"Col Klink", m38a1diesels' uh, m38a1 diesel!

Lesse, where should I start? :? Most of the "old timers" here know that I picked this Jeep up as a "roller" a couple years ago (traded a Westcoaster three-wheeled mail truck for it R) ). My original plans were to "resto-mod" the vehicle and repower it with a Toyota 2LT/SM465/Dana 18 combo. However, the expense and difficulty of obatining a good running 2LT as well as the necessary replacement parts on these shores, not to mention stumbling onto Jim Youngs Land Rover site www.seriestrek.com inspired me to consider an OM616 from a Mercedes Benz 240D as my choice of powerplant instead.

This is what I started out with, as seen the weekend I brought it home:

 

First major work to be done was conversion to manual Saginaw steeering.

This DJ5C gave up its Saggy box and mounting brackets, as well as its dual chambered master cylinder bracket for the project:

Heres what the finished product looked like once installed:

 

Next I scrounged up a donor car for the OM616. In spite of having 250,000 miles on the clock, this car ran great and burned virtually no oil. Unfortunately it had MAJOR subframe rot underneath and was right on the borderline of being unsafe to drive.





I paid $550 for the car, drove it for a short period of time, then stripped it down and sold $500 worth of parts from it!









And here's what will hopefully become the Colenels "new" powerplant. This engine is actually comparable to the :hurrican:, as far as HP and torque are concerned.

 

I hit some MAJOR potholes along the road of life a couple months back and nearly abandoned this project. However, the guys here convinced me not to. In fact they even came out one weekend and help my get my 11" drums on and evaluate the condition of my front axle. Here's a link to a series of pictures taken by Mike Boyink on that day (dunno if I can remote link these or not): http://www.flickr.com/photos/40729146@N00/sets/72157594582009833/

 

Looks good. I like the pics. I'm a big fan of the diesel idea.

 

Glad your going to still plug away at it... Wish we could have done more that day, I got there late and it seemed like it was all done.

Is that DJ5C still around for parts... I see some I could use R)

 

I can probably [definitely] use your help sometime in the near future. Could really use the assistance of your buddy who can wire stuff.

Sorry to say that that DJ went to the great Rural Route in the Sky eons ago. R) I cut the body up with a swazall and a torch and hauled it off to the scrapyard, and then I sold the frame and axles to another memeber of this board.

 

Jeepaholic on this board is the buddy that can wire... He was there that day too.

Darn on the DJ5, I wanted the Grill and Wheels... Darn. Grill would have made a nice wall hanging, and the wheels would look good on the 2A

 

Looking good man! I'm divorced and hung on to my project too.

Please tell me you put those Renegade-looking slots toward a good cause!

 

What do you think about mating one of those engines up to a NP435? Possible? Feasible? Hmmmmm......
Keep at the project. In the end, it'll all be worthwhile.

 

I got a spare M38a1 grille on hand (Jeep came with the late style [support rods] and I needed the early style [hinged]).

Trade ya some electrical or welding work for it!

Don

 

Actually those were just plain old Ford wheels and they don't even fit on a Jeep axle right. I thought that they were 1960s Halibrands when I saw that picture in the eBay listing. Imagine my dissapointment when I went to pick it up and saw the F150 center caps on the other side.

 

It could be done, IF you can find an 8.5" clutch disc that will spline onto the 435s input shaft. I don't think such an animal exists, but I'm not going to say for sure that it doesn't either.

Thats' why I decided to stick with a T90 on this project (F134/T90 uses an 8.5" clutch, 240D manual uses a 215MM clutch. 215MM and 8.5" are so close to each other that it's a waste of time to discern between the two. OM616 pressure plate and Jeep clutch disc go together almost as if they were meant to do so! 8)).

 

how much work to the bellhousing to mate up transmission.bob

 

Just let Jeepfreak or me know when you need help, I.E. wiring and maybe I or We coud help you out. I am also going to do a diesel swap in my flatty instead of the v8. Keep us updated!

 

Quite a bit. In fact, that part of it is still being researched. But hey, the very first guy to put a 283 or 289 in one of these didn't have an Advance Adapters or Novak where he could go and buy all the necessary stuff "off the shelf" either, right?

 

how about cummins 4bt t350-400 will bolt right to it.don't know the length
of the drive train but it could be an option.bob

 

FYI 4bt's came with a 465 and a ford T19 wide ratio bolted to them. I plan on finding a 4bt for my swap, but they are very pricy (read over 2k for a runner)

 

Well, that was the engine I orignally wanted, but WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYY too heavy for an early Jeep. not to mention the fact that the torque would twist up the frame like a pretzel within a matter of minutes.

 

I found a site that quoted the dry weight of a 4bt at 570 lbs and someone said that is roughly the weight of a sbc which is a common swap. Torque is 375 lbs and 105 hp stock.