89 rrc 3.9 to 4.6 in SA

[sven58]

Hi to all, this is my first post. I have a 11/89 3.9 classic which is currently running the original 3.9 with megajolt /edis coil pack ignition and thor manifold with bosch gen 3 injectors. I am in the process of installing a top hatted 4.6 and I made a tentative phone call to vehicle standards re: legal requirements to fit a 4.6 in place of the 3.9.
The bloke I spoke to said I just needed to submit form mr620 and they would send me an approval, and then the vehicle will need to be inspected, which all sounds fairly straight forward.
Have any forum members been through this in SA ,and can you give any advice if they are going to give me grief over non standard ignition, manifold and injectors, and will they give it a full roadworthy as far as oil leaks etc?, regards, Steve

[bee utey]

Having had the occasional contact with the inspectors at Regency Park, I'm going to say that in general they are a reasonable lot. The most important thing is to not turn up looking like the archetypal hoon. Recently my mate (56 yo) went through Regency with his 300TDi converted RRC and the inspector even gave him some tips to get more power out of it! That's after we went to all the trouble of replicating all the stock settings as per the instruction sheets.

And yes, the vehicle will have to pass a general roadworthy test with all that it entails.

Now as for the legality of the 4.6, you may have some problems, depending on the inspector. As the 4.6 was never fitted to a locally sold vehicle without catalytic converters, you may need some. The rest of the mods may or may not raise an eyebrow so long as they are neatly done. The 4.6 originally came with the THOR inlet manifold so this isn't out of place.

Finally, I wouldn't actually stress too much, a top hatted block will have the engine number shaved off it and all you need to do is stamp your existing number in the correct place and no-one will be any wiser. I once had to restamp an engine number on to a top hatted 3.9 and Regency Park inspectors passed it without a quibble. Just don't sell the 3.9 to anyone without destroying the engine number. Keep it in the shed for "justin". :)

[sven58]

Hi bee-utey, thanks for the reply.I thought about your suggestion re stamping the engine number but after a light skim of the block, the numbers are still faintly visible. I have some thinking to do. Thanks again , Steve

[Pedro_The_Swift]

decking the block will take those numbers too,,