Hallo Venture :

I was not aware Merc offered a 5 spd manual on any of their Turbo Diesel North American cars beyond the w123/240D with a 4sp Getrag

Incidentally .. I do have an OM 602 Normally aspirated from a 93 w124 300D 2.5 in my garage - have yet to crack it open

Have only seen one geländewagen mid 80's w460 - it was out of Canada on eBay in 2001 I think

I think your biggest issue will be finding a transfer case that will mate to your front axle - unless of course you just donate all under pinning from a suitable candidate

Have you thunk on maybe going Toyota ? A mid 80's 2LT from a Toyota LN 65/LN 67 Pickup - engine parts are easily available - could score one out of BC with a very cancerous body - mechanical injection - best is being in So Cali - transmissions and axle parts are easily available at local bone yards - a bit more horsepower and torque and no fuss with trying to fit a Merc 5cyl beast into the engine bay and settling /balance on the axle

good luck
cheers:

i note that trip's/ventureforth's 2.1 and parts collection (lots) is now on craigslist. the address is:

sale-agk83-1185943221@craigslist.org

best regards; eric

Hallo Mates:

Look at : http://losangeles.craigslist.o.../pts/1185943221.html

cheers:

Change of plans. The MB didn't work out, so now I'm going with either a 1.9TD/TDI VW or a Toyota 2LT/2LTE/1KZ. Any thoughts? From my research, it seems the AX5 transmission will mate up to a 22R style bellhousing (W or G), and ACME adapters makes a plate that will mate that Toyota bellhousing to a VW, so that's one option. Or I could just go 2LT to AX5 with just the bellhousing and not the plate (right?...as long as I swap out the input shafts -- AX5 is 7.5" and Toyota is 6.5"). It also seems the AX15 and the R-series transmissions used with the 1KZ will mate up, so that seems like an option, too. I currently have the AX5 in my Jeep, of course, but AX15s are not too expensive or hard to come by. Will it be easy or difficult to swap out the AX5 for an AX15 and bolt it up to the 1KZ? Any thoughts?

All things being equal (as I have been able to get pretty comparable prices for all of these options when all is said and done, give or take a few hundred $$), which option would you go with? Now, this question comes with the following qualifiers:

1. Ease of installation/swap (i.e., is the wiring and ECU of the 1.9TDI or 2LTE or 1KZ going to be a nightmare? Should I stick to 1.9TD/2LT?)
2. Reliability of the engine (I love my 1.9TDI in my '03 Golf, but I've heard great things about the Toyotas, too).
3. Availability of parts (I've heard mixed opinions on being able to keep a 2LT going in the States and I don't want to run into the same issues I had finding parts for the Renault and the cost of those parts. VW engines and parts are everywhere and pretty cheap)
4. And, of course, bang for the buck and appropriateness for my application(the 1KZ has significant power advantages, but the 1.9TD is no slouch and can be enhance to make some pretty respectable numbers, especially the TDI. Driveability and fuel economy and veg-oil conversion take precedence over rock-crawling beast-ness, as I don't really do much off-roading).

Anyway, you all have been so helpful and insightful in the past, I thought I would bend your ears once more.

Cheers,

Trip

p.s.
There is an updated craigslist ad for my Renault stuff. I found some additional pieces that weren't listed before, I replaced the missing fuel line, and one of the turbos has been sold.

http://losangeles.craigslist.o.../pts/1227875639.html

Another option that came up was an Isuzu 4BD1T. The are adapters that will mate it to the AX5, as well. Any thoughts?

hello; my bosch VE injection pump on the renault started leaking (too much biodiesel, probably). trip/ventureforth, do you still have an extra one? can you call or email me (i'm at wcpiATtelluridecoloradoDOTnet or 970.729.0034)? thx. mine is squirting about a quart an hour. messes the driveway and is a fire hazard, tho it seems to run fine.

also, there is a 93 cherokee on ebay w/ only 1600 km. current price is $1500. 4 days left as of today, 21 july 09

on craigslist, somebody has a cherokee in MN with a nissan 3.2 turbodiesel for $3000. that is a whole lot cheaper than doing the conversion yourself. if you do an all of craigslist "diesel jeep" search, all sorts of interesting things show up, including a whole liberty/vm engine and driveline for $2800.

best regards; eric

Just thought I'd post an update for everyone who has been following the thread. I ended up going with a VW 1.9TD (AAZ). This replaced the stock 2.1L Renault which was giving me lots of trouble. I've added some performance enhancements to the AAZ (the larger turbo from a 1.6L, and some GTD Bosio nozzles) and am thinking an intercooler is in order, too. I haven't been able to find any solid info on a good choice for the intercooler. Most of the forums I've searched and performance stores I've spoken to really only deal with super-powering Japanese rockets on wheels or building giant off-road beasts. Any recommendations on an intercooler?

Thanks.