Thread: Engine conversion options?

Ah well, flame time...

As some of you will know, I recently purchased a '95 ES V8 which "seems" as though it might (or might not) have some issues. Firstly with rust, which I'm not "too" worried about, as it won't be driven much for a while, and will be garaged...The 2nd issue is a bit of knock in the engine, which I'm booked in to have diagnosed by the good people at Graeme Cooper automotive...

If issue #2 turns out to be terminal, I'm a little concerned (read: scared ) at the cost of rebuilds for the 3.9s, and more than a little concerned that Rover haven't really sorted out some quite fundamental flaws in the design and execution of the engine in ??? years...The worry being that, if I spend $$$$ rebuilding it, in 100,000 kms I'm going to start hearing more knocks etc

So, the question becomes whether it's more economical (or even remotely do-able) to put another V8 in there.

If it were up to me (ie. I had the $$), I'd be putting a 1UZ-FE in there, as I've had some experience with these, and know them to be basically unburstable. They're also all-alloy, have 6-bolt mains etc etc.

Problem is that, as a package, they're considerably larger than just about any pushrod V8 (we usually say that if you want to fit one, you need a 700x700x700 cube), and that for a Disco fitment, pretty much everything is on the wrong side, so more $ in custom lines and hoses etc, not to mention fooling the ECU into playing nicely with a manual transmission - unless one can procure a Crown halfcut, with it's separate ECUs for engine and transmission. I'm almost certain that no-one makes an adapter plate to mate these to the Landrover's manual gearbox...

So, I got thinking about other, potentially easier options, such as the humble injected Windsor V8.

Certainly, this all-iron lump will weigh a bit (lot?) more than a Rover V8, but as a package, it almost looks made to fit in an LR engine bay, with all ancillaries in comparable spots, throttle body on the LHS, narrow(er) bank angle (compared to a traditional 90-degree V8), and the pushrod engine's smaller packaging. I'd still need an adapter plate to mate up to the Disco's transmission, and somehow get the Falcon ECU to work in the LR *shrugs*, but apart from that, why shouldn't I consider it?

Note that I'm only researching potential options at this stage, in case it all goes pear-shaped and I get the call from the people at Graeme Coopers that I'm dreading...We'd like to keep this car for a while (even though it will not be driven that often); I just don't want to forking out $$$$ every off year to keep it on the road...

Money, Money, Money..........

Engine conversions unless you can scrounge the parts and do the work yourself cost normally double what most people budget for it and then if it's to be sorted once it's in, probably double that again.

I would rebuild the 3.9, there's nothing they dont know about these engines anymore and I think your fears of it blowing in 100,000kms wouldnt be true if it was to be built properly with good liners, flowed heads, decent cam etc etc, and if looked after properly will last indeffinately.....as with just about any engine.

But in saying that, if you were to go the conversion path I would go the windsor as this is a tried and true package and there is plenty of info around about it but there will be a lot more to it once you start so be warned, things like sumps and oil pickups, engine mounts and exhaust routing are major hickups that a lot of people dont think about but like I said, there are people such as Matt (Rovercare) who could help out with info on this.

I take it that Toymotor engine was the Toy V8......?

Why not look at a Diesel conversion, you could get info from LRA on the TD5 conversions, Slot in a 4bd1t, go sick on a 300Tdi or jam a Chev duramax in there and hope for only cold days when your driving it