Thread: Bitten By The Bug

i guess i better jump in here being as you're considering a swap to the 200/300tdi engine

first the engine mounts on a 6cylinder chassis will be in the wrong place to carry either engine so those would need moving to support the engine

next the 300 engine doesn't have the right hand side engine mount in the same place as the 200 and the filter head is different covering what "would" be the 200 mount position, this can be got round by making your own oil filter adaptor to remote it and making up your own engine mount at the same time, or if chopping out the sixpot mounts you could just put one where you need it on the chassis

next we have a bellhousing problem, the sixpot bellhousing doesn't have it's studs located the same positions as a four pot so will not bolt up to a 200 or 300tdi but you can swap the bellhousing with a fourpot one

also in a sixpot chassis the gearbox sits further back than in a four pot chassis due to the extra length of the sixpot engine, this in turn pulls a four pot engine back in the chassis and deeper into the bulkhead which leads us to another problem with the 200 and 300tdi's, the turbo and exhaust manifold now needs to be in the passenger footwell so you'll be cutting the footwell

the 300 manifold/turbo may be easier to deal with as it sits closer to the engine but, you may find it better to source a pair of 200/300 Defender manifolds and turbo (not gospel so you may still have clearance problems)

you may think "well why not move the engine and gearbox forwards", this would again mean reconstructing the bulkhead (or swapping it for a fourpot one) as the gearstick would otherwise be in the engine bay plus you'd need to fit a new gearbox crossmember along with possibly other problems underneath on the chassis (i've had nothing to do with a sixpot landrover as of yet) but i know of one or two chaps that have fitted tdi engines into the sixpot chassis on both the Series2 forum
The Series 2 Club Forum - Index

and OLLR
Old Leafsprung Land Rovers - Index

(two of my favourite leafsprung forums)

now none of these problems are impossible to overcome but they do need considering, i've swapped 3 x 2.25 fourpot engines for the 200tdi, 2 in 88" Series and one in my 1965 109 2a (i've a thread in "other engines") which are relatively simple swaps, in my 109 i fitted a 300 turbo to my 200 engine to save me scalloping the chassis or tilting the engine and gearbox to clear the chassis rail with the 200 turbo, in the 88" they drop in without any worry of chassis/turbo interferance (109 chassis is 6" deep where the 88" is only 4" deep)

both turbos can be "clocked" to keep the compressor outlet inside the inner wing, 300 is trickier as you have to make your own wastegate actuator bracket but the 200 only has to have two holes drilled and tapped into it to hold the wastegate actuator once the body has been clocked, i didn't clock either turbo on my first swaps but i have on my third

finally diffs, Rover axles are dead easy they'll both carry early Disco, Range Rover, Defender 10 spline 3.54:1 ratio diffs with just two locating studs removed from the diff housing/axle, a Salisbury axle requires an early 110 Salisbury diff

swapping axles to disco ones can be done but it is quite involved and requires spring perches/brackets removing and replacing with ones for a leaf sprung motor, the other difficulty is getting them set up just right for the steering linkage from the steering relay to the nearside swivel as it crosses too close to the leafspring which forces you to mess up the castor angle, powersteering is now required really (again i've done none of this but i've looked closely and read of others experiences with this conversion, it's not something i'd be happy to attempt with my limited engineering experience/skills)

not trying to put you off the idea at all (far from it) but just trying to warn you of possible difficulties

it's definitely worth a visit to the Series2 forum as we have dedicated 200 and 300 sections for those of us that like the engines and have played with them (i'm a club member so would recommend there anyway )

OLLR also is well worth a visit and introduction on the basis of very knowledgeable folks there, many of who really do like to tinker and swap parts and have swapped the 200/300 engines into Series vehicles (one stuck a 200tdi into an old Rover P4, really nice to drive i loved it ), nice chaps but do introduce yourself first, it's not a family friendly forum as the language gets a little ripe at times (it's a forum of mates letting thier hair down ) but don't let the bad boys scare you away

ok i think that's enough from me, hope i'm not trying to teach you to suck eggs but i'm just trying to share a few of the difficulties i know you'll face, all are solveable but i don't have all the answers

hope it helps

Are you looking at going Diesel or are you considering petrol? Keeping it Rover or don't mind other options? For keeping it Rover you've got the original 2.6 obviously but you don't seem to keen on it but thats fine, the 200/300 TDI as you were looking at, or not really Rover is the 4BD1 out of a 110. Great motor (it's an Izuzu so of course it's good) plenty of low down torque and enough power to move it along but then you've got drive train strength issues. Petrol options, Holden red, blue and black, Ford 200 or 250, Valiant 215, 245 or 265, the mighty Rover V8 (my pick of the lot but thats just personal opinion) back to the diesels you've got the Nissan SD33 and TD42, Dihatsu make a couple that seem to be popular for dropping into Landys (the only Dihatsu diesel I can think of at the moment is a 2.6 4cyl but theres more) but theres so many options it all depends on what you want and your budget and mechanical skills, some conversions are fairly straight forward and others require lots of time, money and thinking.

I like the diesels I think there a much better option in the mud and dirt and they don't mind getting wet, also like the turbo idea but not to fussed about going down that path just yet, I've also been thinking about some of the datsun motors and if they'll bolt up straight up to cabstar 5 speed box, it all comes down to money atm as I can do a lot of the work myself, welding and mechanical etc. I've just put a new holden motor in the series 1 and have some rewiring to do, I'm thinking of selling it once it has rego to fund a motor for the series 2a, weather that be rebuilding the original 6 or doing a diesel conversion.

Cheers Chris

Well it's been a few months, but I've finally sold the boat and now have the shed room, time to get this beast home. Let the fun begin.

Pick up the Landie tomorrow, must admit I'm a bit exited about bringing it home and give it a clean up, bit like a kid on xmas eve, I'm really looking forward to getting it back on the road. It's been nearly 12 months since I sold my Prado and I miss having a 4wd.
Will put some pic's up tomorrow.

Got it home, had a bit a trouble with the front brakes locking on but all good now, still have to pick up the doors, windscreen, motor, gearbox next weekend.

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Glad you finally got it home. Look forward to seeing what you do with it. Strange colour. Do you know its history?

Doug the previous owner told me it's a Leyland colour used on the P76 and Mini, He first bought it in 1983 with a flat tray on the back, then replaced that with the van top and wagon sides, think he said there off a series 3, its a original 6 cyl, but I'm now thinking about putting a Holden 202 in it as I have the adaptor plate and just need to make up some engine mounts, also need to get the body back off to paint the chassis and start engine conversion. Not sure how I'm going to get the body off by myself was thinking I could use some ropes and the shed A frames, anyone have any other idea's on that 1 ?