Yeah, anything under the dashboard is a pain. The less time under there, the better. I was thinking about a Gen 4 setup where the Rover throttle cable could be attached to the GM pedal assembly and pull it, placing the GM assembly in the bay, but that’d be wacky.

The other thing about the Gen 3 engines also is that they are cheaper/easier to build where the gen 4 stuff gets expensive and complicated fast, unless you get can get a deal on the engine/trans combo. Not a whole lot of power difference either. Fuel economy improvements between the LS gens are kind of be a wash because the Disco has the aerodynamics of a house no matter what you do.

 

I don't buy into the cylinder shutting down like the gen4s do, my wifes SUV has the northstar 5.3 which had the first generation of the that and I swear that motor is haunted lol so many random issues that aren't common with a standard LS or vortec motor.

 

Thank you for this post, Aaron! Really helpful content I especially like that you moved the Rover coolant temp gauge into the LS block on the passenger side.
Wanted to ask you if you could elaborate on your solution for the transmission cooler. Did you reuse the stock cooler and the original connections at the transmission itself as well as the quick connects at the cooler?

 

I don’t know if moving that temp sensor over there will be an option for everyone, because it is super tight with the firewall and it just fits with my setup, but it looks better and works.

So the trans cooler is one of the things I may change up again. I took the lines to a shop to have them redone, but they wanted way too much. I used 4 of these 8AN to 1/2 inch compression fittings on the hard lines: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/ear-at165008erl

Then I got 2 8AN premade hoses from Jegs and connected it up: https://www.jegs.com/p/JEGS/JEGS-Pro...30890/10002/-1

I wrapped the hoses in some heat shielding since they go kinda close to the exhaust (although not as close as with the old engine). I had a tiny bit of seepage appear on one hose. I couldn’t tell if it is from the compression fitting or the 8AN connection. I’ve tightened it up a bit and will check again. No drips when parked since then.

I looked at switching over to another trans cooler with AN fittings and bought one that was probably overkill for the job, but I didn’t want to explore making mounting brackets at the time. This was the cooler I bought: . I'll swap it in at some point.

 

Sweet, thanks for expanding on that. Seems like every hydraulic shop is different when it comes to what they're willing to do and charge.
For instance my local shop did not feel comfortable crimping the quick connect fitting onto another hose. They'd rather cut the rubber hose right after the quick connects and insert an adapter there.

Do you think that the leak might be happening because our original hard lines are slightly bigger than 1/2"? Did you have any issues getting that 1/2" to 8AN adapter to fit onto the hard line that comes out of the transmission?

 

No, the compression fitting slid right over the pipe. You can have that problem if the pipe is slightly out of round. Won't seal right either. I think the leak was from not tightening the AN fitting enough.

 

The guy at the fluid/hydraulic shop mentioned that it's best to try tightening the AN fitting before you try clamping the ferule down any further since the ferule could shatter under too much pressure.

Wanted to ask you about your coolant routing... in ACE's manual as well as another user's (Daedrix) video the T fitting was on the the larger 3/4 hose which is the inlet for the water pump.
In your description you described the T fitting as being on the smaller 5/8ths line which is the water pump outlet.
The T that ACE included in his parts list is 5/8ths so if your routing is incorrect that might be why you assumed it went on the 5/8ths instead of the 3/4ths.
I'm gonna buy a 3/4ths T fitting instead.

So to correct your original post I think this is how it should be routing...
5/8 inch water pump outlet -> 5/8 hose -> 3-way connector with pipe from overflow tank -> heater core
3/4 inch water pump outlet -> 3/4 hose -> 3-way connector with pipe from overflow tank -> heater core


Screenshot from the video Daedrix posted in the main LS Swap thread.

 

I actually have it in the 5/8ths line. It probably should be in the return (3/4) line, but its working okay where it is.

 

@CaptainAaron Can I ask what the BMW lower radiator hose part number is? Thanks!

 

It is the same one that is used for the inline thermostat mod, which it what I had on the Rover V8 before. I believe it was the lower radiator hose from a 2002 BMW 330i. I got the one without the plastic quick connect ends and cut it to fit. Lot of threads seem to say that the hose is the Gates 22073, but I can't remember if that is the exact one I had.

Edit: It appears that the hose in one of my pictures is a Dayco. After looking that up, looks like it might be a Dayco C72092.