The original engine in the car was a Nissan RD28T Turbo diesel [125 PS (91.9 kW; 123.3 bhp) at 4,400 rpm, 26.0 kg?m (255 N?m; 188 lb?ft) at 2,400 rpm] mated onto a Hilux / Surf R151 transmission. It was a really great engine for the time and very cheap as well. But somehow the piece we got, developed some issues early on in its life and we could not make it jive no matter what we tried.
It was nevertheless always quite fast for its time but was ultimately replaced by the 2LT. The R151 "bari gait" gear and the 4.1 ratio CJ diffs were quite out of the comfort zone of the 2LT as such, but being a creature of adaptation the engine has served us well. The car never was all that fast again, but it was by no means ever slow either with the first two gears making up for a very decent launch upto about 70-80 kmph after which it invariably ran out of wind with the tall gearing.