Disco v8 to County

[ausdet]

I currently have a 87 County with a very tired 3.5 v8 engine and LT85 Gearbox. I am thinking of purchasing a cheap v8 discovery with auto box and putting that in. I just want to know what issues would there be with a discovery with ABS as far as fitting the engine and ecu without all the ABS stuff transferred. Should I best be looking at a disco pre ABS or no difference?

[bee utey]

ABS runs its own ECU, the injection computer in a Disco just does the fuel injection, pump control and idle speed nothing else.

[POD]

I'm pretty sure that the earlier models, i.e. series 1 discovery (up to about 1997) don't have any interface between the engine management and the ABS. You could transplant the engine & transmission, along with the fuel injection loom, without major difficulty. You would also need to install an EFI fuel pump, high-pressure fuel lines and return lines to the fuel tank (not sure whether the county already has the return lines or not).
Alternatively, you could install an aftermarket programmable EFI system (such as Simple Digital System EM-5).

Personally I'd be transplanting a diesel, either tdi or td5, rather than a V8.

[ausdet]

Thanks for the info. Seems the job will be pretty straight forward. Tdi or td5 would be nice but I do like the v8's - nice to have a change every now and then from my other landy (Isuzu county)

[rangietragic]

A tdi would be better,but i'm hearing you re the v8.Love the sound and smoothness.I wish i could design an exhaust system that would make a diesel sound like a rover v8.Overnight millionare

[DasLandRoverMan]

Been there and done that.

Engine and box will sit on the same mounts without moving anything, although you might need to modify the bell housing crossmember a little.

Inside I did this with mine:



Ideally a Range Rover loom is a better option as they've got about a foot more wire between the engine and ECU (certainly on v belt engines) which makes it easier to run it through the car and put the ECU in the toolbox under the driers seat.