Engine swap options?

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grindermods said:
Yes seen the gaskets listen on ebay. But will it just be the gasket, is this engine prone to head problems?
Cheers
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Quite a strong engine, because it is in a low state of tune. Setting the valve clearances is a bit of a pain, inlet over exhaust, but it is OK once you get the hang of it.

I don't do ebay for parts, I would ring someone like John Craddock, Turners, or Glencoyne, who know Series inside out, and ask what gasket they recommend.
 
Turboman said:
Quite a strong engine, because it is in a low state of tune. Setting the valve clearances is a bit of a pain, inlet over exhaust, but it is OK once you get the hang of it.

I don't do ebay for parts, I would ring someone like John Craddock, Turners, or Glencoyne, who know Series inside out, and ask what gasket they recommend.
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Yes thankyou wasnt going to buy of ebay but its a good quick reference on an evening to see whats about.
 
grindermods said:
My plan there will be to buy a complete disco
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This is far easier said than done. There aren't as many of the engines around as there used to be and there are far less complete vehicles as most have rotted away and had the engine removed as sat on pallet in the barn!
 
I can see both sides of the camp. Keeping 2.6 running is probably a good thing. But I suspect it probably wouldn't go all that well and will drink fuel.

Personally I think I'd run it first and see what happens. If it is ok and you can afford to fuel it, then no probs. Of course if it turns out it needs major work, it won't have cost you anything to get to this stage and you'll be back at this same decision point. And still with the option of putting the 2.6 to one side, should you even want to revert any mods and bring it back to original condition.

I think the biggest question is. What do you plan to use the vehicle for and how much are you prepared to spend on an engine conversion?

The Tdi units are quite frugal, which is good if you plan to do a lot of miles in it from a pence per mile basis. But my experience says a Tdi in a Series is very loud and unrefined. And not really the place you'd maybe want to spend long periods of time.

I'm not sure what differences there are with the 2.6, although you could look at changing bell housing and/or gearbox I'd have thought. A Rover V8 might well be a nice alternative. More powerful than the 2.6 and probably better on fuel too. Plus it is a well documented engine swap.
 
2.6 did around 16mpg in a 109 my dad owned, compared to 'erm 16mpg his 2.25 did :vb-eyebrows:

Horses for courses It is one of my favourite LR engines, lovely and smooth runs like a sewing machine and has plenty of poke, IMO the series TDI conversion has been done to death would be nice to see a standard series LR saved.

6cyl series land rovers are rare as hens teeth..
 
Henry_b said:
2.6 did around 16mpg in a 109 my dad owned, compared to 'erm 16mpg his 2.25 did :vb-eyebrows:

Horses for courses It is one of my favourite LR engines, lovely and smooth runs like a sewing machine and has plenty of poke, IMO the series TDI conversion has been done to death would be nice to see a standard series LR saved.

6cyl series land rovers are rare as hens teeth..
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That is what I found, there wasn't a vast difference in fuel consumption between 4 and 6 cylinder, or in top speed.
But it was just a much nicer drive, smooth and refined, and sounded very good.

I wouldn't even be thinking about fitting a 25 year + diseasel in one of those, I always thought Land Rover diesels were pretty crap, it won't go much faster unless you change the gearbox or diffs too, and it will be a bit less juicy, but still not very good by modern standards.
Petrol is now cheaper than diesel again too.
 
I don't care what is fitted in anybodys Landy, however it would be a shame to see a fairly rare model in original condition be bastardised.
There are few enough 6 pots around these days and one less would not help.
 
Turboman said:
That is what I found, there wasn't a vast difference in fuel consumption between 4 and 6 cylinder, or in top speed.
But it was just a much nicer drive, smooth and refined, and sounded very good.

I wouldn't even be thinking about fitting a 25 year + diseasel in one of those, I always thought Land Rover diesels were pretty crap, it won't go much faster unless you change the gearbox or diffs too, and it will be a bit less juicy, but still not very good by modern standards.
Petrol is now cheaper than diesel again too.
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I agree, LR diesels left a lot to be desired.

Hope the OP sees sense and keeps it original.
 
Turboman said:
Perkins, Gardner, Toyota, Kubota, Mercedes, Cummins, Ford, Scania, Lister.
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Hello everyone and thanks for the replys.

Ok so im learning to love the 6cylinder via everyones comments.
Didnt realise it was seen as special. Always be lead to think its a lemon that blows head gaskets. Alloy head on cast block is going to lead to uneven movement. And eats fuel.

Regards comments on modern car and engines....well the newest car ive had was and 05 ford galaxy with the vw tdi. That was nice and worked as a family boat. But kids in the boot crumple zone never felt right.

I now have a ford transit mk5 coach built bus. With york banana engine. So reliable and bullet proof.
Other vehicle is a 1960 morris minor.
Last in the stable is our daily. 110 sw on a 1998....its brillant never checked the mpg but seams to est less fuel that the bus which is ok.

Why is a 300tdi in a series seen an bad or noisey option. Its a good no ecu! Engine. i try to only own non ecu vehicles. Is cant be differnt to a defender or can it ?

Again thanks to all commenting
 
Turboman said:
Perkins, Gardner, Toyota, Kubota, Mercedes, Cummins, Ford, Scania, Lister.
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I don't recall any of them being in contemporary 4x4s..... bar maybe Toyota. And most certainly wouldn't have been any better back in the day IMO.

e.g. a Hilux of the same era as the 19j and the TDI engines made as little as 63hp to a max of 93hp in turbo form. Miles behind the Tdi.
 
300bhp/ton said:
I don't recall any of them being in contemporary 4x4s..... bar maybe Toyota. And most certainly wouldn't have been any better back in the day IMO.

e.g. a Hilux of the same era as the 19j and the TDI engines made as little as 63hp to a max of 93hp in turbo form. Miles behind the Tdi.
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Wot about Ford and Mercedes? And the 3.0 Litre engines found in Land Cruisers?
 
grindermods said:
Hello everyone and thanks for the replys.

Ok so im learning to love the 6cylinder via everyones comments.
Didnt realise it was seen as special. Always be lead to think its a lemon that blows head gaskets. Alloy head on cast block is going to lead to uneven movement. And eats fuel.

Regards comments on modern car and engines....well the newest car ive had was and 05 ford galaxy with the vw tdi. That was nice and worked as a family boat. But kids in the boot crumple zone never felt right.

I now have a ford transit mk5 coach built bus. With york banana engine. So reliable and bullet proof.
Other vehicle is a 1960 morris minor.
Last in the stable is our daily. 110 sw on a 1998....its brillant never checked the mpg but seams to est less fuel that the bus which is ok.

Why is a 300tdi in a series seen an bad or noisey option. Its a good no ecu! Engine. i try to only own non ecu vehicles. Is cant be differnt to a defender or can it ?

Again thanks to all commenting
Click to expand...
300 Tdi have an alloy head on a cast iron block too, and they don't do vast mileages on a head gasket either.

Tdi were a reasonable engine by Land Rover standards when new, but they aren't new now.

But the main thing for me would be originality, with a 50 year old vehicle, the original engine is always going to be best.
 
I have a working transit diesel engine with pump, manifold and milner plate from a series 3 which was put back to original, its down in west cornwall, i was going to put it in my petrol but instead kept that in original spec and found a diesel 109 instead,
 
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Turboman said:
Wot about Ford and Mercedes? And the 3.0 Litre engines found in Land Cruisers?
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Ford sold the Maverick (Nissan Terrano) in this period. It had a 2.7 litre 100hp diesel. So bigger displacement and way less power than a Tdi.

Not sure on anything else from Ford. They had car engines, but so did Rover.... so can't really compare them. Although the diesel Escort we had was probably one of the most depressing engines I've ever driven!

Don't know much about the LC diesels. But you can't really compare a 3.0 litre six to a 2.5 four. That would be like saying a Honda 2.0 litre VTEC is rubbish because Ford sell a 5 litre V8.

A quick Google says the 2.8 diesel (3L) was used in the Prado with 88-90hp. The 3 litre (5L) with a max of 95hp. Not sure if these engines where in the models you are thinking of, as the LC lineup is so confusing.... But either way, bigger displacement and quite a bit less power than a Tdi.

As for Mercedes, well the only 4x4 they offered in the 19j/Tdi era was the G-Wagon, which was quite a lot more money. But looking at the diesel engines offered they are hardly comparable to the 19j in terms of power and way behind a 200Tdi.

Screenshot 2023-09-27 at 10.39.39 am.png


Turboman said:
300 Tdi have an alloy head on a cast iron block too, and they don't do vast mileages on a head gasket either.

Tdi were a reasonable engine by Land Rover standards when new, but they aren't new now.
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Tdi's run forever, loads with well over 200,000 miles on them no bother at all. When new, as said they were class leading.

e.g. the 2.5Td Shogun only made 94-98bhp.
 
300bhp/ton said:
Ford sold the Maverick (Nissan Terrano) in this period. It had a 2.7 litre 100hp diesel. So bigger displacement and way less power than a Tdi.

Not sure on anything else from Ford. They had car engines, but so did Rover.... so can't really compare them. Although the diesel Escort we had was probably one of the most depressing engines I've ever driven!

Don't know much about the LC diesels. But you can't really compare a 3.0 litre six to a 2.5 four. That would be like saying a Honda 2.0 litre VTEC is rubbish because Ford sell a 5 litre V8.

A quick Google says the 2.8 diesel (3L) was used in the Prado with 88-90hp. The 3 litre (5L) with a max of 95hp. Not sure if these engines where in the models you are thinking of, as the LC lineup is so confusing.... But either way, bigger displacement and quite a bit less power than a Tdi.

As for Mercedes, well the only 4x4 they offered in the 19j/Tdi era was the G-Wagon, which was quite a lot more money. But looking at the diesel engines offered they are hardly comparable to the 19j in terms of power and way behind a 200Tdi.

View attachment 298802


Tdi's run forever, loads with well over 200,000 miles on them no bother at all. When new, as said they were class leading.

e.g. the 2.5Td Shogun only made 94-98bhp.
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One thing I would agree with is that the engines In Shoguns are crap.

I don't think I am as interested in power and performance as you, probably because I have never been much interested in cars and road driving, which to me is a tedious chore.

I am more interested in tractors, classic vehicles, and of course boats, where until recently turbocharging rarely featured.

At the end of the day, though, there is room for all opinions, and if you like Landrover diesels and I don't, I don't regard that as a problem, it is just a different opinion.
 
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