THE NISSAN SD AND A 1968 CHRYSLER NEW YORKER

BY JIM ALLEN

SPECIAL THANKS TO MIKE SHAEFFER

The only semi-funky-looking part of the conversion is the exhaust pipe crossing over the top of the valve cover. The clearance was too tight to drop it down on the driver’s side, so it was crossed over and fed into the original 440 single exhaust system. In production, International rated the NA 198 ci Nissan at 81 net horses at 3,800 rpm and 138 lbs-ft at 1200-1600 rpm. This engine, built in March of 1975, was bought new by Shaeffer around that time. The peeling paint shows some of the engine’s convoluted history. Once the Chrysler-Nissan deal was reached, the valve covers were cast with that name in it. Normally the Nissan diesels were painted blue, but for use with Chrysler, they were painted yellow and the peeling yellow paint shows both origins. The marine and industrial engines were similar in most ways to the automotive engines, save pump calibration, governors, and so on. All shared the same 198 ci displacement, 3.27 x 3.94-inch bore and stroke, 22:1 compression ratio (later 20.8:1), four main bearings, and indirect injection. For 1980, Nissan developed a turbocharged version that featured a number of internal development such as piston oil cooling jets and improved bearings and oil flow. The result was 101 hp and 175 lbs-ft. An adapter is required to mount it to the big block TF727 automatic.