Well aren't we the cool kids? Seriously though, is the kit available from that second thread? I glazed through it, and by the end people were starting their own builds. And yes noob question here, but will what a Defender can fit also suit a D1? I'm pretty sure the frame is the same, but I saw a pic of the GM transmission jammed pretty far into the tunnel. Wondering if the D1 body can wrap around this swap as well. Btw, thanks for sharing, I do not get out a lot...

 

This looks like a fun thread. Couple thoughts. I don't know the answers to these, but just throwing them out as food for thought:

1) Buick Engine: Does a Buick/Pontiac/Olds engine have the same bell housing dimensions as the 4.0 ...because it was a buick designed motor ...and the buick 350 is a direct decendent of the Rover v8? I'm sure you probably looked into this, but would an early 90's injected 305 out of a Pontiac Parisianne work? Or what about one out of a 67 Wildcat?

2) If you are going to go to all that work, would it make more sense to put in a diesel engine, for potentially a lot better fuel economy? I know diesels can be expensive to rebuild, more than gas motors, but your potential for fuel economy could be a lot greater. I wonder if you could find a doner diesel 4x4 and swap over the whole driveline. An older GM w/o all the electronic controls maybe?? I doubt you'll get a whole lot more fuel economy with a gas motor, maybe 3 mpg better?? It's all about weight and resistance and the Disco 1 is a brick going down the road. I get 16.5 mpg with mine now. My GM PU gets 16.5 too. I've had lots of V8 suv's and they were lucky to get 20 mpg. I don't think I would go into this project thinking I was going to come out with a lot better economy with a gas motor. A diesel could get high 20's maybe more. But diesels are messy, dirty and smelly too. Fuel is at least 50 cents more/gal here than gas. They sound cool though.

3) There are a lot of computer wiring adapters out there now where you should be able to keep a modern EFI system ...maybe not mated to your L/R's ECM, but at least keep the new motor uncarbed. When's the last time you ran a carb'd motor? I've got some classic cars and let me tell you, we get spoiled with EFI. OTOH, a carbed motor can still do pretty well for fuel economy and power if it's set up properly. If you don't have a lot of budget, you might have to go this way anyhow. Check out the C3 section of the Corvette Forum, a lot of guys are going EFI on new LS motors. Some good tech support there.
http://www.corvetteforum.com/forums/...performance-3/

4) What would it cost to get 290 hp out of the LR motor? It would be more up front cost, but a HUGE amount of time saved debugging all the other stuff to have a nice, finished-off driver. In the end, considering the time, the 4.0 hi-hp route would almost have to be cheaper I would think. The LR xfer is off-center and you'll loose the emergency brake (probably not a big deal), have to deal with the drive shaft running at an angle (or swap the rear end), and then yer down to adapting the cross member, shifter, linkages and more time/expenses. Not trying to discourage ya, but I've done swaps and it always seems to cost and consume time at a factor several times more than initially calculated. Maybe spending $2,500 or $3k on a hopped up L/R motor would be money well spent so you didn't have a bastardized up rig where only 1/2 the things worked and eventually ya loose enthusiasm on it. Not saying it'll happen. It sounds like you know what yer doing. Maybe it would save you a crap-load of time that you could spend on vacation with your family or enjoying the rig ..working on the house or with the gfriend/wife whatever. Just playin devils advocate here.

5) You should be able to work out the temp gauge pretty easily I would think. Speedo too. I'm sure others have a solution.

Thanks for posting this. Keep us informed.

 

That's cause C3's came w 150hp boat anchors with a half electronic quadra-junk! Haha!

I'm all for diesel but here they test emissions different for a diesel and a gas truck. The title clearly states what fuel it runs. It would be a paperwork nightmare to change it. Maybe other places would be easier.

 

The Gen IV engines drop cylinders, effectively become 4 bangers. What better fuel mileage do you want?

MC04DII, the adapter between the tranny and LT230 is being made one at a time, slowly. What engine mod doesn't require mods? I think it would fit just fine in a D1, there is allot of unused tunnel space... just to the rear of the transfer shifter is the transfer case!

MarkG, a guy on Expedition Portal had a 6.2 lump conversion, about the same mileage as the 4L gas. You won't see a mileage savings unless you drop down to a 4 banger turbo diesel like say a 2.8 International which was installed in a Canadian RRC without much fuss. Less paperwork for them. There is always the Isuzu 4BD1TP/2T of which you'll find a few Rovers have switched to with nice pics. Isuzu 4BD1T/2T

P38 conversion; Range Rover P38 diesel conversion - Expedition Portal

For anyone interested in pumping out more from the 4L or 4.6L including turbo and super charging and converting a 3.9 into a CkPS fired hauler with MS3 Pro my favorite site is; BritishV8 Forum: There are some seriously afflicted folks dedicated to pumping out horse power on this site, many autocross and SCCA racers.

For anyone bumping up a stock LR motor you have to change from the stock ECU over to a MegaSquirt, there is no other way around it. The stock ECU is too hard wired to a stock lackluster setup. Headers, port and polishing, cams, cranks, pistons, yada, yada, yada are basically pointless without a decent A/F map aimed directly at the mods.

 

I miss the old days, drop in a drive train, hook up a few wires adapt a few minor things and off you go

My favorite truck I built was 1978 Chevy short step side, 4" suspension, 33" tires, 455 holds 350 turbo Pontiac trans with shift kit, we swapped the output shaft with the Chevy trans so the transfer case would bolt right up , truck was awd loved that truck, wish i still had it, was good on gas too, all torque crazy for offroad

 

I'll tell you what, I have a set of rover OEM 4.6 Pistons, Rods, and crank. As well as new bearings, head gasket kit with ARP bolts, and a 4.6 range rover ECU I can sell you. I'd take 1200$, for all of it if you're so inclined.

I did this mod on my 4.0, it really makes a difference. I was going to do it again on another truck but it's got other issues.

PM me if you're interested. I could just ship this stuff out tomorrow if you want

 

PM me Rover. I'm shopping around for this kit right now.

 

Well like most who look to perform this swap, I'm backing out for something easier. Since my block seems to be a good one, I've bought a used 4.6 crank and rods to swap in the 4.0. Now just looking for the right cam. Liking the Real Steel Viper Hurricane cam so far.

 

Couple questions:

1) Did you ever find out if another motor, like an old Buick V8/V6 would directly mate up to your tranny?

2) Can you share some of the things you've learned? What things do you expect to do to it and what is your expected outcome?:
- New sleeves?
- Pin the sleeves?
- What other parts are you expecting to replace or put in (what mods?)
- Reuse the ECM?
- If replace the ECM, then with what? ...and is there something to directly work with the rest of the vehicle?
- What kind of HP do you think you'll get?
- What sort of economy pickup or hit might you expect, based on your research?
- Could you share your cost comparison estimates between modifying the current motor and an LS swap?


Thanks. Just curious.

 

Who are you asking Mark?