I've got a project(maybe)

slisdexia · Nov 20, 2007

Is it possible/what would be needed for a gasoline to diesel swap. I'm thinking it'd be a project for school but before I tell anyone at school I might do this, I'd rather get some feedback from you guys first. I know the compression would have to be higher, and the glowplug, but what else?

Will · Nov 20, 2007

Didn't we already discuss this?

It's impossible.

Yes, you will need to boost the compression to 20:1 about. There's not enogh meat on the cylinder head block deck for that so you'll have to get custom pistons made. Or cylinder heads made because there's more:

For a low pressure injection system (3,000psi) you'll need a pre combustion chamber in each cylinder. There's not enough meat in the head for that as it wasn't part of the design. The glow plug and the injector would both screw into that chamber.

You need an injector pump. It's possible you could adapt one from an existing diesel and drive it with a cogged belt. It's a lot of engineering but it could be done.

Then you just throw away the throttle body and hose clamp and air filter onto the manifold and there you are.

And a gas motor is a wiffle motor compared to a diesel in construction. It's not rugged enough to withstand the brutal combustions a diesel delivers. I'm not talking about torque, I'm talking about the way it combusts. It hammers the shit out of the parts. A diesel is going to weigh 1/3-1/2 more than a gas motor of the same approximate size. It's all in the thickness of the block, heads, rods, crank--everything. Even a low power diesel knocks the hell out of its parts.

Things are a lot better now with pilot injection--but you aren't there yet with your project.

A better project is to build a Sterling engine. Do a search, I've seen some descriptions for projects and they have a lot better success rate and are a lot more interesting.

kunar · Nov 20, 2007

Will said:
A better project is to build a Sterling engine. Do a search, I've seen some descriptions for projects and they have a lot better success rate and are a lot more interesting.

that was our senior project. each student got a specific part and we made like 2 dozen copies of it. our class was a bunch of slackers though so we only got 1 or 2 in the whole class that ran.

predator · Nov 20, 2007

sounds like way to much work....why not just a diesel swap??

Original_Ranger84 · Nov 21, 2007

Yeah it is impossible. But another diesel might be possible like a powerstroke 6.0L, 6.4L, 7.3L turbo engine.

predator · Nov 21, 2007

slisdexia said:
Is it possible/what would be needed for a gasoline to diesel swap. I'm thinking it'd be a project for school but before I tell anyone at school I might do this, I'd rather get some feedback from you guys first. I know the compression would have to be higher, and the glowplug, but what else?

hhhmm..what else? a good dose of boredom and insanity!!!

and only god knows how much money

Psychopete · Nov 21, 2007

Already been thought of. Google Oldmobile 350s that had been converted from gas to diesel in the later 70s/early 80s. Even though it was beefed up, it still failed miserably. I imagine a *standard* gas motor would do much worse.

Pete

Will · Nov 21, 2007

The Olds motors--and there were several: the 5.7 V8, a 4.3 V8 and a 4.3 V6--these were not converted gas motors. They used the basic platform because it was all they had, but they were designed as diesels. The International 6.9 and 7.3 was also a diesel that was redesigned from a gas motor.

In both cases the motors were built as diesels form the ground up. In the case of International Harvester, they succeeded. In the case of General Motors, they failed and got Detroit Diesel to build them a new design--the 6.2. The Olds-based motor failed because #1 Oldsmobile had no experience building diesels, not because they originated from a gas design and #2 the customers didn't understand diesels and were dissatisfied by the performance and noise. There are still Olds diesels around. GM was along the right path. They built them for cars up until 1985--4 years concurently with the 6.2 that was going in trucks. They were using roller cams and other ideas stolen off of Detroits 6.2 design. they were learning. But by then the oil crisis was over and nobody wanted them in a car.

Snowplow · Nov 21, 2007

The olds motors did start with the same block design as the gassers, but the blocks are different, well, I at least know this is true in the case of the olds 403. A normal 403 motor is stamped 403, a diesel block is stamped 403X. The block used thicker construction and 4 bolt main. They are great motors to build gas strokers out of because they can stand up to a lot of machine work. Someplace in my barn I have a 403 and a 403X block that I had planed to use in my track car. If they are not completely just burred under piles of crap I will find them and snap off some photos.

For a company who had no experience building a diesel and limited resources to work off of, the olds diesels were not bad in the scheme of things.

Turbo-T · Nov 21, 2007

With a little luck and proper care those olds diesels would last a long time. I had a chance to by an Olds 88 with a deisel that had over 100K miles on it. Wife didn't like the look of it.

I've got a project(maybe)

slisdexia

15+ Year Member

Will

Forum Staff Member

kunar

Forum Staff Member

predator

15+ Year Member

Original_Ranger84

15+ Year Member

predator

15+ Year Member

Psychopete

15+ Year Member

Will

Forum Staff Member

Snowplow

15+ Year Member

Turbo-T

15+ Year Member

Sponsored Ad

TRS Events & Gatherings

Latest posts

Featured Rangers

TRS Latest Video

Official TRS Merchandise

Follow TRS On Instagram

Latest Album Photos

Product Suggestions