lawn mower devon to watercooled diesel, whats involved /needs

[82devon]

hi all, i'm new to this forum, found it by chance as in the future i'd like to change my 2.0aircooled t25 devon to a watercooled turbo diesel, my van is my daily driver so i'd like to fit a turbo diesel, i've been looking over the various conversions that ppl on here have done & in all honesty! i feel a bit confuesed about what conversion to go for,

i'd need a fairly easy DIY conversion, i'm a fair mechanic & do all my own work & have built the odd engine,

my needs i think?
more power, a higher cruising speed (80-ish) & better economy!!!
a simple to work on engine
a turbo diesel i think will be best

i've been considering the peugeot turbo diesel, but whats the biggest capacity that'llfit in my t25

obviously the vw tdi is a good engine but i dont want fly-by-wire thottle or any of that buisness

possibly somthing i can run on cooking oil????

plz advise me, do i need the t25 diesel bellhousing & associated parts for any diesel conversion?

help me in my confusion :/

[jp]

Hi there and welcome

The fact you have a T25 is a major bonus as cooling won't be an issue as you can put the rad where it's supposed to go

Pug is a good option and your best bet is to speak to Famous Phil (link on right hand) he will be able to supply you with an appropriate adapter and all the info you need.

If you want to go VW TD then a T25 Diesel Gearbox/ Bellhousing will be required. I believe the aaz engines are the popular choice or you can go 1z (mk3 golf tdi) and fit an aaz pump to avoid the flybywire.

Subaru is fast becoming the preffered choice especially with all the off the shelf product which RJES offers making this an fairly straight forward install backed up with huge knowledge from RJES and the peeps on here. (Not diesel though)

Keep the questions coming
_________________
1971 Devon Bay with 1800 Ford Turbo Diesel Engine (wip)
1983 VW Golf GTI Campaign
1979 Mini 1275 GT
2013 Scirocco TDI GT

[82devon]

what sort of mpg do the subaru engines give, i have a friend the works with subaru's a great deal & he often has a few in that he breaks for parts,

although i think the diesel is best for me i'd be interested as to what the scooby mpg is like, as its a more modern petrol i'd have thought it would return more than the lawn mower 2.0

i do like the sound of a turbo disel though ;P

[sven]

The minus issue with a diesel is the higher rev it has to run at when going on a higway.

But I think I would go for a diesel today if I started a new conversion. It's easy to find a cheap engine, less electronics and for me an easier way through the MOT.

[ElusiveStranger]

My Scooby gets 26-30mpg on a run
30mpg's at around 60-65mph
_________________
The advice you receive on here is worth the paper it's written on.
Your experiences are worth shed loads to others, including the f'ups - live and learn.
Wouldn't YOU rather learn by someone else's mistakes? So would they.

'78 Bay, 2 litre 091 box, EJ20 NA & the ashtray's on the 'right' side.
I don't lean forward for hills any more
Bugger, missed out on "Live fast, die young"

[jp]

[82devon]

thats proboly a like for like in mpg to a 2.0 lawn mower is'nt it?
obviously with a less stressed engine at cruising speeds though

is the 1z vw tdi the newist turbo diesel without fly-by-wire throttle?

i'm finding it hard weighing up pro's & cons of watercooled petrol or diesel conversion, some nice conversions out there though

i think i'd need a hand with the wiring & 1st starting up, i can do all the donkey work bit but not a patiant chap with wiring

power of a scooby is tempting but as i say my bus is my daily :/
hard decision

[sven]

[jp]

agreed not bad... my old 1800 suitcase air-cooled engine used to return 20mpg on a good day.

My understanding (correct me if I'm wrong) is that 1z are the first of the fly by wire and AAZ are the last of the non fbw.
_________________
1971 Devon Bay with 1800 Ford Turbo Diesel Engine (wip)
1983 VW Golf GTI Campaign
1979 Mini 1275 GT
2013 Scirocco TDI GT

[richbaker78]

as for MPG if your struggling to choose how about another option subaru with LPG...power, reliability and economy

you will have to convert your front panel to the watercoled one too if you want to run a rad as yours wont have the lower grill.

I think ultimatly it depends what YOU want MPG or performance its hard to get both on a budget! - theres a lot of info over on Brickyard forum about converting to AAZ/1Z engines. However I think their general advice re converting lawn mower to Watercooled ...is buy a watercooled bus in the first place and go from there. Im not saying its what you should do but if your vans mint externally then by the time you factor in repainting the front/ fabrication etc etc they might have a point.

I think you need to weigh up the gains from each conversion. spend a lot of time and money putting in a 90bhp diesel engine or a 130?bhp subaru engine.....

Although Scooby MPG doesnt seem massivly better remember you have hopefully saved on servicing, reliability, gained power and brought your van out of the 80s with modern injection/management etc. + with the sort of good quality kit available off the shelf from RJES it will make it a simple job....but all that said you will need deeper pockets for the subaru conversion than a diesel conversion.

[82devon]

agree with above rich,

i bought my lawn mower as i like the sound, but my van is "MINT" never welded, original paint "yep eally" & still factory paint underneath,

it was stored for years & i got it cheap & the engine in it runs ok at the moment but once i start having serious probs with my lawn mower i'll swap to a watercooled,

i was considering an underslung radiator or two to keep the font panel stock, kenlowe fans etc

the scooby & lpg is an ideal as you say but lpg is quite a large extra lump in the budget :/ this is why i'm slightly leaning towards a tuned turbo diesel, i must admit i'm pretty chuffed to find this forum as at least its a collective of ppl that are doing this work with open minds to an any engine in a vw that suits your need attitude, thier are many vw owners that turn thir nose up at a non vw or even non lawn mower motor but moan thier arse off about the inherant lawn mower probs :/ DAFT attitunde to my thinking

i'm not driving a vw bus to be in the vw "scene" as such but because they are easy to work on with good spares available & my t25 has good interiour space

the lawn mower engine is its only minus point really, in respect of a lack of economy & power which in a bus i want to traval distance in is the opposite to what i need lol so i know i'll find a good piece of advice & conclude what engine to fit on this forum i reckon

ideal would be an audi 3.0tdi but i dout i could fit that in the OE engine space on a t25 gearbox

[ElusiveStranger]