Begle1

I'm a stupid idiot. I want to drop in a 5.9 Diesel engine into an AMC Gremlin. I have no idea how I would beef up the frame and suspension enough to hold the thing, or totally fabricate a new drive train, or fit in a large enough fuel tank for the engine, or get an adequate exhast system, but HEY! as I've said, I'm a stupid idiot.
So, what I need to know is the size of the 12 valve diesel engine itself and how much does it weigh? I've heard that it is rather small for a powerful diesel engine, but is it small enough to even begin to fit into a compact car?
I'm a college student in need of wheels. (I curently have a Toyata Tercel for crying out load.) Anybody have any ideas?

P.S.- I'm also want to convert it to run on Veggie, put in a propane fumigator and a rapid air intake system.

I'm a stupid idiot with big ideas!

wannadiesel

Do you also live under a bridge and eat goats?

WHIFF

[quote author=wannadiesel link=board=16;threadid=18452;start=0#msg173145 date=1061001643]
Do you also live under a bridge and eat goats?
[/quote]

ROFLMAO!

Begle1

Chevon (goat meat) is a very lean and good tasting alternative to beef, and also costs one half as much to raise per pound. If everyone ate goats, the United States would no longer have a dependency on cattle, and the special intrest cattle ranchers would no longer have so much control over the country. Also, cattle feed lots totally ruin the environment, something that goats would not do as long as proper grazing land would be maintained. So, in general, I do eat goats instead of beef.
As for the bridge, no, I don't live under a bridge.

As for the diesel, does anybody have any clue as of the size of the engine and how much it weighs? I need to know if I could fit it under the hood for one, and for two if I could how much addtional beef I would neeed to add to the suspension.

wannadiesel

Awww... A homeless troll. :'(

DF5152

As for the diesel, does anybody have any clue as of the size of the engine and how much it weighs? I need to know if I could fit it under the hood for one, and for two if I could how much addtional beef I would neeed to add to the suspension.

for get it not cost effective especially for a college student and it will never fit. unless you drove from the hatch back area. get yourself an old rabbit diesel and convert it it will be easier and cheaper.

Begle1

I've done some homework and the stock Gremlins came stock with decent size 4 liter V-8's in them, and they still had a good space in the engine compartment. I need the solid stats for assurance, but I would probably only have to stregthen the front suspension by 100% or so, which shouldn't be that hard to do as the origial car weighed less than 3000 lbs. The back suspension would probably have to be strentghened more for an extra large fuel tank, but it does have a storage compartment and I'll rip out the back seats, so I have plenty of room back there for a very large Veggie tank. The large tank in the back and engine in the front should even out the weight placement.
The largest concern I have at the moment is the transmission. I don't want to have a standard truck tranny, as the car only will weigh two tons and it would be rather overkill. Instead, I'm thinking of a very beefy racing transmission ($$$) to handle the high HP at high gears.
The other major problem is to avoid snapping the frame like a toothpick. But with a few days of straght welding, I figure that could be remedied. The wonderful thing about reinforcing the frame is that weight wouldn't be a problem. However, the suspension once again comes up as I add weight to the frame.
So, in recap, the main problems are the suspension and tranny.
Thanks for the help.

WHIFF

Doesn't seem worth the effort to me. Why not just buy a Ram? It can carry more goat meat for you.

breakseverything

ok I think you just dropped your last marble but if you do really want to do this forget the 6bta it's just too big look into a 4bta good hp/tq for it's size , lots around & mods shouldn't be much different than the 6bta
well good luck Brian



hey there goes one of those marbles

Shovelhead

The 5.9 would probably out-weigh the car you're trying to put it in.

Find a decent Rabbit Diesel.
55 mpg @ 55mph.

Begle1

Well, you see, I have viscous gaurdians that won't buy me a car. This leads to me buying the most hideous, obnoxious and ugly car I can find. Hence the Tercel, and hence the Gremlin. A Dodge Ram looks too decent for parking in front of their house. I could get a Rabbit diesel, but there's no fun in that.
What is a 4bta and where could I find one? A 4-Cylinder version of the Cummins that they put in the Dodge would definitly be more my speed.

So nobody has any weight or size specifications on the engine?

BoldtsWagon

You can get weights off:

http://www.cummins.com/na/pages/en/products/index.cfm

Begle1

Err, I couldn't find any engine specifications that I'm looking for...

Begle1

You're not kidding about that Volkswagon Diesel! 50 MPG! That's insane! Haven't been able to find any for sale though, but it has to weigh less and be smaller than the 4.0 that came with the Gremlin. Only problem is that it's a Volkswagon and I havn't been able to locate any aftermarket parts for it, but its definitly something to look into.
And what is a 4bta out of?

Edited by Admin

Lary Ellis (Top)

You can find a lot of the old 4bt cummins engines in delivery trucks like bread or potato chip vendors.

Strong little engines, pretty fair mileage too.