honolulujoe said:

just thinking aloud here, can you strip an engine whilst it is in the car? seems to me its on a ready made bench - assuming the mounts are solid - and all round access should be fairly easy if the landy is sans front panel and wings

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Well how far are you going to go?

What if something needs machining? (There used to be cowboys who rode vans who would drop by and do a re-bore with an engine in a car)

You could take off the front axle and get some more space - rip out the steering box too if that got in the way - pull out most of the battery tray - take off the head...

...and still have the flywheel and crank attached to the gearbox.

I reckon you can do a lot with a Land Rover - it is after all only Mechano.

You could make it easier on yourself, however, and just remove the engine - clean it up - take it to a nice dry warm place with no muck and dust - put it on an engine stand...

As per prices of series engines in the UK - I think I might start importing them from Holland and retire on the profits - 475 GBP for something that looks like it has been used as a boat anchor? Ho Lee sheet.

I was thinking that myself, I went to the Dominican Republic a few years back and they had some old engine blocks they were using as anchors and tbh they looked less rusty!

Rear seals!!!

I'd work with what you've got. Get that sheared bolt out - you'll feel a lot better. Play with the pump and see what you get smoke wise. As the outside temp drops this time of year, smoke always seems to increase!
Mine is smokey at idle and particularly so in cold weather. However it passed the Mot a couple of weeks ago and the emissions were miles within the tolerance (1981 model and needs the probe up the zorst).
I was surprised.
They are mainly interested in smoke when revved. Idle smoke can also be controlled by the air intake butterfly too - needs to open just before the fuel goes in so it gets plenty of air. Crude system but works when set up properly.

A lot can be wrong with a 2nd hand engine. Keep the faith in what's in front of you.

Naaa. Burn it.................