Converting to Diesel a U.S. 1988 Nissan pickup King Cab 4x4 Automatic???

[Ziptar]

First post here apologies if it's long

I have been offered a 1988 Nissan King Cab 4x4 Automatic Pickup with a siezed V6 (VG30??) Cheap. Timing belt went and the engine ate itself. It's straight and pretty clean.

I have an affinity for diesels, my other two cars are diesel.

So I immediatley thought about converting it to diesel.

I did some looking around at the Jap/JDM engine importers websites and there are a few different Nissan Diesel Engines available. I would like to use a 4cyl Turbo Diesel.

I did some googleing and found that D21 4x4's were available with TD27T 4 Cylinder Turbo Diesel engine and Automatic Transmission. Like this 1992 Nissan Turano (Pathfinder) 4cyl TD Automatic for sale in Japan.

I am not at all familliar with Nissans, I have been mostly a GM and VW diesel user.

Anyone can help me with the following questions??

Would the swap be as easy as buying a TD27T import engine and bolting it up to the V6 auto trans?? Is the bell housing is diffrent??

Would the Frame and engine Mounts be the same? Or would they need to be fabbed??

Is the TD27T mechanical or electronic injection??

I called one of those places that import the JDM Front Clips for the ricers NAD Auto is near me in Atlanta They can get me a Terrano Front Clip with the TD27T, 4x4 Auto Trans, drive shaft, rear diff, and diesel fuel tank like this JDM Front Clip Toyota 4Runner 2L-Turbo with Automatic Transmission, rear differential, drive shaft and diesel tank
for around $2000.00. That's not a bad price considering what it comes with and it's a turbo diesel motor. Anything diesel isn't cheap. I have called around some wrecking yards and have been quoted $600-$800 for a used V6 so I might got the diesel route.

Any help or input appreciated from anyone that's done a diesel swap in a Nissan truck or is using the TD27T would be great.
Thanks.

On another note while surfing for engine info I came across a bunch of D21 Crew cabs.
I have never seen any of those before, Can the Cabs and Frames be brought in as parts?? Probably allot of money to Spend, but would be a nice project. Don't see many D21 Turbo Diesel Crew Cabs Around

[Plush_Darkside]

I have no experiance with the diesels, but I'm pretty sure the auto behind the VG won't work with one. I know the 4cyl (gas)came with a different tranny than the VGs, but I don't know if it would match either?

[Ziptar]

Thanks for the input. You are right, I found a little info about a similar swap on a South African Website.

It looks like the only way to do it would be to buy the front cut and swap everything over from it. Lots of work but, anything worthwhile is I suppose. I am in the process of trying to track down the availabilty of spare parts, filters, and manuals. If I can find an available source for the stuff, I may just do it. Looks like parts going to be available from Nissan Fork Lift Dealers, have them mailed from Austrailia, or some combination there of. As far as filters go I am sure they will cross reference to something available in the states.

I found a 1991 Pathfinder on ebay that's been converted to a 6cyl Non-Turbo, $9750 is way too high. Guy says he has a pickup also bet it's just as spendy.

If I buy a Jap front clip, I'll be in the truck and Jap Clip for less than three grand, then there is just my labor to get it swapped and $$$s on fabbing an exhaust and probably replacement of small parts.

[bgaidan]

You wouldn't need to get the whole front clip....just get the engine and tranny and make whatever mounts you need. It'll be a lot easier.

[Ziptar]

From what I have seen though, the front clip isn't more than a few hundred bucks different than just the motor and tranny.

I did some usenet searches and found a bunch of posts from people in the UK and Australia seems they are very happy with the power and reliability of the DT27T. A couple of posts about towing boats with them owners had noting but nice things to say.

Anyone here have anything to add on the reliability/power front.

[Plush_Darkside]

Originally Posted by Ziptar

I found a 1991 Pathfinder on ebay that's been converted to a 6cyl Non-Turbo, $9750 is way too high. Guy says he has a pickup also bet it's just as spendy.

.

The guy says he has access to imported diesels also. Maybe send him an E-mail an see if he has any usefull info on the swap or sorces for parts.


BTW that is WAY too much for that year Nissan, no matter what's under the hood!

[TRed]

Four speed T-19 trans made by Warner mates to a dana 300 tcase and a Nissan turbo diesel sd33T. These were usedin Scouts. Also Torqflight 727

[bowlspray]

I can't say much about the auto tranny as those can be tricky with a separate ECU etc. I have a Nissan 3.0 L turbodiesel mated to a 4 cyl manual tranny in a D21 4x4. It an electronic diesel with excellent power and torque. Its a pricey conversion but its made a great truck. Its on mobettafabrication.com

[dimedriver]

I have been looking in to a swap for my 620.

The VW 1.9 TDI plus the toyota w56 transmission from the turbo 22re looks like an easy route. The nissan and toyota pickup chassis is not used outside of north america. So those diesels don't bolt in. There are also no parts for them in the US.

I think you can get transfer cases that drop on ether side for the toyota transmission.

Acme adaptors has an adaptor plate to bolt the toyota transmission to the VW tdi engine.
http://www.acmeadapters.com/index.php?sound=Y

There are also plans to make the plate floating around on the net.
I think I saw them on some MG midget site.

-Dime