Perkins 4203 HELP

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As for the gas flowing it was a hard long struggle. A friend of mine had a old head which was scrap so I got it cut in half so as to see how much metal thickness there is to play with before you grind into the water jacket. There is no consistant thickness so it was very hard to do safely. I used a dygrinder and about 4 hours of my spare time cutting the inlet and exhaust ports. The ports are very restrictive and you have to get the gasses out before you can get more in. I started with the Exhaust ports first and took a fair amount out which opened the ports alot. Then did the inlets next. The exhaust was a easy job. I got rid of the original baffle box and fit a Renault 2.5D van box which allows the engine to breath alot more. I have done alot of miles and hard work with the landy in this state and it has never missed a beat. Also the old oil bath is another modification. This part is VERY VERY VERY restrictive and needs to go. Fit a Landrover 90 or 110 air box. All these conversions and the landy 90 diffs have transformed my series into a fuel economical more powerfull 2.25 Diesel. It flys and there is another member on here called BANDITMAN who drives a V8 Range Rover and he still cannot believe its a 2.25D. He says its BLOODY QUICK. Send him a PM and ask him his opinion.

:rolleyes: At this point its where you get the others coming on here and saying "YOU DONT WANT TO DO THAT. IT WAS DESIGNED LIKE THAT FOR A REASON." Well all I have to say to comments like that are " THERE IS ALWAYS ROOM FOR IMPROVMENT" :D
 
Miniman said:
As for the gas flowing it was a hard long struggle. A friend of mine had a old head which was scrap so I got it cut in half so as to see how much metal thickness there is to play with before you grind into the water jacket. There is no consistant thickness so it was very hard to do safely. I used a dygrinder and about 4 hours of my spare time cutting the inlet and exhaust ports. The ports are very restrictive and you have to get the gasses out before you can get more in. I started with the Exhaust ports first and took a fair amount out which opened the ports alot. Then did the inlets next. The exhaust was a easy job. I got rid of the original baffle box and fit a Renault 2.5D van box which allows the engine to breath alot more. I have done alot of miles and hard work with the landy in this state and it has never missed a beat. Also the old oil bath is another modification. This part is VERY VERY VERY restrictive and needs to go. Fit a Landrover 90 or 110 air box. All these conversions and the landy 90 diffs have transformed my series into a fuel economical more powerfull 2.25 Diesel. It flys and there is another member on here called BANDITMAN who drives a V8 Range Rover and he still cannot believe its a 2.25D. He says its BLOODY QUICK. Send him a PM and ask him his opinion.

:rolleyes: At this point its where you get the others coming on here and saying "YOU DONT WANT TO DO THAT. IT WAS DESIGNED LIKE THAT FOR A REASON." Well all I have to say to comments like that are " THERE IS ALWAYS ROOM FOR IMPROVMENT" :D
Click to expand...

Thanks. I am with you in that there is always room for improvement. Very few people go to the trouble of getting speed out of a diesel engine. As they say " the proof of the pudding is when you eat it !"

Replacing the oil bath is easy, but the others are not quite clear. When you say baffles do you mean the exhaust manifold ? How did you gas flow the ports ? Would you have any pics ?

Also how did you do the custom exhaust ?
 
Baffles I mean the exhaust box. Its too small and hard for the engine to blow the gasses through. The exhaust manifold I just opend up the ports to suit the ports on the head. I have no photos I am afraid. Sorry about this may be next time....
 
i have a perkins 4203 workshop book drop me a line i will see if i can scan it in
i run the 4203 in a stage 1, yes it leaks oil , yes is slow , but i have had no problems with it , and the last owner had it in for 10 years with no problems , may be cause i got a salasbery rear axle and a range gear box in , get about 30 mpg on a run top speeds around 65
 
just found a this on ebay 4617620095 its the same one as i have !

also if your serching the net for info look for 4.203 this will give more results than 4203

hope this helps paul
 
The perkins engine has more torque, low down, than any other engine listed so far.. But as you know, they don't rev.. With the overdrive fitted you can easily forget its in and pull away in 1st od without any problem, but the overdrive box isnt meant to take that much abuse!.. Strangely they hold together.. Unlike thoses 'micky mouse' Rover Diffs and halfshafts which break for a pass time!
The Perkins in my 2a also ate gear box Layshaft bearings, but....
if you go for the Suffix C main and Transfer box (bigger Layshft bearings) all you need to do then is get your gearing right..
But first that rear axel.. Get yourself a salisbury.. The LWB spring pads will need moving for a SWB. The standard axel ratio being 4.7:1, but they also done a 3.5:1 which went into the stage 1 V8. If you do the maths you'll see a big increase in road speed/RPM. Then fit some bigger tyres and that Perkins will be a far happier choice.
A 3.5 rover diff for the Front axel was easy to get hold of 10-15 years ago so they could be thin on the ground now.. But with FWH fitted you have no worries with wind-up or when you need 4WD in the mud you should get way with it..
I never have any start-up problems with mine, even on the coldest of mornings...
The perkins is a heavier engine, so i've fitted One Ton front springs and hangers all round..

In this new go faster world it sounds like a bit of an effort, but in this throw away world of, fly by wire diesel engines, all held together by an elastic bands...(timing belts do break) the old perkins will still be going strong.
If you want a perkins under the bonnet you do have to have the transmission to go with it.. Just to recap, those rover axels are Sh@t.. And they still fit the things to Discoveries, which also break... (ok before the lastest, ugly incarnation)....
 
Now then funny enough I have a complete 109 with a sailbury axel on the rear. But I think I need to get a 110 rear axel which should be 3.54.1. Then fit my 3.54.1 rover diff in the front. You talk about gearbox's like you are very up on them. How do I tell what box I have. I was looking at the box on the perkins the other day and its got a strange cap on the top where there is usualy a steel round plate with a breather hole. I was wondering if that is a series 2a box or may be a 2. As we all know the series 2a is a stronger box. Where do I find the gearbox serial No ?
Also how can I tell what box it is from the No.

Cheers for your help and sorry to be a pain...

Chris:D
 
The cap on the box you see is an oil cap that Ive seen fitted to alot of older boxes, but you cant tell much from that. On the side of the main Gbox you'll see some numbers followed by a letter which will be the suffix.
The other area of weakness is the Transfer box.. Early models have quite a small diameter Intermediate gear shaft, and so the later, post C suffix has larger internals..
As for the rear axel. If you get a 110 salisbury, first you'll need to change the spring mounts to take leaf and the next problem is the track, which will be quite a bit wider than you want.. You could still fit it but it would look terrible...I think and you'll need those spats on the side to keep it legal.. You could try a remove the diff and fit it to the narrower axel which may well be the way to go, as stage 1 v8 axels, with 3.5 diffs, may be next to impossible to find.
Look at the workshop manual for other ways to find the box you need.
 
Hi I wouldn't worry that much about gearboxes at this stage, otherwise you'll never get to first base. If you can get your axels right the gear box should be up to it.
My older gear box arrangement was alot weaker, on paper, than what I have now, but it took some abuse!
I was trying to reduce my gearing so I mixed and matched to give me lower first and reverse ratios...i.e a suffix C main box with suffix A , 2.888:1 transferbox ratios.. But high range remained un-altered. Perfect for what I wanted.
You want to up your gearing. I found Ian Ashcroft offered some great gear options. If you want to up the gearing you should look there..
You can change the intermediate gears in the transfer box to give you a
20 something % gearing increase in high range.
If you then fitted your overdrive box, together with your stronger 3.5:1Salisbury axel, that will give you (at a guess) around 30 MPH/1000 rpm..
Just think at 90 you could be doing just 3000 rpm!
Just make sure you get that rear axel sorted, i.e the stronger Salisbury with the 3.5 diff, then get on to Ian ashcroft to see what options you have for upping the transfer box ratios. If you sort that you'll have a reliable flyer!!
As they say...."Just Do It!"

Another little gem.. The salisbury axel would appear to be the same as the American Dana 60.. The detroit locker fits it so would tend to confirm it.. If you look in the american off road mags it amazing whats available for the dana 60.. You could get yourself a high ratio diff from that source, maybe with LSD or Locking diff.. Other ratios too, not just 3.5 but higher!!
Tell us how it goes.. When you overtake flash harry in his rubber belt Tdi who told you how crap the dated, heavy Perkins is, only then will it be a success..
 
Well funny enough I got a 110 sailbury axel today and am in the process of fitting the diff in my 109 axel. 3.54.1 diff that is I already have a 3.54.1 diff on the 88" so front and rear are now sorted. I only have till the 18th of this month to get a box sorted and money is very tight so the messing about with pulling a gearbox to bits will have to wait otherwise I will be without a motor for a month. I can build a box after that and then fit it one weekend. Its my everyday motor you see which makes things harder. I have coming a series 2 & 2a gearbox. The gearbox which is on the Perkins at the moment is a suffix A. What can you tell me about this box ? I also in the shed have a A box which shed a tooth whilst off roading and that was with a 2.25D. So I am thinking you are going to tell me that this box is the worst of the bunch. I may be wrong and the box I blew could have been bad form when I picked it up. Any info would be brill... Cheers for all your help. Also when I get it on the road I will be going to find flash harry and rub the salt into the wound. ;)
 
Before you start the work on The diff swaps, count the number and courseness of the splins on the half shafts.. Fingers crossed they'll be the same.. Unlike the rover axel you'll need to stretch the axel caseing to remove the diff, so make sure you have all the tools before you start..
As for the gearbox, you can live with what you've got but its not ideal.. As you said the humble 2.25 diesel caused a tooth loss.. I bet its on the first gear wheel. Remember, not many people that I know of, have a clue about changing correctly and with a non syncro box you can easily break things.. I think the broken tooth was the result of years of gear crunching, before it finally let go. Like half shafts which tend to let go when you pull away at a flat T junction.
Tell me how the diff swap goes.

Tony.
I live in Cornwall by the way.
 
Just bought a 4203 in a 109 Series 3, can anyone send me a pic of an exhaust manifold for this engine as the one fitted has been cobbled together in a gas stop as opposed to gas flow kind of way.
Thanks..Dave
 
Sorry mate that post was a year old. I found out it had a load of leaking valves and the head gasket was shafted. If you are interested in gas flowing and all the tuning stuff. Find a book called Tuning BL A seires engines By David Vizard its about the mini engine but is very good to learn about tuning. It does everything form lightening and balencing the pistons to gas flowing. ;)
 
Hi can anyone help me . I'm installing a 4203 in my ex mil 2A 109 (with 900s) and find that the engine mountings on the chassis are slightly out. The fabricated mounts that came with the engine only slightly solve the problem, but on the far side the chassis bracket (unaltered) rubs on the oil filter housing. Anyone else got the same problem. Also the thermostat housing points in the completely the wrong dirction making the standard rad impossible to fit. I've used a 6 cylinder rad so the bottom hose (roughy) lines up, but the top hose need to do a swan neck back to the left hand side of the bay. Any suggestions as to where one can get a thermostat housing that comes out straight towards the rad, not towards the right corner of the veh. Also Did any one have any problems with the adapter ring. I found mine was about 5mm too deep - the clutch arm (ser3 box) bottomed out in the bellhousing before completely disengaging the clutch? Had to fit washers beneath the clutch arm pivot ball to bring it closer to the flywheel. Cheers, AH.
 
CV12 said:
Hi can anyone help me quote]

CV12, i've got a S3 with a 4203 fitted (well i think its a 4203, the manual i got with it is for a 4203!!), i didnt fit it myself but i'll have a look an see how some of your problems were resolved/ what parts were used. i'm offshore at the mo but off the top of me heed i can recall its got a substantially thiner rad than a standard landy one and i think the top rad hose is enters the thermostat housing vertically. the lube oil filter is mounted at an angle but in the manual it shows it sits vertically and its also got a S2 gearbox (one with no syncromesh on 1st and 2nd) which was either installed at the same time cos it was a better match for the engine or the more likely that the engine minced the origional S3 one!! i'll have a look when i get home next week.
Click to expand...
 
here's a few photee's of me injun
perkinsenginefromfront.jpg

perkinsinjun.jpg

the engine's anti-corrosion system is in perfect working order, giving pretty much the whole engine a coating in oil! the exhaust manifold is a super high performance air flow maximisation design so i'm told...... :D

oilfilterperkins.jpg


the filter mounting only apears to have one bolt holding it on, not sure if its the origional one for the engine. the guy who built is obviously couldnt find a better thermostat housing either!!
 
love the 4203 great in a series landy plenty of grunt looking for 1 now.
had 1 in me series 3 for 10 year always started never any bother
 
It was a fantastic engine. I never blew a diff but I must admit if your foot slipped off the clutch it would easy pop the gearbox or a diff maybe even a halfshaft but I never did. Fantastic toy to play with after the 2.5N/A setup...
 
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