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Diesel engine mini van ?


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#1 jimini

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Posted 22 March 2005 - 05:39 PM

Hi everyone.. i have been thinking for a while of bringing my mini van into the 21st century.. and am tempted in a while to perform an engine transplant
I like the the idea of using a turbo diesel .. possibly the vw lupo its 1.4 3 cylinder tdi very nippy and economical.. ..are there any other posiblilites

my hope is that i can retain the looks of the standard van eg no flip front ..no arches so standard track... an preferably 10" wheels with tiny chrome hubcap.. do you think it will be even possible to do this

#2 TimS

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Posted 22 March 2005 - 05:51 PM

iv always wanted to do a diesel conversion.... how about the diesel that comes in the metros, should b able to use the metro subframe.

im not sure of its spec though and i doubt its a K series

#3 ed4ran

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Posted 22 March 2005 - 06:24 PM

That sounds like fun,
Found an engine and 5 speed for you!?!?!

EBAY

#4 jimini

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Posted 22 March 2005 - 07:07 PM

metro sems like a good idea .. but i would realy like a turbo deisel.. i want simething a bit nippy.. the lupo unit is tiny when you look at it. although hadnt htought of the meto might be a fall back idea

#5 Bungle

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Posted 22 March 2005 - 07:09 PM

i have seen this conversion in mini world a long time ago but cant remember which engine was used i thing it was a jap 3 cylinder

#6 Guess-Works.com

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Posted 22 March 2005 - 10:33 PM

personally I'd got for one of the small citroen (PSA) units, they just keep going...

didn't dihatsu ( or some other eastern comp) do a 3 cyl Diesel ?

anyway, you'll get 40 mpg out of you mini engine anywa, what do you want a smokey diesel for !!!

#7 jimini

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Posted 22 March 2005 - 10:34 PM

just found out innossenta (spelling) 120 mini did a diesel version.. wonder if thats the same subframe and stuff.. they used diatsui engines

#8 jimini

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Posted 22 March 2005 - 10:37 PM

id like to run it on bio deisel or something very cheap and environmentaly friendly .. those psa engines sound like a good idea probably cheaper than a vw unit

#9 Dan

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Posted 24 March 2005 - 07:03 PM

Bio-Diesel is really rubbish and eats engines. That's why you can't get it over here yet, there's a lot more standards to comply with here than in France.

By the time the Innocenti was being made with a diesel it was pretty much a completely different car to the original.

There is of course the A series diesel that you could use but it's not exactly kind to the environment if that's what your after, and it's really hard to fit to the transverse gearbox.

Diesel does more harm than petrol anyway, the only reason it's perceived as being good for the environment is because you traditionally get very good economy when using it. As Guessworks says, A series engines are very economical anyway and a 998 in a saloon can easily return a combined economy of over 50mpg.

#10 Bungle

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Posted 24 March 2005 - 07:24 PM

A series diesel never heard of it tell us more

#11 Dan

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Posted 24 March 2005 - 08:22 PM

Gather round children, and I'll tell you a story.

A long time ago in a factory far far away (Longbridge possibly), BMC started making tractors. They made some fairly large ones and some fairly small ones. The fairly small ones were called BMC Mini Tractors! For power they used a tiny (950cc) diesel which was based on the A series engine and was called a type 9T or something like that. Adapting it to the transverse gearbox would be a very hard thing however and it's pretty big due to the injection pump and not very smooth or driveable. But then the engines in Triumphs were all based on tractor engines originally so you could probably tune some of the harshness out of it, and anything can be made to fit if you spend enough cash.

#12 Dan

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Posted 24 March 2005 - 08:24 PM

BMC Mini Tractor workshop manual.


There's a link to something which will help shed more light on the engine.

#13 Big Sam

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Posted 24 March 2005 - 09:25 PM

Fiat engines maybe? Panda 4x4 diesel engine?

#14 sssstew

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Posted 25 March 2005 - 01:29 AM

ive looked into the 1.4 tdi engined mini before, would be a great idea but sourcing an engine locally was very hard, there are few around. I needed to source it locally so we could view it for suitableness of driveshafts and mountings and size etc before actually buying it.




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