Diesel in a 1976 Dodge sportsman van?

Is it possible to put a diesel engine into 1976 Dodge sportsman van? Has anyone heard of someone doing it?

Thanks!

John

Reply to
jvantslot
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Do you have the money? Then it can be done. One way or another.

Reply to
Budd Cochran

Yup, a whole bunch of money.

Reply to
Roy

Biggest problem will be finding an engine that will fit in the confined space, assuming you have the money.

Reply to
Max Dodge

But Max, with a whole bunch of money, the confined space becomes bigger.

Roy

Reply to
Roy

Put it behind the seat in the cargo area then use a boat "Vee" drive . . . . .

"Whadaya mean ya can't haul cargo or passengers? Hey, ya got a diesel now."

Reply to
Budd Cochran

Sure, you can. You'd need about half gasoline to get it started, and it would not run very well when it's cold. I've also heard of using a dual tank system, and use kerosene after the motor is warmed up. Worked on old farm equipment, but not sure modern vehicles would put up with that.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

About 1990, I knew a guy who worked at landfill, running the heavy equipment. It was a hundred yards or so from the maintenance barn to the landfill. Someone dropped off an old vehicle, that he didn't want any more. They used it as a runabout, on the landfill property. Probably woulda not passed a safety inspect. But who cares, it's never on the road. He said one day he was fueling all the equipment, so he pulled it up to the diesel pump and cranked er full. His comment was "it never did run right after that". He didn't say it died stone cold, so I'm guessing it did run some what.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

You're not the best mechanic in the Universe are you?

Any of the heavy fuels (kerosene, diesel, jet fuel, etc) require either a very low compression ratio ( under 7:1, I would suggest) or very high, 14:1 or higher and use compression ignition.

Briggs Stratton made dual fuel engines (and may still) that started on gasoline and switched to kerosene when warmed up, but the average CR on a Briggs is only about 6:1. Those engines also lose about half their power on the heavy fuel.

Reply to
Budd Cochran

BUY a Sprinter van it would be cheaper in the long run!!!

Reply to
sqdancerLynn

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