Geo Metro diesel...

T

Typrus

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Made an addition to the first paragraph...

And on that note... Any car can really do with an under-body cleanup. Even hanging exhaust screws up flow quite a bit. Something like my front-wheel/4-wheel (it is not an AWD, it is really a 4wd) REALLY has a screwy flow underneith.

Remove the passenger side rear-view mirror.... Get it closer to the body of a Firefly. Go back to the site you sourced for the KammBack if you have question on that.

Just remember to keep room for cooling flow and what-have-you...


Man.... I drive 65 everywhere in my little shoebox...
 
ICNTDRV

ICNTDRV

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If you still can't get the Kubota started, then you can try spraying a little starter fluid or WD40 into the intake. Ever since we removed the gas pony motor off of the Caterpillar and replaced it with an electric starter, the engine doesn't start easy without a squirt of ether up the intake.
 
bhtooefr

bhtooefr

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Can't believe I didn't post that I got the engine started... :eek:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHV4RZsl-bI

Oh, and FWIW, the thing had warnings all over the place (air filter? check. Intake hose? Check. Thing that the air filter housing mounts to? Check. Intake manifold? Check. Valve cover, on both sides? Check.) to not use ether. It's glow-plug equipped.

Besides, I just needed more amps. ;) Looks like the Kubota alternators are MUCH stronger than a Bosch 90A VW alternator. :D (I started it with the running tractor.)
 
ICNTDRV

ICNTDRV

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Well the Cat had those warnings too, but when the stikers fell off we figured they didn't apply anymore.
 
jbrone

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You might check if Isuzu made a diesel for it's Gemini.
 
bhtooefr

bhtooefr

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They did, but it's a 1.8L. (Gemini = I-Mark = Chevette, FWIW.) Way too big for this.
 
T

Typrus

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Too big? I've seen a big-block 454 with blower stuffed in the back of a Pontiac Fiero without any frame mods. Don't say too big. Hehehehe... That and I think I've heard of someone stuffing a V-6 into a Metro Hatch.

Ever considered a Toyota diesel. I dunno the exact dimensions, but I know their 1C-L diesel did well in the Corolla. That and the pickup diesels. Might be a bit heavy or oversized, but never say never.... Until you bust out a tape measurer. lol
 
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DPM

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1C is the same size as 2C, and a pretty heavy old lump. Now the 1NDTV from the Yaris, that's the one you want...
 
bhtooefr

bhtooefr

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By "too big", I mean too much displacement and too heavy for what I want to do. ;)
 
G

GaGolfSup

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If I'm not mistaken, toof already has several of the Kubota engines. That is why he is asking about the Kubotas...I don't think he is looking for suggestions of other motors to mate to the Metro??
 
bhtooefr

bhtooefr

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Exactly. :)

If I were to get another motor, I'd get a Lupo 3L's 1.2TDI, and be done with it. ;)
 
bhtooefr

bhtooefr

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They're using the Kubota D750, I have the 950, which is 200cc larger. :D

(Same block, though, just bored out, so it'd fit.)

I just think that... those numbers, I can get a Geo in that territory.
 
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ICNTDRV

ICNTDRV

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QuickTD said:
Change that to "ever since we first used ether, the engine doesn't start easy without a squirt of ether up the intake." ...
Click to expand...

AAAaactually, with a 60 year old Cat engine, this is pretty common. No glow plugs, indirect ignition make for difficult starting even in warm weather. The engine used to have a 2cyl pony motor that would crank the diesel engine for several minutes until it would start. When the pony motor quit and we couldn't find a replacement (60 year old 2cylinder engine parts are hard to find nowadays) we had to replace it with an electric starter which has a 30second duty cycle.
 
bhtooefr

bhtooefr

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Couldn't you have just gotten a Briggs and Stratton, and made an adapter, if need be?
 
T

Typrus

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Heh..
I think some form of overdrive would be great to have. I doubt it, but you might be able to make a Gear Vendors overdriver unit fit? Then you'd have a 10-speed possibility.

17HP out of a 200cc smaller one, eh? 22HP... Slap a turbo on her... Might see 30 horses? You shouldn't have an issue breaking that one cars 65mph peak.
 
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speakerboy

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Well...what's the story? This was interesting as it was a cheap diesel conversion, instead of something that would cost a couple of limbs.
 
bhtooefr

bhtooefr

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Well, there's such things that are more important, such as "getting the Golf to start", and seeing as there's crazy freezing rain right now...
 
Dieseltoys

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I always thought it would be interesting to sleeve a tdi block to lower the displacement and cast some 1.2L pistons for it. Hell, you could probably use some lupo pistons if you had to. You'd have a nice breathing small displacement tdi that'd probably get 70 mpg...
 
bhtooefr

bhtooefr

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Very true, but you've still got the fact that it's heavy.

And, in Europe, there was a factory 1.3L 4-cyl NA diesel... I would imagine, with heavy mods to both a 1.9TDI head, and the block, you could rig up a 1.3L TDI.
 
T

TDIwise

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Regarding SAE adapters you should look at Pheonix Castings (http://www.phxgrp.com/). They make SAE engine adapters to automotive transmissions.

I was looking at doing a Kubota swap into a geo two years ago and talked with the engineer there. At that time they would have needed to make a new casting for the SAE5. They had SAE3 and SAE4 adapters already made. I decided to put a Cummins B3.3T industrial engine into a YJ instead (http://www.dieseltruckresource.com/dev/showthread.php?t=112807)

Good luck with your project.
 
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poiuyt

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I'm new to this discusion. I just ran across this site a couple of days ago. I have been driving a '97 1 liter metro for about four years now. I have kept complete mileage records since I bought it. It gets upper 40's (sometimes topping 50mpg) in the summer and lower 40's in the winter. It has to be one of the most underrated cars around.
Ever since I ran across articles about VW's 1 liter concept car (that's 1 liter per 100 kilometers) and the Loremo I decided the only way that I would be able to get such a car would be if I built one myself. So I started thinking of putting a small diesel in a metro chassis. A friend suggested looking at Kubota engines. Seemed like a good idea to me. So I was delighted to see there are others working on the same idea.
The idea of a low hp car doesn't bother me. My first car was a 1959 36 hp VW beetle. I drove that for many years and coast to coast several times. I graduated to 1961 40 hp Karmann Ghia which I still have but it is stored in a friends barn where the mice have taken up residance in it.
I have way too many irons in the fire but I'm going to keep my eyes open for a good Geo or Swift chassis and I will watch this discussion with great interest.
 
greengeeker

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bhtooefr said:
Well, on some other Kubota 3-cyl diesels, they have turbos.

So, I may graft one on, but I'll have to look at the service manuals for those engines, to see if they're adding oil squirters or anything.

I'd do this ECOdiesel style - use the turbo to clean up the exhaust and get a touch more power.
Click to expand...
Forgot about this thread for a while...snapped some pics after I read this post but never got around to posting them. :rolleyes: Anyway, don't know if you have this information but I got p/n's for some turbos on Kubota engines. The first is a V2003 - much larger than your engine but still has a tiny turbo on it (comparitively). Sorry the pics are so grainy from trying to shrink them. Rated 60hp @ 2800 Turbo p/n: TD03-07T







Here is a D1503, getting down in your range a little more...at least it's a 3 cyl. Rated 42hp @ 2800 Turbo p/n: TD025M-05T



 
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