engine swap

[mgbgtn]

Thinking of swapping in a straight 6 out of a chev. I like the idea of cheap parts and good parts availability and good torque. Has anyone tried this or know of a kit to mate the 6 to the series III transmission?

[swamijake]

It used to be fairly popular. haven't seen one in the flesh.

advance adapters makes a chev SM465 to series adapter at the transfer case. I would think a v6 would be a bit easier. The Chev i6's are looong, and heavy as heck. Also they are all very old, not that there is anything wrong with that.

http://www.advanceadapters.com/categori ... /36/0/0/0/

I would not think that the stock series trans would be a good fit for either the i6 or v6. The chev 250 is just under 200 ft lbs stock, and the 4.3 is 160 to 260. At that torque you might have to think about axles and diffs.

Wait a second, you want available cheap parts, and torque. Next thing you know you're going to want a car that doesn't leak oil on the driveway.

[red90]

Everything has been done. There is no easy engine conversion. The gearbox is not up to more power so that has to go. The axles are marginal with stock power so need work. Then there is the brakes. It all depends how far you want to go.

[red90]

See here: http://www.advanceadapters.com/search_r ... ords=rover for gearbox to Series transfer case adapters.

[swamijake]

isn't that the same link I posted above?

[Peter Knowles]

I put a 4.3 in my SII 109.
Love it.

TBI 4.3
NV3550 5 speed
Advance adapter, I have the first one,.
Series Tcase with Ashcroft High Ratio
Salisbury.
Power steering
Disks in front with hydroboost.

Almost completely bolt in conversion


Amazing drive!

Peter

[ANDYD]

Hi Peter,

What engine is the TBI 4.3 (what was its normal application)?

Sounds like an interesting swap!

Cheers,
Andy

PS - Love the photo, the two tone colour on the Caravan lines up perfectly with the Land Rover ....

[Peter Knowles]

Hi Andy,

I like the TBI (throtle body injection) era motor, about '88 to '93.
Simple and reliable. 165 hp. Mine is a '92 out of an S10 pickup.
But I might take the manifold and throttle body off it and put it on a later Vortec motor sometime.

Yeah, I love the rig together, it's a perfect match. Riveted aluminium, curved windows, matching horizontal band. I painted the coach to match. Looks great with my full length roof in limestone.

Peter

[steveep]

I can second Peter on the size/fit/power of the 4.3, as I have one in my rig as well :D

I think they started to move from TBI to CPI in 92, but maybe there was some overlap? Mine is actually running a carburetor right now (converted from TBI by the previous engine owner), but CPI is in its future. There's a couple of pictures of the engine bay fit in my old build thread: http://roverlanders.bc.ca/roverforum/vi ... 980#p18980 , but I'm afraid my usefulness runs out there, as my Series is hiding a Toyota chassis underneath it :oops: But in any case, they were a popular swap engine for a number of different applications and there is wealth of resources on the internet about different donor cars etc. (it's been a popular swap among Toyota off-road guys for probably 15+ years).

I'm just recently back in the country after a number of years abroad, so I'm just working on getting mine back to life, but I hope to make it out to an event soon! Would like to check out this 4.3 land rover of yours in person sometime as well Peter!

[RamblerRob]

That sounds awesome. I'm really leaning towards the 4.3 for my s2a 109 SW. I'm unfortunately looking at doing it with ZF4hpp (because my wife is making me go auto) and the LT230. I'm looking at a kit from marks 4wd adapters in auz ( http://www.marks4wd.com/engine-conversi ... gines.html ) I'm getting a replacement chassis anyway so I can have them set it up for the rover v8, but with the transfer case mounts moved forward to account for the difference in the engine mount locations on the chev v6 vs v8. Approx 4.5 inch (still need to clarify that figure some more) That should let me bolt everything in........ if I'm uncharacteristically fortunate ;)

I put a 4.3 in my SII 109.
Love it.

TBI 4.3
NV3550 5 speed
Advance adapter, I have the first one,.
Series Tcase with Ashcroft High Ratio
Salisbury.
Power steering
Disks in front with hydroboost.

Almost completely bolt in conversion


Amazing drive!

Peter

[RamblerRob]

Also:

Peter, I loved your you tube videos on fitting the 4.3! It really sold me on the engine. Stuff like that is what makes youtube worthwhile!

[steveep]

Also:

Peter, I loved your you tube videos on fitting the 4.3! It really sold me on the engine. Stuff like that is what makes youtube worthwhile!

Wow, I hadn't caught the youtube blog before, thanks for pointing it out Rob and well done Peter, that's an awesome series of videos!

Also: Hope you'll keep us updated on yours Rob, sounds like a fun project:)

[swamijake]

I'd try to keep the transfer case in the same place, otherwise you will have to make new propshafts which is tough to do and not have them vibrate at all road speeds. The series box should stand up just fine to the 4.3.

If you want an auto, I'd give advance adpaters a call. I think they could make a 4l60 to series with the parts they make now (the kit from the link above makes the series look like a Dana 300 input, and they have 4l60/700R4 to dana 300 adapters) . That would keep everything lined up nice, and keep the all important red and yellow knobs.

[RamblerRob]

Thats something to think about for sure. i was under the impression that the front driveshaft would foul on the 4l60 whereas the 4l80 clears it but is a bit of a beast of a tranny(or is that only on the lt230?) . I'm not sure about advance adapters but it seemed like the transfer case adapters were adding more length to the drivetrain than the bellhousing adapters, especially adding two adapters.. mind you I dont know the widths of their adapters. Marks 4wd 4l80 adapter was 8" by itself. Bellhousing adapter from marks is only 17mm. Does anyone know the length of the 4l60? If it would all fit there would certainly be something to be said for keeping the series transfer case... I'd still lose my cool overdrive knob though :(

What is the solution to prop shaft length? get them custom built? hope there is a different rover shaft that happens to be the right length? some sort of spacers?

Sorry for borderline hijacking the thread.. I have a build thread up here: http://www.roverlanders.bc.ca/roverforu ... =15&t=7768

if anyone feels the comments should be re-directed and not mess up this thread

Edit to add: 4l60E w/ advance adapters to dana 300 tcase = 26-27 inches depending on year of transmission. not sure the measurements on the series tcase to dana 300 adapter
Chev v6 25.5" length ... so in front of the transfercase about 52 to 53 inches or so. plus tcase to dana 300
OR
easier fit to the 4l60E but pricey!! http://forbynbros.com/replacement-transfer-cases/

I'd try to keep the transfer case in the same place, otherwise you will have to make new propshafts which is tough to do and not have them vibrate at all road speeds. The series box should stand up just fine to the 4.3.

If you want an auto, I'd give advance adpaters a call. I think they could make a 4l60 to series with the parts they make now (the kit from the link above makes the series look like a Dana 300 input, and they have 4l60/700R4 to dana 300 adapters) . That would keep everything lined up nice, and keep the all important red and yellow knobs.

[swamijake]

for an LT230, but lots of relevant info: http://www.mez.co.uk/gearboxfaq.html