1988 Bj-71 purchase

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Outlawb52

Joined
Apr 4, 2020
Threads
2
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Location
New Jersey
Not sure if this is the right location for my question but here goes. I may purchase a 1988 Bj-71 250 turbo diesel. 5 speed manual overdrive with engine hr588 . Very clean all original with approximately 90,000 miles believed to come from Spain . Oh yeah , 4:88 posi rear . It currently has a New Jersey classic registration which is all NJ will do. How can I determine what it is worth and what other features should I be looking for ? No pics yet . Thanks.
 
coldtaco said:
Sounds like Spanish BJ-73 with the 2.5 VM Motorie engine. If so not a good engine. If the rest is in really good shape then it would make a good platform for a engine swap
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Very good condition with original paint which is white . If the motor is as you say what do you think it's worth ?
 
Outlawb52 said:
Very good condition with original paint which is white . If the motor is as you say what do you think it's worth ?
Click to expand...
Turns out the tag does indicate Bj-73. Engine is inline 5 turbo diesel . Believe alfa romeo used the same engine.
 
Hello,

It is a BJ73 that was assembled in Spain with the 5-cylinder engine to comply with local regulations.

You can swap the engine for, say, a 1HZ or 1HD-T.

A good project rig if you get it at the right price.







Juan
 
JuanJ said:
Hello,

It is a BJ73 that was assembled in Spain with the 5-cylinder engine to comply with local regulations.

You can swap the engine for, say, a 1HZ or 1HD-T.

A good project rig if you get it at the right price.







Juan
Click to expand...
Thanks Juan .
 
Outlawb52 said:
What problems does this engine have ?
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It has 5 separate cylinder heads with 5 head gaskets, this can lead to unequal expansion when hot.
Its a underpowered and not very user friendly. If you were an expert you could probably keep one running for some time. But most owners are just looking at getting rid of it.
And with the 4.88 diffs, its probably going to be a struggle maintaining anything near 60 mph and this is where the unequal expansion probably rears its head.
I think the gearbox spline suits the Toyota B diesel engines, so these would be the easiest swap.
They are derived from a 4 cyl designed in Italy in the 70s when the Italian auto industry was in turmoil.

Other VM variants used later in Jeep, Range Rover in non US markets were slightly better, but never as good as the Japanese diesels.
 
roscoFJ73 said:
It has 5 separate cylinder heads with 5 head gaskets, this can lead to unequal expansion when hot.
Its a underpowered and not very user friendly. If you were an expert you could probably keep one running for some time. But most owners are just looking at getting rid of it.
And with the 4.88 diffs, its probably going to be a struggle maintaining anything near 60 mph and this is where the unequal expansion probably rears its head.
I think the gearbox spline suits the Toyota B diesel engines, so these would be the easiest swap.
They are derived from a 4 cyl designed in Italy in the 70s when the Italian auto industry was in turmoil.

Other VM variants used later in Jeep, Range Rover in non US markets were slightly better, but never as good as the Japanese diesels.
Click to expand...
Great info . Thanks
 
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