New Guy Adelaide first 4x4 early Maverick looking at Ford Falcon Barra 6 swap

[Jonesy_sa]

Hi guys,

New member located in Adelaide.

Recently acquired my first 4x4 an early carb Maverick LWB, duel fuel, manual, TB4.2 and reasonably low 200k. It's rough around the edges being an ex-trade vehicle but well maintained mechanically and low k's for this type of car so it's worth cleaning it up and driving for 300k more.

Very expensive on juice so seriously considering an engine swap to the Barra 4L 6 ( current falcon engine - non turbo).

I have done allot of googling but only located the single XR6T into GQ thread on this forum. If you are aware of others please let me know; also happy to hear from anyone who has done or is doing this swap.

Thanks guys

[growler2058]

Gday Jonesy welcome aboard. Getting a heap of crow eaters signing up lately, excellent

[Dhuck]

Welcome to the forum mate

[threedogs]

hello and welcome to the forum,
jump in anytime and enjoy

[MEGOMONSTER]

Welcome mate, surely the best forum on the net. If you need it, you can get it, if you want to know it, just ask it.
If you want to find it, go to the search bar for a universe of information.
Enjoy the sights and sounds of the greatest show on earth.

[Faisal]

Welcome mate.

[Patrol-Guy]

Welcome to the forum matey.

[BigRAWesty]

Welcome mate. Good to see another sa bloke here.
In all honesty I don't think the Ford engine is your answer though.
I think it would be simpler to swap out for a TD42 turbo engine.
$6g for a reconed turbo motor and it's nearly a straight swap. A lot less work involved than a Ford conversion..

[taslucas]

Hi mate, welcome aboard. Yeah the only thread i can think of is the one you mentioned. It is well worth a read though as the attention to detail is very impressive.

[Jonesy_sa]

Thanks guys.

Yes, a diesel or diesel turbo would be nice but at 6k for just the engine I would be better selling the current rig and buying a GU turbo diesel or similar (Pajero etc); they seem quite affordable now.
I looked for a donor vehicle for a swap but they are rare or well priced as quite a few other GQ owners have the same idea.

Ideally if I could find a cheap Dellow kit I would start collecting pieces. I would do all the work except engine mounts as I'm a terrible welder.

With that said I would like to hear from someone who has done a non-turbo and what their economy is like and 4x4 ability!

[Drewboyaus]

Welcome to the forum mate. As others have said a TD42 conversion (or GenIII V8) are your best conversion opportunities. Or.....suck it up and enjoy the TB42 for what it is, a thirsty but well matched donk for a 4by. LOL.
I would consider adding EFI from a later model as a mod to the TB42, not too expensive and will improve both economy and power, just don't put it on gas!
Have fun mate!

[Jonesy_sa]

Welcome to the forum mate. As others have said a TD42 conversion (or GenIII V8)
I would consider adding EFI from a later model as a mod to the TB42, not too expensive and will improve both economy and power, just don't put it on gas!
Have fun mate!

I did consider the LS1 however was told they use about the same fuel as the TB; but you gain tons of power. The thought being if you use as much fuel as a v8 why not get the power of one? Again, Chinese whispers others can point out if this is wrong?

Vehicle is currently on gas, has a funny manual chock lever that must be pulled when on petrol; from memory it allows greater airflow at the mixer?

If I upgraded to EFI why should I avoide gas?
Thanks

[AB]

Welcome to the forum mate, feel free to ask any questions and join in the conversations.

[Drewboyaus]

If I upgraded to EFI why should I avoide gas?
Thanks

Not specifically for EFI.
Everyone uses their vehicles in different ways but there are a number of guys here removing their gas setups. Often, running on petrol becomes unreliable when running dual fuel. Gas isn't great for the engine either and many a gassed TB42 has cracked a head. Gas is also hard to get in remote areas and with recent price rises it is much less attractive to run it.
I would imagine, depending on how you used your wheels that doing straight gas would be better/more reliable than dual fuel.
I run straight petrol in mine (EFI) but it's not a daily and I'm prepared to pay the price for the extra power and reliability it brings.
Only my opinion of course.

[Jonesy_sa]

Thanks, makes sense I thought there might be a more EFI specific conflict.
How hard is it to pick up a rusted, rolled, damaged etc GQ with a TD?
Been looking but haven't seen anything.

[BigRAWesty]

Thanks, makes sense I thought there might be a more EFI specific conflict.
How hard is it to pick up a rusted, rolled, damaged etc GQ with a TD?
Been looking but haven't seen anything.

Like hens teeth. They are snapped up quick for the same reason your looking at..

Imo the cheapest and easiest option for you is either buy a new TD42 patrol,
Or a referbed turbo motor.
As far as I know it's pretty much a straight swap, but read up on it.

The Ford conversion your talking
Lets say
Motor $500
Engineering of New mounts and bell housing mods
$2-5000 (very unsure On this as I don't think anyone does a kit)
Certification $1000
Wiring loom $500+

So before you start your pushing $4-7000 for a motor which will probably suck just as much juice due to the extra tonnage it has to haul..

[my third 256]

hi and welcome to the forum a great mob of people here and a lot of very usefull information
best wishes with your patrolling
stephen

[Winnie]

If you look on the Boosted Falcon forum there is a bloke who put the old Ford SOHC 4L into a shorty Maverick. His is highly modified with big turbo and running something like 350kW though, but the conversion would not be much different with the DOHC motor. His user name is DA22LE I think. Or Dazfab maybe. The shorty looks awesome with the XB Falcon bonnet vents grafter onto it.

[happygu]

Jonesy,

If yours is still alright, and your only concern is that it sucks too much juice, I don't think that putting in a Ford Six, is going to be that much cheaper for you.....

$6K cost at a minimum will be lots of fuel at $2 per hundred difference in fuel use .... that would be 300,000 Klms to start saving money.....

Mic

[Jonesy_sa]

Jonesy,
300,000 Klms to start saving money.....
Mic

Quite familiar with the break even calculations - I have been putting them to the other half for a week convincing her that although it burns through juice as we got it for next to nix we can afford too ;-) However when looking at a engine swap it is the paramount unless the existing donk has already let go.
I was offered a nice ZD30 Turbo engine however searching heavily it’s not something that has been documented or done in a GQ either?
Having a look apart from the engine itself allot of the other parts are quite cheap for the TD42; I have a friend who is a Diesel Mechanic – might ask him if he knows his way around rebuilding one.

On another note, ill have to look into a 4x4 class to learn how to use the thing!

[BigRAWesty]

On another note, ill have to look into a 4x4 class to learn how to use the thing!

Top idea. You'll learn lots fRom just jumping in your bus and going, nut the class gives you the techniques..

[93patrol]

always a good start and welcome to the forum.

the thing with 4wds is they are not really for someone looking for economy you would always be looking at between 12-20l/km no matter what vehicle or engine you have.

[Gecko17]

I did consider the LS1 however was told they use about the same fuel as the TB; but you gain tons of power. The thought being if you use as much fuel as a v8 why not get the power of one? Again, Chinese whispers others can point out if this is wrong?

Vehicle is currently on gas, has a funny manual chock lever that must be pulled when on petrol; from memory it allows greater airflow at the mixer?

If I upgraded to EFI why should I avoide gas?
Thanks

Hi Jonesy and welcome to the forum.

I used to own a '98 series 1 GU 4.5L wagon Great wagon but used a lot of fuel and not a lot of top end power. I now own a '06 Series 4 GU running a TD V8 chev. The difference in fuel... not a lot but the diffence in power is awesome.

IMO, it boils down to what you want and how much you are willing to spend. As has already been said here, you will never really get great fuel economy from a 4by.