Dauntless or Kubota |
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52 M38
Member Joined: 26 Nov. 2012 Location: New England Status: Offline Points: 1286 |
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Posted: 19 Mar. 2019 at 3:09pm |
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I have a decision to make, doesn't need to be today, this month, or even this summer.
Why am I doing a swap? The L134 has been substantially underwhelming with power, the T90 does not offroad well as the craw speed is too high and the non syncro'd 1st is a pain. I will never take the jeep on the highway, and it is unlikely that I will rock craw at all with it. The original drivetrain will remain with the jeep, as I would never sell it. I have been looking at the Kubota turbo diesels. I can pick one up for about the same cost as the Dauntless swap. It will produce roughly 75hp and 130Tq topping out at 2900ish RPM. This engine basically drops in as it is essentially exactly the same size and weight of the L134, coolant lines up, exhaust is in the same place. The turbo diesel sounds awesome. Opinions and recommendations please. Edited by 52 M38 - 01 Apr. 2019 at 7:46pm |
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Oldpappy
Member Joined: 09 Apr. 2018 Location: Tennessee Status: Offline Points: 4905 |
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About 30 years ago I bought a M38 which had the Dauntless V6 installed by a previous owner.
It still had the T90, but with a longer input shaft to fit the Buick bell housing. The Jeep had headers which were a tight fit, but they did fit fine. Of course, it was a good power to weight ratio. I do not recall how the coolant hoses were done, nor do I recall any problem with that. It didn't stay in the Jeep long after I got it, because I put it back to original with a L-134. Wish I still had that M38, it had as close to a perfect body as I have ever seen on an old Jeep, but I sold it about 20 years ago. Since you already have the V6 built, why not go for that conversion? It was a very popular conversion back in the day, and those engines just sound cool with headers and glass packs.
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oldtime
Member Joined: 12 Sep. 2009 Location: Missouri Status: Offline Points: 4184 |
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Exactly true ! Willys engines were always mounted 1-1/2" left of frame centerline. The transmissions for 134 powered Jeeps were also offset 1-1/2". The Dauntless should be positioned no further right nor left from the position that is 3/4" left of frame centerline. In fact the complete drivetrain should be re-aligned 3/4" left of frame CL. Transmission, TC, crossmember, transmission tunnel etc.
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Currently building my final F-134 powered 3B .
T98-A Rock Crawler using exclusive factory parts and Approved Special Equipment from the Willys Motors era (1953-1963) Zero aftermarket parts |
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smfulle
Member Sponsor Member Joined: 16 Sep. 2010 Location: Ogden, Utah Status: Offline Points: 6141 |
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"the T90 does not offroad well"
Trying to decide if I'm offended by this or not.
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52 M38
Member Joined: 26 Nov. 2012 Location: New England Status: Offline Points: 1286 |
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Where you are, the offroading is very different.
Edited by 52 M38 - 19 Mar. 2019 at 5:14pm |
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chasendeer
Member Joined: 24 Feb. 2012 Location: Napa,CA Status: Offline Points: 1086 |
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I’m thinking about this as well. I have a kubota engine at home already. I don’t like the kubota because it does not idle as low as a v6.
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52 M38
Member Joined: 26 Nov. 2012 Location: New England Status: Offline Points: 1286 |
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With a heavier flywheel it will, there are a few different conversion kits I have seen, one offered two different flywheel weights, 28 and 48. The reason the Jeep Dauntless idles so low is its flywheel weighs slightly less than Rhode Island.
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ndnchf
Member Sponsor Member x 2 Joined: 22 Sep. 2017 Location: Virginia Status: Offline Points: 2177 |
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I'm curious, what kubota motor are you referring to? Is there a T90 adapter available for it?
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1948 CJ2A - It goes nowhere fast, but anywhere slow.
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Freedom21
Member Joined: 04 Oct. 2015 Location: CedarSprings,MI Status: Offline Points: 475 |
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Sorry to interrupt, but that is hilarious.
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09 JKU
02 KJ 66 CJ-5 48 CJ2A "Lefty" ?? M416 |
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AKoller
Member Sponsor Member Joined: 19 Sep. 2018 Location: Moundridge Kans Status: Offline Points: 651 |
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I have the Dauntless in mine. I like the performance real well. I didn't think the swap was overly difficult to do either. I am still running the T90. My next project is to install the TerraFlex low gears in the D18 to get the crawl ratio where i want it. I did have trouble with the factory Willys radiator cooling it. It constantly ran 210-235 degrees. I have since replaced the radiator with one from Summit. I have never seen it over 185 degrees since and most of the time it runs 160 degrees.
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1950 CJ3A "Thumper"
1966 M151 A1 1942 GPW #70221 |
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chasendeer
Member Joined: 24 Feb. 2012 Location: Napa,CA Status: Offline Points: 1086 |
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Check out https://kubotaswappers.myshopify.com Jay
Edited by chasendeer - 19 Mar. 2019 at 10:09pm |
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Millennium falcon
Member Joined: 20 Sep. 2016 Location: Central PA Status: Offline Points: 1521 |
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MY vote is for VW TDI! Here is mine... Its lighter than the 134, It makes 120hp/200tq makes usable power from 1000-4000rpm. idles at 900rpm gets 38mpg. My buddy has done a similar swap with his 2a... he used a TDI that was a few years older than mine and it was a very simple swap. no firewall mods. Makes roughly the same numbers as mine. Im running the t90 with an overdrive right now.... Im in the middle of a t18 4-speed swap. No one makes a kit for this.....but its not that hard....
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chasendeer
Member Joined: 24 Feb. 2012 Location: Napa,CA Status: Offline Points: 1086 |
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The issue is with the crawl speed will go way up on the diesel combo. If a odd fire will crawl around 600 rpm and the diesel is around 1000 rpm even with the heavy fly wheel. I have spoke to Ken at Kubota swappers about a low idle and he said it will not run smooth even with the 48 lb flywheel.
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Millennium falcon
Member Joined: 20 Sep. 2016 Location: Central PA Status: Offline Points: 1521 |
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I can’t speak for the kubota guys but the tdi will crawl smoothly at 900rpm.....the electronics help with that. Once I get the 4-speed installed (82:1 crawl) it won’t matter anyway. Haha! My flywheel is 32lbs.
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greenlakesgary
Member Joined: 01 Jan. 2017 Location: cicero ny Status: Offline Points: 65 |
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I'm happy with my Kubota V2203 DI conversion. It idles just a hair under 1000rpms and I top out at 3050rpms. The Jeep has no electronics and once started only needs fuel to run. Fuel economy 32-35 mpg. Swap was not super hard.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cN-h22jCvQ8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNBhf12jGJc |
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52 M38
Member Joined: 26 Nov. 2012 Location: New England Status: Offline Points: 1286 |
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That is what draws me to it. I drive a TDI daily, awesome engine, very complex and computerized, not what am looking for in my Jeep.
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Millennium falcon
Member Joined: 20 Sep. 2016 Location: Central PA Status: Offline Points: 1521 |
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When you swap a tdi if done correctly the electronics are nothing like the cars. Some people even out manual pumps on them. Mine does have more electronics than a normal willys but it’s very simple stripped down and basic....but if no electronics are what you are after than you want a mechanical diesel.
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davemacinnh
Member Joined: 15 June 2018 Location: Webster, NH Status: Offline Points: 55 |
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Hands down, the TDi is the way to go. 300lbs and produced 110 hp. Cheap parts if needed at well. The kubota is a dog. Expensive and produced nothing for horse power. If you break something, good luck finding readily available parts. TDI wiring is easy and simple. All said and done, tdi swap is way cheaper than a kubota. TDI for the win.
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