2.3L swap for a diesel.

fox81 · 10-03-2007

Okay here's a project that I've been thinking about for sometime now.
I want to swap the 2.3L for a diesel engine. I've heard the diesel out of a mid to late 80's Volvo would work. A few weeks ago on ebay there was a diesel Mercury Capri. They wanted a 10,000+ for it but it had almost no miles. But I know its possible. Seeing the Capri is a Mustang. I mainly want the mileage the diesels offer along with the ability to run a bio-fuels. Whats your guys take on it?

Aimbot1 · 10-04-2007

NICE, I'd go for it if I was you, I'm big on alt fuels

If you do, please do a write up on here for us

P.S. peanut oil is best bio fuel to use

**74stang2togo** · 10-05-2007

It's up to you, but if I were going Diesel, it'd have to be something...

1. Turbocharged: Diesel engines without power adders can still get great fuel mileage, but horsepower and torque will leave a lot to be desired... especially with a diesel small enough to fit in a fox-chassis vehicle. Compare the pre-turbo 7.3L and the 7.3L Powerstroke Turbo Diesels from Ford in the early-to-mid 90s... MASSIVE difference in power... TINY difference in fuel economy... (I still wanna do a Powerstroke into a mid-70s Lincoln Mark IV/Mark V or Thunderbird someday...)

2. Powerful: Since you can make more power with less fuel with a Diesel... then make sure you get a good one... a 2.2L Isuzu or 2.3L Ford Diesel from the early 80s would be an easy fit... but both made less than 60hp... Of course... Mercedes Benz, Volvo, and a few of the European makes have made Diesel inline engines that made decent power (even without power adders in some of those cases!)

3. Reliable: The easier to find donor engines may not be the best candidates... Ford put a Diesel in fox-chassis Lincolns in the mid 80s (very short lived option... for several really good reasons) and the Oldsmobile 4.3L V6 and 350 V8 Diesels wouldn't be a difficult fit, and weren't terrible on power (and even had decent torque) but you're looking at an engine there that's about as reliable as a politician's promise... The Chevy 6.2 isn't too much bigger than a Chevy small block gas V8 (still a popular swap into fox-chassis cars to this day, so you may even be able to adapt a set of SB Chevy mounts) and it's reliability isn't too terrible, but parts for it aren't too easy to get ahold of nowadays...

Of course... if I were going to put a diesel in a Mustang????

I'd be shoving a Cummins 5.9 into a 71-73 coupe.... single side-exit 4" exhaust... six-speed tranny... 4.56 gears in a 9"... probably get 30mpg and lay down 10s in the 1/4 with a tuner!

fox81 · 10-08-2007

I've heard about the Oldsmobile diesels. I heard the got mid 30's but I don't want to be held to that. But yeah the biggest challenge for me would be finding the time to do it. One question I do have would be the gearing in the differential. Would I have to do rear end work as well? Cause I really don't want to. I can live with the engine/transmission swap. But changing something like the rear end is out of the question.
But yeah once it happens I will let every one know, it may be a while but it will happen. Thanks for the input.

As the Cumins goes you sound like my friend. He's a huge Cumins guy.

sneak · 01-25-2008

Hey guys, I'm looking into puting a 4BTAA Cummins, or possibly a 6 cyl international, kin to the 6.0L powerstroke. Thought I'd check to see if anyone has had any progress with a diesel conversion.

EDIT: I'm thinking about using a 95 stang.

**74stang2togo** · 02-11-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by fox81

Would I have to do rear end work as well? Cause I really don't want to. I can live with the engine/transmission swap. But changing something like the rear end is out of the question.

As the Cumins goes you sound like my friend. He's a huge Cumins guy.

Why are you so scared of swapping out a rear end? On a fox-chassis car it's easy... REALLY easy! Even on a 5.0 hatchback GT with the quad-shock setup my friend and I pulled one out of a donor, trucked it home, and pulled the busted one out of his car and threw the donor axle in there in a total of 9 hours (included 2 hours on the road and an hour in the parts store getting new gear lube, a new gasket, and brake parts) we even did the rear brakes in those 9 hours (all new stuff except the backing plates).

Just not sure why you're scared of the idea of doing a rear-end swap in a fox-chassis car, it's actually the easiest part of a powertrain swap in a fox if you've got one good buddy and a big shop-style floor jack (less than $150 at several places these days, good ones available from Harbor Freight for less than $100)

If you put a powerful diesel in there (anything more than 250hp and/or 300ft/lbs of torque I'd pretty much recommend doing the rear end while you're at it, anything north of 350hp and/or 400 ft/lbs of torque will require it!)

b_chandler · 02-12-2008

There was a 2.0L diesel in Rangers in the 80's. It might prove to be the easier swap in a Fox chassis.

**74stang2togo** · 02-12-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by b_chandler

There was a 2.0L diesel in Rangers in the 80's. It might prove to be the easier swap in a Fox chassis.

yeah, it had about 55hp and not much more torque, there's a reason they quit making it, lol.

b_chandler · 02-16-2008

LOL! There's a reason they quit making Lima motors too, but that hasn't stopped anyone from making them run like they should have to begin with.

J. Rhapsody · 02-19-2008

I wouldnt go with a 350 diesel if you plan on modding it in any way. Trust me I wouldnt put that piece of **** in my truck. No load can be put on it at all. its just a diesel converted gas engine

fox81 · 02-19-2008

I'm not scared of doing a rear end swap its just that I don't have the facilities. I don't have a garage or even a cement slap. Its just open ground. Plus getting the car high enough is an issue. I've looked into the Ranger diesels but yeah with that power I just might as well leave the 2.3 in it! lol.

Oh and the 5.7 Oldmobile Diesel is not a gas converted engine.
It was developed and built by Olds to be used in a range of GM cars like the Caprice and what ever other GMs were built on that chassis.

Turbosnake · 02-20-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by fox81

Oh and the 5.7 Oldmobile Diesel is not a gas converted engine.
It was developed and built by Olds to be used in a range of GM cars like the Caprice and what ever other GMs were built on that chassis.

The 350 diesels were dieselfied gasoline engines, but the did redesign them slightly with the higher compression pistons and different heads for the injectors. They did not work well and soon replaced by the 6.2L diesel which was designed from the ground up with diesel application in mind.

GT Beck · 02-23-2008

Do not put an old diesel motor in! I would look into something newer like 2000+. Ford makes some nice small modern engines. Look for turbo and intercooled common rails or maybe even VW's TDI 1.9. You could bump the power up to 400lbs of torque and get 40+mpg.

J. Rhapsody · 02-25-2008

I would go with a older one for the soot dumping capabilities. If you wanna keep it light go with a 4banger Duetz or perkins they have well the Duetz diesels used in Conveyor Belt Loaders have I think 65hp but thats what turbos are for.

If you mean the same 350 diesel that you could git invehicles such as my truck and Suburbans, yes it is a converted gas engine. I did research on my line of Chevy/GMC C/K 73-87 trucks its a "Passenger diesel" cant tow or anything with it.

GT Beck · 02-27-2008

Search for the new Lion motor currently being used in the Jaguar and Land Rover. 2.7v-6, 207hp@4000rpm and 320lb-ft@1900rpm 27 city, 49 highway Twin VGT turbo, 445lbs weight