I've got a local machinist that's suppose to be a genius. I'll talk to him about it and see what he thinks. My neighbor is also one of those guys that can build anything... literally. He just finished building a cannon. A full sized, certified, working cannon... I can't understand why this is such a big issue and why no one has taken this on. From the various boards it seems to be a fairly sought after conversion.

Someone just needs to make a simple kit and make it affordable. Some of the good points about this conversion that I see,

1. You are putting in an engine that extremely simple to work on.

2. The engines are available complete and running for under 250 bucks.

3. Engines are FREE if you buy the car pull the motor and scrap the car...

4. The engine is rated for a million miles by Mercedes.
(My current TD had 360k on it now, and runs like a new engine)

5. The engines can run on just about anything... WVO, Used oil, used transmission fluid, kerosine, ect... Making them extremely useful in a trail situation.

6. You should boost the average MPG of the truck. I'm guessing you would be in the 22 to 24mpg range. My 5 thousand pound TD gets 28 fully loaded with 2 adults and 3 kids running 75 all day long.

7. Did I say the engines are simple? I didn't stress this enough... These engine require only 1 wire to run... the wire to glow the plugs. After running, no electrical needed... meaning you lose an alternator, your still fine. bust a battery, your still fine... (just don't shut down) I know a guy that drove cross county with no alternator, stopped when it got dark (no lights) left the car running all night and would get up in the am and start the next leg of the trip)

8. Parts are dirt cheap for these engines and available anywhere. like the 350, this engine was massively produced and featured in many cars and trucks for almost 15 years.

9. imagine a rover that you didn't have to worry about getting the computer and or electronics wet....

10. Imagine a rover with no damn lucas to begin with, no computer, removing a huge Achilles heal from the truck.

The toyota guys get it, the jeep guys get it, I seen this engines used in everything from old ford trucks, to a 67 RS, and tons of other vehicles, due to the list above.

The engine has a 6k red line... which is huge in the stock diesel area. One the interstate your running at 3k at 75 and the engine just sings.

Really I could go on and on, I love the om617, I think it one of the best engines ever offered to the the public.

 

You forgot #11, diesels sound cool.

 

Been chatting with Mr. Davis. He has a couple ready to go full drop in kits using the Izusu 2.8 complete with engine for 4k to 5K... Been reading up on the 2.8 and it sounds like a very good engine. I guess he imported a few of these engines for this swap. Very tempted to just do this and be done with it instead of trying to reinvent the wheel. I'd have to sell off my 87 560SL to fund it but it would give me enough to cover the swap and do just about everything else to the truck I could want.

The only real thing holding me back is the lack of support for the engine in the US.

I was also wondering about maybe just using an international 7.3 I know it's a huge engine (heavy) but in my F350 Crew it has a ton of power and pulls like nobodies business, plus is just as dependable at the Merc engine. Anyone ever tried this setup?

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Having looked around a little more I just don't think a 7.3 would work, as the engine is 1000 pounds... thats a LOT of weight extra i the front. I think it would wipe out the front suspension in a hurry plus I'm doubting the the rest of the truck's drive train could handle the engines power.

 

Yes my first run at the Diesel conversion before Merc was a 7.3 IDI out of Eco 350, it didn't work out, it's way to wide and three times as heavy. It killed my 1100lb engine stand, lol. Also the torque o this thing would twist the frame, the parts were very hard to come by to rebuild that engine.

 

Zubr pictures by Basia678 - Photobucket

 

Very cool build and answered a lot of questions. Many have asked and talked about the 7.3. I need to run over and grab my flywheel and pressure plate so I can start putting mine back together.

 

So what are you putting in it?

 

My build threads here... I'm going to link these to threads together....

https://landroverforums.com/forum/di...5-rover-50168/