the question is do you want to put $1k-1.5k into it for an engine or do you want to put 6-8k into it for an engine?

remember on top of the motor you will have another approx.$1-$1500 to put in the car to get it up to snuff.

If the fellow drove it leaking water until it over heated several times and only wanted to half *** fix it, what else didn't he do?

you will want to change all the fluids and filters, hoses and belt, plugs, wires, t stat, address the drive shafts, it all adds up.

If you start with a $500 truck and an 8k motor and $1500 to get everything right, you could have bought one done.

JMHO

 

Thats a good point. Cost control is going to be important.

One thing to consider that the cars for sell for 7-8k are at 100k+ miles, so they are living on borrowed time, IMO (unless it is a LR enthusiast, that has kept it well maintained). If I get the car for 500, do 1500 of PM, and spend 6000 on a motor, I'm in it for 8000. At that point I have a new motor, 100k trans, and fully up to date on the maintenance. I expect there will be problems, this is a Land Rover.

But if I can find a solid motor for less than 2000, that would be nice.

 

This is my plan. At that point I will either be looking at rebuilt or swapping in a chevy.

Rebuilt is attractive, because these engines have the bugs worked out (flanged cylinders and other improvements which will ensure the motor lasts much longer than stock) and it keeps the car original and I just have to repair/maintain.

But a chevy swap is attractive, because of much easier parts availability, long life, easy/cheap repairs, and as much power as I want. But there is a lot of things to figure out and a lot more of adapting things to play nice with each other. I'm really liking the Chevy E-ROD crate motors.

Chevrolet Performance E-ROD LC9 5.3L / 326HP Engine - Free Shipping on All Orders @ JEGS

This one lets me keep fuel injection, is still all aluminum (so there should be a minimal weight penalty over stock), and makes 100 HP and 95 ft-lbs of torque more than stock. Plus its emissions compliant if they don't look too close (that isn't really a concern for me, living in a no-inspection state). And theres also build your own, junkyard rescue, or simple gen 1 small block crate motor that I could throw a carb on and call it a day. Not an elegant solution, but it would get it back on the road.

I would love to do a Duramax diesel swap. I've heard they are cheaper at salvage than Chevy LS motors, but they are super heavy and may or may not fit. Plus, all that torque might break some stuff (500-600 lbf-ft). But this isn't really a practical option, so... meh.

In the end it comes down to how much money I want to spend for what I end up with. And I'm not decided yet.

 

Don't spend big money on it. I have a 120k motor I could sell you for 1000 Bucks.

 

Don't assume the engine is toast.Check.

 

If the engine is toast, do a 300 TDI swap.

 

Hey, sorry it took so long to reply (real life happens, ugh...). How much do the 300 TDI swaps cost? I could do the work myself, but I would need to source the engine and anything else that is different.

I bought the Disco, but I haven't brought it home yet, because I just moved and I'm trying to get my garage organized so I have a enough room to put the Disco in there. Should be pretty soon. I'm excited.

 

I'll try to start it, but it apparently has a catastrophic coolant leaks. I'm not sure how much money I want to put in the cooling system if I might just tear it out.

 

borrow a pressure tester and start locating the leaks