This is just a thought experiment/brainstorm/spitballing topic, mainly inspired by the recent aluminum head thread. I've heard the rumors of Chrysler's aborted diesel slant six. I'm wondering if it would be possible, and what it would take, to convert an existing slant six to diesel power. I'm not even a diesel guy (aside from owning a terrible old W123 Benz), so I'm probably missing some things here, but here are the main issues as I see them:
1. Can the typical G or RG casting even handle the 20:1 or so compression that would be required? What if you add a turbo?
2. Selecting pistons and rods that won't be thoroughly destroyed by heat or stress.
3. Selecting a head gasket that'll put up with it. Probably not an issue if the deck and head surfaces are fresh.
4. Grinding a custom cam. Shouldn't be a problem, but what kinda numbers would we be looking at here?
5. Designing and fabricating a custom intake/injection manifold.
6. Glow plugs- just put them in the spark plug holes?
I'm thinking about a 225 here, but would there be any reason the 170 or 198 would be better suited to it? Is this even theoretically possible? Am I just stupid?
