OM617 swap

[rorax]

I want to know if it's even at all possible but I have a room mate with an 84 land cruiser thats totally perfect, and virtually no rust that hes willing to sell to me for 3k because the engine does not have ANY smog equiptment on board and to replace it would be insanely costly. This is a god oportunity for me to do what i have been wanting to do for a while, and that is swap my 1985 OM617 into an old toyota. I know that the engine has to be made in the same year or newer that the vehicle was manufactured in, which is perfect as the engine is 1 year newer... Oh, I should add that I'm in california... I feel like that might be important! And given the california laws which you can find on the DMV website, does anybody see any chance of opposition to this idea? I think it's totally doable.

Note: sorry if there are any redundancies or spelling errors, I did not spell check

[mach4]

Legally I see no problem - I've got a 617 in my 380SL (both '85 models). I'm in CA and it was completely painless.

I can't comment directly on the mechanical aspects, but that swap has been done into a Toyota pickup so I would assume that there are no insurmountable obstacles to the project provided you've got the skills, tools, money and patience to see it through. I seem to recall seeing a completed swap somewhere.

Start a build thread and share the process with lots of pictures and you'll get plenty of help.

[t walgamuth]

I would not be surprised to find adapters for that swap. Good luck!

[yuke]

There is a guy in my area that is chicago land that has done a few swaps into toyota p.u.'s and says he has had good luck with them. I know nothing about calf. smog laws except they are the tough.

[Dan Stokes]

I echo those above. Just make sure that you have the resources to make this happen - do you have the tools, knowledge (the Internet helps here!) and PLACE to do this? And also the time. I have spent a lifetime gathering all the above. The guys on here will happily help in the "knowledge" department but we can't help much in the "tools" and Place" areas. I've seen way too many projects started and abandoned due to a lack of one or more of the above.

What I'm suggesting is that you take a long, heard look at your ability to make this happen. If the answer is "yes" go for it!

Best of luck!

Dan

[mach4]

Be aware that the swap will be the "easy" part - the research and thinking through options and chasing parts, is the time consuming part. In my swap, it took over a year for a swap I (and anyone else that was so inclined) could now do in a couple of weekends, because a set of answers is now known.

[imryanmoriarty]

you think replacing the emissions equipment on your 2f will be expensive but it'd probably cost less than having the transmission adapter you will need for the swap machined.

[rorax]

Thank you for all of your feedback, I've decided Im going to do it, I actually talked to a ref and he said as long as I have all of the proper equipment and that it's safe, he will let me pass. Also, I have a Bridgeport in my garage so making an adapter plate shouldn't be too difficult. As soon as I start this project, I'm going to start a thread and post pics!

[mach4]

My BAR experience was painless, just a quick look. The referee had me start it up and took a brief look and he commented - "looks like a diesel, sounds like a diesel, smells like a diesel - I guess it's a diesel". The only question he asked was the year of the engine. They see so few of these they really don't know what smog equipment to look for or how to test it. I spent countless hours getting all the smog stuff hooked up and working...all for nothing. Make sure you've got all the equipment there and all the lines hooked up and you'll be fine. The trap cat would be an obvious item for them to look for. My swap was super clean - looked completely factory - and I think that helped a whole lot. If it looked like a hack job I suspect it might have been a different story.

Good luck.