Thread: disco1 3 door, 3.9 V8 keep engine or install new?

So i have a 3 door 94 d1 in average condition and recently found alot of engine seals etc need to be replaced so im looking into a rebuild, as i love the shape and fact this car is a 3 door im not sure what to do, i love the 3.9 v8 but not the consumption to power ratio, Im looking into 300tdi\td5 engines but am not sure what to do as i have seen you can mod all these engine nicely im wondering is there anything i can do to significantly increase power\torque on the 3.9 or if im just wasting my time, i have had no major issues with the v8 and would be pretty happy if i could get around 16l\100kms out of it with a little extra grunt the car has is a good base as it already has winchbars good tyres etc but the paint and interior is average and if i do redo the engine id prolly do the whole car up as well. If i keep the 3.9 id look into injected gas setups as ive heard people running as low as 10-12l\100 with good gains in the power department. So basically im wondering if i could do this with about 10k and work on it myself, im seeing rebuild kits for around 1500 shipped and that seems good to me but i want opinions on if its worth it,am i right to think that if i rebuild the engine and trans and paint the car just a basic job and get a gas system i could do this for about 10k? 1.5k for rebuild kit 1k? for trans strength\rebuild paint maybe 3ish and gas depending on if i went injected or just normal for about 5? though id prolly get the injected system at a much later date as i have a mate that has the old school systems that i can have free and get installed fairly cheaply. could you turbo this car also? ive seen one before but just wondering how much boost you could run efficiently and without to much stress and if i could get stronger internals to help this? also could a turbo help with efficiency? also ive seen something about putting a holden 6speed into the discos and marks has a kit to bolt it up with a little work could this also reduce l\100km? Sorry for all the questions, sometimes i think itd be easier to go out and buy a 16k td5 d2 stocky but id even then spend another 5-10 just getting mods done, i love v8s and am happy to spend more on this car but i just want opinions, i love the 3 door i already have a 5 door one and i wanna sell it so i can do this one up.
What other engines could be installed ie cummins etc that would be fairly easy to do? i was also looking at ls1 but not sure how to go about it, i love ls1\ls2 but i think thatd cost heaps more. so the question is do i spend 10ishk on this car and make it pretty much new or buy a stockie of something else for abit more.
Sorry for this long ass story!
auscoz

Originally Posted by auscoz91

I love the car because it flows ie doesnt have back doors wich i find are wasted on my 5 door haha and its very simple because it doesnt have abs etc
I got it for 1500 and its got new 33's winch and bar roofrack and lightbars( good friends ) its leaking realy bad atm so a rebuild or engine change is something i wanna do, just how hard are the300tdis to put in? do they bolt up to the same tranny and you just needa change up ecu etc? a few mounts? Yes i will search the forum for a thread also

You will need the matching auto or R380 manual which ever you prefer, it will all bolt in once the engine mounts on the chassis are welded in.
No ecu on aus tdi's, you will need to either replace the fuel tank or remove the pump and change some plumbing.