There are many engines that have found their way into Land Rovers over the
last 50 years, many of these conversions are very successful and many just give both the
engine and the vehicle a bad name.
Major points to consider when planning a conversion can be summed up as
follows:
Is the engine locally supported ?
How popular is it in it's country of origin ?
What is the re-buildable lifespan of the engine ?
Does the engine suit the application ?
Will it fit the engine bay and gearbox ?
Is the existing gearbox sufficiently rated to suit the new engine ?
What gearing upgrade are you going to use (If any) ? What are the
implications ?
Will the brakes / steering / suspension cope with the upgrade ?
Who will do the conversion ?
Are you planning to sell the vehicle in the next few years ?
Some Common
Reasons for Engine Conversions:
Seeking reduced fuel consumption
Seeking better pulling / cruising power
You need better traveling range
Old engine has died
You have no engine to start with. :-(
Discussion
on Common Reasons for Engine Conversions
1. A common mis-conception is fuel consumption:
To re-coup the cost of a conversion costing an absolute minimum, you will
have to drive the vehicle an astonishing distance, regularly to break even - That will
take a few years. Just do a simple calculation using the difference in fuel consumption
i.e. The amount of money saved per kilometer and then divide it into the cost of the
conversion - and...Surprise !
An example:
You have a Range Rover V8 Petrol and it does 25l/100 km, you want to
change the engine for a V8 Diesel purely for fuel consumption reasons.
Petrol V8 --> 87.75c per km Assuming 25 L/100 km Petrol = R3.51 / L
Diesel V8 --> 38.74c per km Assuming 13 L/100 km Diesel = R2.98 / L
Difference is 87.75 - 38.74 = 49.01c per km saving.
Assuming you manage to get a perfect engine that needs no extra work and everything goes according to plan: Conversion cost = Roughly R 20 000 all inclusive (Fat chance)
Now R 20 000 / 0.4901 (savings) = 40 807 km to break even !
Assuming you do 100 km / day (Work and back only) it will take you roughly
3 years to break even.
2. If you are looking for a performance increase the
options are Chev 4.1 and 4.9 Str 6 Petrol, Chev 350 V8 5.7 Petrol, Iveco 2.5 Turbo
Intercooled, Land Cruiser 4.2 Diesel. There are also various upgrades available for the
Rover V8.
3. Diesels are renowned for their lower fuel consumption
and thus many people opt for a diesel engine if they need to cover long distances with
little fuel - Often the difference in costs even out considerably between V8 petrol's and
Tdi's in the long run, diesels do however usually require a change to the
gearing and the hearing.
4. If your old engine has died then you have a problem
because you can't sell the old engine for much money to pay for the conversion. You must
take note of the reason for the previous engine's demise and don't let the same thing
happen to the new engine.
If you don't have any real problem with the old engine then have it
rebuilt and continue, you'll have a lot less problems that way.
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