The first diesel Astro conversion??.

[peter]

Diesel's old news. The cost of a litre of the stinky shit is practically on par with gasoline.
'Lectric's the way of the future, fellow rapees. Hydrogen too, but I don't think we'll be in any position to apply that technology to our vans anytime soon. Electric! Put up some (meaning craploads ) solar panels at home which can charge up storage batteries, then use that to offset the utility company's recharging costs of your electric vehicle.

[potskie]

Diesel's old news. The cost of a litre of the stinky shit is practically on par with gasoline.
'Lectric's the way of the future, fellow rapees. Hydrogen too, but I don't think we'll be in any position to apply that technology to our vans anytime soon. Electric! Put up some (meaning craploads ) solar panels at home which can charge up storage batteries, then use that to offset the utility company's recharging costs of your electric vehicle.

But you forget diesels have better fuel economy. Even with them being at the same price point fuel wise the diesel will still be cheaper to run. Especially if you run it on waste veggie oil and such.

Now electric that I could do.

I already have plans in writing ( that's a milestone for me as I usually do everything on the fly from my brain) Somewhere on my pc. I've seen a few jeeps being converted to EVs now so I figure with the cashola eventually I should be able to do it to a van.

[astrozam]

On par? where you been lately? lol, diesel has been more expensive for some time now anyways we've been hearing about these mythical conversions for so long, and the same thing keeps popping up... the smaller deisels are not readily available for cheap enough prices,and the big honkin deisels are a little on the big and heavy side, don't hold your breath on this swap.

[Kabey's Van]

You will never see a diesel in one of these vans. There is no advantage to it. The cost of diesel and the lack of power would defeat the purpose.
An electric conversion, come on Peter are you out of coffee this morning or what. The modifications you would need to do to keep the weight down would render the van useless.
Hydrogen production costs more than it's worth and the enviromental impact of hydrogen production leaves this fuel as a bad choice for the future.
I don't understand what all the complaining is about gas milage, 20 mpg and a choice of sbc, bbc and a variety of transmissions not to mention the versatility of these vans, how can you complain.
Now if I could just train my Newfs to get out and pull me up the hills. Now your talking.
Peter

[Someone]

I disagree... a 4bt in one of these vans would easly run 25MPG plus average. that is pretty worth while if you ask me...

If somebody drops off there van to my house and $5000cash I will drop a 4BT in it for you. I would do it for my self, but I am already busy with a more worth while swap.. 6BT suburban... I may also have a job coming up to pull the old 6.2 out of a vandura to replace with a 4BT.

...It can be done and will be worthwhile for fuel economy, but the unibody will make the van usless for pulling or loading power. In my opinion it would be a huge waste of time to bother with a 6.2 or 6.5, you need to use and efficiant 4cyl cummins, isuzu or hino... but the isuzu wont fit nice because the turbo is on the drivers side.

[Kabey's Van]

I just don't see the advantage.
A Cummins 4bt puts out 105hp@265ft/lb of torque and weighs 800lbs, although it produces a decent amount of torque it's a boat anchor. The 6bt is even worse at 1100lbs.
The Hino 5ltr. 4 cyl. produces 175hp@375ft/lbs of torque which isn't all that bad but at 1200+ lbs. it too is a boat anchor.
Not to mention the cost of these engines alone can be upwards of $10000. Then there is the tranny, the wiring adaptations, bigger rad, complete fabrication of mounting it all. All this for a 2-3 mpg improvement.
And yes, diesel is more exspensive than 94 octane right now. I just came back from my local Chevron and they are selling 94 for 136.9 per ltr. diesel is 138.9 per ltr.
I would rather go for the s/b swap. It weighs less, easier to install and requires far less modifications, is cheaper to run and the aftermarket improvements are endless.
That's not my tires squeeling it's the pavement.
Peter

[peter]

Nope, 'lectric's the way. Battery technology has already come a long way, and stuff we deem impossible today is reality 10 yrs from now. They will one day build a battery with incredible storage capacity which doesn't weigh a ton, I just know they will.

Is diesel really more expensive than gasoline? It used to be dirt cheap. One more reason to discount diesel as a realistic alternative. According to the advice of a truck-salesman buddy of mine (which he gave me about 15 yrs ago when diesel was cheaper), unless you do at least 50k kms (about 30k miles) a year, the additional cost of a diesel is unjustifed and the return on your investment won't happen.
Was/is he wrong? :-k

[Kabey's Van]

I believe E/V's are the future too. They will eventually come out with technology that will make possible, larger electric vehicles.
My point was refering to a conversion of an ASV to electric power given our current technology.
Yeh, Peter diesel is three cents more per ltr. than gas was. Go figure when diesel is a by-product of produceing gasoline, mmmm. Can you say supply and demand.
Who killed the electric car anyway?
Peter

[GEJ]

My qustion isn't the batteries currently wt as much as the diesel engine would be given enough batteries to last a long time??.

[mdmead]

You will never see a diesel in one of these vans.

Well, first off, it has been done. At least one diesel-converted Astro/Safari is running around Europe, and I suspect there are more.

But it won't be too long before somebody here at ASV... either a current member or one who hasn't joined yet... swaps a diesel in.

I think the swap will come about one of two ways.... Either somebody will have a spare van and a spare diesel laying around and mate them... or more likely, somebody will do it just to do it!

I mean, come on, we have one looney on here who spent a fortune putting a 502 in his van! (Why?! Because he could!!!)

[Kabey's Van]

But it's a big block and loonies don't matter when it comes to big blocks. LOL

[T.Low]

Drill baby, drill! Long live the 4.3! Drill, baby, drill!

[Kabey's Van]

Long live the BBC

[peter]

Hallelujah, brother!

[potskie]

Is diesel really more expensive than gasoline? It used to be dirt cheap. One more reason to discount diesel as a realistic alternative. According to the advice of a truck-salesman buddy of mine (which he gave me about 15 yrs ago when diesel was cheaper), unless you do at least 50k kms (about 30k miles) a year, the additional cost of a diesel is unjustifed and the return on your investment won't happen.
Was/is he wrong? :-k

I think he is right/wrong.............. Using the normal vehicle lifespan he is correct. But Most diesel owners keep and run their trucks twice as long as the average owner. Which would generally make him incorrect. But you would really need to see his math on that to be sure.

I know my old Burb with a 6.2 in it was owned from new by my dad..... He bought it in 89. He drove it till 06 when he gave it to me. With 0 major drivetrain repairs. So I would say he got his ROI for the Diesel.