Hi,
This is kinda boating-related. Anybody hear of anyone who's converted
the Venerable GM 4.3L V6 to diesel? I'd like to do that in my van. I don't
see any room for anything other than a V6, and would like diesel.

Lloyd Sumpter
"Far Cove" Catalina 36 - already has diesel

Lloyd Sumpter wrote:

Hi,
This is kinda boating-related. Anybody hear of anyone who's converted
the Venerable GM 4.3L V6 to diesel? I'd like to do that in my van. I don't
see any room for anything other than a V6, and would like diesel.

Lloyd Sumpter
"Far Cove" Catalina 36 - already has diesel

Good grief, Lloyd...the more crackpot ideas you have, the more I like you.

--
Email sent to is never read.

Ion drive would be easier...



"
This is kinda boating-related. Anybody hear of anyone who's converted
the Venerable GM 4.3L V6 to diesel? I'd like to do that in my van. I don't
see any room for anything other than a V6, and would like diesel.

Lloyd Sumpter
"Far Cove" Catalina 36 - already has diesel

Lloyd Sumpter wrote:
Hi,
This is kinda boating-related. Anybody hear of anyone who's converted
the Venerable GM 4.3L V6 to diesel? I'd like to do that in my van. I don't
see any room for anything other than a V6, and would like diesel.

Lloyd Sumpter
"Far Cove" Catalina 36 - already has diesel

A diesel is not just a petrol engine with an injector pump.

Were it viable the power would be substantially down as would reliability.

If fuel cost is your motivation have a look at lpg (I think you prefer
to call it propane) many cars here are dual fuel, mine are.

K

If fuel cost is your motivation have a look at lpg (I think you prefer
to call it propane) many cars here are dual fuel, mine are.

K

Is there any truth to the rumor that when not running on petrol Aussie vehicles
are propelled by hot air? (just jokin')

"Lloyd Sumpter" wrote in message .. .
Hi,
This is kinda boating-related. Anybody hear of anyone who's converted
the Venerable GM 4.3L V6 to diesel? I'd like to do that in my van. I don't
see any room for anything other than a V6, and would like diesel.

Lloyd, the predictable response, of course, is "don't do it". Why?
GM themselves conducted this experiment on a grand scale back in the
70s when they attempted to take an Oldsmobile V8 gas engine and
convert it to diesel. It ran - for a while - but not nearly as long
as most people hoped. It was a reliability disaster since the block
was not really designed to take the compression loads and heat build
up associated with diesel service. There's a reason that diesel
engines weigh more than gas for comparable horsepower.

Why not do something really creative and create a hybrid van using a
smallish diesel to drive a generator, which recharges a battery bank?

Probably cost in the range of buying a used diesel truck. cost of engine
and new tranny to hold the torque, and then new differential gearing, as the
RPM's max is much lower. Cheapest way would be if you could get an older
European sedan and tranplant the running gear.
Bill

"Wayne B" wrote in message
m...
"Lloyd Sumpter" wrote in message
.. .
Hi,
This is kinda boating-related. Anybody hear of anyone who's converted
the Venerable GM 4.3L V6 to diesel? I'd like to do that in my van. I
don't
see any room for anything other than a V6, and would like diesel.

Lloyd, the predictable response, of course, is "don't do it". Why?
GM themselves conducted this experiment on a grand scale back in the
70s when they attempted to take an Oldsmobile V8 gas engine and
convert it to diesel. It ran - for a while - but not nearly as long
as most people hoped. It was a reliability disaster since the block
was not really designed to take the compression loads and heat build
up associated with diesel service. There's a reason that diesel
engines weigh more than gas for comparable horsepower.

Why not do something really creative and create a hybrid van using a
smallish diesel to drive a generator, which recharges a battery bank?

Lloyd Sumpter wrote:

Hi,
This is kinda boating-related. Anybody hear of anyone who's converted
the Venerable GM 4.3L V6 to diesel? I'd like to do that in my van. I don't
see any room for anything other than a V6, and would like diesel.

Lloyd Sumpter
"Far Cove" Catalina 36 - already has diesel


Are you attempting to convert a gas V6 to diesel, or are you replacing
the gas V6 with a diesel one?

Forget trying to convert a gas engine to diesel. Even a full staff of
engineers at GM tried it with the 5.7L in the 80's, and there were all
sorts of trouble. A gas engine block is just not made strong enough to
support the increased stresses that diesel operation will cause.

Now replacing the engine with a diesel is doable, although there will be
some gearing issues to deal with, as the torque curve and max RPM of a
diesel is much different than a gas engine, and the transmission and
differential gears need to be matched to these factors to achieve the
best performance.

Dave

On Wed, 26 Nov 2003 13:17:21 +0000, Dave Hall wrote:

Lloyd Sumpter wrote:

Hi,
This is kinda boating-related. Anybody hear of anyone who's converted
the Venerable GM 4.3L V6 to diesel? I'd like to do that in my van. I don't
see any room for anything other than a V6, and would like diesel.

Lloyd Sumpter
"Far Cove" Catalina 36 - already has diesel


Are you attempting to convert a gas V6 to diesel, or are you replacing
the gas V6 with a diesel one?

Forget trying to convert a gas engine to diesel. Even a full staff of
engineers at GM tried it with the 5.7L in the 80's, and there were all
sorts of trouble. A gas engine block is just not made strong enough to
support the increased stresses that diesel operation will cause.

Now replacing the engine with a diesel is doable, although there will be
some gearing issues to deal with, as the torque curve and max RPM of a
diesel is much different than a gas engine, and the transmission and
differential gears need to be matched to these factors to achieve the
best performance.

Dave

Thanks for the response.

No, I wouldn't be doing a conversion myself. The 5.7L conversion was what
made me think of it, because the 4.3 is basically the 5.7 with 2 cyl
lopped off. I read about the 5.7 conversions, and apparently it had "mixed
reviews" - but I think it may have been at least partly because they were
used in marine environments. So I was wondering if there would be any
"converted" V6's out there...

Trouble is, the van's engine compartment is REALLY cramped, and I don't
think I could get anything other than a V6 into it - certainly not an
inline-6!

As for gearing, it's already pretty tall, and I'm expecting a reduction in
HP, so the torque would probably be about the same. (the 1.0L
normally-asperated diesel I'm buying for Far Cove is 26hp@3000, so
extrapolating to 4.3 gives 110hp - the existing engine is 190hp. I don't
want turbo: too complicated!) Also, the existing tranny is on its last
legs, so I'll be replacing it soon in any case.

So if there's a V6 diesel of about 4 litres or so, it might be doable.

Lloyd

"Lloyd Sumpter" wrote in message
news

No, I wouldn't be doing a conversion myself. The 5.7L conversion was what
made me think of it, because the 4.3 is basically the 5.7 with 2 cyl
lopped off. I read about the 5.7 conversions, and apparently it had "mixed
reviews" - but I think it may have been at least partly because they were
used in marine environments. So I was wondering if there would be any
"converted" V6's out there...

Trouble is, the van's engine compartment is REALLY cramped, and I don't
think I could get anything other than a V6 into it - certainly not an
inline-6!

Lloyd, the Astro/Safari V-8 Conversion is rather popular. Also, the 5.7L
conversion in the Chevrolet pickups was an Oldsmobile engine. Not much in
common with the 4.3 except maybe the bellhousing pattern (I forget the
interchange among the GM engine/transmission families).

Rob
*
*
*