemi would be a much easier conversion.

Dave
 
I've seen a few conversions where the donor diesel engine came from a 1985 Ford Tempo. Ford offered a diesel engine in the tempo for only 1984-6. It was a Mazda 2.0 liter RF engine, and you could occasionally find one in an Escort.

Later versions of the engine came with a turbo. They're around and fairly easy to deal with. It would physically fit into an A-body without too much difficulty except that you'll also need to get a transmission stuffed in somehow. I hope you enjoy fabricating all your own custom parts.

There's also a similar vintage Mitsubishi diesel engine used by Nissan and others, but its much larger.

Remember that you're also going to need a whole new fuel system (including tank, lines, pump, etc) and some wiring to the dash for glow plug starting and indicators.

I think it would be sweet to see such a conversion. Who cares about the money? Since when was Chrysler's jet turbine appropriate? Its just for fun.

-marcus
 
Not much problem on the fuel system. Older A body fuel tanks would accept diesel with no problem and most older mechanical diesels come with a mechanical lift pump on the engine.

If you used a later CRD engine then all you need is a low pressure electric pump mounted near the tank preferably.
 
What does CRD stand for anyways??


Guitar Jones said:
Not much problem on the fuel system. Older A body fuel tanks would accept diesel with no problem and most older mechanical diesels come with a mechanical lift pump on the engine.

If you used a later CRD engine then all you need is a low pressure electric pump mounted near the tank preferably.
Click to expand...
 
Common Rail Diesel. These engines instead of relying on high pressure fuel from a timed mechanical injection pump utilyze a common high pressure fuel rail and the injectors are usually controlled electronically with help from fuel pressure. Some like the new 3.0 Mercedes in the GC and Sprinter use a Piezo injector, as does the new 08 Super Duty Power Joke which does not need additional help from either a high pressure fuel or oil pump.

I know this is over simplified but you get the idea right?
 
Guitar Jones said:
Common Rail Diesel. These engines instead of relying on high pressure fuel from a timed mechanical injection pump utilyze a common high pressure fuel rail and the injectors are usually controlled electronically with help from fuel pressure. Some like the new 3.0 Mercedes in the GC and Sprinter use a Piezo injector, as does the new 08 Super Duty Power Joke which does not need additional help from either a high pressure fuel or oil pump.

I know this is over simplified but you get the idea right?
Click to expand...

Maybe an even simpler explanation is each fuel injector is operated by a rocker arm much like the intake and exhaust valve rocker arms and when the rocker pushes on the "plunger" part of the injector very high pressure diesel is injected into the combustion chamber. The rocker is operated either by a push rod and cam or just from an overhead cam.

Terry
 
Ok so why not just call it a Diesel.

I suggest looking at an older mechanical injected diesel,
for a retrofit. Prob a 1980's era VW like from a Dasher/Rabbit.


Guitar Jones said:
Common Rail Diesel. These engines instead of relying on high pressure fuel from a timed mechanical injection pump utilyze a common high pressure fuel rail and the injectors are usually controlled electronically with help from fuel pressure. Some like the new 3.0 Mercedes in the GC and Sprinter use a Piezo injector, as does the new 08 Super Duty Power Joke which does not need additional help from either a high pressure fuel or oil pump.

I know this is over simplified but you get the idea right?
Click to expand...
 
Not too far from me there is a guy who owns his own shop who dropped the TDI plant from a V-dub jetta into an old jeep. From what I understand it will never win any races but for haul'n and crawl'n it takes high-honors. I also understand it has the ability to run on veggie-oil so he can drive around while giving OPEC "the finger".

Something to think about. -LY
 
demon seed said:
Maybe an even simpler explanation is each fuel injector is operated by a rocker arm much like the intake and exhaust valve rocker arms and when the rocker pushes on the "plunger" part of the injector very high pressure diesel is injected into the combustion chamber. The rocker is operated either by a push rod and cam or just from an overhead cam.

Terry
Click to expand...

The only diesels I'm familiar with that use a rocker arm or cam lobe are some of the TDI VW's. My wife's 04.5 is that way. Older 12 valve Cummins 5.9's and virtually all the older large truck diesels used only timed fuel pressure to pop the injector.

The new common rail diesels don't use any mechanical actuators of any kind and earlier IH (Navistar also used in the Fords), and Cat diesels used a seperate high pressure oil pump (using engine oil) in a common channel cast into the head to help open the injectors along with electronic controls.

I believe the 60 series Detroit diesels also use this method but I'm not certain of that.

I am of course not an expert on all the diesels out there, I'm familiar with a few only with most of my experience pertaining to the Cummins 5.9 as installed in the Dodge truck.
 
If you are into clasic sheet metal and modern powerplants, check this combo out. 65 Barracuda with a 4.0L 32V 4cam Lexus 1UZFE all aluminum 6 bolt main V8 and matched 4 sp auto. At least 27 MPG on the highway (That is what my LS400 gets at 70MPH and the car is close to 5000 lbs, the A is a ton lighter!) Butter smooth idle, modern emissions, and 275 honest RWHP. Shades of the old D-Dart 273 but a whole lot tamer in road manners. Mod the ECU and you can rap these to 8500 RPM with no harm. You can get palletized 1UZFE motors around here for about 600 and the trans is another 300 so for under a K, you can have the entire drivetrain and a few more gets you a wiring harness and ECU. Put up the cherry picker and warm up the welder!

Oh yeah, a Euro 2.0L BMW diesel sedan beat a Prius in fuel economy over a road course recently, and whatever happened to the 50MPG Plymouth Champ?
 
A little off topic, but some guys are messing with EFI on slant six engines. I think it would be cool to swap the 6 out of the jeep into a A body also. Ive seen it done to a Pacer and it turned out well.
 
Dodgenut64 said:
A little off topic, but some guys are messing with EFI on slant six engines. I think it would be cool to swap the 6 out of the jeep into a A body also. Ive seen it done to a Pacer and it turned out well.
Click to expand...
would a straight up 6 fit under the hood? Do an Aussie 6/6bbl weber setup.
 
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