NA diesel to 200tdi

I am looking for a 200tdi engine for my 1985 90. I have no experience of them so does anyone have any pointers when shopping around. I am considering buying a MoT failiure disco to pull the engine out of, any specifics to look out for?

Also is putting a discovery transfer gear in best for econemy?

I think the gearbox needs a bit of modification to go in (someone please confirm!!) but with the engine, it's good to make sure it's running and smoothly revs right the way up (don't let someone tell you "they all do that" when it sounds iffy, dodgy sellers...they all do that!

Big clouds of black smoke, get it to start from cold, oil in the water, check the oil for cleanliness, all the usuals really.

search for patmans thread on doin his conversion

200tdi's are great for reliability and longevity but i have had to rebuild a few. mainly due to lack of servicing. people think great, an engine that will last forever! sometimes not the case.
A friend of mine has one that is original 1990 which has done over 300,000 miles due to the fact that since he bought the 90 new he has serviced it every 5000 miles without question.
on the other hand a customer of mine had to have a complete rebuild at 120,000. I dont think the oil had ever been changed, it was like tar!
there are a lot of good ones out there and is easy enough to tell which are good.
Have a look at the oil, it will be black because its a diesel but if its thick and smells burnt be wary as its been there far too long. this greatly affects turbo life too, with old oil they can die very quickly.
If it is covered in oil and crap that is another sign of neglect.
Another failure is the injector pumps. caused by our super eco friendly low sulphur fuel the pumps can corrode internally and fail. It happened to mine last year.
If you do get an engine go right through it, dont take any chances. change the timing belt and both the idler and tensioner pulleys and the cam and crank seals as i've seen a couple of these go also.
On the plus side of all this they are cheap to rebuild. I completely rebuilt my own engine 2 years ago after a big end bearing went.
New crank, cam, 1 piston, rings, cam followers etc. a rebore was not necessary as they were actually like new. think it was somewhere around £650.
As for the 90 bellhousing depending what engine you are taking out you can swap the flywheel housings over from a diesel or drill and tap the bottom 4 or 5 blank holes in the disco housing for the relevant studs.
Engine mounts will fit from the old diesel engines.
The disco transfer box is good for road work but if you do some towing they can struggle a little but are a great improvement for cruising and is a straight swap for the 90 box.
the tricky bit is the intercooler hoses and downpipe but this is made easier by various people selling kits for them on ebay, although the cost can add up!
Good luck whatever you decide to do!