biscuits replied:

Well I guess you are limited size wise with the rangies to a 4cyl diesel or V6/V8 engine. The stock rover 3.9L is adequate so if it isnt broke I wouldnt change it. Dunno if any of my info will help much but here goes anyway: Other common engines to consider:

HECS 253 (4.2L) V8 - not much power, but cheap to buy, easy to work on, plenty of cheap parts, thirsty. I wouldnt bother. Driven this in a FJ40 ute - I thought it was gutless but obviously better than the stock donk. Old motor now.

HECS 308 (5.0) V8 - Depending on what model 308 you get, good overall motor, plenty of power in later ones, downside is petrol. Havent driven one of these before.

CHEV 307 / 350 (5.0, 5.7L) - A mate of mine had a 350ci in his 1973 range rover - TRUELY AWESOME offroad. The huge low down torque coupled with the explosive power of a V8 was outstanding and made offroad work an absolute joy. Was on dedicated LPG at the time. Had a problem with an mysterious oil leak that was the reason for its sale in the end. Rough like a V8 on idle, sounded like a true throaty V8 too... not for some but i thought it was great :) The 307 & 350 ci ive driven in a MQ SWB was better than the tired one we had in the RR.

Buick / Commodore 3.8L V6 - Why bother? expensive for a late model one, minimal power gains on the stock 3.9L rover V8. Could always go supercharged but expensive to buy and thirsty as with most.

Diesels: ZD30 is expensive, as are most the other diesels to rebuild or buy. Good low down torque but you lose that explosive power of a V8 which sometimes can be very helpful offroad. I drive a turbo diesel myself but I wouldnt put one in the RR. Drove the stock RR turbo diesel once - didnt like its rattly sound one bit! Power was okay but nothing special.

Dunno if this helps any, but thought id have a go anyway

Cheers,
Dave.

Willem replied:

Hey Baggins....

Why don't you put your hand in your pocket and update to a later model RR instead of beating around the bush with an old 89 Banger? Alternatively you could buy a nice Toyota or Nissan :-) Yeah I know this doesn't answer your question but I thought that I would stir you up anyway....hahahaha

Member - Pesty (SA) replied:

Baggin stick with it or trade it away on something different, Have a mate who has a late model DiscoV8 auto and wanted a deisel, so bought a current model rightoff with td5 and engaged a proffessional to do a swap, that was last August and it still wont go, there are so many differences in the software as everything is computer linked and it has turned into a world wide nightmare chasing info and other stuff around the world, and the last time I spoke to him taking the whole lot to the dismantlers and cutting his losses was a possiblity. The computer will not talk to the engine to tell it to start amongst other things. He is an EO visitor and may expand on it if he sees this post. I realise your rig is older which may allow you to alter it, but do your homework well.

greydemon replied:

Hi Baggins, I know nothing about the technical side of engines at all. However I have been driving a Discovery for a while with a Tdi 300 engine and have nothing but praise for it. This engine is famously economical. I have taken it up the Gibb River Road and to Mitchell Falls with five people, laden roof rack and an off road camper trailer and it never missed a beat. On the way back we covered 1200kms in a day on the tarmac effortlessly. I would have thought that this engine would fit your RR and you would be able to get advice from the agent. (Yeah, right)

To save the Landy knockers asking , the Disco has done 200,000 has missed a few scheduled services and hasn't leaked a drop of oil since I have had it.

Having said all this, I actually agree with one of the other posts - why not just trade up!

Member Eric replied:

Usually when it comes to cars like that , its best to go with the Kiss theory
Keep It Symple Stuped .

I think doing a engine swap is going the wrong way , you need to spend serious money and time to get them right . I know some of you will laugh because I have a V8 shorty , but I am spending serious time on getting it right .

There is alot more to transplanting than meets the eye . Eg. on my vehicle it already did a bottom end and people before me were scraching head , I found it was a sump in the wrong possition that did this . I have spend more time messuring and looking at all angles of problems than most people spend on a whole vehicle .

I think you will find your RR motor a goodie ( appart from oil leaks lol ) but a huge let down is the injection system . I would look at removing the injection system and purchasing a after market manifold with a 4 barrel manifolt . I think you will be suprised on performance and reliability

Eric Experience. replied:

Baggins.
Keep it standard, whatever you do you will never save enough fuel in the life of the vehicle to cover the cost of changing it, even if you do most of the work yourself. Do the sums and be honest with yourself and you will soon realize the best move is to trade it on a diesel disco or something similar. Eric.

mq swb replied:

I currently have a 1980 rangie (had it for about 2 weeks now) with a 308 on dual fuel and a 4 speed box, I haven't taken it off road as yet but I'm happy with it on the road It costs me about $25 a week to run on gas and i travel about 320kms, a little bit cheaper than my mq swb which was around $55 a week for the same kms,
One reason I bought it was for the dual fuel but then I thought about whats the cost of a reco 3.5 rover or a rebuild of the one you've got and then what's the price of a holden 308 say $400 for a not sure one $800 for exchange rebuild or upto $2000 for a you beaut one, This was a big push for me to buy it.
i hope this helps
Dixie

Baggins replied:

Thanks for the replies. Greydemon was the sort of answer I was after - telling us why some other engine is great. I do agree with him that the Tdi is reliable and economical and if it was not so noisy it would get the nod. As Willem well knows my car decisions are not entirely logical, isn't that why we each get fond of some cars and hater others? V8s are smooth, quiet and fun but are NOT on the shopping list due to fuel economy. Is there no one out there wants to extol the technical merits of a 4M40 or an SD33T or a MB300D engine?

seashells replied:

Baggins

Before you fit any engine into your rangie check with your ins company and then find out if its legal to fit the motor of your choice, as pesty has said I have had a td5 fitted into my series one disco, ( not allowed to fit any other motor as a chev
diesel was my first choice.)
My problem was that i fitted a auto box, and that I should have bought the motor, manual box, t case from a defender, (less wiring and fewer computers) but all my gear came from a series 2 disco, have made contact with peter in qld that has fitted a td5 into a rangie.

seashells.