300TDi - Petrol ??

Hey all

I have a lovely old 1984 ONETEN.

Its historically been overhauled to 300TDi running gear, but now it's based in London I've hit the dreaded LEZ waggon circle, where TfL, DVLA and LR have no interets in taking responsibility for thier system, and changing fom Utility 4x4 to the record the fact this is definitely a Stationwagon.

Seems the only sensible way out is to re register as a Petrol.... and roll on to teh ULEZ, but that's a different matter! maybe gas in the future...

Any advice on petrol engines compatible with the 300TDi transmission/drive train?

Thanks!

Converting to petrol wont help as it goes on vehicle type, so regardless what engine is in, any Landy that is not a TDCI will not be ULEZ compatible. However an original 2.5 petrol that was originally in it, would be LEZ.
Dont bother with LPG Lft has already screwed people over with that.

Thanks Papasmurf, it sounds like you too know a bit about this.

The LEZ And ULEZ are of course getting confused. They both go on vehicle type... but for the foreseeable the LEZ, which is applicable to a broad definition of ‘commercial vehicles’ only applies for fuel type Diesel. It costs £100 per day or £500 fine per day! And covers more or less everything inside the M25.

The ULEZ is irrespective of fuel type, although much earlier petrols are OK. Currently only effects central London inside the ring road, but is planned to be extended to the circular roads next autumn. It only costs £12 per day if I were to go in and that far.

So swapping to petrol removes the most extensive and more st expensive of the two evils. Hence why I’m going to make the swap, and asked for advice here.

So any answers to the question posed will be most welcome.

Is there a petrol engine that’s compatible with the 300TDi drive train?

Stanland said:

Any advice on petrol engines compatible with the 300TDi transmission/drive train?

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V8 would fit, could use standard land rover parts and lots of people have done it before, but you will suffer on mpg if you do any serious mileage in it. The original 2.5 petrol suggetsed above will also fit but will be far less powerful than the 300tdi you are used to, and they are getting very thin on the ground so finding one (let alone a good one) may be difficult.

I have very little knowledge on this problem but whenever people ask about driving in London and the foolish charges they have implemented the best two pieces of advice I have picked up from other threads are:
1. Avoid London like the plague and go literally anywhere else in the world!
2. If number 1 is not available employ the tactic of a lost front number plate propped up in the windscreen, visible in the windscreen most of the time but conveniently falls down flat when passing though the congestion/lez/ulez cameras.
Anything else that you do seems to make the vehicle "worse"/less usable in some respect, and is not future proof as they will change the rules again.

Another option other than the 2.5 petrol that I suggested, or the V8 as above, would be a Rover T series, or MPI engine from an early 90s Discovery, or most Rovers from late 80s to late 90s. 136bhp and 140ft/lbs of torque. But the power and torque comes in quite high up the rev range so can feel a bit sluggish. Fits straight onto an LT77 or R380 gearbox. These are proven engines in Defenders by the Italian Police. Another option if you want power, is to fit the Turbo version of the T series, 200bhp and (supposidly) 176 ft/lbs of torque, but that could be tuned to increase torque. Either way they were discontinued partially because they are only Euro 3, but also because Rover wanted to use the K series in everything. The MPI is strong, some say it's over engineered, and it's a conversion I'm tempted by, it's certainly a more modern engine, but will take work to adapt to the Defender, and fuel economy is still not good, better than a V8 or 2.5 petrol, but probably about 6mpg down from a 300tdi.

I sold a 3.5 v8 and gearbox to someone up that way for exactly the same reason. Saying they wanted to stick two fingers up and drive further nto London than the top of their whereas they couldn't b4.....but it was about 4 years ago now!

Copied from the TFL site.
“Enforcement of the ULEZ is based on the declared emissions of the vehicle rather than the age. Generally speaking, petrol cars that meet the emissions standards are those registered after 2005. However cars that meet the ULEZ standards have been available since 2000”.

So my 97 V8 disco is subject to the ULEZ, so if as suggested fit a V8 engine which one would that be?.
I also have a 1976 2 litre classic car which is now registered as Historic so that is not subject to the ULEZ

Well the computers running the system will probably just fine you going by the registration of your car, regardless of any conversion that the DVLA Insurance companies etc have approved.
I generally go into London by train, annoyingly enough one place I have to go is 200 yards inside the north circular. Bastards.

Pappasmurf said:

Another option other than the 2.5 petrol that I suggested, or the V8 as above, would be a Rover T series, or MPI engine from an early 90s Discovery, or most Rovers from late 80s to late 90s. 136bhp and 140ft/lbs of torque. But the power and torque comes in quite high up the rev range so can feel a bit sluggish. Fits straight onto an LT77 or R380 gearbox. These are proven engines in Defenders by the Italian Police. Another option if you want power, is to fit the Turbo version of the T series, 200bhp and (supposidly) 176 ft/lbs of torque, but that could be tuned to increase torque. Either way they were discontinued partially because they are only Euro 3, but also because Rover wanted to use the K series in everything. The MPI is strong, some say it's over engineered, and it's a conversion I'm tempted by, it's certainly a more modern engine, but will take work to adapt to the Defender, and fuel economy is still not good, better than a V8 or 2.5 petrol, but probably about 6mpg down from a 300tdi.

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The T series will fit but as said above it'll need work, you'll need the Discovery MPI gearbox (which will then put the gearstick in the wrong place) or the input shaft from the MPI gearbox in the defender box. The torque output for the turbo version is 177lb/ft @ 2100rpm so not that far up the rev range and it has a very flat torque curve, the Rover 800/600 series cars that it was fitted in had very good reviews for its 50-70 acceleration times and it even got 50mpg in one vehicle (NOT a Land Rover though!) The T series engine was over engineered and a proven beast, it was a development of the M series engine which was itself a derivative of the B series engine so any teething problems should have been ironed out by now.

Lol

Option one is a non runner as the car lives in LEZ area

Option 2 not strictly by the book, and limited life span as ULEZ applies to motorcycles too, they'll soon be snapping front and/or rear plates!

Will alll Rover/Landrover V8s bolt up to gearbox pattern lay shaft dis/length?

Muppetdaze said:

Well the computers running the system will probably just fine you going by the registration of your car, regardless of any conversion that the DVLA Insurance companies etc have approved.
I generally go into London by train, annoyingly enough one place I have to go is 200 yards inside the north circular. Bastards.

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Yes but change of fuel type will mean the registration plate won’t flag up to start with!

As DVLA require proof of purchase / fitting new engines (with numbers) it’s important to get this right.

I suspect from what I’ve seen so far getting a T series from a breaker is the way forward...