4.6L V8 P38 engine into a Defender 90

Hi all,

Was looking for some advice... I recently took a gamble and purchased a cheap 4.6L V8 petrol engine which I believe came out of a Range Rover P38. The question is, will it go in my 1990 defender 90 and how much modification will be required. I also have no idea of which gearbox will required etc. My defender currently has a LT77 gearbox but im also concerned about propshaft sizes whether a standard one will fit or not. I basically need an exact list of all the items I need. Another obstacle I have is I have no idea if the engine actually runs or not and as I don't own/work in a garage I am not sure how I can find this out. As you can all probably guess I am a bit of a novice when it comes to this sort of thing... but there is only one way to learn! Any ideas/advice given would be greatly appreciated.

George44 said:

Hi all,

Was looking for some advice... I recently took a gamble and purchased a cheap 4.6L V8 petrol engine which I believe came out of a Range Rover P38. The question is, will it go in my 1990 defender 90 and how much modification will be required. I also have no idea of which gearbox will required etc. My defender currently has a LT77 gearbox but im also concerned about propshaft sizes whether a standard one will fit or not. I basically need an exact list of all the items I need. Another obstacle I have is I have no idea if the engine actually runs or not and as I don't own/work in a garage I am not sure how I can find this out. As you can all probably guess I am a bit of a novice when it comes to this sort of thing... but there is only one way to learn! Any ideas/advice given would be greatly appreciated.

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Quite a lot to bite off for a first project. There will be a lot of info on the forum about this, I would suggest you try forum search, and if your questions are not solved, try posting a thread about it in General Land Rover section, it may get more responses than in here.
All the engines are fairly interchangeable, you may need to modify engine mounts for that, but if you use a landrover trans you shouldnt need non standard propshafts,
You will need to change a lot of stuff, Ninety has no engine electrics or electronics, that V8 does! Exhaust is going to be a challenge too, although V8 Ninetys were made as standard, so you might be able to use some bits from one of those.

First thing to do is identify everything accurately. Write down the numbers off the engine, and off your vehicle, so you know exactly what you are dealing with, and what parts you already have.
Are you sure that is a Defender(200Tdi), and not a Ninety( 2.5na,TD or 2.5 petrol). It will make a difference, for example if it is a Defender you will need a new rad, Ninety rad will proabbly run with V8.

Personally I wouldnt fit an engine unless I was sure it ran well. It is often possible to bench run, if you have the right kit. Ask/Google around local to you would be best suggestion on that.

Best of luck with that!

Thanks for the help turboman. Seems a big task - a lot to think about!