Possibilty for a 1.5 or 1.6L

[stevenf]

Ive been considering a 1.5 of 1.6L Turbo diesel swap into my 89 Bronco II project. I know these engines are a little under powered but Im mainly looking to run on biodiesel. I want to atleast match the stock hp and torque of the broncos v6.
 The stock v6 has 140hp and 170ftlbs of torque. Are these little engines capable of reaching this with ported head, exaust, and fuel tweaking upgrades? Can you crank up the boost on  the stock turbos?

[Turbinepowered]

You can do it, reliability might suffer and it's going to be expensive after some basic stuff.

You're looking to more than double the hp of the 1.6TD (Stay away from 1.5s  for your application), which sat at a stock level of 68hp. It'll make that kind of power, but it will certainly not like doing so on a regular or continual basis.

Bronco's a bit heavy to be putting a 1.6TD in, have you considered something more from it's weight class? A 3.0 Mercedes 5-cylinder would be more the thing, bit more in that general power range if you get a turbo, and cast-iron everything. Stock 125hp and 170ft-lbs torque, and almost as common as the VW engines.

[stevenf]

I have the Bronco II, based off of the Rangers. There small.
 I was pretty much looking into a cheap, easy to find, small diesel swap and VW's have come up as all three....

[Turbinepowered]

I have the Bronco II, based off of the Rangers. There small.
 I was pretty much looking into a cheap, easy to find, small diesel swap and VW's have come up as all three....

Just offering a suggestion. The Merc diesel would likely last longer and take less to modify to your power requirements than a VW diesel.

Do as you will.

[rabbid79]

I was going to suggest the Mercedes engine as well.  As small as the Bronco II is, it still probably weighs twice as much as a MK1.  I think if you look around (car-part.com) you'll find that there are lots of Mercedes turbo diesels available, and they don't cost much (if any) more than the VW engines.

[stevenf]

I wasnt going against your suggestion. It does sound like a better option. Are these easily found in junk yards or are they from importers?

[rabbid79]

Easily found in junk yards.  They imported TONS of them back in the 80's.  Be aware however, that they are quite heavy.  Somewhere in the neighborhood of 650 lbs, and quite large as well.  I almost mistook one that I saw sitting on an engine stand for a Cummins!

[Turbinepowered]

Easily found in junk yards.  They imported TONS of them back in the 80's.  Be aware however, that they are quite heavy.  Somewhere in the neighborhood of 650 lbs, and quite large as well.  I almost mistook one that I saw sitting on an engine stand for a Cummins!

That would be the solid cast-iron nature of them. They're probably on par with the V6 that's coming out, possibly a bit heavier. No heavier than putting an SBC-sized engine in there, like I've seen a lot of people do (Dunno the Ford equivalent of the classic 350).

OM617 5-cylinder turbo engines were available on any 300 series Mercedes in the 80s and I believe the late-late 70s. 300D, 300CD and 300TD models all had the OM617 in either NA or Turbocharged fashion, and the 300 diesel models were quite popular in the 80s.

You may be able to trawl something like Craigslist or local listings and find a 300D or 300TD with a crapped out suspension or severe body rot and get it for smiles.

I dunno what part of the country you're in, but a quick www.crazedlist.org search in my tri-state area (NC/SC/GA) turned up at least 5 engines under $500.

Crazedlist is quite handy, lets you search multiple Craigslist databases at the same time.

[stevenf]

Im making a list of vehicles to look for in the junk yards. When looking for these types of diesels, or any small diesel for that matter, what is a quickest way to tell if its diesel or not? That way I wont have to research models numbers on each vehicle.

[Wayland]

What about finding a Diesel Ranger form the 80's, then it would be a straight over swap. I think these are either a Mazda or a Mitsubishi motr.

[Turbinepowered]

Im making a list of vehicles to look for in the junk yards. When looking for these types of diesels, or any small diesel for that matter, what is a quickest way to tell if its diesel or not? That way I wont have to research models numbers on each vehicle.

Hard injector lines going from some pump-ish looking thing on the side. With the exception of industrial or heavy duty engines, they were pretty much all pump-injected, either rotary or inline.

[jimfoo]

And no sparkplugs or coil(s)