Putting a V8 into a Diesel 88

Hi everyone,

I am looking round for my first series 3. I would love a V8 ideally, but any petrol would be good. I am thinking to source a cheaper S3 by finding a good chasis with a dead-ish engine and then putting in a recon engine myself so I at least know the engine is good. I am looking for a rolling restoration rather than spending all my money up front with no guarantees that it won't go wrong anyway.

I have seen some excellent value Landys out there, with lots of toys, that are diesel. A good one looks cheaper than a petrol in the same condition. So I am thinking why not pick up a bargain diesel and put a V8 or standard petrol engine in

I believe the diesel diffs have a higher gearing to attain top speed at a lower rpm than a petrol would. I assume then that a petrol, as long as it is powerful enough, would then take a diesel drive line to an even higher max speed and hence cruise at a lower rpm than a petrol driveline. But would it have enough torque low down to get the Landy over obstacles at low speed

So, will it work? can I put a petrol engine into a diesel without changing more and more bits and will it be drivable Any advice please?

you'll need a lot of work really. its been done a lot of times on various models of LR, but its all dependant as to what engine and what fuel system it runs as to how much it costs.
A carb'd V8 will cost a lot less to install, as you can do away with a lot of the managment system that way, and dont need to source huge wiring looms and ECU's, and no fannying on with injectors and injector looms etc.
Also you'll have to think about the fuel delivery and storage, not sure what fuel pressures the diesels run at, or the petrols for that matter but the tank will certainly need flushing or swapping, and the pumps may not be suitable for the swap. Also worth noting is the fuel lines are probably different in someway ( purely because its never straight forward ) so they might need modifying.
Then theres the gearbox, propshafts etc to take into account, again i've not looked into it so i've no idea, but i've found with other cars i've done engine conversions on, that the props and gearboxes are very rarely compatible, at least without some cutting and shutting of the prop shaft ends. they're probably different lengths and / or fittings on the petrol and diesels.
basically, unless you find a breaker going for a song and are really handy on the spanners, its probably not worth the effort and cut knuckles its going to take imo, unless its more straight forward than i imagine it to be. Probably far better off getting one thats already got the powerplant you want and sorting the toys you want instead of the other way around.
all in my opinion of course

Thanks Stu,

I have to admit I expected that the gearbox would be in the same place on all Series III 88, so a suitable bellhousing would enable an engine match with no effect on gearbox, shafts etc.... i thought at worst it would just be moving engine mounts back and forth as required. I was only worried about the gear ratios being an issue....

Anyone else been there done that?

Cheers

David7richards said:

Thanks Stu,

I have to admit I expected that the gearbox would be in the same place on all Series III 88, so a suitable bellhousing would enable an engine match with no effect on gearbox, shafts etc.... i thought at worst it would just be moving engine mounts back and forth as required. I was only worried about the gear ratios being an issue....

Anyone else been there done that?

Cheers

Click to expand...

could well be the case mate, i'm just listing the possibilites. having never done said conversion i can't say anything for definate

hI, Here in Malta we got a couple of good conditioned v8 carbs on series II and III. As Far as i know you just leave the gearbox as it is. What you have to do is use a flange to fit engine to bell housing. ideally you use a series II gearbox as it is more robust than the seriesIII. You have to fit same size radiator but with 4 core and a good electric fan. you got to fit the exhaust some re wiring "very few" and a good discount from your petrol station. series landies do really look great with v8.

good luck.