LocostUSA.com

Gents,
Newbie here... looking for some quick / precise info on turbo diesel installs, VW or Audi.

First off, and as some of you might have noticed from other sites, I'm not building a seven clone. I'm building a little 1927 Ford hot rod pickup that uses a 7 style frame. The goal is hot rod looks, sports car handling and economy. Hence the TD angle. I have plenty I-4 / V-6 options to choose from, but I really want to exhaust the diesel thing first, less I overlook something great.

Have any of you done it? Will the motors fit in a 7 or do you have to lay them over? Heavier than a gas motor? Mileage?

I'm aware of the TDI, newest and latest, and just today got some info from the guy in Holland who makes T-9 adapter bells for diesels. His Tiger 7 has a 1.8 ltr, 20 V Turbo Audi engine. The install is very cool. I have no idea if that engine comes in a car sold in America or not. Sure hope so.

And, other than a few photos, I don't even know what the heck a TDI looks like. I suppse there are earlier / smaller diesels that will work, too, and I'll hope you can informe me there too.

I've no wish to be the newbie who yet again asks all the same dumb questions, but I would really appreciate a couple of concise estimates of the potential / value / ease of such an installation. LOVE to hear from anyone, on board or off, who has done it.

Any help greatly appreciated. Thanx, Gary

Yes, Phillipe has done it. I'm sure he will chime in here shortly.

As a TDI driver, and a locost 7 fan/soon to be builder, I think it's a brilliant application of the 1.9L TDI engine. They are really drivable engines and if you could couple it with a ~2000lbs vehicle I think it would be a lot of fun.

I'm not exactly a pro on the TDI diesel, but I think it could work very, very well. One issue though - the Ford T-9 trans is very rare in N. America. I believe others have tried to get them without a lot of success. Possibly a T-5, if you can come up with a suitable adaptor? The beauty of this build is particularly as a daily-driver type of car. Fuel mileage would be spectacular, and it'd last for hundreds of thousands of miles. Hmmm...then, if you were to start doing the french fry oil thing, you could virtually drive it forever, for nothing!

Hi Gary and welcome to our group.
To my knowledge we are only two builders here going diesel, I will tell you what I have done.

My car which has already been driven is a Locost +4.5 W +2 H + 12 L. Since you are building something else you may not care for the details.

The engine is a VW 1.9 diesel TD remanufactures and modified. The stock power is 78 HP and 107 -f-lbs torque, mine probably 100 HP and 145 lbs torque. I have bolted this engine to a Suzuki Samurai 5 speed transmission via a ACME adaptor. My rear axle is a Ford 7.5. The feeling of 145 lbs of torque on a small car that weighs about 1600 lbs is quite exhilarating and I encourage my confreres to look into diesels for fun cars.

If you need more just ask.

Philippe

Philippe,
Thanx! Will do. In the mean time, here is the photo of the Tiger 7 from Holland. The engine is some sort of Audi. He said they are capable of, get this, 225 HP with 345 NM of torque on a chassis dyno. He also mentioned a BHP gearbox, whatever that is. I have NO use for that kind of power, but 200nm would be good! Later, Gary

Here is an image of his car, along with a few others and some images of the kinds of cars / ideas that will get folded into my project.

http://images35.fotki.com/v1210/photos/ ... 005-vi.jpg

The owner is a fellow named H. Helmich at Tiger Sportscars Netherlands. I'm sure you guys have heard of him, eh?

http://www.tigersportscars.nl/home_parts.htm

Further to my earlier post, the engine in the photos is NOT a diesel. I suppose you all knew that - Ha ha - but I just got some confirmation on it. Sorry, Gary

Yeah...the plug wires were a clue!

Dang, sure thought that was a sweet looking diesel! Gary

I suppose you guys already know of this Dutch firm, but if not...

See

www.bellhousings.eu and http://www.tigersportscars.nl/home_parts.htm

The bell housing looks trick... now I have to reconfirm it will work with a diesel and that the diesel will fit in a 7 chassis... moving right along.

Sorry for publishing the previous errrors. I have to write that one down... diesels don't have spark plugs!!!

Gary

Sorry to go off topic here, but curiosity got the better of me. What "other sites" are you referring to? What are your plans for doing the body work?

Well,
Hard to say, everything from the HAMB board for hot rodders, to other Locost sites, to a TDI forum I just found... a surprising number of folks are on all of them!!! Cool.
The build I have in mind is truly mixed media: a 7-ish frame, a fiber glass hot rod body, a small engine (and reasonably economical). Personal influences / functional factors range anywhere from stock car and drag racing, to the old Camel GT cars, to hot rods and military aircraft.
The idea is to build a light weight, closed cab (ie not a roadster pickup) and fenderless 1927 Ford pick'em up truck. Most of it is still "up in the air." The brakes / hubs could be sourced from USAC midget / sprint cars, who knows. Other than the basic shape, almost all the other factors are still undecided. Several key decisions need to be made soon that will effect all the others, but who knows when. For instance, I REALLY like the Prowler front fenders. But I need to see if any of the regular chassis guys can fab up a 7 frame that uses the Prowler spindles. If not, I have to punt and move in another direction. And so on, and so forth...
Here is a link to an image of a 1/25th scale plastic truck mockup. This model is based on a 34 extended cab, so try to imagine a shorter one. The wheels are the correct scale for Prowler, so they are also a tad too big. But if you squint a little, you should get the idea - a little truck on a 7 chassis! Withe the hood and sides on, and some pannels below the bed, you would not be able to tell if the truck had an old ladder frame or a sporty 7 frame. Until you tried to run with it, that is. The grille will be from a 34 Ford truck, not a typical 7 nose. Make sense?
Later, Gary

http://public.fotki.com/kitbashr/new-ro ... 7135a.html

What about Jack McCornack? Or does his diesel not count? He may have looked at some other diesel engines before selecting the Kubota...

As I stated above I believe that we are only two builders here having gone diesel, Jack was the first one and his choice, to a degree, encouraged me to buy a diesel engine too. As to why a Kubota, only Jack knows and I would be curious to find out.

Philippe.

'Cause my target is 100mpg, that's why.

And yes, I looked into quite a variety of diesels, and other powerplant technologies as well. We'll see how it goes...but I hope I don't get boos and catcalls from the gallery if I only reach, say, 75mpg.