Acy-

Excellent post.

Do you have a 2.8TD in your hot little hands? If so, what what the process and how did you get it stateside?

I would like to point out some very important points in Acy's post. 1) He is able to do all the work himself. Fabrication of parts under no pressure of a timeline is great. It is a learning process, it saves a good deal of cash and for most, it is the fun part of the whole deal. 2) This was not his only vehicle. Again, this is something Steve has not really clarified. Having to get a large project like an engine swap done in a weekend (even the bolt in 3.4) because you have to get to work on Monday, is vastly different than breaking new ground over a long time. 3) Along with the DIY part, there are tools, knowlege, and a facility for acy to get this done. Again, Steve has not addressed this part. Just like the availablity of alternative transport, the knowledge, experience, tools, and place all play into the ability (and ultimately, cost) of such a swap. All of these things play into a yea or ney suggestion of what options to take.

As for the legal issues, please remember that we do avoid talking about non-legal activities on this board. While I understand the reasoning, swapping VIN's is illegal. It is ultimately the choice of the vehicle owner and I pass no judgement upon that choice, but it important to know it is not a "fix" but a non-legal "work around" to the laws. As for running the 2.8TD in the US, that too is illegal, but the EPA does not do active enforcement. They leave that up to the state/local authorties. So, while emisions testing may not exist in an area, it is still technically against federal law to run the 2.8TD. Will you get caught? Probably not. Could you be harassed by someone? Possibily and the fines are most likely steep. Again, no judgement on this one, but it is an important bit of information for anyone contemplating such swaps.

Finally, swapping in a 2.8TD is vastly more involved than a 3.4 swap. The 3.4 is a plug and play deal. It is no more involved than swapping out the 2.8 for another 2.8. You can have something like it up and running in a day. If you want to to TB modifications, cam changes, rocker changes ect...it can be done before hand, or after, but swapping over the necessary 2.8 pieces and bolting into the truck will make it run. The 2.8TD is probably a bit more complicated than that. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Good Luck to all,
Michael <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> <---look, it's a smiley