Thread: Who else is going over to the dark side?

Originally Posted by cjc_td5

Off the shelf, a 70 series cruiser is the only thing close to your defender in terms of bushability...

Why not repower your defender? 3.0l 4JH1/4JJ1 Isuzu or similar would be my choice.

Why repower? Not needed, my Puma with the BAS kit is awesome. I dont want or need any more power, I have 2 motorbikes if I need a speed thrill.

My puma has done 80k, no major issues so far.
Reliability is my major concern, Id rather spend more money on maintenance than repowering. Also, upping the hp will more than likely require more maintenance.

Originally Posted by karlz

Why repower? Not needed, my Puma with the BAS kit is awesome. I dont want or need any more power, I have 2 motorbikes if I need a speed thrill.

My puma has done 80k, no major issues so far.
Reliability is my major concern, Id rather spend more money on maintenance than repowering. Also, upping the hp will more than likely require more maintenance.

???
My comment regarding repower was not for extra "go", but for reliability. The OP has a TD5, a great motor, but getting on in years now. There are repower options out there that would provide cheap reliable power with excellent parts knowhow & parts supply.

Why not buy one of the last of the Puma Defenders? Something only about 6 years old with relatively low kilometres, the 2.2 or 2.4 engine and six-speeds and air-con that actually works? What's not to like? Very happy with mine.

Re-power it to address the reliability issues.

Isuzu 4BD1T.
MB OM606
Chev LS
Cummins

Spend some coin making the Defender more reliable and giving it a mid-life refurb. Works out cheaper than a new vehicle and you get something that you want, as opposed to what is available on the market (which I agree, there is not much tempting me, except the Grenadier, but that will be close to $100k).

Originally Posted by noddy

Re-power it to address the reliability issues.

Isuzu 4BD1T.
MB OM606
Chev LS
Cummins

Spend some coin making the Defender more reliable and giving it a mid-life refurb. Works out cheaper than a new vehicle and you get something that you want, as opposed to what is available on the market (which I agree, there is not much tempting me, except the Grenadier, but that will be close to $100k).

Most the time, it is the owners 'enhancements' and 'technical expertise' making the car unreliable.
None of those engines is an upgrade as such, due to their age. And yes I did my LS (actually L98) swap in in 2008 and to this day prefer a properly build Rover v8 over an LS. Maybe ask yourself why so many people who swap engines never have it dyno tested to get a print how much power they are actually getting......m

Originally Posted by 100inch

Maybe ask yourself why so many people who swap engines never have it dyno tested to get a print how much power they are actually getting......m

Maybe because it’s not a number they need to know - if someone does a conversion and it feels great with more power and they’re happy, why put it on a dyno?

Originally Posted by Homestar

Maybe because it’s not a number they need to know - if someone does a conversion and it feels great with more power and they’re happy, why put it on a dyno?

Because after all the money you spend, another 1k doesn't really matter plus you fine tuning your engine setup, lambda etc.

Originally Posted by 100inch

Most the time, it is the owners 'enhancements' and 'technical expertise' making the car unreliable.
None of those engines is an upgrade as such, due to their age. And yes I did my LS (actually L98) swap in in 2008 and to this day prefer a properly build Rover v8 over an LS. Maybe ask yourself why so many people who swap engines never have it dyno tested to get a print how much power they are actually getting......m

Most people that do an engine swap already know exactly what that new engine will produce in power and torque from the spec sheet on that engine so there is No need to spend the extra grand to confirm these stats.

Maybe after "Chipping" an engine a run on a dyno could be helpfull to provent boosting the output too far and degrading the lifespan of an engine But for a simple engine swap it isn't realy needed.