BHPian Dippy recently shared this with other enthusiasts: Engine swaps and doing other modifications on your car are so popular today. Not to mention, there are so many options out there in terms of powertrains, suspensions and whatnot. Drag racing and other competitive events have also given a big boost to this in the past couple of decades. But do you know engine swaps were a thing back in the ’90s as well? The only difference was that they were done with better fuel efficiency in mind and not performance. And all swaps were petrol to diesel. Back then, it was Padmini taxis that used to get these engine swaps done. This was before Premier launched the 137D. The most popular engine used in those days was a 1.0-litre Daihatsu three-cylinder diesel engine. It was noisy and underpowered, but according to the cabbies, it was very fuel-efficient. I also saw a few 800s that were converted to diesel, again with the Daihatsu motor. Image source And then one fine day, the engine swap itch hit me as well. How did I do it? Read on. As mentioned in other threads on the forum, we owned a Premier Padmini Deluxe BE petrol in the 90s. It was fairly reliable, but it used to struggle big time on the Khandala Ghats during our Mumbai-Pune runs. Heck, we even busted a fuel pump and were stranded on a steep incline once. One day, I was talking to my FNG mechanic, and he suggested a diesel engine swap. This was the first time I got to know about this. He had apparently done many conversions, and they were pretty reliable. So my dad eventually bit the bullet. And that got me excited as well. We had given our Padmini a complete midlife refresh a year ago, and the car was not what you see in the picture here. We gave it a metallic black paint job along with new bumpers, headlights, the works. This was in 1995, and now, a year later in 1996, we were all set to do an engine swap. First things first, the engine. I visited Mumbai’s famous Chor Bazaar to look for my engine. This was the place people sourced all kinds of auto parts, from imported engines to gearboxes and more. We went to my mechanic’s regular shop there. When I entered, there was a sea of engines lying around. While the Daihatsu engine was the default choice for Padminis, the shopkeeper suggested a Mazda 1.6-litre four-cylinder diesel because it was more powerful and smoother. After a discussion with my mechanic, we bought the engine along with a 118NE gearbox. With the powertrain sourced, the car finally went in for the conversion. The entire conversion process took a month. The chassis had to be strengthened; I even had to extend the nose a bit to accommodate the engine. And of course, I had to make the switch from column shift to floor shift. I also installed bucket seats from a Maruti 800 with seat belts. Since I had holidays that time, I used to diligently spend my day from morning to evening watching the whole process. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the digital era, so I don’t have any pictures. It would have surely made for an interesting pictorial. Once the car was ready, we took it for a test drive on the Mumbai-Pune highway. While it wasn’t struggling anymore on the climbs, it was crying out for an extra gear because of the extra power. Back we went to the Chor Bazaar. We returned the 118NE gearbox and got a 5-speed manual from a Contessa. The installation took another 10 days. Post installation, we went for another trial run. This time, everything was perfect. The car was fast and at the same time very refined. Mission accomplished. The only time the motor was noisy was at cold start. The car was a blast to drive. Super quick off the line, and I used to have so much fun smoking Esteems and Cielos at red signals who had no clue as to what was under my hood. I think mine might be the only 5-speed MT Padmini around. Of course, I also upgraded to wide radial tyres with 13-inch wheels from the 118NE. I also completed the RTO formalities by getting the new engine endorsed on the RC. I used the car for 2 years after the engine swap before eventually selling it off for a Tata Sierra. Nothing wrong with the car, we just got a dog, and the Padmini began to feel a tight squeeze. That was the only engine swap mod project I did in my life. I totally spent around Rs. 1 lakh on the conversion. I was pretty happy with it, too. But would I do something like that again? Maybe not. Read BHPian comments for more insights and information.
