I have owned both, and did the conversion on my 1996 130 myself. It's an easy enough job but its best to get the ducks lined up in a row- LT95 mounts and gearshift, EDIC and exhaust plumbing. One word of advice is that the o/e turbo should be offed while you are doing the conversion- install a Holset HE221w and fit an intercooler. Get the power steering flex pipe and fittings kit from KLR (off the shelf) for the four bolt steering box and order new springs for the front. Sort the front propshaft (perentie or county four speed and space up the bump stops at the front. If you keep the TB2518 o/e compressor, the experience of driving will be underwhelming and there are intake pipe clearance issues if it is routed over the top of the engine. Also put sound deadening over the seatbox and interior- i also used an exmoor carpet kit up front. Airconditioning compressor should be sorted while engine is out (see KLR- get their compressor setup complete or just buy their mount kit- you will also need the aircon front pulley and idler tensioner. See if you can get an o/e county front mount support and bonnet latch and use a modified V8 radiator or find diesel version (I have one here left over but it will need cleaning- or not...the 4BD1t is forgiving). I used a RR v8 air cleaner unit- it's a bit smaller than the Pernetie/county Isuzu iar cleaner unit. I installed a three inch flanged exhaust- this offers unrestricted engine breathability. Your 300TDi R380 rear propshaft will marry up as will the speedo cable. Get extra vacuum lines from a retailer. You can simply wire up the 4BD1T glow plugs to the 300TDi timer relay. You won't need them but in quite cold settings.
There's quite a bit of fiddling here though it is an easy job- best if you do it yourself otherwise just buy an FFR or GS from Minto and take the body of your Defender and swap over the civilised bits. In my opinion- this is the best route and I believe will not require engineering inspection as that chassis came out as a four/five door variant from factory sold here in Oz. Cost of paying someone to do your conversion (300TDi to (4BD1T/LT95) will be somewhere in the region 10k to 15k plus. I took the conversion route because ...130 dual cab chassis.
To Incisor's query i would say 'No further worries' which means you don't have to stare at the temp gauge wondering if it's telling you lies- or indeed fit up a temp alert system, you won't have to worry about silly little timing belts or p gaskets, delicate warping cylinder heads or engine deck surfaces, stupid little wabco vacuum pumps, tiresome riding of the clutch from start-off, silly little intercoolers, or VE pump leaks, darling radiators in 40 degree ambient temps, precious little R380 bearings...a whole host of worries just disappear.
I like them both but the choice is very clear IMO.
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