TO ANYONE THINKING OF REPOWERING YOUR 80 SERIES WITH A Chevy 6.5 V8 TURBODIESEL
Just a word of advice to anyone thinking of re powering their 80series Land Cruisers with a 6.5 Turbo Diesel V8 Chevy, while these are good engines I would not advise you to go a place in central Victoria approx 200klms from Melbourne, I can only tell you of our experience. He quoted us $25,000 and 3 weeks for the job, my husband said that is doable and shook hands with him. He now denies he quoted us $25,000. We thought the new engine would most likely see us out, as the old Chevy had been in for 17 years, better than buying a 100 series and having nothing left as our vehicle was fitted out for camping etc. with lots of goodies which we could not afford to replace. Checked him out on the net and there is nothing but glowing reports, I can only tell you of our experience, though we did hear someone got their car and took off owing $25,000, can see how it happened.
BE WARNED, IF YOU DO GO THERE GET YOUR QUOTE IN WRITING FIRST. Because the good old days of a Gentlemans word and handshake are it seems long gone.
Well apart from letting it roll off the back of his truck, because he does not believe in leaving it in gear and relies on the hand brake only [ one wonders how well he tied it on.] and finding as much work to do as possible [ this Cruiser had everything working when we drove it in there as we had it checked out before we left Tasmania because we did not know for sure where we would get the job done ] and he comes across as an genuine, reliable person, shows you lots of recommendation letters, , he completely fooled us.
He has done a lot of F-Trucks Nissans and Troop Carriers but not 80 series Cruisers we later found out, did not know this at the time, we would not have let him touch it if we had, when we did find out it was too late, but he knew a young mechanic who said it is a piece of cake [not his exact words] I think because we had a Chevy in the car he thought he could just drop the new one in.
The wiring was compromised, Ron tied all the positive wires together the same with the negatives, they took that off then marked what was what written on masking tape, then they gurneyed the engine bay and washed all the names off the wires. The air con would not fit, had to get a Chevy one, the power steering pump would not fit, had to get a Chevy one, which I think in turn stuffed our power steering box because it produced more pressure than the Nissan one we had in there, cant prove it though, the Nissan one was put back on, steering box replaced $825, really made us wonder what is going on, he seemed to keep finding something else to do, not worrying about the cost. You would ask him how long, how much to which hed reply sorry its taking so long, - next question Things were going on! Things were coming off! go over on a Friday things seemed to be progressing go back on Monday and things were off again too many different mechanics working on it.
The ERPS system does not work the cruise control does not work, the piranha battery system did not work, eventually they sorted that one out, it all added up to more labour costs, he stuffed it he should fix it, not charge us to fix his stuff ups. The brand new starter motor they put in jammed in and burnt out he tried to charge us for two starter motors, we had nothing to do with it as it was on his watch it happened. Our fault he said because we told the speedo fellow to put the turbo timer on and faulty wiring caused the problem. Funny thing though, the same thing happened after we picked it up, so much for that theory. Nothing to do with the fact he wrapped the starter motor in heat resistant wrap which we think held the heat in rather than keep it cooler. The speedo sticks and we are not sure about the taco, it was done by experts but he redid it himself and changed a pulley on the alternator. [The tacho was 600rpm too high at 100kph when we had it re checked.]
While we did get the brakes from the later model put on and that added another $3,000 approx, he had the vehicle for 23weeks, the job turned into a nightmare in both time and cost, there were numerous problems with loose nuts and bolts & the radiator hose shot off after we picked it up.
We are retired old age pensioners [grey nomads] trying to live the last years of our lives fulfilling our dream to see Australia, not some rich person and boy he has sure taken us for a ride, he Quoted us $25,000 which he now denies- as if we would come over from the bottom of Tasmania dragging a caravan and just hand the car over to someone without first getting a quote, our only blue was not getting it in writing, and in 55 years of motoring this is the first time this has happened we have always got a verbal quote and never been ripped off before.
The engineers report we were given was dated 9-2-2012 and is only valid for 30 days, we were not given it until the 21-3-2012. It was already out of date, more problems.
All I can say is what my Mother taught me The wheels of God grind slowly but surely the greatest advantage in telling the truth is you dont have to remember what you said.
SO BE WARNED MY FRIENDS, IF YOU HAVE AN 80 SERIES DO NOT GO ANYWHERE NEAR THE PLACE UNLESS YOU GET A QUOTE IN WRITING.TOTAL BILL WAS $60,000. WE NEARLY DIED WHEN WE SAW IT. UNBELIEVABLE ! , and he had our vehicle locked up like fort Knox until we paid the bill. He really took us to the cleaners. Now we still have to fix the things he stuffed up approx another $3000
I cant really name names, as we heard he loves to sue people, and we were told he is known as diamond spanner.
Wish we had heard all this before we entrusted him with our vehicle.
This is what makes it hard for honest mechanics! Have you refered it to Consumer Affairs or the RACV ( or your motoring club)? Did you sign an authority to repair? Not sure about Vic but SA consumer laws are very strict on a signed authority. You are right though you should have got a written quote but verbal is legal. In SA you cannot excede quote by more that 6% I think it is, with out owners permission.
i dont want to start a big debate but i've been in the motor trade for 27yrs and am a licenced motor dealer i am not a mechanic but all my experience says stick with an ORIGINAL VEHICLE dont put v'8s where a 6 should be etc etc etc it is common sense manufacturers dont spend millions developing something that you can improve with a bit of tinkering! this is only a short reply but i believe in it whole heartedly.
I agree Deb & Gary. Why go to customise a vehicle which has a perfectly good, grunty 4.2 litre diesel engine? I've seen some modifications on other vehicles, including V8's in Landcruisers, but not 80 Series. Usually the HJ series utes, and a shorty in Broome which was very effective at bogging itself on Cable Beach because it had too much torque, no vehicle weight and just buried itself. While it sounds like this "mechanic" did a job on you and your vehicle, and you'd may have a case with consumer affairs, it does make me wonder if you would have a case with a non-standard modification. Why didn't you look to put another 4.2 diesel in the 80 Series? All I can see from this is you get what you pay for. I would have thought you were over-charged, but perhaps they charged you storage for the term in the workshop. I do sympathise with you for your problems.
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20ft Roma caravan - Mercedes Benz Sprinter - SA-based at the moment. Transport has no borders.
Management makes the decisions, but is not affected by the decisions it makes.
phewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww I was so close in changing my 80 series engine as we had all the bells and whistles on but decided instead to settle on a 200 series turbo diesel instead.
I have been in the motor trade for over 40yrs and I still do not understand people that do these things. If you have a 10yr old car, the WHOLE car is ten years old, not just the engine. In my time I spent a few years with a major manufactuer working in vehicle development. A lot of work and research goes into developing a motor vehicle, they are built to run the equipment fitted in the factory. God only knows what you stress by fitting a much bigger heavier and more powerfull engine. These sorts of mods are only the tip of the iceburg, the whole set up becomes nothing but a money pit!
I have a 6.5 conversion in my 100 Cruiser, which I bought with the conversion already done. It had been done by Brunswick Diesels south of Perth. They charge $21.000 for non turbo conversions. Check them out on their web site.
The only time I saw a problem with an 80 Series was when it was discovered they had used Hi-Lux diff in a 1992 4.2 diesel model from new. Caused a lot of problems, especially scrubbing tyres somehow. I love V8's but I'd get one from scratch or have a conversion done by someone I trusted. Unfortunately I think they saw you coming Nordic. I hope it sorts itself out in your favour.
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20ft Roma caravan - Mercedes Benz Sprinter - SA-based at the moment. Transport has no borders.
Management makes the decisions, but is not affected by the decisions it makes.
I think we've given this poster more than a fair go. He's come to this forum specifically to vent his spleen at a deal that's gone bad and has done so with a long and tedious post. There may well be another side to this story that we've not heard.
I think we've given this poster more than a fair go. He's come to this forum specifically to vent his spleen at a deal that's gone bad and has done so with a long and tedious post. There may well be another side to this story that we've not heard.
He/she has probably put this post on every nomad site they can find. As they haven't come back to answer our comments, me thinks you're right Jim.
If you have driven an 80 series with a 6.5 Chev V8 Diesel then you would know why they have done it. The 4.2 is no slug until you put a big van or trailer on the back and then it just becomes painful, the 6.5 hardly notices it is there and returns (in GQ patrols and 60/80 series cruisers) 10 to 12 ltr/100kms average. There is absolutely NO reason it should have cost $60k when it already had a small block conversion unless it was a bodgy to start off with but then again, it's a matter of just dumping what you have and then it would have been about $25 to maybe $30k with the brakes. I have been part of a 6.6 duramax conversion (computerised and turbo'd) with Alison trans in a GQ patrol which all up cost $32k including fitting diff locks, body lift, suspension mods, bigger flares etc and all were done in my mates factory at workshop rates. It makes me mad when I hear of stories like this, some mechanics work damn hard all their lives to make a name for them selves to just be branded with the same brush as that bloke. If I did that in my line of work I would not be in business, I quote all jobs aver $1000 in writing and always do my best to come in under quote where possible and when doing the invoice I normally split the saving with the customer so we both get a bit of a win. That is called how to make a gold mine out of a simple job.
If you still have problems with it I can put you in touch with people who are well schooled in chev Diesels and as far as parts goes, Brunswick diesels and Australian American Imports keep a warehouse full of spares and supply Aust wide as well as most of the parts from the small block petrol like the starter, aircon pump pulleys, belts etc are all compatible with the 6.5 diesel, the 6.6 duramax is a big harder to get bits in Oz but they are around.
Coming in late with response to posts from 2012 reDuramax V8 turbo diesel conversion into a Toyota 2000 1HZ ute. Wondering if Damo still around reading posts. Who would you recommend? Vehicle in Brisbane. Happy to travel to get job done.
Anyone else out there with info. Cheers
