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If you haven’t heard of the Skid Factory on YouTube, then hear us out – Australians. Fast rides. Doing everything themselves. If that doesn’t sell you, then keep reading.
Two friends, Al and Woody, are the men behind the magic of Skid Factory. Based out of Queensland, they’re a relatively young channel with only a few videos out. They’ve done a project involving a turbocharged V8 Ford Fairlane, and now, they’re moving straight to diesel in the form of Al’s 1999 Nissan Patrol.
Al stands next to his Nissan Patrol, which is about to receive a change of heart – going from a 4.5-liter I6 gas motor to a 4.2-liter turbocharged I6 diesel.
Al explains that although he loves the Patrol, he’s reached his wit’s end with the 4.5-liter TB45E straight-six. “It’s the worst engine I’ve ever had,” he says flatly.
The solution? Turbodiesel, of course! Namely, the 4.2-liter TD42T3, also made by Nissan and installed in other Patrols from that era. Making 158 hp and 244 lb-ft of torque, it won’t win any awards, but it will hopefully prove more fuel-efficient than the straight-six.
The video follows as Al and Woody get down and dirty inside the Patrol, ripping out intake, exhaust, wiring, plumbing, and other bits. After the engine is out, Al realizes the work he’ll have to do to make the starter work on the stock transmission, and gets to it.
Huzzah! Out comes the dumpy old gasser engine.
Following this, Al gets to work getting the bellhousing off of the transmission. He has to make new thread bosses for the larger starter, and then move onto the next task – testing out the flexplate and torque converter from yet another different Nissan engine, the turbocharged, inline-four ZD30.
With the torque converter in place, Al figures out that he needs to get the flexplate and torque converter to be within 2 millimeters from each other for proper mesh. He welds on spacers to the backplate, pushing the torque converter the necessary length forward.
That concludes the first chapter of the diesel swap. We’re looking forward to seeing more from Skid Factory soon. In the meantime, check out their channel on YouTube.
