perkins fits well. the 4bt is ok, my issue with the conversion i helped with and also others i have seen is the oil pan hangs WAY down. it is a tall motor. personally i think the 4bt is better suited turned up and stuffed into a FSJ cherokee or waggy. the perkins i think it was a 198 Tubrod ff of a piece of equiptment. the bellhousing was a pain off the bat but in a short fender 5 it was right on the money. the mercedes and volvo diesels are both good motors only thing i have heard is when installing them in heavier rigs (as if a mercedes is light) that the pump is pretty much fixed output as well the injecotors leave alot to be desired in the performance department so what you have is what you get.
The setup i Really liked as it was the right length and height as well had decent power was a 1980 SD33 turbo diesel from a scout. I bought the whole scout for $1000, rebuilt the motor, rings bearings gaskets, and the parts werent too bad price wise jsut had to shop around, and had the injectors rebuilt (important to do on these) we upd the pop off pressure a hair and increased the flow rate also. running the scout T19 wide ratio tranny and a D300 with 4:1 and used the scout D44's 3.54 gears in the axles with 33's she got 20+ on the highway and crawled great the oil pan was much higher than the 4bt in the frame, when i got rid of her is was just getting ready to SOA it and go to 35's the kid i sold it to did and went with 3.92 gears IIRC and said it was right on the money. to give you a good idea of how deep she hung is my 6cyl that came out weiged about as much and hung down just as far and the sd33 ran like a top. the jeep engine compartment requiered no serious mods motor mounts were easy as the scouts use a straight up and down bolt motor mount. little light on power but not too bad she could pull every hill like my 258 could and got better mileage. highly recommend looking the nissan sd33 route as scouts are still able to be had with these motors. the hard part is the Turbod versions arent are easily had and they come alreay mated to a 727, ot BW manual tranny.
i regret ever selling that rig.
good luck on the mercedes route if you go that way
The setup i Really liked as it was the right length and height as well had decent power was a 1980 SD33 turbo diesel from a scout. I bought the whole scout for $1000, rebuilt the motor, rings bearings gaskets, and the parts werent too bad price wise jsut had to shop around, and had the injectors rebuilt (important to do on these) we upd the pop off pressure a hair and increased the flow rate also. running the scout T19 wide ratio tranny and a D300 with 4:1 and used the scout D44's 3.54 gears in the axles with 33's she got 20+ on the highway and crawled great the oil pan was much higher than the 4bt in the frame, when i got rid of her is was just getting ready to SOA it and go to 35's the kid i sold it to did and went with 3.92 gears IIRC and said it was right on the money. to give you a good idea of how deep she hung is my 6cyl that came out weiged about as much and hung down just as far and the sd33 ran like a top. the jeep engine compartment requiered no serious mods motor mounts were easy as the scouts use a straight up and down bolt motor mount. little light on power but not too bad she could pull every hill like my 258 could and got better mileage. highly recommend looking the nissan sd33 route as scouts are still able to be had with these motors. the hard part is the Turbod versions arent are easily had and they come alreay mated to a 727, ot BW manual tranny.
i regret ever selling that rig.
good luck on the mercedes route if you go that way
Last edited: