Hey guys my names Joe Thrasher, I dont currently have a diesel but I'm in the market and i have a little bit of a project that might spike some of yours guys interestes.

I currently have a 1981 ford Fairmont wagon that is a factory 4 speed it currently has a stock 2.3 carburated...

My plan Is obviously to drop a diesel In It... Crazy yes but i gasoline/petrol os just lame and over rated!
The engines im looking is- Cummins 4bt, ford 7.3 or 6.0 powerstroke, or any smaller 4 cylinder that u can fit unto my car.

Any an all information, on options or costs would help me... I'm gonna start doing more reasearch on all 3 of these motors...

Thanks guy and thanks for the welcomes in advance, glad to be here...

 

I believe all of those motors mentioned will either be too wide and won't clear the strut towers, or too tall and will interfere with the K-member and the hood, and could cause some firewall issues.

there have been a few guys on here that have had good success with 3cyl and 4cyl Kubota diesels out of reefer units. also some guys have taken some Mercedes diesel motors and put them in Jeeps, so they should fit in the Fairmont since a 302 will fit in the Fairmont and a jeep w/o issue, so if the MB diesel fits w/o issue in the Jeep, then IN THEORY should fit the Fairmont.

they would requore some custom fabrication for an adapter plate, motor mounts and engine accessory brackets, but it is possible.

check out this forum for some inspiration

Diesel Engine Conversions - Diesel Bombers

 

Not the best choice for a project, the faimont is a unibody car, you would have to put subframe connectors and a full 12pt cage in it to keep from twisting the chassis. you can buy a descent truck with diesel for about the same as a project lie this is going to cost. Alot of people think its a great ideah to put a 4bt in a light car because its light, only problem is that the 4bt weighs more than a big block chevy, over 800lbs.
Cost of the 4bt is around $2500 for a decent one, $800 for a chevy adapter to put a turbo400 behind it, another $1500 for one built for a diesel. If you can weld and make all your own mounts its still going to cost you around 6k-7k to build one. A better choice would be to find an older diesel pickup or jeep and go from there, I'm not trying to burst your bubble or anything, just trying to let you see the big picture before you start. I did a 6bt into a Chevy dually and that was alot of work,I couldn't imagine how much would be involved in make a unibody chassis support something that weighs as much as 2 5.0l engines. Welcome to the site, there is alot of knowlege on here so check it all out and don't be afraid to ask questions or opinions, please just never ask how to make more smoke, you will get beat up on that issue.Bob

 

And the 7.3 and the 6.0 are v-8's and heavy.

 

Thanks for all the advice guys I do apreciate it... so with all the in put you guys have given me sounds like all three motors are gonna be heavy. so is there suck a thing as a light weight diesel that might work?
Ive seen 7.3's and the 4bt's in mustang and after tons of research there the exact same as the fairmont... So I'm wondering just how much custom fab is gonna be involved in doing this kinda swap. I really want a diesel just cuz Its different, so maybe a 7.3 or smaller/lighter diesel

 

I'd do a 4BT if anything, for that car. But like previously mentioned, the unibody could pose issues.