Astra van Gm diesel engine replacement advice

[kevtun]

Hi
Wondering what's involved in dropping a petrol engine into van that had a Gm diesel in originally.ive got a 2.0 Cdx p Reg available as the donor.
Any help/advice please

 

[Andy_Mk3]

Gm diesel is smallblock so would will need big block front suspension legs and drive shafts.

Not sure if you need to swap the fuel tank, but will definitely need a fuel pump fitting and petrol fuel lines.

The majority should be a straight swap though.

 

[Todd100]

I know a few people have done a diesel to z20let conversion I'm mk4 vans and they change the fuel tank on them too not sure whether it's the same or even needed on a mk3 tho

 

[edessex]

In the Land Rover world people often change the tanks rather than cleaning then out. Diesel tanks especially can have a hell of a lot of crap in.

 

[Andy_Mk3]

If you have a donor car it makes sense to swap the tank anyway.

 

[FrostyWaffle]

Dieselpumps don't like petrol solvants much, as they rely on diesel to lube them

 

[TomVauxhall]

Vauxhall missed a big opportunity in this market. I'd love another mk3 or mk4 van. They handled well with the right wheels and tyres and had good styling and looked cool. The only problem with both was the miserable performance from the diesel engines they offered. Any of the 2.0 petrol engines would have made a massive improvement

 

[edessex]

Commercial vehicles are mainly bought by businesses though, and very few of them would have bought a 2ltr petrol van!

 

[TomVauxhall]

But now theve all been sold on. I guess it's up to the cool kids now to keep them alive and eventually scrap the diesel engines in favour of something that responds when you press the loud pedal. I still think they should have made some sri and gsi models though

 

[FrostyWaffle]

Isuzu diesels for the early 90's till mid 90's were quite impressive for their day, but they kept using them in the mk4 and in that era they were very outdated.

Heck that bloody gm diesel was around since the late 80's and they still dared to put it in cars from 98

 

[Andy_Mk3]

Yeah the Isuzu engine was great for its day, even now it's still a very reliable and economical engine.

 

[edessex]

I'd still favour a diesel lump, but then I am the business type...

 

[FrostyWaffle]

I liked the isuzu because it was a very sporty Diesel, i often left most petrols behind me in take off. But it had rather poor Nm torque ratings.

Sure it pulled trailers, but it struggled at any sort of weight. Hell even having a few passengers in the car, and you already felt it getting sluggish to drive.
But then again an Astra is a family car lol

 

[Andy_Mk3]

They were only 82bhp or something though. Most family cars these days have double that as standard.

 

[TomVauxhall]

i often left most petrols behind me in take off.

 

[FrostyWaffle]

Sorry, i intentionally forgot to add old golfs and fiesta's with 1.4's and 1.6's to sound cooler and mysterious sportive!
VTec Isuzu diesel yo.


They do take off brutally fast without turning the driveshafts into a wrangled up towel!
Don't be such a GSI weenie Tom!

 

[TomVauxhall]

They do take off brutally fast without turning the driveshafts into a wrangled up towel!

Fair enough I'll let you have that one. The slow rev and heavy flywheel does get the power down from standing. My dad can beat me up to 10mph in his focus diesel in a drag race

 

[FrostyWaffle]

In those 10 mph, i'll rattle along proudly!

Not in the mk4 tho, this isuzu engine is nerfed to hell