brunswick deisel conversion for patrol

[markgoldhunter]

my old patrol is giving me hints it's getting tired, so i'm looking into the chevy v8 diesels from Brunswick in west aus. has anyone had any experience with these guys or know of anyone who has. any reports good and bad will help me at this stage of my decision making. thankyou mark.

 

[B5MECH]

Hey, thats a seriously expensive conversion, I did one on an F 250 Custom 302 pet/lpg to a 6.8l Ford power stroke diesel some years ago for a customer, after it the thing would have pulled 2 mountains up another mountain, I'd advise a FORD motor but thats my opinion, I just hope the rest of your vehicle will be up for that amount of torque and what your using/thrashing it for. A patrol driveline wasn't built for strength.
The F truck turned out awesome but that was a truck before hand so room wasn't a problem.

 

[Jaros]

I have a R50 Pathfinder petrol/gas. Can a turbo be fitted to boost the power? :/

 

[B5MECH]

The v6 petrol would be a night mare to turbo, the gas system that my crystal ball is telling me that is fitted... is where you would be loosing maybe %10+ of the engines power, changing lpg to a GAS RESEARCH throttle body would give you back the power while on petrol and also tuneable for cleaner power on gas.
Being a standard engine set up getting it dynotuned maybe avoidable as the guys at GRA can bench tune them.
pet/gas cars will always have some niggley issue but the GRA set up has no engine air restrictions, If it's lacking power now on petrol or gas?

 

[Jaros]

Sounds like an expensive excercise-the wagon is 12 yrs old and still in fantastic nick-Probably not worth the expense heh?
Ever since i had a steel winch /bullbar and winch with steel cable fitted it struggles towing the campertrailer up hills.

 

[B5MECH]

It already has the gas so you don't need the whole kit, throttle body, AUSSIE B2 modded mixer and a better lock off valve main parts, It might be a bit under a $1000 in parts, if you can do it yourself it would be worth it in the long run.
Maybe to test if it would make enough difference to the power gain can you remove the gas part from the air intake, you'll have to rejoin it back to the airflow meter with no leaks then drive it on petrol to see if there is enough power gain. If it is a donut mixer you can rejoin the tube with pvc pipe.

 

[Jaros]

Thanks mate-might go and see the local gas man-I don't have a clue with the gas side of things.
Cheers, thanks for the advice. It is a direct injection system-might be harder.
Jaros

 

[B5MECH]

OOhhhhhhh my crystalball was wrong back for warranty again 8.( , If it has gas injection that is another story, It might pay for a good tune up, new plug leads and maybe change to a colder range spark plug.

 

[Jaros]

Thanks again B5.
Cheers

 

[Nightjar]

Markgoldhunter, Your best option would be to talk to Greg & Scotty at Brunswick and get it straight from the experts.
You don't mention how old your tired Patrol is and have you thrashed it to death?

http://www.brunswickdiesels.com.au/

**BTW I have a 2002GU Coilcab fitted by BD with 6.5 Turbo Chevy that's now done 25600km's, 65000km's with the new heart.** We tow a 5.4M Trailstar Aquila caravan around the outback.

Contrary to what B5Mech says; "A patrol driveline wasn't built for strength." actually the Patrol drive has been tried and proven to be far superior to most 4WD's.. There was a weak spot before 2002 whereby 5th gear had a habit of failing but that since been corrected. Unfortunately todays Nissan is let down with choice of engine.
You can compare here;

http://www.outbackcrossing.com.au/F...own_Nissan_Patrol_vs_Toyota_LandCruiser.shtml

 

[markgoldhunter]

Thanks nightjar, I have emailed them for details and waiting on a reply. patrol is a 98 2.8 td and I have driven it gently but now we're up to 400k I need to think about a replacement so this is one of my options. knowing my patrols history and their proven strength is the reason it,s an option. I am on the road permanently and tow a 19ft supreme van so the old 2.8 was really out of it's depth anyway but it manages.

 

[rusting]

Hi there, I live in WA and have seen a few of those Brunswick cars, neat. But the other option would be Perfmax. They bring in Lhd nd convert to RHD or source US car made for the RHD market. Had two dealing with them on Highlander Toyota and seem a good outfit.

http://www.performaxint.com.au/

 

[markgoldhunter]

yeah nice trucks, a mate has the Toyota tundra fantastic but bloody big. I think I have settled on the boys from Brunswick now it's just a matter of organizing when. I am heading to the w.a. goldfields early next year so I will go a couple of weeks early and do it then if nothing goes wrong in the meantime. hmmm what could go wrong. thanks for the link rusting.

 

[blisters]

Is there anything wrong with your engine or will a tune get it performing better? I think the kms it's travelled is not much of an indication. I had a 4.2 nissan and with nearly 400km on the clock it's compression was identical across all cylinders and at the high side of tolerance. I was looking at replacement options a long time ago and was leaning towards the duramax and alison trans offering. I had read somewhere that there were tuning problems with the chev at the time but took it with a grain of salt. I did notice that cars with the Brunswick engine were being sold with low kms after the install which is why I was questioning it at the time. If I were you I'd get your engine reconditioned if there is an issue with it, heaps cheaper, better on fuel and easier to get parts for. The question is do you really need all that power on tap for the cost involved?
Jon

 

[markgoldhunter]

thanks for your comments jon and if I had a 4.2 I would have no hesitation in a rebuild but the 2.8 was always under powered and has no torque to speak of. it managed with my old van at 17' but the one I have now is 19 and is about 3ton. so even in top condition that motor would struggle. thing is the rest of the car is in good shape and has all the extra bits in it. the v8 will most likely be better on fuel also as they change the diff centres to higher ratios as well so there is no need to rev as hard. but most of all I just love the sound of a v8.

 

[blisters]

No worries, is your nissan a GQ? The reason I ask is whether its towing limit is 2.5T, same issue exists with the earlier landcruisers. Another cheaper option is to get a later early model vehicle with the specs you need. Good luck it's never an easy decision. :|
Jon

 

[k man]

A fella from work put one in his Nissan navara.cost him $33000 from memory and he had to drive it back to WA twice because they never did the job properly.bit of a slug on the road but defiantly a guttsy slug.I think all up it was very close to 40 grand for the full conversion.the motors are out of hummers I'm lead to belive

 

[markgoldhunter]

the deal I am talking at the moment is for a chev 6.5ltr turbo intercooled diesel new with new gearbox new springs new radiator and diff centres for 28k drive in drive out. the price will rise about 8k when they run out of current stock of motors bought when exchange rate was more favourable. if I have got all this correct and can tie this deal down I think it's pretty good value. also comes with 3year 60,000 k warranty. jon mine is one of the early gu's.

 

[Nightjar]

Mark,
Am I reading you right $28K all up, including a new gearbox? Grab it mate!!!!!!!!!
Cost me $31K with a $6k trade in for the 4.2 Nissan engine, out of pocket $25K. (No gearbox, no springs)

 

[k man]

Gee they have come down abit.that's excellent if you can get it for that price.from memory isn't there a couple of options with the HP out put on the 6.5? I know I've still got there Boucher sitting on my tool box its been at least 12 months since I've glanced over it.but just be carfull with the warranty the one the bkoke from work had put in shit a part on the engine within a month and it cost him 6 k to have them fix it.from memory it might have been a fuel pump that went but don't quote me.any way mate if its towing you plan on doing and every thing gos well with the changeover you should be on the money