Opinions?

Fitting a V8 into a SIII - what are peoples views on swapping over to a Defender frontend & bonnet?

On the one hand, there should be more space in the engine bay, which might be useful, on the other hand, it's changing the look of the vehicle.

Also, how much work's involved? I'm guessing not much, but don't know for sure.

- Andrew

PS. I won't actually get the engine in there for some time, since I'm still in the process of stripping it down. Doesn't hurt to plan ahead though..

Reply to
Andrew
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For my money, keeping the original front end is the way to go (which is what I did), not just because it still isn't a 90 but there's also less work. Don't be fooled though - there's a fair bit of work to do that you might not realise or underestimate before you get going.

You'll need: A conversion kit to mate the V8 to your SIII gearbox. An electric fuel pump to feed the voracious carburettors (don't know about efi's - mine isn't). Engine mount adapters to make the V8 sit on the original mounts (or you can make more work for yourself and weld up new items to the chassis). Some sheet steel to reshape your footwells/bulkhead tunnel. A remote oil filter adapter kit. An electric radiator fan. An old under-seat fuel tank. A welder.

The bulkhead and footwells need to be cut to make room for the V8 - basically it needs more height and width clearance. It's not just cutting - there's cutting and then re-welding to be done. Even then it will sit alarmingly close to the bulkhead. I had a pair of mounting adapters which bolted to the V8 and then reached forward to the original series chassis mounts. Take off the viscous fan unit and then shorten the drive stub to give good clearance on the radiator. Oh yes, the rear of the crankshaft also needs 'doctoring' to enable a spigot adapter for the gearbox input shaft to be fitted and the flywheel will have to be drilled, tapped and studded for the 9½" clutch assembly. OK so far? Now you'll have to make up an exhaust system - you can bodge up a RR system, but it won't all fit. You'll probably find (as I did) that one down-pipe needs lengthening and the other shortening.......and angles changing a bit.......and careful attention to where it's got to split again if you need to repair/replace it....and where and how the silencer is going to fit.

You'll need to chop out the old battery tray to make room for the right-hand cylinder bank. The old fuel tank comes in here as you chop the top off it, bolt it on under the left-hand front seat and sit the battery in it (sort of a-la 90). You will, of course, need a bit of new wiring.

Reply to
Steve

For my money, keeping the original front end is the way to go (which is what I did), not just because it still isn't a 90 but there's also less work. Don't be fooled though - there's a fair bit of work to do that you might not realise or underestimate before you get going.

You'll need: A conversion kit to mate the V8 to your SIII gearbox. An electric fuel pump to feed the voracious carburettors (don't know about efi's - mine isn't). Engine mount adapters to make the V8 sit on the original mounts (or you can make more work for yourself and weld up new items to the chassis). Some sheet steel to reshape your footwells/bulkhead tunnel. A remote oil filter adapter kit. An electric radiator fan. An old under-seat fuel tank. A welder.

The bulkhead and footwells need to be cut to make room for the V8 - basically it needs more height and width clearance. It's not just cutting - there's cutting and then re-welding to be done. Even then it will sit alarmingly close to the bulkhead. I had a pair of mounting adapters which bolted to the V8 and then reached forward to the original series chassis mounts. Take off the viscous fan unit and then shorten the drive stub to give good clearance on the radiator. Oh yes, the rear of the crankshaft also needs 'doctoring' to enable a spigot adapter for the gearbox input shaft to be fitted and the flywheel will have to be drilled, tapped and studded for the 9½" clutch assembly. OK so far? Now you'll have to make up an exhaust system - you can bodge up a RR system, but it won't all fit. You'll probably find (as I did) that one down-pipe needs lengthening and the other shortening.......and angles changing a bit.......and careful attention to where it's got to split again if you need to repair/replace it....and where and how the silencer is going to fit.

You'll need to chop out the old battery tray to make room for the right-hand cylinder bank. The old fuel tank comes in here as you chop the top off it, bolt it on under the left-hand front seat and sit the battery in it (sort of a-la 90). You will, of course, need a bit of new wiring.

Depending on the age/source of your V8 you'll have to find somewhere to attach the electronic ignition unit and you'll probably find that you have to move the alternator if it's not already on the right-hand side (i.e. the drivers side) of the engine. You'll also need to find space to attach the remote oil filter head, but I put mine on the inner wing near where the original battery tray used to be.

Due to the doctoring of the footwells and the cable operation of the V8 throttle you'll need to devise some method of adapting the throttle operation to suit.

Of course, having put all this extra urge in there you need to make sure that the brakes are in tip-top condition so that you can stop it all again. If you haven't got late model brakes (i.e. the big drums and servo-assisted dual-line system) then you might consider sourcing some and fitting them.

Finally, the V8 is actually lighter than the diesel lump you're thinking of replacing so the springing and handling might feel odd for a while. It's more than compensated for by the power and the oh-so-wonderful sound of the engine .... if you can afford to feed it!

HTH, Steve

Reply to
Steve

Sorry - I don't know how this got cut off short. The other post is complete!

Steve

footwells/bulkhead

Reply to
Steve

Andrew posted ...

I'd luuuurve a V8 S3 .. but I'd say keep it looking like an S3.

It may sound snobby, though it isn't meant to be, but I dislike older vehicles being 'wannabee' newer versions. If you want a Defender, then get a Defender .. It's funny but many people, especially Land Rover fans, do know the difference ... ;)

Reply to
Paul - xxx

I had such a conversion done several years ago - a V8 into a Series III Station Wagon - created a nice Q car that could burn off the XR3 kiddies (it was a while ago!!). The work was done professionally - as Steve says, its a fairly big job. The 90 front-end won't help you all that much as the engine is still going to sit further back than a Stage 1 V8 or a 110/90 unless you move the gearbox forward. Another large can of worms.

IIRC the conversion kit (box adaptors, engine mounts etc etc) and appropriate exhaust bits came from a LR independant in Yorkshire, name of Jake Wright?? They advertise in the comics. There are others. We also used a remote filter assembly, probably from the same source. Throttle cable wasn't a problem - I seem to recall a combo of the original Series shaft and a cable assembly.

Fan involved a cut down pump shaft and removal of the viscous assembly.

Battery stayed under the bonnet but the revised battery tray was a VERY tight fit! Make sure you either have a good battery or a new one! Ask me why I give THAT advice!!

You'll also have to think about your heater valve - I used one donated by an old VW golf which just fitted in the hose very neatly.

My insurers were ok about it - worth checking with yours though. If you do go for it, you'll either love it or loath it, depending on the overall quality of the finished job. Be gentle with all that oomph though - you'll break lots of half-shafts if you're not careful.

Mike.

footwells/bulkhead

servo-assisted

Reply to
Mike Buckley

I cut the original footwell cross-shaft down and put one of the under-bonnet levers onto the outside end just outboard of the pedal. The standard RR cable fits it nicely and I then made up a small bracket on the underside of the footwell top to take the fixed outer sleeve. A hole saw cut me a nice grommet (and installation/removal) hole and an old bed spring acts as the pedal return assister. It works, I'm pleased.

I forgot to mention this. I moved the heater towards the outside, hanging the original inner hole on the heater matrix/fan unit onto the original outer hole on the bulkhead (i.e. I just used one top bolt). I had to blank off half of the air hole in the bulkhead, but the airflow is not really noticeably restricted. The heater matrix is fed from the two pipes at the rear of the V8 via some standard heater hose and some B&Q 90° copper central heating pipe adapters (and hose clips, of course). I didn't bother with an on/off mechanism for the hot water - switch the fan on and it always blows hot. If i want cold I open the window and/or vents. Therefore one of the heater controls (the hot/cold one) is redundant but the demist/car one still works. Oh yes, and you will never need worry about an inadequate Landrover heater ever again - the cab in mine gets nice and toasty .... it's surprising how warm all the footwell and bulkhead plates get with a V8 sitting just the other side of them.

It's also worth pointing out that your gearbox needs to be in pretty good nick too - if it's getting tired then you might be looking for a replacement sooner than you expect! Strength isn't an issue if you're mindful of what it has to cope with.

Steve

Reply to
Steve

I wasn't thinking about making it look like a Defender - more speculating on the usefulness of doing it - ie. making more space in the engine compartment, since I've heard that things are a bit tight.

I guess I'll keep it looking like a Series 3 after all, since it seems there isn't much to be gained by changing it.

Andrew

Reply to
Andrew

Andrew posted ...

OK, no worries .. ;)

If anything I'd think you'd just need to chop different bits off in different places, and add different bits too .. ;)

Reply to
Paul - xxx

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