Series 2 Series 2 Engine

This site contains affiliate links for which LandyZone may be compensated if you make a purchase.

Which do you prefer?

  • Series 2

    Votes: 6 60.0%
  • Series 3

    Votes: 3 30.0%
  • Defender

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Discover

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Series 1

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Discovery 1

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Series 1

    Votes: 1 10.0%

  • Total voters
    10

Tumor

Active Member
Posts
182
Location
dunedin, new zealand
I found an old Series 2 yesterday with an engine init, but the report was that its got a cracked head(which is not there), but there is a BMW straight six with a tranny in the same shed.
Wondering if anyone a slipped one of these engines in a series 2 before?

Also the chassis are in quite bad condition, is there a website with quality parts for Series Rovers?

Thanks.
 
Last edited:
doesn't seem to have much in the way of engine conversions....
Just wondering do you have the modify the bulkhead at all with some engines?...... e.g the Nissan ED33 (Trailstar has one in his 109in Series 3)
 
doesn't seem to have much in the way of engine conversions....
Just wondering do you have the modify the bulkhead at all with some engines?...... e.g the Nissan ED33 (Trailstar has one in his 109in Series 3)
yeah i remember trailstar talking about spotting a landrover yesterday, people were talking on pirate4x4.com about the nissan ed33, and they were saying that engine can be very heavy as in weigh a lot more then a series engine, some engines dont need modifications to the bulkhead or firewall, to make it fit, as long as the engine you are using is within the dimensions of an original engine, some engines will also require the cutting of the front cross member near the radiator, or remounting of the engine mounts,
i remember reading a story in a landrover mag where a man placed a straight 6 BMW petrol in a defender, and apparently in South Africa they had a 6 cylinder diesel BMW fitted instead of the rover 2.5 4cyl diesel.


some custom landrover series 2a 109 with a v-12

how about a jaguar V-12 in a series 3 http://retrorides.proboards.com/thread/171776/1981-land-rover-diff-dilemma

Tony
 

Attachments

  • Land_Rover_Defender_2.8i_engine.jpg
    Land_Rover_Defender_2.8i_engine.jpg
    383.4 KB · Views: 3,382
  • I9ECU429.jpg
    I9ECU429.jpg
    76.5 KB · Views: 2,203
  • Bell-Aurens-Longnose-fotoshowImage-8cabb852-258203.jpg
    Bell-Aurens-Longnose-fotoshowImage-8cabb852-258203.jpg
    119.5 KB · Views: 2,324
haha that's quite extreme!!!! ;)
Thanks for that info, can you fit a 3.9L 4bt Cummins in these?
a few people in england have installed them into defender's i think to get one into a series landrover one of the cross members needs to be removed, i.e the cross member under the bell housing, im not 100% sure on that though,

i know you can fit a isuzu 3.9l 4BD1, as the army in australia had them in just about every 110 landrover, they sold them off around a few years ago they now use the mercedes g-wagon type military version.
 
okay....... maybe not
thanks for the info so far...
can you fit either a 200tdi or 300tdi in them, without too much work?

I know that they are similar, but, is there a noticeable difference between the 300 & 200tdi?
 
I found an old Series 2 yesterday with an engine init, but the report was that its got a cracked head(which is not there), but there is a BMW straight six with a tranny in the same shed.
Wondering if anyone a slipped one of these engines in a series 2 before?

Also the chassis are in quite bad condition, is there a website with quality parts for Series Rovers?

Thanks.
Which BMW straight 6?

You've had a few threads about engines haven't you?

As a rule most engines can be made to fit the space. The only restriction on a Series is if you want to keep the recessed radiator and grill. Fitting a Defender/Stage 1 front panel will give you the same size engine bay as a Defender. Which means all manner of engines will fit in the space.

You'd only modify the bulk head for a specific reason. Usually down to engine location.

Now the much bigger and complex questions on engine swaps are, how will you mate it to the gearbox? what gearbox? How will it mate to the rest of the drive train? Steering? Accessories? Engine mounts?

The standard gearbox already fits the transfer box. Which fits the props and the rest of the drivetrain. If you want to retain this, you'll need to mate the engine to the box. Which may involve a custom bell housing. Or you look to use a gearbox that already fits the engine. In which case you'll need an adapter to fit the transfer box. Or you find a gearbox and transfer box that fit the engine. But then you'll have to fabricate mounting for all of them and some how make it fit the rest of the drivetrain. But you may want to replace the axles too at this point.

Once you have this sorted. You can fab up engine mounts. And then address things like a custom exhaust, induction, water system, wiring and so on.

This is why most engine swaps are usually from the same maker. You can replace a Series engine with a Tdi and it'll mate right up to the same gearbox. Which makes it easy. The Rover V8 is also fairly easy. The Td5 could be used too. For similar reasons.

Later Rover gearboxes also mate to all the engines, so make for sensible swaps. They will require some degree of fabrication. But it's a much more bolt it together excercise. And of course lots of people have done it before.

For non LR engines, it's all possible. But will require far more work. And work usually entails lots more time and lots more money. Also having items bespokely made can be trial and error and any R&D comes with risk of it not working as intended.

And you have to weigh up the gains. If the end result is no better than something that would have cost half the amount and taken a quarter of the time to do. Then why bother?
 
okay....... maybe not
thanks for the info so far...
can you fit either a 200tdi or 300tdi in them, without too much work?

I know that they are similar, but, is there a noticeable difference between the 300 & 200tdi?
200 tdi is very close to a series diesel where as the 300tdi had the turbo in a different position and i think the engine mountings are different,
200tdi would be the better way to go as all is needed is the moving of the front chassis engine mounts, or if you really wanted more info do a search on this site, enter in (200tdi into series landrover)
a standard petrol land rover engine is a good engine nice and quiet compared to a diesel but the downside is you loose down hill engine braking. i just ride the brake when going down a hill in mine, and at times just let the brake off for a few seconds so the shoes can cool down a little.

Tony.
 
Which BMW straight 6?

You've had a few threads about engines haven't you?

As a rule most engines can be made to fit the space. The only restriction on a Series is if you want to keep the recessed radiator and grill. Fitting a Defender/Stage 1 front panel will give you the same size engine bay as a Defender. Which means all manner of engines will fit in the space.

You'd only modify the bulk head for a specific reason. Usually down to engine location.

Now the much bigger and complex questions on engine swaps are, how will you mate it to the gearbox? what gearbox? How will it mate to the rest of the drive train? Steering? Accessories? Engine mounts?

The standard gearbox already fits the transfer box. Which fits the props and the rest of the drivetrain. If you want to retain this, you'll need to mate the engine to the box. Which may involve a custom bell housing. Or you look to use a gearbox that already fits the engine. In which case you'll need an adapter to fit the transfer box. Or you find a gearbox and transfer box that fit the engine. But then you'll have to fabricate mounting for all of them and some how make it fit the rest of the drivetrain. But you may want to replace the axles too at this point.

Once you have this sorted. You can fab up engine mounts. And then address things like a custom exhaust, induction, water system, wiring and so on.

This is why most engine swaps are usually from the same maker. You can replace a Series engine with a Tdi and it'll mate right up to the same gearbox. Which makes it easy. The Rover V8 is also fairly easy. The Td5 could be used too. For similar reasons.

Later Rover gearboxes also mate to all the engines, so make for sensible swaps. They will require some degree of fabrication. But it's a much more bolt it together excercise. And of course lots of people have done it before.

For non LR engines, it's all possible. But will require far more work. And work usually entails lots more time and lots more money. Also having items bespokely made can be trial and error and any R&D comes with risk of it not working as intended.

And you have to weigh up the gains. If the end result is no better than something that would have cost half the amount and taken a quarter of the time to do. Then why bother?

yeah i have read a few..... thanks for the info
sorry im not sure on what type the BMW 6-er it is but i have given up on that i coz i want a diesel after driving trailstars Nissan ED33 ( and watching ;)) powered SIII just last weekend.
looking more towards 200tdi/300tdi
 
200 tdi is very close to a series diesel where as the 300tdi had the turbo in a different position and i think the engine mountings are different,
200tdi would be the better way to go as all is needed is the moving of the front chassis engine mounts, or if you really wanted more info do a search on this site, enter in (200tdi into series landrover)
a standard petrol land rover engine is a good engine nice and quiet compared to a diesel but the downside is you loose down hill engine braking. i just ride the brake when going down a hill in mine, and at times just let the brake off for a few seconds so the shoes can cool down a little.

okay, thanks.
can you get aftermarket, pre-made engine mounts for the 300tdi?
 
serious thanks a lot tony..... and everyone else, been so helpful... dunno what i would do without you lot!!!!

yeah after the very useful information you have been giving me, i am looking towards a 200TDi now....
 
A 200Tdi into a Series is an easy fit. It basically bolts straight in, the mounts are fine and it'll fit the Series gearbox.

If you go for a Disco engine (has the turbo mounted low), then you will need a custom exhaust to go around the chassis leg on an 88. I think a 109 is different and will normally require a Defender style turbo setup, with it mounted higher.

300Tdi's are essentially the same engine in terms of performance. Although underwent some manufacturing changes. These changes mean they aren't as easy to fit to a Series. They can be done, but will require more work. But there is no real gain to be had from them, other than maybe availability of 300Tdi engines over 200's.

There is some useful info here:
https://www.steveparkers.com/
 
A 200Tdi into a Series is an easy fit. It basically bolts straight in, the mounts are fine and it'll fit the Series gearbox.

If you go for a Disco engine (has the turbo mounted low), then you will need a custom exhaust to go around the chassis leg on an 88. I think a 109 is different and will normally require a Defender style turbo setup, with it mounted higher.

300Tdi's are essentially the same engine in terms of performance. Although underwent some manufacturing changes. These changes mean they aren't as easy to fit to a Series. They can be done, but will require more work. But there is no real gain to be had from them, other than maybe availability of 300Tdi engines over 200's.

There is some useful info here:
https://www.steveparkers.com/

thanks for that, looks like the website i was hoping for.
 
i was talking to my friend Trailstar the other day about changing the engine in this series land rover, and he said you would need to change out the axles because the standard items wouldn't handle the extra power etc. Not that i would doubt his knowledge, but is this true?

thanks.
 
i was talking to my friend Trailstar the other day about changing the engine in this series land rover, and he said you would need to change out the axles because the standard items wouldn't handle the extra power etc. Not that i would doubt his knowledge, but is this true?

thanks.
handle a tdi ok as with any other depends on your foot, though swapping diffs for 3.54 diffs might help driving character
 
if you were going for something that had similar power to a 300 or a v8 it would need some heavier axles even if it is just to be safe, but a 200tdi would be alright, but like james says you might get a bit more drivability from 3.54's...
does anyone know what is required to fit discovery axles to a series 3 ?? i found out my landys got them on the front - thanks tony!, but wouldnt mind knowing what the swap invloves....
 
Last edited:
i was talking to my friend Trailstar the other day about changing the engine in this series land rover, and he said you would need to change out the axles because the standard items wouldn't handle the extra power etc. Not that i would doubt his knowledge, but is this true?

thanks.
Standards axles with standard sized tyres and standard'ish power will be fine mostly. And cheap and easy to repair should you break any bits.

If you plan on big aggressive tyres and somewhat reckless driving. Then you can break axles with a stock motor. That said a Tdi or 150hp Rover V8 shouldn't be a major problem. If you are aiming for more power than this and plan to abuse it. Then yes you will need to upgrade. But that will be true of the gearbox too.
 
Back
Top