sierra estate turbo diesel- is it possible to get any boogie

[retrokid]

afternoon:) iv had a turbo diesel sierra estate for a couple of years, lowered on some old TSW omega wheels but that's it. It can achieve a slide in the rain, or with some serious minerals and a high-speed 3rd gear full throttle bigballs on a LARGE dry roundabout:/ this morning something catastrophic started clanging about in the head before causing the cambelt to jump about 5 teeth! havnt investigated it much beyond removing the rocker cover and finding everything still intact; basically I want to know if anyone has ever tried to get a bit more power out of one of these old 1800 oil burners? it has only done 82,000 miles so shouldn't be in reasonable health still (aside from this morning's breakdown, but in its defence, first breakdown since iv owned it!) but seeing as the engine is currently dead i'm mulling over the idea of putting a different DERV powerplant under the bonnet instead of wasting time repairing the original fartwhistle of an engine (yes I know sticking with diesel power???! but I do have other old cars, and I like the DERV mpg in my retro daily smoker:).... I have a 2wd cossie intercooler laying around, a bleed valve and boost gauge I could fit, and i'v only tried adjusting the old Lucas CAV pump up by a quarter turn so far (no noticeable gain, just little puffs of black smoke!) but I'm wondering if anyone else has tried it and are the results worth it at all? or will it just makes lots of whooshing noises and belch out black smoke for no real torque gains!!

[MrSpeedy]

You'll probably find that half the valves are now bent, despite it looking ok under the rocker cover. Ours certainly did when the timing belt came off due to a loose tensioner.

As for pooowwwwwaaaaarrrrrr, all I know of is to wind the pump in a bit.

The one in our 400e is a bit down on power I reckon, despite screwing the pump in. Running approx 0.7-0.8 bar depending on revs used.

I think the total bill when I did ours was a fair bit under £200 for the parts (valves, gaskets, head bolts etc), so not the end of the world really

[rodney]

I wound the pump up , via the max fuel screw and the boost compensator on my old mk4 escort I converted to td and it flew! , it used the pump from a sierra same as you have,.

[retrowrongun]

For the hassle involved I'd just convert it to run a pinto 2.0 on twin 40,s
Much easier hoonage then

[retrokid]

i know what your saying retrowrongun, but iv got a P100 truck with a 2.8 in and I'm building a capri with a turbo technics twin turbo 2.9, so do really need something i can use to get around without sticking £40 in the tank everytime i go out! I'm not a rich man lol. Iv taken the head off now, contact marks from the exhaust valves on all four pistons but only one appears to be bent, problem is i still don't know what caused it in the first place! sounded like a sticky tappet for a couple of days before it went bang, only theory i'v got is the valve sticking in the guide seeing as the tappets aren't actually hydraulic :/ perhaps that valve stuck open enough to make contact, and that caused the cam to 'snatch' and pulled the cambelt tensioner over. But i digress, my real issue is that it was always irritatingly sluggish especially when pulling away from the lights.... it did breathe a bit excessively, so maybe some tit kept running it with a blown head gasket at some point in its life and the heat expansion has worn the rings out... problem is finding a RWD diesel engine for it if i want to replace the curse word old lump!

[AB car pix]

There were guys in Malta running a drag Mk2 Fiesta 1.8TD with a T4... made somewhere between 300-400bhp

[gn3dr]

I've thought about doing somehting like this myself and the obvious (cheap reliable and powerful) engine to me are any of the VAG 1.9tdi's.
My wife drives a '03 Audi A6 1.9tdi (PD engine 130 bhp) - it was our first diesel and I was genuinely shocked with how quick it is for everyday driving.

Bellhousing can be got here tigersportscars.nl/vag-ford_%28e%29.htm (pricey though) or adapter plates from a few other places.

[retrokid]

if I was to go to the effort of doing an engine conversion (and stick with diesel power), it would have to be for something crazy like a DERV V10 out of a VW Touareg! (I think that's how you spell it:/)

If I'm honest, I'v been playing with my P100 truck whilst the sierras been dead; this is a truck which is rotten as hell and has more issues than a Justin bieber fan, BUT is fitted with an old 2.8 capri 'boat anchor' which pretends to be something much bigger burbling through a side exit exhaust, and there's chrome Wellers on it.... Iv become smitten with the idea of fitting a small block Chevy engine and BMW M3 gearbox to it for a proper yee-hah 'traffic light Grand Prix' ford that makes yer bumhole dilate every time you approach a corner.... I think the sierra estate needs to go.

Iv got Koni front legs and brand spankers KYB gas shocks for the back, I could finish the bodged lowering job with some proper springs, and i'll leave a boost gauge and bleed valve on it... any takers on a slighty modified red diesel sierra estate? just think of the cheap retro practicality

NB apparently turbo diesel estates are now beyond rare, like we're talking single figures! (how true I don't know) perhaps it shouldn't be modified at all?.... :/

[dodgerover]

Personally I wouldn't go for a SBC in a P100, they are really heavy! You'de need a few kerb stones in the tray to keep it facing the right direction and level it up
If you were going V8 a small block ford would be a better bet as they did use them in South Africa, also you can get alloy heads for the Windsor or Cleveland to get the weight down a little.

Modern derv would be a nightmare to transplant, to much electrickery.

[retrokid]

hmm ford small block is 30kg lighter but both are ridiculously heavy compared to my cologne engine:// hadn't thought of that, don't know where I'd get sierra front struts that are manly enough to carry an iron V8 in a straight line. I'v got a rover V8 engine kicking around the unit, but no gearbox and they're rubbish anyway all bark no bite