Looking into a Rover to swap in an Isuzu 4bd1t

Viggen

Viggen

Just here...
DividingCreek said:
Don't need to check Pirate, have been to his place twice in the past 10 days.
Yes the large 4 liter motor is very agrarian in comparison to the 2.8 which is the ideal Izuzu engine for these applications. I have riden in the lwb he has the 2.8 in. It's faster than a lwb with a 4.2 v8. He has several of these engines ready to transplant and he's here not 3300 miles away with shipping and customs duty already dealt with. The Isuzu kits commercialy available have some flaws like the flex plate isn't strong enough. He has had heavier components made to correct these short comings. Another point would be that M&D's kits are new and fairly expensive engines that make the conversion cost to repower an rrc or disco 1 out of the reach of most ( I could import you a tdi defender for that kind of price tag). Robert has good used units available that he'll warranty.
As far as the transmission goes he has the torque converter and replacement governor for the 4hp22 to make a v8 truck tranny work smoothly with the diesel. The abs,tc, etc all work.
The one thing he doesn't have working on his own test truck is the ac, only because the lines have to be custom made.

The mercedes kit he has nearly $30k invested in machinist time and foundry set up fee's for adapter plates and unique two part oil pan that will clear the rover front axle. This is something this fellow does as a hobby not a proffession.
His enthusiasum and passion immediately are apparent. He has 40 years of experience wrenching on land rovers-starting in high school working @ a LR Dealership in the 1970's. His day job is as a computer programer. Personally, I think its pretty cool one of my friends has taken it upon himself to develop a diy kit for folks to repower aging high mileage discos and rangies with affordable Mercedes engines available pretty much everywhere. His kit will also work to mate one up to a manual in Defenders. I have a spare 110 5 door stashed in my barn and am thinking about it...
Click to expand...

Ive talked to him a few times and he is a British sportscar guy like myself so we had a lot to talk about, besides the Merc kit he is making up. My post wasnt meant as an attack on you or him at all. The LWB he has uses a diesel designed to be put into an SUV. Its the 2.8 4JB1T and everyone likes that motor. The 3.1 replacement for it is equally well liked (once the EGR is gone through) and I personally would rather one of those than a big, heavy truck diesel like a 4BD1T. Talk to M&D and they will give you what you want. They can supply a motor or just the pieces you need to do the conversion with a motor and transmission of your own. They have the kit to mate an LT77 to 300tdi that includes everything, brand new, including the individual bolts, a/c compressor and bracketry, bellhousing, new rad and intercooler, etc... Not bad for a one stop shop. They even have a kit for the designed for SUVs Isuzu TDis.

I look at his updates on Pirate (that comment was meant to be for the OP, not for you, sorry about the confusion) with more information. He is tackling the issues of making this motor fit into a Rover and its pretty cool. Not as much power potential as the 300tdi or the Isuzu 4JB or 4JG motors, but still a nice motor.
 
1

1speedlos

Observer
Very interesting stuff!
I was looking at the 4bd1t because of it's ubiquitousness, but that's eclipsed by the om617! I have a 300D, and love that engine, I just would think the Rovers would be too heavy for this motor. I guess I should drop a line to Robert and pick his brain.
Thanks for the replies.

Los
 
sven

sven

Adventurer
Someone should come up with a kit to fit the GM 6.2 to a ZF auto. I agree, the MB seems to little for such a heavy truck.
 
D

DividingCreek

Explorer
Viggen said:
Ive talked to him a few times and he is a British sportscar guy like myself so we had a lot to talk about, besides the Merc kit he is making up. My post wasnt meant as an attack on you or him at all. The LWB he has uses a diesel designed to be put into an SUV. Its the 2.8 4JB1T and everyone likes that motor. The 3.1 replacement for it is equally well liked (once the EGR is gone through) and I personally would rather one of those than a big, heavy truck diesel like a 4BD1T. Talk to M&D and they will give you what you want. They can supply a motor or just the pieces you need to do the conversion with a motor and transmission of your own. They have the kit to mate an LT77 to 300tdi that includes everything, brand new, including the individual bolts, a/c compressor and bracketry, bellhousing, new rad and intercooler, etc... Not bad for a one stop shop. They even have a kit for the designed for SUVs Isuzu TDis.

I look at his updates on Pirate (that comment was meant to be for the OP, not for you, sorry about the confusion) with more information. He is tackling the issues of making this motor fit into a Rover and its pretty cool. Not as much power potential as the 300tdi or the Isuzu 4JB or 4JG motors, but still a nice motor.
Click to expand...

Would agree the 3 liter benz engine isn't a powerhouse in its stock form which is very de-tuned. However you are wrong about potential. The engine can be highly tuned and different turbo's change its character completely. M&D is a great company and they have things I drool over like the 2.5 to 2.8 stroker kit for the 300. Having just broken a 300 tdi crank and taken out an entire engine I think I won't go with the additional stress on the replacement.
I have friends running the variable turbo kit from the 2.8 on their 300's and they rave about the gains-that I do want.
But for now I have to bring in another 300 engine to get myself back on the road so expensive mods will have to wait.
 
Last edited:
revor

revor

Explorer
There's a clean D1 at Land Rover Roaring fork with a blown motor. Probably have it for a couple hundred bucks.
 
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