help needed for perkins prima conversion

hi folks! im new to the forum, was on as a guest before and thought id join as it is a pretty cool page!

im currently in the middle of converting my 1968 s2a swb landy with the perkins prima 2.0td engine and was hoping to find anyone who has done the conversion themselves, for any hints/tips for example iv got the mk1 conversion plate which uses the sherpa starter motor, i read somewhere on the net that the end of the crankshaft of the engine has to be cut off to stop too much of it entering the flywheel housing, if this is true im not quite sure where and how much to cut off.

I have not done this conversion before, however I pretty sure you wont be chopping the end of the crank, the boss on the end is about 5" dia, you wouldnt attack it with a grinder thats for sure, it'd have to be machined, which would mean taking the crank out, I dont think you'd have to go that far.
If theres an issue with the input shaft on the box being too long then if anything you'd shorten the input shaft on the box, this is a lot easier to do, it would be best machining this too, but I spose you could bodge gring it.
Make absolutely sure you have to do it before you chop it, you cant saw a piece back on.
Teflon is the guy you need to be asking, teffy seems to know a little about the prima.
Ta.

I did a little searching for you as no-one has reply'ed yet.
Try this link its very interesting:

Perkins Prima diesel engine conversion for Series land Rovers

It looks like you do actually grind the crank, and from what the guy says, you gring the spigot in the centre of the crank so that it sits flush to the flywheel when its bolted up, probably so as not to foul the clutch mechanism.

Also take note of something this guy says, the stater of the donor car (assuming it was froma car not a van) is incorrect as it turns the wrong way, I presume from this that on a car the starter back end is on the gearbox side and on the van the starter back end is on the engine side, this would explain the rotation being incorrect.
If you try starting the engine backwards and you have a cav or rotodiesel pump fitted you'd knacker it.

hope this is of some help to you.
If its any consolation I'm finding it tricky with my 300tdi diesel, not many have done it yet and information is sparce, theres some guys well up here though.

hi mate i did this conversion about 3 years ago. got to say iv had my ups and downs with it. ups being able to cruise at 50mph, take her up to 70 if i wanted and i really cant remember the last time i put diesel in , its that good on juice!!. down side is that parts are getting harder to get hold of.i had a prob with it not starting , but if i turned the altanator a abit it would start. worked it out to be a dodgy altanator and batt. change the oil cooler coz the standerd one's are prone to leeking. also try . . hope you get it all done soon mate

dr pepper said:

I have not done this conversion before, however I pretty sure you wont be chopping the end of the crank, the boss on the end is about 5" dia, you wouldnt attack it with a grinder thats for sure, it'd have to be machined, which would mean taking the crank out, I dont think you'd have to go that far.
If theres an issue with the input shaft on the box being too long then if anything you'd shorten the input shaft on the box, this is a lot easier to do, it would be best machining this too, but I spose you could bodge gring it.
Make absolutely sure you have to do it before you chop it, you cant saw a piece back on.
Teflon is the guy you need to be asking, teffy seems to know a little about the prima.
Ta.

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hi there,

just got your message, i dont get on the net as much as id like to, thanks very much for your help on my question, i will have a look at that link you sent through, im dying to get this conversion done as im missing my old landy something terrible! will keep you posted on my progress, hopefully she will be back on the road soon.

thanks again,

kris.

welshlandy said:

hi mate i did this conversion about 3 years ago. got to say iv had my ups and downs with it. ups being able to cruise at 50mph, take her up to 70 if i wanted and i really cant remember the last time i put diesel in , its that good on juice!!. down side is that parts are getting harder to get hold of.i had a prob with it not starting , but if i turned the altanator a abit it would start. worked it out to be a dodgy altanator and batt. change the oil cooler coz the standerd one's are prone to leeking. also try . . hope you get it all done soon mate

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hi there,

thanks for your reply and help you have given, what type of oil cooler did you use? is there any other hints / tips you could give for the conversion?

thanks again,

kris.

the cooler i used ,i had from an auto jumble. i think is from a mini . iv managed to place it just infront of the rad.it works well, but had to get longer pipes. also, iv been told that a freelander oil fillter is a good replacement for the standerd one , coz if your at full articultion the front axle will get v.close. so its abit shorter.

ok dokey, thanks for that mate, il have a look out for those bits n bobs, did you have to cut the end off of the crankshaft when you did your conversion? if so, how much did you cut off?

thanks again,

kris.

no. i used the mk2 kit, that uses a 3bearing petrol flywheel and a 200tdi starter. alot easier to find.

ah i see, yeah i almost bought the mk2 kit from dudleigh but spotted a mk1 kit in the local free ads paper and snapped it up as it was cheap, and came with loads of spares, thanks again for all your help mate, ill keep you popsted on my project, dying to get her back on the road!

series 2a perkins landy said:

ah i see, yeah i almost bought the mk2 kit from dudleigh but spotted a mk1 kit in the local free ads paper and snapped it up as it was cheap, and came with loads of spares, thanks again for all your help mate, ill keep you popsted on my project, dying to get her back on the road!

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I know how you feel. I'm in the middle of a 200tdi conversion on my SIII and I just want it working! I made a bad mistake in not getting one of my other Landies roadworthy before starting this project.

Do not understand why you need to chop or grind ? I am in the conversion process and as far as I understand it takes a 2,25 petrol fly wheel, series clutch, 200 starter motor, and it should all fit .