Diesel conversion

[Kitch]

Right not a BX, but still a PSA motor

A friend of mine has recently aquired a 405 Mi16, with a knacked clutch.
He also has a tired looking but mechanically sound 309 GLD.

The engine in the 405 is going to be rebuilt fully and fitted to his lovely 309 Goodwood which already has an Mi16 engine (no BX's were harmed in this installation )

You can see where this is going

We're attempting the conversion saturday, the goal being that the 405 Mi16 is a nice looking car, didn't cost much but the engine needs an overhaul. The diesel engine in it would make an ideal everyday car, not a great turn of speed but lots of comfort and hopefully reliability.

I've removed and refitted engines before (mine) but I've never converted one. We're looking into the obvious things like fuel tanks, vacuum pump and servo etc, but whats the basics? I know diesels use fewer wires than the injected petrols, so is it a case of fitted a glow plug relay and stop solenoid etc and go from there?

Any help will be gratefully recieved!

Cheers

[DavidRutherford]

To be honest, for the amount of time it would take, 405 Turbo-Diesels are so cheap, it's not worth the hassle. Buy a 405 TD, and move the bodywork bits & interior over if you *really* want a diesel-powered MI16 lookalike, but other than that, a 405 saloon will be very cheap indeed.

Alternatively, re-fit the left-over 16V engine back into the 405, and sell it. Genuine 405 MI16's are making reasonable money on eBay at the moment, and this would no doubt cover the cost of everything your doing, and probably provide the surplus to buy a good 405 TD saloon.

Plus... while I think about it. The XUD in a 309 is the 65hp square port engine, whearas the 405 came with the 71hp oval port. The 405 was slow enough with a 71hp XUD, I hate to think what it would be like with a 65hp one!

[Stewart (oily!)]

I am in agreement with David, fitment of a 405 turbodeisel engine is the way to go, if nothing else it will probably mean you dont need to get an exhaust system.
Stewart

[tim leech]

Looking on fleabay theres some very chap td 405s and to befair they are a good car. Also theres a mi16 engine up for grabs too!

[Kitch]

Thanks. Its not my decision though, as I say its a mates and he's set on the idea. Probably only because he's got all the gear there at his house now and doesn't wanna buy yet another car.

He fussed about power.....an N/A diesel BX, 405 or 309 is slow so the few odd BHP he'll lose won't matter too much. Besides, we're young....we're allowed to do stupid things like this.

I was just asking if anyone had carried out the conversion on a car before and if they had any pointers really. Thanks anyway

[Stewart (oily!)]

I have done a number of conversions similar to the one you describe, I will itemise some of the tasks.
Fuel system
Remove electric fuel pump/filter replace with piece of pipe (on a BX GTI this lives under th rear end)
Remove in tank pick up filter (this will block, remove or replace)
Exhaust . this depends whether you use a turbodiesel or not, td exhaust should be very similar to M16, non turbo probably the same as poverty petrols.
Electrical, the diesel only needs power to the stop solenoid and glow plugs to run, the rest of it will take a little messing with.
As far as the choice of engine my preference is for turbodeisels, they are cheap and plentiful and can be tuned. ZX and 405s are a good source of suitable engies as are BX turbos and Xantias to a point though you would need to find a top mount intercooler.
stewart

[DavidRutherford]

as you are "young" you will have the added problem of insurance. The cost of insuring a Modified 405MI16 will be massive, no doubt so expensive that you could buy a whole 405TD and insure it for less.

I still think you're best off putting the good 16v in the goodwood, the "OK, but could be better" 16v in the MI16 and selling it, and getting a 405TD if that's what's wanted. Will save an awful lot of modification work, a massive amount of time, and cost several hundred pounds less.