Rare Range Rover?

[Douglas S.]

About a year ago, my Dad picked up a 1994 SWB Range Rover, sold from the factory with a 5.0 TVR V8. Based on my research it was converted by a company called "Lichfield" before being shipped to the dealer in Canada to be sold. It has some other things like a quick ratio steering box and a momo wheel, but apart from that I can't find anything that sets it apart. Has anyone ever heard of these before? It seems that very little information is available.



Thanks

 

[RonL]

Pictures?

 

[stevenmd]

TerriAnn? Tom?

 

[4xdog]

Lichfield was a well-known "tuner" of Range Rovers in the 80s and 90s. They were tested in all the magazines, and advertised in the marque-specific publications.

Don't know what happened to them, but there should be **lots** of info out there.

Don

 

[UK4X4]

google is your friend

http://www.wods.dk/RangeRover/hi/conversion/r-hist-conv-1994-Lichfield.htm

 

[Douglas S.]

google is your friend

http://www.wods.dk/RangeRover/hi/conversion/r-hist-conv-1994-Lichfield.htm

Not very many around at all it seems. Strangely, even Land Rover didn't know what I was talking about when I emailed.

This conversion wasn't exactly the greatest idea for the rover v8 either. Because of the extra boring done in the cylinders, ours has a cracked block and the engine is currently getting a full rebuild. I'll try to get some pics up when we get the motor back.

 

[bobtail4x4]

Lichfield was a well-known "tuner" of Range Rovers in the 80s and 90s. They were tested in all the magazines, and advertised in the marque-specific publications.

Don't know what happened to them, but there should be **lots** of info out there.

Don

Lichfield as in the queens cousin patrick lichfield. it was a trim and tuning model, I think by overfinch.

 

[Douglas S.]

Little bit of an update to this thread.

The motor is finally finished. We shippped it out to Mark at D&D Fabrication in Michigan. Now we're trying to find a way to ship it back.

He put some pictures of it on the main page of his website if you want to take a look.

http://www.aluminumv8.com/

It has been top-hat sleeved, in a fresh block with high flow heads and petronix ignition. Pretty much the only things left from the original TVR 5.0 are the crank and the connecting rods.

 

[RabidRover]

Little bit of an update to this thread.

The motor is finally finished. We shippped it out to Mark at D&D Fabrication in Michigan. Now we're trying to find a way to ship it back.

He put some pictures of it on the main page of his website if you want to take a look.

http://www.aluminumv8.com/

It has been top-hat sleeved, in a fresh block with high flow heads and petronix ignition. Pretty much the only things left from the original TVR 5.0 are the crank and the connecting rods.

Did they happen to throw it on the dyno after finishing it? I was wondering what kind of hp and torque that bad boy is throwing out ... can't wait to see the rest of the truck.

 

[David Harris]

Cool find. Post some pics when the resto is done. Before and after too . . .

David

 

[Douglas S.]

Did they happen to throw it on the dyno after finishing it? I was wondering what kind of hp and torque that bad boy is throwing out ... can't wait to see the rest of the truck.

I'm not sure to be honest. I will attempt to find out because I am also interested in the results.

Cool find. Post some pics when the resto is done. Before and after too . . .

David

Will do, my dad plans to go over the whole truck. He's already pulled and prepared some of the body panels.

It will likely be some time before it's completed, but it should be worth it in the end.

 

[Douglas S.]

Did they happen to throw it on the dyno after finishing it? I was wondering what kind of hp and torque that bad boy is throwing out ... can't wait to see the rest of the truck.

On second thought, that won't be possible. The injection system is still in the truck.

 

[Douglas S.]

Update after a long hiatus.

The engine is in the truck and it is running, but not all that well. Really lumpy idle (probably not a big deal), but the coolant system is running at too high of a pressure even after bleeding it every possible way.

 

[Series1Rangie]

too high of a pressure? Are the hoses hard to squeeze or is it blowing out the tank with the cap? since its a rebuild did you or mark put in a new thermostat? I would also get a new radiator cap since the old block was done, it probably had some issues before. Is your radiator solid?

does your motor have the vertical tube on the heater hose by the passenger side bank of injectors? that should be the highest point and you should be able to bleed from there. Make sure you have no air in the heater core, and top off at the top of that tube. I had ongoing bleeding issues, but that was a bad radiator, not the fault of the engine.

 

[Douglas S.]

The coolant pressure is high enough that it popped out the block heater a couple weeks ago and the hoses are hard to squeeze.

We've tried bleeding it over and over again, but it doesn't seem to be helping. My Dad made some sort of device that screws in to the port on top of the engine (the one above the injectors) that effectively raises that point even higher. We're going to try that out this weekend and go from there. Biggest worry is a head gasket leak or even a cracked head...let's hope that isn't the case.

Radiator was recently re-cored and the t-stat is also new IIRC, but I will confirm.