So I've read, I've studied, I've pondered, and have now begun. I found a 1996 Chevy S-10, 4 cyl, 5 speed, regular cab, 2wd, short bed, with the motor down. Perfect!! Towed it home and got started today. Though it was a little extra work I pulled the complete front clip, figure it will make fabricating the accessory brackets easier. It did make getting the engine and trans out a bit easier too. I'm going back with a Kubota V2203 engine. This engine is not turbo charged but it will be. It's about 50 H.P. the way it is and I'm hoping for 70 H.P. after the turbo. Obviously it will not be a power house but that's not my goal, I want MPG. The little truck has a 3.73 gear that should put it right in the little engines power band of about 2400 RPM at 75-78 MPH. Anyway the next thing is creating the plate to adapt the trans to the engine, going to take Jake's advice and use 1/4 plate steel. Stay tuned for updates I'll let y'all know how it goes.

Mike

 

Hi, welcome to this forum! Nice project, I am half way through this same swap but in a Ranger. I already have the adapter plate made, it's a combination of 1/4 in steel plate and the flywheel cover milled down to 1/2 in. With my setup I needed 3/4 to get the spacing correct. I am just finishing the custom pan and pickup tube, next is the motor mount. I also am planing a turbo, but will see how it is n/a first. I have been talking to a guy that has this motor in a Ranger already and is happy with the n/a power and gets 45mpg! Where did you get your motor? Mine came out of a Carrier reefer.

 

Do you have any pictures of yours to put up? I would love to see your ideas for the plate. I am just beginning to figure mine out so it'll be the weekend before I make any headway on it. I'm thinking 1/4" plate with areas built up to 3/4" where needed. I've got to get everything out side by side so I can look closer. The other guy with the Ranger, is he running a V2203 too? That's very impressive fuel mileage! I found the link below for a generator set with a V2203, it gives a starting point for figuring fuel consumption.


http://www.westgenerator.com/pdfs/in...s/20KWDKAE.pdf

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I found these links for anyone that whats to get an idea of what RPM & MPH you will turn based on tire size and rear gear.


MOTOR - A Rear Axle Calculator

Ejelta.com: Tire Size Calculator: 185/60-15

 

I have not gotten around to taking pix or starting a thread but will soon, seems like I always run out of time before I have to go back to work. I figured using the existing flywheel cover would be easyier for starter allignment. My guy at the machine shop milled the cover down and turned down the flywheel for 100.00 so that saved me alot of time. I am using the Kubota starter. The other guy is also using the V2203 as well, he has had it on the road for a few months, he swaped out the rear gears for 331's. I figure I need 273's to be in the sweet spot. He started with 373's and it would top out at 60. What size turbo are you going to use?

 

I have a turbo off a slightly bigger Kubota, 2400 series I believe. I’m going to try it first and then move up or down. I will run it N/A first just to see how it does. Take a look at the links I posted above, a 2.73 gear will push your RPM’s way down, maybe too low to stay in the power band. I got a figure of 73 MPH @ 1800 RPM, that’s figured with am .75 overdrive and 28” diameter tires. I’m thinking the RPM’s need to be in the 2300-2600 range to run efficiently. I have several pieces of equipment that run Kubota engines, all of them run bumping the governor @ 2800-3000 RPM. If you get a chance post a pic of your adapter plate.
Mike

 

My Ranger is the early body, so it has 14in rubber with short tires. I was looking at the spec charts on the Carrier site and the peak hp and tq was achived @ 1800rpm. This is what my motor came out of, so I'm not sure if yours is setup different. I plan on running it with the 373 gears first, then stuffing the largest tires/wheels I can and take it for a spin before I start swapping gears. I have a set of 273's, so I may have to fine tune with tire size. I want to keep it a low rider as much as I can, so low profile tires fit the bill. I am going for max mpg, so an air dam up front, slamed, ect. Currently I drive a Cherokee with a Benz diesel, it sits way too high, 4x4, mud tires, I'm sure that is costing me mpg's, so this time I am looking for ways to reduce drag. I will take some pix when I get back from Boise.

 

I got the transmission of the original motor today and was able to compare both flywheels and bolt patterns. It’s going to take some machine work to get a working flywheel but I didn’t see anything that would be insurmountable. I will be able to tell more in the next few days when I have more time to work on it. Anyway I am looking forward to test runs and seeing if my math actually matches the performance.

Mike

 

I had to reduce the diameter and thickness, I still have to index for the Ranger pressure plate. You never said what your motor came out of. I too hope it works out like I am planning, time will tell.

 

My engine is also from a Carrier Unit, I have built numerous Kubota engines through the years for different types of equipment. I have never found any differences in them, they are all the same as far as I can tell. They do use a different springs in the fuel control based on the application.

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I was able to spend some time today comparing flywheels side by side. It looks like I will be able to machine (both diameter and surface) the Kubota flywheel down to fit the Chevy clutch, pressure plate, and into the bellhousing. The Kubota flywheel will be significantly thicker, longer, and protrude more into the bellhousing than stock Chevy flywheel. I will have to get the flywheel back from the machine shop before I can spec the distance and find the starting point for the adapter plate. I am considering making the adapter plate out of UHMW. UHMW is a super hard plastic; I have used it for slides on my rollback wrecker. It comes plenty think and I believe my local plastics company has a CNC machine they can carve it on and probably cheaper than aluminum. In the finished product there will not be an overwhelming amount of stress on the plate so it should work.

 

Here are some pix of my bell adapter