motor conversion

cusso1957 · Member

motor conversion

justcruisin01 · Guru

Nothing to do with a coaster but seen a lot of old grey & red's fitted to old land rovers, they rev to high & boil. Why not a diesel. more economical.

cusso1957 · Member

thanks for your comment my coaster has a 3b diesel but is to under powered 85 is its top speed and the slightest hill kills it ive done every check possible on these engines and in coasters they are a dud i i was thinking because 5th in coasters are an overdrive the reves would drop conciderable

madaboutled · Guru

Maybe change the gearbox as well, seen a few Coasters with a Holden Commodore V6 and they seem to get along alright. My Transit on the other hand has a 302 V8 Windsor with as C4 Auto & 9 Inch Ford Diff. Can easily do 100K's plus but best economy is 85 to 90.

hako · Guru

Have a look at these 2 links:

thegreynomads.activeboard.com/t46656597/toyota-coaster/
www.justanswer.com/australia-car/2hu1i-hello-purchased-1978-toyota-coaster-motorhome.html

Footprints · Senior Member

I have seen the conversion however if i was to contemplate an engine swap i would seriously consider the Ford 3.9 lt 6cylinder Falcon overhead cam BA models onwards. Lighter engine, more power 182 kw. revs so sweetly and responsively, tough reliable engines.I would retain the Falcon 4speed auto/manual trans would be a real easy swap. I have been driving and towing for 10 years with a BA Falcon RTV heading for 300,000 kms and never missed a beat. Loaded it hauled 2.5 tonne for five months and never exceeded 17.5 litres / 100 usually around 14.3lit / 100. towing not exceeding 3000RPM Final drive gearing will determine economy and cruising speed however the overdrive trans should give good results. My opinion!

Jaahn · Guru

cusso1957 wrote:
thanks for your comment my coaster has a 3b diesel but is to under powered 85 is its top speed and the slightest hill kills it ive done every check possible on these engines and in coasters they are a dud i i was thinking because 5th in coasters are an overdrive the reves would drop conciderable

Hi

There are a couple of things to consider.

To address the people who say change the gearbox too. The handbrake is attached to the back of the gearbox and if you change that to a car box, then you will have another problem to overcome. No handbrake is illegal and dangerous. cry

I had a Nissan 3ton truck with a Red Holden motor quite some years back, similar set up to a Coaster. It was low geared for the highway, good for town work and pulling a load. Not as powerfull as you expect though. hmm I do not believe I did 100kph in it. Pretty thirsty too.

I would probably go for a more modern motor which revs more than the old reds. They were old technology when they were new particularly the 202s. disbelief The Falcon motor sounds better to me or a V6 but you will have the electronics there to deal with. confuse However it is worth the extra work to have fuel injection and electronic ignition etc for the benefits. The computers and wiring is really almost self contained on these motors and would be easy to transpose.

Jaahn

-- Edited by Jaahn on Tuesday 25th of August 2015 08:22:26 AM

cusso1957 · Member

to all the people who took the time to try to help me THANKS all of your suggestions will carefully thought through JOHN

exa41 · Guru

I have an 83 coaster with a 308 ,lovely to drive only need to change back for bigger hills. I run the H50 5 speed and works very well now .a chap I spoke to in Ballarat had a holden V6 with auto but as previously said hand brake is an issue ,he was saying that he had plenty of power and was a simple conversion .

cusso1957 · Member

well men and lady;s i think i have solved my problem i have just found a dyna truck with 3.8 chev in it coupled to 5 speed dyna box will see it tomorrow night if all goes well will trailor it home then yes it is v6 not injected 175 lbs torque at 2000 so not to bad cheers JOHN

Murraman · Senior Member

I have a 85 coaster with 3b and I can sit on well over 90 if I want to but it sucks fuel, Yes hills are painful. There is a mob in Moree that do the Buick engine transplant using the original coaster box. They want 10.5k. I faced the same delema when the motor blew up but decided to do up this engine cost 2.8k. I would love a bigger motor but cannot justify the cost of conversion plus you will need an engineers certificate. Good luck with it though. Cheers Allan

Jaahn · Guru

Hi John,

Is now the time to work out how many ks you intend to do in your bus. Then see how much fuel this may use at different economy rates. Eg 12 ltr/100km, or 15 ltr/100kms or 18 ltr/100 kms. Work out the cost of this fuel at say $1.50. This might tell you if it is worth spending a couple of thousand more now on a better and more efficient motor. smile

For example you might get a Toyota Jap import replacement B series diesel of a later turbo model which might go in with very little work but 50% more power and better or equal economy at faster speed. Or an import KZt which would also most likely fit in easily. More power again. These diesels would be available in the wreckers too if you look. The turbo diesels will give better economy than the 3.8 carby Chevy.

Just some suggestions to think about before you put out the dollars on a project. Fuel is a big expense if you want to go driving most days ! I used $1000 in 4 weeks recently at around 12ltr/100ks. At 18 ltrs/100 that would be $1500. hmm

Good luck Jaahn

Aus-Kiwi · Guru

For 10k transplant Sheesh .. A grey import turbo diesel would be my choice ..
The venerable Falcon SOHC 6 goes for sub $1k .. I would be fitting motor and auto ..
BA /BF $2k with trans .. Easier to fabricate cross members than trains conversions ..
Besides autos seems more popular .. Just need ALL the wiring & ECU..

The Doo crew · Senior Member

Bus trip NT end 008 resized.jpg Our old 3B wasn't too bad, would sit on 100 all day everyday but the hills killed it & we towed a duel cab Hilux as the toad so was grossly underpowered in hilly country.
Also looked at an engine swap & considered the Landcruiser turbo V8 at one stage. Ended up buying a 1HZ powered LWB instead, SWMBO wanted it, happy wife happy life, but before that happened I went down the path of the turbo to bring it up to 13BT specs as it was a far cheaper & easier option. Turbo exhaust manifolds are impossible to find in Aus or NZ at a reasonable price but there is a bloke in Canada who could ship a kit out to Aus (minus the turbo) for 800 bucks, all new parts custom manufactured to suit the 3B, turbo kit on the net for less than 1000 bucks & a day or three in the shed to fit. At just over two grand & no engineering bull to deal with. A mate went down this path & was very happy with the results, still not as economical to run as the 1HZ but left me in his dust/smoke overtaking road trains & in the hills.

cusso1957 · Member

back again folks //chev,y turned out to be wrong fitment // so it is back to school on coaster JAAHN you mentioned KZT engine ? what did they come in ? JOHN

Wombat 280 · Guru

Look at a Jap import Many sizes to look at If possible make the call direct to the supplier in Japan be surprised how much you can save that way right to your door .

Jaahn · Guru

cusso1957 wrote:
back again folks //chev,y turned out to be wrong fitment // so it is back to school on coaster JAAHN you mentioned KZT engine ? what did they come in ? JOHN

Hi Cusso1957,

Look at this page for some information.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_KZ_engine

I have an imported Toyota Hiace Regius which has that engine. It is the same as in the Prados of the same vintage. Also fitted to a lot of Toyota vehicles sold in Japan of the era. They are imported by the grey importers and 'half cuts' are imported also for spares too. Not as economical as the next series of common rail motors but the injectors do not cost a couple of thousand each either furious
jaahn

-- Edited by Jaahn on Friday 28th of August 2015 08:00:04 AM

Jaahn · Guru

Hi Cusso1957,

Just a note about Toyota diesel engines and fuel economy. In the B series engines they were all originally indirect injection types. However for some vehicles Toyota made direct injection turbo versions of the series. These have the prefix 1 and the suffix -T, EG 13B-T, 14B-T, 15B-T. These will give better fuel economy with power too. The mountings and bell housing will most likely be the same as your 3B which would make it much simpler. They do not have any computers either smile

So a note re aftermarket turbos. If you turbo a 3B it will not be as good as a 13B-T regarding the economy despite what can be claimed but may have as much power.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_B_engine

Jaahn

-- Edited by Jaahn on Friday 28th of August 2015 12:10:07 PM