A friend of mine recently acquired a bread-van with the venerable Isuzu 4B2T engine in it. He also has a Range Rover Classic.
Of course his mind starts spinning of diesel greatness in the RRC.
He has called me asking if I know of any information regarding this conversion. He has found stuff online, but not much. He has also found people whose 'friends' have done the conversion, but can't track anyone down for solid information.
I told him that ExPo would know who has done this conversion, so I come to you, dear friends, in pursuit of the elusive Isuzu 4B2T conversion.
Thank you for any help!
This came up a bit on the recent 300 Tdi post. I am looking into this motor for my Disco. I have a RRC too, and would like to do a diesel in that as well, but may go with the 300 Tdi for that one, because I don't plan on needing that kind of power for the daily driver. I think at the very least it is a tight fit. It is usually done as an upgrade to the Defender. In the Disco, the motor will clear the hood by only 3/4" and the turbo is right there on top. There's a lot of effective heat shielding that can mitigate this. Also, on the lower part of the motor there are a couple of problems: (1.) The engine (at 32") is tall, so you will have to lower the bump stops by 1 inch to clear the diff sufficiently, and/or have a decent lift. (2.) The starter in stock configuration will not clear the frame. The factory Defenders in Australia had this motor and I believe the frames had to be notched slightly to accommodate this. However, the above mentioned Roving Beetle cleared his frame cleverly by cutting the mounting ears on the starter, rotating it slightly, and rewelding them, giving him plenty of clearance.
Then there is the transmission you will use. The stock tranny, manual or auto, is too weak for this motor, it seems. Roving Beetle matched his to a NV3550, which proved too weak as well. The NV4500 would be the ideal choice and, since it is a one ton+ tranny, it would be bulletproof. Also has a very low first gear which is a plus to get the turbo spooled up quickly from the start. A custom adapter has been done to the stock LT230, which is plenty strong, but no off the shelf is available. Roving Beetle's was done by Novak, and cost 1000.00. Roving beetle was able to get the shifters to fit into the Disco console so it looked like stock. His was a very nice job, perhaps as nice as could be done, with the exception of the tranny problem. Here is a link to his build. It's a great place to start:
http://pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=763708&highlight=
Expo member Nonimouse, who might weigh-in on this thread, is another great resource for info on these builds in the UK.
David
