Have a new to me 03' disco with 150k and a peck. Sat for a year and I hoped it was lifters. Ran marvel first oil change and sea foam the second. Both for about 700 miles. No change in the monotonous pecking. Found a 60k 03' with all the records from new on it that was totaled from the rear. So, 60k motor is on the stand and need to know if there's anything I should do before the swap. Not a HAVE to do, but a should do. I'm horribly meticulous about preventive maintenance and things being perfect. I don't have bottomless pockets but I am willing to spend what I need to make sure in 20k I'm not tearing down half the engine to replace a water pump. This one will be around for a while as I just got the 3" lucky8 lift, tom woods front driveshaft and 5 new 275/65-18 Duratracs piled up in the corner now with gears, lockers and HD axles on the way. So, on the stand in your garage, what would you do pre swap?

 

Sorry guys, phone had a seizure and double posted this in general tech instead of the D2 forum.

 

The H2O pump will likely last 100K mi, so is it worth it to you to swap it out while the engine is out and sacrifice what would likely be another 40K mi of use? Radiator is a good idea to change on an engine swap as you don't want any sludge transfering to your new block. Check the lifters/cam for wear/pitting...my lifters needed replacement at 60K mi.

 

If the new engine has about 70k miles then HG gaskets may be ready to go.

But ---
You will never know what you have until you swap in the engine and drive it.
That's what I would do.

On the stand you could replace lots of parts quite quickly.

you must figure - do you want a mostly rebuilt engine in there or
just put in the swap engine.

if it was me I would just put in the swap engine and then have a go at it.
If the swap engine has block problems then you don't want to be dumping
lot of money into that swap engine until you KNOW it is a keeper.

 

60K - I would just put in the swap motor and use it.
If head gaskets are needed, you can change them when the engine is in the rover.

Hope for the best and just install the new engine.

 

Oil pump
Water pump
Thermostat
Coils (please do it now. I didn't, and spent 5 hours doing it later)
Plugs
Wires

 

I concur, but also timing chain.

And frankly I'd be really tempted to put a cam and lifters in it. It seems like these trucks are hard on camshafts (my theory is it's because oil formulas have changed since the engine was designed in 1960), and it'll be a piece of cake while you have the engine out. After the engine's in, you'll have to pull the radiator and tons of other crap.

And once you're that deep, it's not much further to go ahead and do the head gaskets that will likely fail in a year...

 

...and while it's all torn apart, throw in some top hat liners, ARP stud conversion, ceramic coat coolant passages (DuPont additive for $75), new RMS, ....

Obviously this is all good advice, but we lack a knowledge of your means. Perhaps if you prefaced with "for $500/10 hrs or less, what should I do...". But seriously, you'd be crazy not to install a new RMS for $7.

 

I would go the other route. Take off the heads and have the block tested. Head gaskets are cheap and a lot easier to change out of the car. Inspect everything and see what needs to be changed. Change all the other gaskets and seals while its out for piece of mind.

Honestly though, I would just drive with the old motor until it died. Having the backup motor waiting will keep the old one going for another 100k.

 

Info update, I have the means to do a complete rebuild if I want. My idea was what should be done to this one prior to install to get it on the road. Dollar amount is mostly irrelevant, but more than 1k going in it and I'd go ahead and tear it down, check it, machine it and put it all back new.
The donor truck had an owners manual full of tickets for every oil change and service at the dealer. So I guess just the basics I should do prior dropping it in.
Over the next few months I'm planning on doing a built performance motor with the one coming out. Taking it down to the block and doing a pursuit 5.0 type build on it. Or something cool.
And of course always looking for broken rovers to save before they get parted. So having a backup motor is always a plus.
So scenario is:
60k motor on a stand.
This is one of 3 extra vehicles so it doesn't have a timeline it has to be done.
Horribly handy with all things mechanical and have the tools I need.
Do all the labor myself with my band of drunken merry friends.
What would you do?