94 buick roadmaster estate station wagon

[izzop]

i was wondering if anyone has thought or tried to put a tdi in a "94 buick roadmaster estate station wagon" iv allways loved this car, love the wood on the outside, if i could get a tdi in this it might start a trend. i have little to no knowledge on subjuct and google did not help.

thank you

 

[lews930]

That car is a tank! Way too heavy.

 

[CFM]

For a car like that, you might want to consider a Duramax diesel. If you look around online, you can find a number of GM cars that have this swapped in. Just a few examples I've come across in the past include a '70s Corvette, a few Camaros, a Monte Carlo, and a Chevelle or two.

 

[jimbote]

not much heavier than a westy with fuel and a couple of passengers ...and by the time you dump the pig of a v8 the weight will be about the same...

 

[bhtooefr]

I think you'd want more displacement to get that vehicle off the line, ideally. That would mean (from the VW stable) the 3.0 V6 TDIs would be the best bet, at 225 hp, 406 lb-ft, or 240 hp for the 2013ish+ version.

A 2.0 4-cyl TDI could do it, but it'd be asking a lot of it.

Another interesting choice would be the new 2.8 "Duramax" in the Colorado, if it's not too tall. 181 hp, 369 lb-ft. But, it's only a 4-cylinder despite its displacement, which then begins to bring in the question of refinement.

Stock engines for the final-gen B-bodies, in increasing order of displacement and torque:

L99 4.3 V8, MPFI: 200 hp, 245 lb-ft
L03 5.0 V8, TBI: 170 hp, 255 lb-ft
L05 5.7 V8, TBI: 180 hp, 300 lb-ft
LT1 5.7 V8, MPFI: 260 hp, 330 lb-ft

 

[casey823]

I have a 95 Impala SS and it weighs in around 4200 lbs, the station wagon has to weigh north of 4500. When my car was stock I got 25 mpg, with the weight of that thing what would you expect the mpg to be? Low to mid 30's would be my guess... The iron headed lt1's put down like 330 ft lbs and 275 horse, by the time you get a tdi close to those number to comfortably move that tank and the conversion costs it will take some serious miles to break even. Dont get me wrong it would be cool and I would love to see it done but I would weigh the money vs return... Just my 2 cents.

 

[Fix_Until_Broke]

That 94 Wagon had a 260HP LT1 V8 like bhtooefr mentioned above and will routinely get mid 20's for MPG's when driven reasonably (60-70 MPH) on the highway, upper teens in town. This car weighs 4500 empty but moves along pretty good with the LT1 in it.

A 4 cylinder TDI in one of these is not a good idea in my opinion. Will be way overstressed for most of it's life (and there is enough room to put two TDI's in there).

I'm currently in the process of putting a 6.6 Duramax in one which should move along pretty well when it's all done. It fits and the hood closes, stock turbo location, etc. In some ways it's much bigger than the LT1, but in other ways it's surprising how much stuff just fits in place.

 

[Ol'Rattler]

I think the biggest roadblock would be that the transmission/final drive ratios from a gasser car would be all wrong for a Diesel engine.

The engine and drive train from a TDI TREQ would probably be a good fit performance and drivability wise if you could make it all bolt up.

I like the idea of taking the engine and drive train from some GM Diesel P/U truck because you might get lucky and have everything bolt up.

 

[Fix_Until_Broke]

The 2.93:1 rear end in the Roadmaster will work well for a diesel - The LT1 ran ~1500RPM at 60 MPH with a 0.7:1 overdrive in the 4L60E.

 

[greengeeker]

FUB - any chance you have a build thread going somewhere in your dmax swap? This is exactly my plan for my 55 Chevy wagon.

 

[Fix_Until_Broke]

I don't, mostly because I have not found a forum like this one in either the Duramax or B-Body areas. They all seem to be vortex like in their respective areas - no real technical discussions or information that I've seen. I think I'm spoiled by this group . My better half has been working on a personal website for me to put all this stuff on, but it's slow going.

I did run across this thread where a guy took a 94 caprice chassis and put his 57 Chevy wagon body on it and then did a Duramax swap. I think his reasoning was to have modern suspension/brakes/etc on his car.

I'm told the Roadmasters and hearses were the only B body's to get a fully boxed in frame from the factory and the Roadmasters were also the most highly optioned versions, most have air suspension and posi-traction 8.5" 10 bolt rearends. The sedans and chevy/olds wagons just had a typical C shaped frame from what I've read.

 

[casey823]

Every sedan whether caprice, impala ss, or roadmaster that I have owned has had a fully boxed frame...

 

[oilhammer]

Yep, they all have the same frame. And GM worked with Isuzu closely to make certain the Duramax would fit in any place the old SBC fit, so it stands to reason that it wouldn't be too hard to place it in the B-body frame. The biggest hurdle would be plumbing of the charge air cooling. The G-vans had a slightly more compact (and less powerful) setup than the C/K trucks. They also used the GM automatic transmissions rather than the Allison or ZF (?) manuals. So I'd think G-van parts bin stuff may help here.

Neat project, anyways.

 

[vtpsd]

no real expertise to offer in here, but I have to say that duramax roadmaster is awesome!! I can't believe it fits in there!

 

[Fix_Until_Broke]

Every sedan whether caprice, impala ss, or roadmaster that I have owned has had a fully boxed frame...

Check out post 35 in the thread I linked above to dieselplace.

That frame is not boxed.

 

[casey823]

I cant access those pics without a login, all I can say is that the 94 roadmaster sedan, 95 ex-police sedan and my 95 Impala SS I have owned for 12 years do not have a "C type" frame. I will get my Impala up on a lift and take a picture in the next few weeks as it needs some work.

 

[Fix_Until_Broke]

 

[boisebiker]

http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/63-gm-diesel-engines/374-frankenstein/ is definitely the place to go for Duramax conversions. Mostly suburbans but there are some other interesting builds mixed in there.

 

[deejaaa]

I don't, mostly because I have not found a forum like this one in either the Duramax or B-Body areas. They all seem to be vortex like in their respective areas - no real technical discussions or information that I've seen. I think I'm spoiled by this group. ...........

might want to join and post it here. the group is great and not like the 'Tex at all.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/forumdisplay.php?f=140