discovery I engine swap

preacherman

Explorer
It almost seems off topic but...

I second the that it is usually cheaper and more reliable to rebuild the origonal engine on newer trucks. Having done an engine swap before I can say there is ALWAYS a whole can of worms you get into. Most can be over come but take up more time and money than they should. Just read some of the swap threads and look at the issues that come up. All take time to figure out and money to fix.

Having a v8 350 rover would be sweet no doubt, but when you see some cool rig at an event you miss the 100's of hours and $$$$ spent making it work.

my .02.
 

Michael Slade

Untitled
preacherman said:
Having a v8 350 rover would be sweet no doubt, but when you see some cool rig at an event you miss the 100's of hours and $$$$ spent making it work.

Having built *two* of them I can guarantee you that what you have written is the truth.
 

Oilburner

Adventurer
I've seen a few extremely high-mile Rover V8s. 300K miles and up. It's pretty common in warmer climates to see them get high miles but in colder climates it's not as common. My personal opinion is that the Rover V8 is overcooled. The only people that get long life out of them are ones that beat the pants off their engines (80 mph, hills, lots of long commuting). All dead rover V8s seem to be gummed up with gunk/oil sludge.

The problem is we didn't GET any V8s in North America until 1988, so there isn't a vehicle to compare to that 1978 2F, at least not here. If we are comparing apples to apples, an FJ40 would be better compared to a Stage One 109, with a 3.5L V8 and carbs. These had driveline parts that would make any FJ feel inadequate. Or, the australian Stage 1 with an Isuzu 4BD1, which is pretty amazingly close to all the 4BT powered Land-Cruisers that get built. Or, there are lots of high mile 4 cylinder Land-Rover engines all over the world (they are just a little slow for NA and tend to get killed here).

If we compare apples to apples with a 1988 Range Rover, a better comparison would be an FJ62 with the 3FE and A440 power sucking automatic. Then the comparison is less rosy when looking at it this way (3FEs are an awful engine).

LC/LR4Life, engine swaps are way more common on Toyotas than Land-Rovers! How many SBC powered FJ40s are running around? I would guess that most FJs in daily driver usage have had engines swapped out. Do you know what an L series cruiser is? Like a Bundera? LJ78, et al? These are one of the worst engines ever built - 2LT. 3.0L V6 from 4 runner/Minitruck? Junk. The inline 6 from the 80 series? Blows head gaskets.

I've had cruisers and rovers, but the good ones that were made to last. A few 300K mile 3B Cruisers, a couple of Land-Rover series trucks and worked on dozens of either. In both cases reliability was more a function of preventative maintenance than vehicle design.
 

AndrewP

Explorer
Oilburner said:
(3FEs are an awful engine).

.

Curious why you think this?

It's basically a 2F that is better balanced and has fuel injection. It's not modern or high tech, but these routinely run 300k miles with virtually no care. Like all these F series motors, they are surrounded by a heavy and overbuilt truck, so they get poor economy.

In the US, the 3FE has all of it's power sucked away by the massive automatic transmisssion it's attached to. Driving one of these attached to a manual transmission is a whole different world. It's actually a good motor for pushing around a Cruiser. It would be way too much work to swap one into a Rover.

Some have also built 2FEs, using a later 2F block and a 3FE head and fuel injection. That has the reputation of being a very nice motor-it has the power of the 3FE and the low end grunt of the 2F.

Still wondering why the 3FE is aweful? Given the alternatives available when it was built, it works pretty well, and will run forever.
 

Oilburner

Adventurer
revor said:
:lurk:

Just Why Am a contemplateing a 6BT in my 110? ASK J-L

Cause it's worth it. Man, do it. Life is too short. I picked up a Bridgeport and a big huge Kalamazoo bandsaw this weekend in northern NY state, about 100 miles from my place, nice drive down right through the Adirondacks in the boonies. Total weight on the way back was probably 8000 lbs. (Mill is 3000 lbs easy, bandsaw is huge, 12 inch rotary table, plus pallet jack, crane, jacks, tools, rigging stuff on a big 18 ft trailer). Pulled everything right through the Adirondacks, lots of short, steep climbs where you have a stop sign at the bottom, so you can't get a head of steam built up. That truck is never as happy as it is when it's pulling heavy. The engine runs smoother, the turbo actually does what it's supposed to, the suspension gets smoother and the tranny starts to work right. It's an absolute thing of beauty, bystanders give you thumbs up as they hear the semitruck turbo whistle and you pass uphill. Dead reliable, great mileage, lots of power, I love it.

If you're serious about it, call me or PM me, I have some pointers for you, one of which is how to place the turbos (as in 2) because it is easier to fit the 6BT in if you do twins at the same time. Or you can wait a few months until I try it....
 
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Yorker

Adventurer
Oilburner said:
Cause it's worth it. Man, do it. Life is too short. I picked up a Bridgeport and a big huge Kalamazoo bandsaw this weekend in northern NY state, about 100 miles from my place, nice drive down right through the Adirondacks in the boonies...


Hey did you put in that 101 front axle yet that you got from Ben? I wondered if you went to Guy Fawkes this weekend with the other Canadian Guys. Loads of broken stuff there this weekend...
 

Oilburner

Adventurer
AndrewP said:
Curious why you think this?

Given the alternatives available when it was built, it works pretty well, and will run forever.

Yeah, maybe you're right, horrible is a strong word. All the 3FEs I have ever dealt with were in high-mile FJ62, and I've only worked on a couple. All I remember is 3 miles of vacuum line, pre-OBD so diag is a book-reading exercise, and carburetted MPG with FI complexity.

OK. I give you the 3FE. But it's no 3B. And it suffers from the same problem as the later Rover V8s - A good engine design that is unreliable due to all the extra bits the OEM bolted on for NA emissions controls.
 
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Oilburner

Adventurer
Yorker said:
Hey did you put in that 101 front axle yet that you got from Ben? I wondered if you went to Guy Fawkes this weekend with the other Canadian Guys. Loads of broken stuff there this weekend...

Hey, no not yet. I have been too busy fixing my equipment before the snow hits. The mill I dragged home was the last thing I needed the 109 for, and all my parts came in in the last week, so I am finally ready to get started.... But, first I have to get a damn blown up Toyota out of the barn to make room! (99 4 runner). It's hard to take aparts running truck, I feel like I need it every day.

I'm going to update the thread on Pirate tomorrow when I have photos of all the goodies (Tundra calipers, Wilwood rotors, Trek 16X8 wheels, etc).

Again, sorry for the hijack. I will shut up now.
 
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