I have a 76 SIII 109 and would like to do an engine swap. The stock engine is way underpowered. I think I read somewhere that the RR classic v8 is practically a bolt in replacement due to it being the engine in the original defender (1980). Anyone know if this is true and / or where to find defender TDI engines in North America?

 

do a goggle search for a 109 series three stage one, i believe that is how they denoted the v8.


if you want go TDI there is a guy on ebay sells complete TDI conversions, from cal or Oregon.

 

there are a few vendors out there selling 200/300 TDI engines. I would stay away from Urban Offroad in Altlanta as there have been some serious issues with them.

I don't know that the Rover V8 is a bolt in for the Series 3 my guess would be a change in frame portion of the motor mounts at a minimum. The stage 1 Series III came with a 3.5 from the factory and was closer to the 110 in design. The 110 came out in 1983 with the defender I believe following along in 1989. Really just a name change

 

Drow the guy in Oregon if memory serves is Zombie Motors, he has some interesting history with his Porsche parts business. I think he has been good so far though in the land rover world

 

there is a site landroverclub.net which has a section for registering series 3 stage one v8.

that's were you could look/ask to find out what is required to convert to a v8

 

I have a 109 with a distributor 4.0 engine. Mine is a 1966 body with a defender 110 frame. Even with the Defender frame the engine had to be repositioned. For my older body (head lights in the grill) I had to move the grill forward an inch or so, remove the engine driven fan, and add a thin electric fan assembly to get it to fit. Other option would be to modify the bulk head so that the exhaust headers would fit between the footwells. Your truck would gain some space since your SIII has the headlight buckets in the fenders. I am not sure about the V8 bolting to a SIII frame. I expect that repositioning the mounts would be required.
BTW I have spare V8, but it is a GEMS.

 

Here's a decent thread about conversions: Mercedes OM617

One of the posters, Mercedes Rover, put Mercedes diesels in both a 109 and an 88.

A Ford V-8 will fit, as will a Ford V6, but the Rover V8 is lighter. The major concern with engine swaps in these trucks seems to be the rest of the drivetrain. The transmission and axles aren't able to handle too much torque.

 

When they did the original Range Rover it was full time 4wd so the axles could handle the power of the mighty 3.5 V8 engine

 

The 3.5 yes, but I would be concerned about a Ford 5.0.

 

there is a 109 with a 5.0 ford in it for sale on ebay now. #331767583467