I finally finished my turbo diesel project on my Samurai; so here’s a quick write up on all that I did.

I was running a modified 1.3L carbed motor…probably in the 75-80 HP range. It was OK, but I sacrificed some low end torque for the high end HP. And it would still only do 65 on flat ground. I wasn’t getting very good mileage either, and the carb gave me fits every time I went wheeling. I thought about the 1.6L tracker/sidekick swap, but decided that I wanted something more unique.
I decided to swap in a VW diesel engine. I looked for a 1.9 or 1.6 TD engine, but the ones I found were in the $2k range and that wasn’t in my budget. I searched for about 2 months but gave up the search when I found a normally aspirated engine out of a rabbit. It was in a farmer’s field and it was free, provided I could remove the car from the swamp it was in. It was literally under water and nutria had moved into the cab. I used some forks on the front of a tractor to extract it from the swamp and move it onto my trailer. I wasn’t really sure what I was getting; the car had been sitting for 9 years and nobody knew why it had been parked there in the first place. But, a few hours after I got it home I had it running. The only thing wrong was a blown head gasket which I replaced for about $80.
I sold the 1.3 in my Samurai for $500 and a spare 1.3 long block I had in my shop for another $250, and had my budget of $750. I ordered a bellhousing adapter and flywheel from Acme Adapters and started the swap. It took me about 20 hours to swap in the VW motor; most of that time was spent making brackets for my Toyota power steering pump, the VW radiator and electric fan, motor mounts, the GM alternator, and my welder power supply. I had the motor in and running in less than a week and made a few hundred $$ on the swap.
I’ve been running the NA diesel for about 6 months (some of you saw this setup at Powerfest); here’s what I noticed:

Downside: The 1.6 is 52 HP and 71 ft-lbs torque. You notice in on the highway; my zuk on 33’s with a ragtop and a bunch of extra weight was SLOW. 55MPH was only possible downhill with the wind at my back. Usually I was doing about 50 on flat ground, and any kind of hill was a 3rd gear 40mph event with pissed off people lining up behind me.

Upside: I was getting 30-40MPG, which was nice when the cost of fuel was $3.00/gal. The engine is incredibly torquey at low RPM, which was great off road. It was a whole new vehicle in the rocks. And, it runs just fine at any angle.

I installed an EGT pyrometer and cranked up on the fuel pump a little bit; there was a little power gain (maybe 5HP and 10 ft-lbs torque), but it was barely noticeable and hurt my mileage a little. I was wanting more…

Last month I decided to try my hand at building a custom turbo setup. I looked at buying a KKK turbo and manifold because it was pretty much bolt-on, but I was turned off because the turbos and manifolds were hard to find and relatively expensive. I ended up deciding to use a Mitsubishi TE04H turbo and build my own manifolds. The TE04H seems to be inexpensive, really easy to find, is small (no turbo lag) and has an integral wastegate; just what I was looking for. Here’s how I accomplished it:

I purchased a TE04H turbo for $99 (see picture), and found another one locally on a wrecked car that I got for free (spare). I also purchased some silicone elbows, oil cooler, 0-15psi boost gauge, boost controller, misc. fittings and steel braided hoses, and a hood scoop.
I made the flanges for the downpipe and exhaust manifold simply by tracing around the turbo with a piece of limestone on ¼” plate steel and following the lines with my plasma cutter. I used the old exhaust manifold as a pattern for the head flange and cut it out the same way (see picture). I bought a bunch of 1-1/4” schedule 40 steel elbows and welded together the exhaust manifold. I kept the flanges bolted to the original manifold to prevent warping, but I still had to drop it on the belt sander when I was finished to straighten it up.
I took the turbo apart and clocked it to keep the oil supply and drain ports in the right place. It took some time, but really wasn’t very complicated. I’ve never had a turbo apart so I took my time to make sure I didn’t screw anything up; but it wasn’t too difficult.
I tapped out the oil filter adapter to supply the oil for the turbo, and then installed the oil cooler in the scoop on the hood (see picture). I was worried about the scoop looking stupid, but it was the only place I could mount the cooler where it would be safe and have adequate airflow. I think it turned out OK…not exactly my kind of thing but I don’t dislike it either. The oil gets cooled before it enters the turbo (I hope this will reduce coking and help the turbo live longer). I tapped a drain line into the oil pan and hooked it up to the turbo.
The TE04H is water cooled, so I just installed it in my heater line, before the heater core. An unexpected benefit is that the heater works better now…
I had the local exhaust guy bend up some 2-1/2” tubing for the turbo supply and air filter lines. I’m planning on powdercoating them at a later time…
I installed the boost gauge next to the pyrometer in the dash (see picture) and plumbed it into the intake manifold. I also used the same port on the intake manifold to supply the boost controller and wastegate (see picture).
I started it up last week and did a little tuning. I was able to turn up the fuel pump quite a bit without a big increase in EGT’s; the turbo allows the engine to burn a lot more fuel than when it was naturally aspirated. I set the boost controller for 7-8psi of boost. It reaches full boost around 1000-1500RPM (I don’t have a tach installed). I have put about 500 miles on it since I got everything set up; here are my impressions:

• I gained a LOT of low end torque; I’m guessing about 40 ft-lbs. I also got some high-end power, though it isn’t as dramatic as the low-end. The seat of the pants feel is amazing…I’m guessing that the sami accelerates more than twice as fast as it did without the turbo. Top speed is now 65-70 in 5th gear on flat ground. Still no race car, but pretty darn good for a little tiny diesel motor.
• There is very little turbo lag; it reaches full boost right away even at low RPM’s.
• Climbing the hills out here is no problem; it holds 55 just fine as long as I care to hold the pedal on the floor. Unfortunately, if the hill climb is too long, my EGT hits 1200 degrees after a mile or so and I’m forced to back off and let it slow down to about 45MPH.
• The turbo sounds cool; with no insulation in the engine compartment it is quite audible at all speeds. I don’t mind one bit and intend to keep it that way. :D
• The engine runs at the same temperature it did before I added the turbo; no problems with overheating
• Except for a puff of smoke while the turbo is spooling up, the exhaust haze that the motor had without the turbo is completely gone.
• I don’t have good mileage numbers yet, but I am getting about the same as I did before the turbo.
• My opinion is that this is a better swap for a trail rig than the 1.6L Suzuki because of the amount of low end torque the diesel makes. For a rig that sees mostly highway, the Suzuki engine may be better because of the higher HP numbers. I have driven a few samurais with 1.6 8v and one with a 16v and can honestly say that I personally like this turbodiesel better.

This project took a huge amount of time. I hate to admit it, but it really probably wasn’t worth the time I put into it. If you figure my time at $10/hour I could have almost bought two 1.9TD engines. The biggest problem was that I had never done a custom turbo project before (and had never done any major work on any turbo engine). I ended up backtracking a lot and making a few mistakes that cost me some time.
Would I do it again? Yep. I have the only Suzuki samurai with a VW diesel engine with a Mitsubishi turbo out of a Chrysler car with Toyota steering with a GM alternator with a corvette scoop on the hood. But, it works quite well and I am happy with it.

I’ll try to post up a video in the next few days…for now here are some pictures.

My NA diesel swap before the turbo:
http://www.cannonbeachconstruction.com/images/storage/Samurai/NAdiesel.JPG

A pic of the turbo before I modified it:
http://www.cannonbeachconstruction.com/images/storage/Samurai/turbo.JPG

Some pictures of the oil cooler and the scoop:
http://www.cannonbeachconstruction.com/images/storage/Samurai/cooler1.JPG

http://www.cannonbeachconstruction.com/images/storage/Samurai/cooler2.JPG

http://www.cannonbeachconstruction.com/images/storage/Samurai/cooler3.JPG

http://www.cannonbeachconstruction.com/images/storage/Samurai/scoop1.JPG
http://www.cannonbeachconstruction.com/images/storage/Samurai/scoop2.JPG

My exhaust manifold flange before assembling the manifold:
http://www.cannonbeachconstruction.com/images/storage/Samurai/flange.JPG

Intake manifold plumbing and boost controller:
http://www.cannonbeachconstruction.com/images/storage/Samurai/intake.JPG

My pyrometer and boost gauges:
http://www.cannonbeachconstruction.com/images/storage/Samurai/gauges.JPG

Wow!

Some of the 1.6NA's have oil jets, some do not. You have to pull the pan to be sure - if it's got the jets, you can run it harder. 1200 EGT is kind of hot with no jets. More boost helps(more O2 = cooler EGT) , intercooler starts to be more important about 10 to 12 psi. If the gasket goes again, get a 1.9td gastket next time (if you have a hydraulic lifter head) -it's metal and seems to hold to 30 psi of boost and higher.

Nice job!

Im running an Isuzu 1.7 TDi in mine(from a UK Vauxhall, GM in the states??). It makes approx 80 bhp, and pulls my exo-d Suzuki great. It'll get about 85mph flat out, but will cruise all day in top at 55mph up/down hill etc.

One thing I found with mine is that I needed a LOT more radiator area. The temp will slowly build up on long inclines, or at high speed. If youre gonna do a diesel turbo swap, check out the size of the rad in the donor car, I found the 1.7 rad was about 3 times(literally) the size of the zook rad.

nice.
Now start running WVO.

Wow!

Some of the 1.6NA's have oil jets, some do not. You have to pull the pan to be sure - if it's got the jets, you can run it harder. 1200 EGT is kind of hot with no jets. More boost helps(more O2 = cooler EGT) , intercooler starts to be more important about 10 to 12 psi. If the gasket goes again, get a 1.9td gastket next time (if you have a hydraulic lifter head) -it's metal and seems to hold to 30 psi of boost and higher.

Nice job!

Mine doesn't have the oil jets. I do have another 1.6 on an engine stand in my shop with oil jets; I'm just waiting to get this setup working right and reliably to swap it in.
I'm not too concerned with a slightly shorter lifespan on this engine; this rig sees mostly trail duty and little street use.
Thanks for the info and suggestions!

Im running an Isuzu 1.7 TDi in mine(from a UK Vauxhall, GM in the states??). It makes approx 80 bhp, and pulls my exo-d Suzuki great. It'll get about 85mph flat out, but will cruise all day in top at 55mph up/down hill etc.

One thing I found with mine is that I needed a LOT more radiator area. The temp will slowly build up on long inclines, or at high speed. If youre gonna do a diesel turbo swap, check out the size of the rad in the donor car, I found the 1.7 rad was about 3 times(literally) the size of the zook rad.
I ran my samurai radiator when I first swapped in the diesel but ran into overheating problems when I turned up the fuel pump. I'm running a 26" aluminum crossflow radiator right now and it works great in combination with the oil cooler.

Wow so that is how you stuff 500lbs of shit in to a 5lbs bag!!! That is cool!

Got any pics of the manifold?

Two questions on your build if I may. I like it.

1. What is your approximate curb weight with you in the rig?

2. What is your final drive ratio -effective with the t.case reduction?

Thanks for your help, ROB

plump yourself in an intercooler. You can find cheap ones in the scrap yard from almost any turbo car. Mitsu Starion and Eclipse, talon, 4cly turbo probes, Supras, Rx-7s the list goes on. Hell you can buy a nice new one for $200 US
Then you can really turn up the fuel and boost

http://www.kyrias.com/deepmud/Zuk2005/zukfender-001web.jpg

big intercooler, Ebay, $50 w/shipping

3 core Toyota Radiator - traded for it - lots of cooling.

I would guess he has stock gearing - the diesels would be happier if the Zuk had a 1:1 high range - 31's and stock gearing seems to be ok.

I have a Dodge Omni turbo out in the shed - I've been thinking it might work --- now you've proved it for me :D

so whats is like with the soft top off? do you notice the diesel smell?

gas milages is king here in southern oregon, 3.00 a gallon...

I have thought hard and long about the diesel swap but some people have told me that they are super dirty in the summer w/ the top off..

thoughts?

can you post pics of your exhast routing?

To answer all of the questions:

I'm not sure of exact curb weight; but I have about 200lbs of junk in the toolbox, maybe 40 extra lbs of tires, about 150lbs of front bumper and winch, an extra 150lbs under the hood (air compressor, extra battery, welder stuff, p/s stuff, cast iron engine, etc.) and about an extra 100 lbs of spare tire carrier and spare. That comes out somewhere near 2700lbs. I'll get it to a scale one of these days...

I neglected to take pics of the completed manifold; I'll snap some of it on the engine, but there isn't much to see. Just some sch40 elbows...

Final drive ratio...never calculated it out. I switched back to stock gears in the diffs (3.73), running a 4.16 tcase, the sami has a 3.652 first gear. Guess that would be 56.7. I'm running 33's and it is geared just about perfect for the trail...a little low for the street.

No smell (except when sitting still). I have the exhaust routed into the slipstream behind the left rear tire (similar to the stock setup). I notice no exhaust smell while moving. The entire rig does smell a little bit like diesel fuel...just like any old diesel vehicle does.

I considered the intercooler, but there's no way for me to make it fit without some major hacking on the front clip. I actually drove it hard and pulled over to feel the turbo pipe several times to see how hot it is getting...it is just barely warm to the touch, much cooler than everything else under the hood. I'm guessing that the intercooler would help, but not enough to justify the work that would go into it.

I'll snap a pic of my exhaust routing and post it later...basically it goes down on the passenger side, under the tranny right next to the little tube crossmember, into a 6" flex coupler, and then goes back in the stock location. It is actually tucked up quite high...I've been on several trips with is there and haven't damaged it yet...

damn 2700 with zuk axles? mine is 2700 with toyota axles and engine

So if a guy wanted to run say 36" tires with the 1.6 turbo, what is someone's guess as to the appropriate final drive?

It would be through all yota mechanicals with a 1:1 case.

Thanks for any input, ROB

Wow, nice write up. I really like the swap. I've been considering this for my daily driver (for the fuel savings) and was wondering, in your opinion, how well suited would the NA 1.6 be for a stock sammy on 31's? Do you think it would have enough horsepower to go about 60-65 on hwy? How well does your new setup perform on the road against the wind? Does the added torque help you power through it or are you still at its mercy? Thats my main gripe about the sammy right now is that the wind dictates the speed, and I even have a 1.6 8v FI in my daily driver.

james

Wow, nice write up. I really like the swap. I've been considering this for my daily driver (for the fuel savings) and was wondering, in your opinion, how well suited would the NA 1.6 be for a stock sammy on 31's? Do you think it would have enough horsepower to go about 60-65 on hwy? How well does your new setup perform on the road against the wind? Does the added torque help you power through it or are you still at its mercy? Thats my main gripe about the sammy right now is that the wind dictates the speed, and I even have a 1.6 8v FI in my daily driver.

james

I think that a properly tuned 1.6NA would be about the same as a stock 1.3L zuk engine. Mine really felt about the same as my original 1.3. The swap to a 1.6NA isn't worth it if you're looking for a performance increase; but the fuel savings is nice. If you're going from a 1.6 8v to a 1.6NA diesel, you're going to be disappointed...

how well does a supercharger work with small diesels? for the trail would it be better?

That looks tight man! Wanna see it in person sometime :D Lets wheel this summer!

Thought I'd post a quick update; about a month ago my engine blew during a wheeling trip. The #3 piston broke in half around the oil control ring and pretty much destroyed the bottom end. I knew that cylinder was weak (see my original post), and based on the damage I saw when I removed it I believe it was unrealted to my other engine modifications. That engine was pulled from a car that had been underwater every year for 9 years, sitting in a swamp. Suprised it lasted that long. Anyway, The rest of the engine looked quite good. None of the other pistons showed any signs of melting, cracks, etc. The valves and rest of the head were perfect as well. I'm including some pics that show some more detail on how I placed all of the accessories and the turbo.
I finished rebuilding and installing a 1.6 hydraulic motor out of a 1992 Golf this weekend; bored .040", all new pistons, rings, bearings, rebuilt head, etc (see pics). I'm running it at the stock fuel pump setting for the next few weeks, until the break-in is mostly done. Even at the stock setting, this engine has as much power as my old one did when it was turned up.

http://www.cannonbeachconstruction.com/images/storage/Samurai/motorback.JPG

http://www.cannonbeachconstruction.com/images/storage/Samurai/motorfront.JPG

http://www.cannonbeachconstruction.com/images/storage/Samurai/motorleft.JPG

http://www.cannonbeachconstruction.com/images/storage/Samurai/motorright.JPG

http://www.cannonbeachconstruction.com/images/storage/Samurai/piston.JPG

http://www.cannonbeachconstruction.com/images/storage/Samurai/oilpan.JPG

your packaging of accessories is amazing :D

Good to hear about the turbo not killing the engine. That broken piston looks like it would have happened anyway.

What's your opinion on gearing since you've been out and about with the now-broken motor? I keep advocating NOT spending big money on gearing - like, if you decide to go with toyota and dual cases, go ahead and leave them both stock, a 100:1 will feel like 200:1 - but actually I'm not experienced with low gears, I left my older 1.9td to deal with STOCK samurai gearing and the 35 inch Claws, which is what? 32:1? - it was fine for the no-rocks terrain around here, and I figure anything more than 50 or 60:1 would be heading towards overkill. But maybe I'm wrong :D

My new config will be stock Toy tranny and tcase with 4.88 diffs - a bit lower overall than it was before, but I have 39.5 Boggers now:laughing: - I'm sure twin cases wouldn't be a bad thing.

What's your opinion on gearing since you've been out and about with the now-broken motor?

I've been running the 3.73's in the diffs and a 4.16 tcase (on 33's)...a little low for the street, great for 95% of the trails around here, just a little tall for the rocks. My rig used to double as a DD a few years ago, but since it doesn't anymore, I'm considering dropping in some new R&P gears (4.57's maybe?) to make it a little more friendly on the trail.

so you're saying super low is good for rocks even with the diesel (you're gearing at a "a little tall for rocks" is much lower than my "stock is just fine" ) -so it's not about the low rpm grunt of the engine, it's about going slower?

so you're saying super low is good for rocks even with the diesel (you're gearing at a "a little tall for rocks" is much lower than my "stock is just fine" ) -so it's not about the low rpm grunt of the engine, it's about going slower?

It's not about power...there's tons available at low RPM's. The engine really comes alive when I hit the pedal, even when I'm really lugging it down. It's about going slower so that I have a little more control over an obstacle. I still find myself slipping the clutch on occasion because it just won't go slow enough for me.

Im running an Isuzu 1.7 TDi in mine(from a UK Vauxhall, GM in the states??). It makes approx 80 bhp, and pulls my exo-d Suzuki great. It'll get about 85mph flat out, but will cruise all day in top at 55mph up/down hill etc.

One thing I found with mine is that I needed a LOT more radiator area. The temp will slowly build up on long inclines, or at high speed. If youre gonna do a diesel turbo swap, check out the size of the rad in the donor car, I found the 1.7 rad was about 3 times(literally) the size of the zook rad.

I just picked up a 1.5TD Isuzu with power steering pump. In process of getting an Opel Manta Getrag box for it - should bolt sytraight on. Not sure if I will go the intercooler route, but I know how to set the boost a bit higher! I would gave gone for the 1.7 ideally, but got a complete donor Corsa for £75 and can use its rad and all... Hardest part as far as I can see with the Isuzu block is getting a good engine mount fabricated. My mate Phil has done several Vuxhall and Isizu fittings, to am hoping he can lend a hand with that...

Defo want to see yours in the flesh now! (I could not realy make out the pics you sent me)

so you're saying super low is good for rocks even with the diesel (you're gearing at a "a little tall for rocks" is much lower than my "stock is just fine" ) -so it's not about the low rpm grunt of the engine, it's about going slower?I agree with sewerzuk. I was at 125:1 with my 8-valve and I wanted for lower gears occasionally; a LOT lower sometimes like big obstacles on steep sidehills :eek: . It wasn't a power issue with the 8-valve. With the diesel it surely won't be. I am going with dual cases, a 4.7:1 gears in the rear case, and twin sticks. That gives me three low ranges to choose from: 2.28:1, or 4.7:1, or 10.7:1 which corresponds to crawl ratios of 21:1 hi range, 48:1, 98:1, and 224:1. 2wd-lo is very nice to save your tires when you are aired down or rock slabs. I drive mine on the street, fire trails, hunting, mudding, and some serious rock crawling, so all those options will be useful to me.

BTW, nice job sewerzuk!