Those brackets terrify me, but it looks great!! Good Job. We need to get a south east meetup going.

I'm hoping the brackets hold up well. They were actually designed by a Mechanical Engineer and machined on a CNC in his garage. They are stronger than they look.

I have a bunch of nitpicky items to take care of before he goes on the trail. (including a 2 inch exhaust with no muffler. let him breathe!)

-Pmontero

Good job. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

I meant that the creation of those brackets terrify me.. I'm sure they're super strong!! I doubt you have to worry about them breaking!! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

Here's a write-up on the conversion. I'll be posting more info later as I finish off the remaining items and get it on the trail. (I'm posting this link since I think some will appreciate the Dakar Rally pic in it!!)

Diesel Conversion write-up

One interesting factoid on the Dakar Rally truck in the pic. They ran a modified Starion 2.6 turbo engine in several of those trucks from the mid-80s!!

When you get yours done, let's meet up for a wheeling trip. I'm really loving my 4D56 conversion. I've put about 6k on it now and it is doing great. About 500 of those miles are offroad. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I just finished getting the oil pressure gauge working on the Montero diesel. I used the stock '87 Montero 2.6 gas oil pressure gauge unit (NAPA Echlin OP6087) with a 1/8" NPT Female to 1/4" NPT Male bushing. The Ford Ranger diesel engine had an oil pressure switch in it that is 1/4" NPT instead of the Montero's 1/8" NPT. So here's my gauge configuration:

Speedometer - stock gas. This just worked since it was already hooked up and I reused the stock gas manual transmission.

Tachometer - I bought a Dakota Diesel DSL-1D Tach converter and hooked it up to the Hall effect sensor off of the diesel injection pump and hooked it to the stock gas tachometer on the Montero.

Fuel - I reused the stock gas Montero tank and sender. This just worked once I hooked it up.

Voltage - I used the stock Montero Gas alternator wiring harness on a Montero 3.0 V6 gas alternator. (shares the same harness with the 2.6 gas motor) When I hooked it up, the voltmeter worked.

Temperature - I used the stock temp sender that was in the Ford Ranger diesel. It has two blades so I hooked the wire for the Montero temp gauge to one of the blades of the sender. This worked but I think the gauge and sender don't match for calibration. It looks like the truck is running hot on the gauge but it's at 190*F. which is normal operating temp for the Ford Ranger diesel engine. I may see if I can use the stock Montero temp sender with a bushing adapter so it will screw into threads in the diesel engine and hopefully read in the middle? What is normal operating temp for a 2.6 gas motor?

I need to figure out how to wire the EGR light in the gauge cluster so it's not always on, rewire my glow plugs to a relay, install the straight exhaust and replace the clutch master and slave cylinders. (they are weak from sitting)

-Pmontero

I haven't posted in a while but I'm driving the Montero diesel now. I just had a custom 2.5" exhaust installed without a muffler. Here are some pics. I still have a few things to do with wiring but it runs great! It's a little slow up hills but very torquey! When is the next North Georgia Trail Ride?

Here's a link to the first drive after the engine was installed. I'll get some more video of it fully assembled and off-road soon!

Youtube Montero First Drive

Can you post a pic of where you installed your oil pressure switch? The place that I installed mine isn't working properly.