In earlier pages of this thread, I'd gone through a bit of an exercise in soul-searching with regards to engine choice (where I had some terrific input from those Gurus Suhaib and Ehsan Kiani, and Il Dottore NN). The choices that present themselves to the enthusiast are mind-boggling...petrol or diesel?...high torque or high power?...fuel injected or carbed?...4 or 6 or 8 cylinders?...intercooled or supercharged?...turbocharger or normally aspirated?
These complexities make for a very difficult choice, indeed, because of the diversity of comparative merits and demerits of the powerplants that will invariably come under consideration.
At the time of purchase of my 1HZ engine...the Haji Saab from where I was purchasing the engine had three absolute stunners lined up in his shop. This 1HZ, a spanking new 2UZ-FE, and a "blacktop" 1FZ-FE.
In ascending order of cost, the choices were: 1FZ, 1HZ, 2UZ.
In ascending order of power, the choices were: 1HZ, 1FZ, 2UZ.
In ascending order of torque, the choices were: 1HZ, 1FZ, 2UZ.
As per year of manufacture, choices were: 1FZ (2003), 2UZ (2005), 1HZ (2010).
In terms of condition priority (best to worst), was: 1HZ, 2UZ, 1FZ.
And I STILL went ahead and bought the 1HZ.
Why? Simple answer.
Other than the absolutely incredible condition of the engine, for its intended application (the Phantom), my priority was a non-nonsense, incredibly reliable, no-frills engine, which should be a diesel (when it comes to offroaders, oil-burners are PROBABLY better than gas-burners), which should have MORE low-end torque (I'm going to climb OVER other vehicles, rather than drag-race them at stop-lights), which should preferably be a six cylinder inline affair, rather than a V8 (part of my somewhat-pedantic design philosophy to swap I6s with I6s, V8s with V8s).
And when I was first contemplating engine choices...diesels were NOT what I was inclined to! In fact...I was pretty much DISINCLINED towards diesel engines. What probably tipped the scales in favour of the 1HZ was a week that I spent using the engine (in a late Series 70 TLC), in somewhat extreme situations in Kallar Kahar / Choa Saidan Shah / Pind Dadan Khan. It simply won me over.
Engine choice is like asking someone what their favourite fruit is. Some will answer mangoes, some will say apples, and yet others will state that oranges are the best. I guess one's personal choice is what REALLY matters at the end of the day. That, and the intended application of the vehicle, AFTER the rebuild.
Make informed choices!
Cheers...Fouad.
