DIESEL CONVERSION??

Lifer · Post by **Lifer** » Mon Mar 29, 2010 3:50 am

I don't know how well they would fit in an M37, but the Mercedes Benz (German) and Austin (English) taxicab diesels have great track records, too.

8543bob · Post by **8543bob** » Mon Mar 29, 2010 4:35 am

THANKS FOR ALL THE INPUT. YOU WERE RIGHT ON ABOUT THE SCOUTS, LOTS OF INFO THERE. THE SD 6 33 NATURAL IS ABOUT 100HP. SEEMS LIKE A PERFECT MATCH. I DONT THINK THE ENGINE WAS SET UP AS A CONSTANT SPEED ENGINE AS THE INFO I AM GETTING SAYS IT WAS USED IN LIGHT TRUCKS, H/D FORK LIFTS, AND MARINE APPLICATIONS. SO THE SEARCH GOES ON. AGAIN THANKS, I WILL KEEP YOU POSTED.

Sal · Post by **Sal** » Mon Mar 29, 2010 5:32 am

Josh · Post by **Josh** » Mon Mar 29, 2010 7:03 am

great looking little engine. Any idea on the weight?

Lifer is right, M-B makes some great diesels. I was trying to find info on the M-B U500 Unimog diesel, it's a littl 4.4L 4 cylinder, but it makes close to 250 HP and 500 FT-Lb, but, when I got to the price tag my search for more info quickly ended... You could spend $15K easily to get one over here to the US. Big attaction to it is it's weight and size. It's significantly smaller and ligther than the Cummins.

Wayne64 · Post by **Wayne64** » Mon Mar 29, 2010 8:08 am

Good find, The reason I thought fixed / governed RPM is it came out of the GSA. I wrongly thought it was used to power, say a 20-30 KW Gen-Set. Lifer also mentioned the London cab diesel. That was what I worked on and got running after a 10 year rest. It was a 1965 Austin FX4 and being a city cab had a 5.12 rear. Ran that baby up to 55 and it sucked all the oil out of the air cleaner and it locked up, thought I blew the engine, but after a short rest got it fired up again and had great luck with it for the next few years. The engine was made by BMC but very similar to the Perkins.

MSeriesRebuild · Post by **MSeriesRebuild** » Mon Mar 29, 2010 8:24 am

Master Yota wrote:You're in luck Bob - the SD33 was used in an Iconic american 4x4. It was the only diesel available in the International Scout in 1980. Parts should still be easy enough to come by to bolt it up to just about anything.

Now I'm not a scout or international fanatic - so if anyone has any more precise or relivant information to post, then please do so.
Find an IH forum and start asking questions, they will soon be able to guide you in the right direction, or at least find someone to take it off your hands if you decide to go that route...

One thing to consider, the overseas countrys have been using diesel power alot longer that we in North America have, and they have a good engine design (the Land Cruiser 4cyl (3B) and 6cyl (2H) diesels regularly run into the 5 and 6 hundred thousand mile range before needing an overhaul and respond well to turbo's. Not to knock the Cummins, but there is more than one choice when it comes to conversions...

I have a client we are doing a build for who mentioned last week he once owned a Scout diesel. I'll inquire to see if this was the engine his had and see if he has any info that might help.

8543bob · Post by **8543bob** » Mon Mar 29, 2010 1:56 pm

THANKS AGAIN FOR ALL YOUR INPUT, AND THANKS TO SAL FOR PUTTING PICS OF THE ENG ON, I COULD NOT FIGURE IT OUT. HEY CHARLES ANY INFO YOU CAN GET WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED. AS YOU CAN SEE IN THE PIC I NEED A FLY WHEEL. A HUNTING WE WILL GO.

Juan · Post by **Juan** » Mon Mar 29, 2010 5:58 pm

That's a great engine.
I think it may lack a little grunt for the M-37 (and that's an opinion, you know how much an opinion is worth, right?).
I think it would be a great powertrain for a Jeep.
A friend of mine has an M38-A1 with an SD33. It can rev to 4000rpms easily, though the belhousing bolt pattern in your pictures is different from my buddies one.
Maybe if you keep the 5.83s in the pumpkins and get a 5 speed OD tranny you can make it work, based on gearing.

Josh · Post by **Josh** » Tue Mar 30, 2010 8:04 pm

looks like a standard SAE #3 bell bolt pattern to me. I bet a Spicer 3053A would bolt right up, and give you that nice overdrive Juan is talking about.

chris olson · Post by **chris olson** » Tue Mar 30, 2010 9:43 pm

I would bet that the engine was a spare from the jeep cj10 aircraft tugs... they used the nissan diesel mated up to a TF727 transmission
Did you know that the other use of this engine was by Chrysler Marine..
In 1980 there was a turbo version put in the IH scout...
Here is a picture of the one in my Jeep

here is the Wikipedia link to more info....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_SD_engine

8543bob · Post by **8543bob** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 2:34 am

HEY CHRIS, THANKS FOR THE PIC AND THE LINK. IF I DECIDE TO DO THE SWAP THERE ARE A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS I MIGHT HAVE ABOUT THE ENGINE. RIGHT NOW I PLAN ON GETTING IT FIRED UP AND THEN SIDE TRACKING IT TILL THE FALL. I DO NOT SEE ANY VOLTAGE MARKING ON THE STARTER OF ALTERNATOR, 12 OR 24 VOLTS??
THANKS BOB

k8icu · Post by **k8icu** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 10:53 am

If it's military and was in the J10 tugs I would venture to guess that it is 24V. Hmmmm now you've got me thinking about my own project....

CREEPING DEATH · Post by **CREEPING DEATH** » Fri Apr 02, 2010 10:12 pm

#1, the SD-33 was popular for swaps back in the 70s, as was the SD-22 - which was optional in Datsun pickup trucks.
#2, the SD-33 was swapped into surplus M37 in a production manner by a surplus dealer in California back in the 70s or 80s. They had fiberglass flip-forward hoods. The same company converted early M35 trucks to 6V71 Detroits.

CD

8543bob · Post by **8543bob** » Sat Apr 03, 2010 3:17 am

HEY CD, THANKS FOR THAT INFO. WOULD YOU HAVE THE COMPANY NAME THAT DID THOSE SWAPS INTO THE M 37"S??
BOB

CREEPING DEATH · Post by **CREEPING DEATH** » Sat Apr 03, 2010 8:31 am

I don't remember the name but I think they were in or near San Bernardino. They used adapters, likely from Wil-Cap, to tie the SD-33 to the original bellhousing and transmission.

CD

DIESEL CONVERSION??

DIESEL CONVERSION

DIESEL CONVERSION

sd33

DIESEL CONVERSION

DIESEL CONVERSION