Where to buy a Rover V8 from?

[schmalex]

All I want is a second hand engine & possibly gearbox that works well. I don't need all the car gubbins that wraps around it.

Does anyone know where to pick up where such a thing?

[Lefty]

Ebay is your friend. If this is for your series then definitely try to get a box too - LT85 or LT95 are easiest although you may have spoace issues.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Range-Rover-Land-Rover-3-9-V...

I would carb it though, especially for a series.


You could do the same as me = v8 + r380/LT230 with a shortbellhousing but it's a bit of an arse ache. Works very nicely though.

Edited by Lefty on Thursday 13th January 13:41

[schmalex]

It is for the S3. You're right, I should do the box as well. Can't seem to find anything on ebay at the moment

Is your conversion reliable? The one thing that I don't want to lose is the reliability of the truck (rather strangely for a Landy, it just never breaks down!).

Edited by schmalex on Thursday 13th January 13:32

[Lefty]

In fact...are you in a hurry? I've got a 4.6 sitting in a mates workshop which is going to replace my 3.5. LT95 has been sold already though, sorry

[Lefty]

Sorry, just saw your reply.

So far, yes. I bought a recon R380, an ashcroft bellhousing and and a cheap 2nd hand LT230.

I just had a quick look on ebay and found an LT95 for £450 including the bellhousing and a few rv8's for sale.

I know you said you don't want a whole car but it might be worth trying to find an RRC with the 4 speed LT95 and v8 so that you get all the ancillaries too and you can get £100 scrap for the shell. You could also use the RR axles...

Remember, you'll need new props, gearbox/engine mounts, exhaust, tunnel etc and you'll find the v8 a wee bit of a squeeze in the series bay unless you fit defender or stage 1 v8 front panels.

A series v8 would be a lovely thing though.

I'm in the process of gradually upgrading/updating my '86 110v8. Gearboxes are done, engine next.

[Lefty]

Ashcrofts will sell you a recon LT85 (5-speed + transfer case) with bellhousing for £800+vat. This will outlive the rest of your Land Rover (until you galv the chassis!) and is supposed to be a very strong box.

[schmalex]

Roughly, what do you reckon the overall conversion costs?

If I can do it for around £2k - £2.5k, I guarantee that by summer time, I will be pround owner of an 88" V8 S3 (probably still run it on drum brakes for added fun!).

Edited by schmalex on Thursday 13th January 13:44

[varsas]

I'd be interested in hearing about this, if you fancy doing a build thread or whatever. I just about managed to replace the std engine in my S3 over the summer; I don't think I'm up to dropping a V8 in but would like to hear about it.

Isn't it easier to buy a complete car? Depends on budget I guess but at least you defiantly get everything you need, and can see it running.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1991-LAND-ROVER-DISCOVERY-3-...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/93-LAND-ROVER-DISCOVERY-V8I-...

[Lefty]

Can you do labour yourself?

If I were you I'd really try to find a donor car to get as many bits as you can, cost can get daft when you start buying fuel pumps, alternators, manifolds etc separately

RRC for engine, bellhousing, clutch and box £500-£1000
Carb £100
Gearbox and engine mounts £50-100 (or get some fabbed up)
Props (£100)
-£200 for scrap value of RRC (or break it on ebay to get more £ if you can be arsed)
-£100 for the old s3 engine and box

So, in the region of a grand for parts. There's a lot of labour in pissing about with mounts, interior seatbox/tunnel/bulkhead interfaces.

I would think you could do the complete job for £2k easily enough, a lot less if you can do work yourself and get lucky with a good donor car.



I did it differently with my v8 110 (went from v8+LT95 to v8+R380 and LT230):

Recon r380 £500
LT230 £40
Bellhousing £85
Clutch £100
Gearbox linkages £100
300tdi r380 seatbox and tunnel £100
Gaskets £25

And about 25 hours of labour from a local LR specialist. A lot of the labour was in the gearbox mounts which had to be made and were a complete ballache. I spent about 8-10 hours mucking-in too.

[wombat172a]

The cheap way of doing it is to find a conversion ring to take the Rover V8 and bolt it onto the standard series gearbox. You'll need to make sure you have the correct timing cover too (I can't remember which but the rangie one is good enough), and you'll also need a remote kit for the oil filter, otherwise you'll end up bashing it with the front axle.

The other way is as above using the LT77 or R380 gearboxes (short bellhousing). But be aware the front driveshaft LT230 sits much further back than the series transfer box. The problem with this is that the front prop then needs to pass through the engine cross-member, so you need to scallop it out.

If you're just going for a carb'd 3.5 then IMO the standard gearbox should be strong enough to take the power, much more and I would definitely be thinking about the stronger gearbox & axles route.

[Zad]

Rimmer Bros are usually the place to go to for things like that:

http://www.rimmerbros.co.uk/Category--Rover-V8-Eng...

[Lefty]

I quite agree with this ^

Lo-comp 3.5 makes about 110bhp IIRC and should be OK with the standard box but if the box is already a bit worn the v8 will accelerate it's demise.

I think 140bhp-160bhp-ish is a sweet spot for a series, much more and you'll be forever breaking things. Same problem if you fit a v8 gearbox, you'll find you start eating diffs.

This is why I'd be very tempted to go for a 3.5 carbed (these are about 130bhp IIRC) Range Rover with the 4-spd box. You can use the axles, disc brakes, engine, box, clutch, bellhouse and all you need to do is get the mounts and props sorted out, and modify the bulkhead and tunnel...

Alternatively, if you get lucky you might find a cheap 90 or 110 v8 as a donor with the LT95 5-speeder which is even better.

[schmalex]

I can't do it myself. However, the chap who looks after the truck is a Landy enthusiast, bloody good & charges £30 / hour.

Could I use a Disco as the donor vehicle?

[Lefty]

Yes but you'll need a short bellhousing and maybe a different input shaft for the gearbox...

You thinking of keeping it efi?

It would be worth phoning Ashcroft, they're really helpful.

[Red Cabbage]

http://www.equicar.co.uk/

[anonymous-user]

Running the permanent 4x4 transfer box with std series front axle (which has UJ's not CV joints in it's swiwel housings) can cause some pretty horrible drivetrain oscilations. However that being said, it seems to be really varriable (maybe due to subtle changes in front prop angle etc between different conversion, some seem to have it, others don't). it also tends to appear mostly at high speeds, something you won't be doing for too long in an S3 (unless you wear ear defenders lol)


if you can find some, 109V8 axles will give you both the correct CV joints, and the larger brakes.

(they were hard to find back in 1994 when i did my SIIa V8 conversion, now they must be like rockinghorse poo ???)

Edited by anonymous-user on Thursday 13th January 17:39

[Major Fallout]

If you can wait till May, there is a guy at the Beaulieu auto jumble with a trailer full of them every year. Easy to find him as he starts one without the exhaust every hour.

[Lefty]

Max_Torque said:

Running the permanent 4x4 transfer box with std series front axle (which has UJ's not CV joints in it's swiwel housings) can cause some pretty horrible drivetrain oscilations. However that being said, it seems to be really varriable (maybe due to subtle changes in front prop angle etc between different conversion, some seem to have it, others don't). it also tends to appear mostly at high speeds, something you won't be doing for too long in an S3 (unless you wear ear defenders lol)


if you can find some, 109V8 axles will give you both the correct CV joints, and the larger brakes.

(they were hard to find back in 1994 when i did my SIIa V8 conversion, now they must be like rockinghorse poo ???)

Edited by Max_Torque on Thursday 13th January 17:39

I think Craddocks have actually got a 109v8 for sale at the mo.

What's involved in using disco axles with series leaf springs?

[1A]

Can I p!ss on your chips and suggest you don't?

I've run several series motors with and without V8 conversions and for me nothing suits a Series SWB better than a fit and healthy two and a quarter petrol. You'll want to do the gearbox as well and then props and halfshafts will start to struggle and you'll end up doing loads more than you intended and the end result will be a leaf-sprung 90 instead of what you started out with. If you want a V8, get a factory 90 V8 complete with LT85, four pin diffs and 24 spline halfshafts.

All IMHO and said with the greatest respect as it's your money!

[ferkle]

I have a mate with a 3.5efi he keeps begging me to take off him, near Manchester.