I want to re-power a 1955 willys

by Jim
(San Antonio, Tx, USA)

I have a 1955 Willys Jeep. I bought the Jeep used and no sooner did I change the oil than it start knocking.

Well shame on me. I bought it now I own it. So I overhauled the motor and found the #3 rod bearing burned out. I had the block reconditioned and all the rods checked, bought new pistons and ground the crank, did a valve job on both the block and the head, installed new valve guides and stellite seats so it would run on no lead.

Guess what? good old number three started knocking again after about 2 hours of operation. So I went back in and searched around and decided that the number three rod was no good.

I bought a new one and a new bearing, checked the tolerances and reinstalled the motor. Guess what? #3 still knocks. We have been using it that way for some time now and it is ok around the farm, but is useless for anything else.

I recently bought a Mahindra Tractor and it is a real gem. I'm impressed. What I want to know is there a way to re-power my 55 with a new Mahindra diesel motor and keep my same drive train?

I think that would be so cool to have a 1955 Diesel Willys CJ5.


Larry's Comment: This swap could probably be done with some modifications...but the Mahindra engines (including the diesels) do not meet EPA standards for road use in the USA at this time.

Farm equipment is evidently exempt.

You might try to find a small EPA approved automotive diesel like the ones found in some '04 thru '06 Jeep Libertys (CRD). They were approved for those years only and then discontinued due to more crazy EPA regulations.