Newbie,, Buying a Defender?????

Hi , New on here and i need a bit of advice...
I am planning on buying myself a Defender and have come across one that has been pretty much restored from the bottom up.... It's a 1987 model.... But my question is that the jeep had an engine conversin at some point with a Nissan Cabstar engine put in...? I don't know a pile about engines but is/was this a popular engine conversion and does it give much trouble????
It seems to be quite a good looking motor but am i better to hold out for one with a 2.5/3l turbo conversion???
Thanks

Try the jeep forum.

1..........go and introduce yourself in the aptly named 'introduce yourself' section

2..........it's NOT a jeep

3..........See no 2

4..........Haven't a clue about the engine

5.........It's STILL not a jeep

Jeep :-0

You don't say that name/thing here

I keep hearing cheep cheep... Somebody shoot the damn canary...

nakgti said:

hi , new on here and i need a bit of advice...

oh god, yet another ..

i am planning on buying myself a defender and have come across one that has been pretty much restored from the bottom up.... It's a 1987 model.... But my question is that the jeep

which jeep is this?

had an engine conversin at some point with a nissan cabstar engine put in...? I don't know a pile about engines but is/was this a popular engine conversion

nope, not at all as far as i know.

and does it give much trouble????

why would a landrover forum know that answer?

it seems to be quite a good looking motor but am i better to hold out for one with a 2.5/3l turbo conversion???

that depends .... Why not ask on a jeep or <spit> nissan forum?

Click to expand...

cba ...

Okay, the engine you're talking about isn't the most popular engine used for conversion. Generally speaking, as far as nissan engines go, the common ones are the 3.3 6 cyl (SD33) or 3.5 4 cyl (FD35). Nissan engines are generally strong and reliable, and if it's a good conversion it'll do fine.

What you need to consider are 2 factors:

1. Parts - When you look for parts for your engine, you will need to know the engine code, and to make life easier you'll need to order parts through a motor factor on the donor vehicle's reg, as sometimes there's quite a few different variations of things like alternators even on the same engine code.

2. Insurance - It may not be a problem, but some insurers can be reluctant to insure you on a vehicle with a non factory engine, or if they do they MAY want to see an engineer's report and/or charge you a higher premium for it.

You're probably better, especially if you're not that mechanically savvy to opt for a vehicle with a standard LR engine, it will make life easier for you when work needs to be done.

Nissan cabstar engine if it is a cabstar e95 its the same as an early nissan d21 engine. Is it a 2.5 turbo or non turbo diesel. The non turbos are strong as hell (TD25) but are low powered.

nakgti said:

Hi , New on here and i need a bit of advice...
I am planning on buying myself a Defender and have come across one that has been pretty much restored from the bottom up.... It's a 1987 model.... But my question is that the jeep had an engine conversin at some point with a Nissan Cabstar engine put in...? I don't know a pile about engines but is/was this a popular engine conversion and does it give much trouble????
It seems to be quite a good looking motor but am i better to hold out for one with a 2.5/3l turbo conversion???
Thanks

Click to expand...

mate...just...unplug your internet cos you don't know how to read, or know sh1t about forums.

also if your contradicting terms "defender" and "jeep", then you also don't know sh1t about cars, let alone 4x4's.

Take it ya don't call Defenders a "jeep" then.....: )Woops , As i said newbie...
Bit extreme here...! Didn't think there was a landy code i had to read first..... But i am sure you'll point me in the right direction...
For the guys who tried to help me thanks for the info....Matt think ya have a good point in relation to any problems that may occur in the future...

Sounds like good advice to me......If you get a Landy with a Landy engine in then at least you'll be up the same ****e creek as the rest of us

nakgti said:

Take it ya don't call Defenders a "jeep" then.....: )Woops , As i said newbie...
Bit extreme here...! Didn't think there was a landy code i had to read first..... But i am sure you'll point me in the right direction...
For the guys who tried to help me thanks for the info....Matt think ya have a good point in relation to any problems that may occur in the future...

Click to expand...

Just do what I'm doin, read through the forum a bit... Get a sense of the humour round here (or at least what some members think of humour ))) and also learn about Landy issues ... Although it may scare you into buying a Jeep

If you get a landy with a cobbled together conversion always going to be finding oddbox parts to fix it. Whilst landies already need parts often you will have more hassle.

Go standard everyday.

chunkymunky said:

If you get a landy with a cobbled together conversion always going to be finding oddbox parts to fix it. Whilst landies already need parts often you will have more hassle.

Go standard everyday.

Click to expand...

Ditto ...

Agreed, I`ve never seen a 2.5 Nissan conversion into a Defender, though I`m told that its a strong engine. And I`ve been overtaken by a few Cabstars doing 80 or so
I`d either go for a more mainstream conversion or stick with standard, and be prepared to look at plenty, there`s some real rubbish around

But what bottom end power would it have. Talking torque.

Cheers folks,,, Think i'll hold out on that one then.... Buy the sounds of it there's always plenty of work just owning one,,, let alone a conversion that could need work and then trying to find the parts that fit..

Always worth holding out for a good one, when you find one theres usually people on here that will volunteer to go check it out with you