I had a 3.5 V8 in my LR until I dismantled the vehicle. It was the basic 134HP version, LT85 and electronic ignition. It used to struggle to tow a trailer and "row it along on the gear-lever" was often the case. Now I intend to re-build it but with a bigger V8. It's not that I wish to hurtle away from the traffic lights I just want to be able to tow a 3500 kg trailer, when necessary and to make driving it a pleasure rather than an effort.
I had looked at Chevrolet LS engines because they were all aluminium and they have been fitted into Land Rovers. Then I considered the later Ford V8s as fitted to Mustangs but has anyone had any experience of fitting either and which would be better?
The stock RV8 is somewhat strangled with a low CR setup. Plus at this age, chances are it is a bit worn. RV8's have a tendency to wear the lifters and/or cam. So it might be making a lot less power than it did originally.
The factory 90 also had taller gearing than other 90's. I would assume the 110 might be similar. They have a different transfer box to a diesel powered same era vehicle. This blunts the performance IMO.
As for going for other engines. The questions are:
- how much money do you have to spend
- how much can you do yourself
The reason for this is, pretty much any of the swaps are expensive.
The Chevy LS1 engines are awesome (have owned 2, still have 1, but not in a Landy). They are bigger and heavier than a Rover V8, but not by much. However finding them in the UK is difficult, expect to pay somewhere between £3000-6000 for an engine.
Fitting them in the engine bay is the easy bit. The difficult bit is getting them to connect to the drivetrain. There is a company in Australia called Marks adapters that make a kit to mate a Chevy LS to an R380 gearbox. I have no idea if this would work with an LT-85, but it might. The R380 is sadly not up to the task of the Chevy LS1 by many magnitudes. So it would be a matter of 'when', rather 'if' it would break. The LT-85 is stouter, but I don't know of anyone running one with a Chevy LS motor.
The next option is, you could use an automatic transmission. The GM 4L80e is a good box and in the UK was used on some Jags and maybe other vehicles. Although I don't know if the Jag ones are the same or if you'd need a specific one for a 4wd. Else you will be needing to import one from the USA. Where it is common and found in many vehicles. The reason for doing this is, Marks Adapters also sell an adapter to connect this gearbox to the LT230.
The next option would be to replace the transfer box as well with an aftermarket one. Lots of choice in the USA, but unlikely to find them used in the UK. However many of these will be 2wd high with no centre diff. Do you may create additional things to solve.
Either way you will need:
- an engine that mates to a gearbox
- and a gearbox that mates to the transfer box
This is before you start worrying about actual installation and fitment.
If you want to go down the Ford route. Then the gearbox from a Puma Defender (2.4 or 2.2) is the same gearbox as used in the Mustang. However it also mates to that era LT230. This means a Ford V8 (or V6) will be possible to retro fit. The Ford V8 is however HUGE and heavy. And again pretty rare in the UK, although as the Mustang is sold here now, you might find one. You should be able to use the 4.6 modular V8 from past Ford cars right thru to the 5.0 Coyote variant. I'm not use but the 3v 5.4 might also work, but you'd need to research this.
There is a company in the UK offering the 3.7 V6 from the 2012 Mustang to be fitted to the Puma Defender. However they want a somewhat ridiculous £15k as a starting price.
Other V8 options could include the Jaguar V8 if you want to keep it in the family. However you'd likely need to transplant the entire drivetrain (gearbox/transfer box). I am told these will mate the ZF 6 speed manual from a Disco 3. But you'd still need to either use the D3's transfer box or somehow retro fit and LT230. Sadly I've not seen anyone fit these to any of the older Rover/Leyland manual boxes.
Lexus V8's are pretty cheap to buy. There is someone with their own custom adapter running one of these in a 109 or 110. But lots of R&D required. Or you could transplant an entire Toyota driveline with the engine.
BMW V8's where used in the L322 Range Rover. These use a GM 5 speed auto box, I don't know if this is similar to the 4L80e mentioned earlier and if it could be adapted to an LT230 easily. BMW 6 cylinder diesel engines where also used in the P38 Range Rover, with the R380 manual box and ZF auto's. I do not know if there 6 cylinder and V8's share a common bellhousing pattern or not. But might be worth exploring.
Dodge (Jeep) Hemi V8's have also been fitted to Defenders. But again with an entire driveline.
HOWEVER......
Arguably the easiest way to go is a latter Rover V8. A 3.9, 4.0 or 4.6 would be perfectly suitable. And as long as you don't strangle them on twin carbs. They all will massively out perform a low CR 3.5 engine. And as the saying goes, there's no replacement for displacement. The 4.6 will have the most low down torque and be the best for towing.
If you want more power, all of the RV8 engines can be modified to produce more power. There are even stroker kits for more displacement or you could look at turbo or supercharging.
For anything other than an RV8, I'd say you'd need to budget anywhere from £5000-20,000 depending on what you go for and how much you can do yourself. A Rover V8 is by far the cheapest option.
