It’s an HSE! In my years of Disco ownership, they are pretty rare, so I’d say you should save it- especially if the only big issue is the engine. If you have the space and patience, I’d get that bad boy dragged back to your homestead, pull the engine and see what blew up.

The AB long blocks seem to have a hit or miss reputation and a rebuild gets into some serious $$$. Personally I think it’s worth it.

But if you wanna get nuts, other options have started to emerge outside even the LS swap. There is a very reputable shop out of Denver call Roadsidewerx where a guy named Jordan developed a kit to put a BMW E46 M50 in line 6 cylinder in there. That engine is prett bomb proof and silky smooth and I think has some decent hop up ability. Also, according to Jordan I think it bolts directly to the LR transmission bell housing- I think like DIRECT bolt on.

I think I might look into this for my second disco when we get back to the States.

 

That engine was a factory option in South Africa. Not sure where or how he is getting wire harness or ecu.

 

Well I certainly learned something today. He never mentioned knowledge of the M50 being used by the Aussies, and I can’t recall how he did the harness, but I’m pretty certain everything works OEM in his test mule.

 

If I were in your position and it was financially viable, I'd do a TWS Motors Rover V8. You can opt for anywhere from factory power to 300hp+ depending on what you want to pay. Avoiding the engine swap for an original example is probably aligned with your thinking if you like that it has a clean interior/exterior and is mostly original. I'd totally go the LS or M50 route if it was a fun project just to try something. M50's are super cheap and you could easily do a manual swap, stick with the ZF4, or upgrade to ZF5 auto etc. Lots of options, not sure if any of them or viable. But I would personally got this route: https://thewedgeshopstore.com/range-rover-engine-remanufactured-4-6-gems-long-block-engine-without-secondary-air-set-up-with-cylinder-heads-and-rockershaft-core-charge-additional/

 

To follow up on my last comment, if you don't/ can't drop the $8k + on the motor (+ shop labor) then I'd find either a P38 4.6, or an early 4.0 D2 motor in a junkyard or from one of the popular breaker yards. Like @Extinct has said before, hard to tell the difference between the 4.0 & 4.6 a lot of the time.

 

Went up to talk to Jeff at JWhite - great guy and had a really good discussion, so thanks for the rec @zski128 ! Having truck flatbedded there today for an eval. They use ACR engines if I wanted to go for a performance upgrade.

Just an FYI for those Disco owners w/ ticking engines at idle (Which mine had), and pardon my ignorance here if this is well known and/or I am confusing things here - we talked for quite a while. Jeff said he chased this problem on several trucks over a decade ago, and couldn't solve it (was not slipped liners). Until he met a LR field engineer who told him to give it up - it was a defect in some engines which eventually leads to their demise and there is no fix. Can drive around with it for as much as 30-40k miles and it may be ok until it isn't. What was the defect? I am going to screw this up (no experience pulling motors apart or rebuilding), but something w the crankshaft bearing seats walking out or similar - somehow I am hazy on that part, sorry. He also talked about the porous block issues and the blocks being off-tolerance for mounting the front cover which can lead to oil pump detonation.

 

Its the cam bearings walking out, leads to low oil pressure. Not really a giant problem, just need to replace the cam bearing. I had to do one. Oil pressure shot back up after fix.

 

The apparent cause of the detonation has been diagnosed as oil pump - the front cover is actually cracked. Haven't discussed yet where this leaves me with engine options - is mine repairable/rebuildable etc. Will update.

 

Right now I am looking at 16-17k to have an Atlantic British engine installed - so something like $7k labor (is this typical rate?). Except they refuse to use (i.e., warranty) AB engines due to "a history of premature failures". They also don't want to look at rebuilding my engine. Since we now know the front cover cracked likely due to a failing oil pump, and the car was driven ~ 1/2 mile post the incident, I feel it might be worth rebuilding but I will need to find someone else to do it. Aside from that, at the ~$17k price quote I am having a real problem justifying this. I wish I was in the position to do the work myself but I am not (no space). Only good news here is they gave it a thorough evaluation and the other issues they found were minor, not critical, and well within my ability to fix. So - my choices still appear to be: A: try to sell as is to someone who has a motor or can put one in themselves - is there any market for this? B: source a used motor for much less than an AB motor (Will Tillery?) - the shop will install it but won't warranty it - so $7k labor + engine cost. And I may have the same problem all over again at any time (failing oil pump and/or slipped liners).... C: Scrap it after stripping obvious sellable parts. Anyone who wants to chime in w advice, I would appreciate it.

 

For that kind of money, look into an LS engine swap instead.