Thread: 4.4 swap

Don't do it. Devalues a decent vehicle in my opinion.

Jc

Yeah I'm sort of in two minds on this , the 73 2 door is a totally untouched original with a rebuilt 3.5 and the intent is to keep it that way , I think I'm being coerced by my Hx ute and would like the extra grunt

Keep it stock if it's already that way, worth a lot more money in the long term.
But it's your Rangie so do what you like

My 79 Rangie wasn't stock when I bought it as it already had a 4.4 fitted and was regoed with the 4.4 so I'll be refitting it (when I get the bloody thing back together one day ).

Trav

Power wise id do it and for the purists and whingers just keep the original motor
Yes if it is already fitted to a rangie it would be just a straight swap

The two places where the 4.4 is physically different to the 3.5 is at the flywheel end of the crankshaft and in the block height. If you have the modified flywheel and spigot bush to suit a Rover then the fitting is reasonably easy. Engine mount brackets aren't quite stock with a P76, so hopefully you have them too. Be aware the 4.4 is prone to overheating in a RR as the water flow simply isn't enough using the 3.5 front bits. You can speed up the water pump by machining up a suitable smaller pulley to bolt to the 3.5 water pump nose, but it's still going to get hot in traffic or off road. It's not the sort of conversion you'd do this far into the 21st century unless you were planning to drive the thing hard and had nothing better to do with your time.

As I've said I'm a bit torn , the 4.4 is in an 84 and was rebuilt 5k ago so was hoping it would just drop in also has twin thermo's . I would keep the 3.5 just in case I sold it but am planning a slow resto which is the interior and a paint job, mech wise nearly everything has been done , motor was rebuilt , susp has been done , brakes done , chassis in good nick ,body good except the tailgate but the donor has a pretty good one, just after a bit of oomph

If you've got it and its already rebuilt, why wouldn't you. They are an easy power upgrade. We haven't had overheating issues in any of our RRC's with 4.4's fitted. Same as any rangie make sure all the cooling system is maintained properly.

Do it and enjoy

But yes keep the original motor for resale purposes.