Originally Posted by
Mercedesrover
Let me start by saying this. You will never, never, never, never, never, never save any money doing an engine swap in your Land Rover over rebuilding your existing motor. Not in the cost of the conversion, not in fuel savings . It just won't happen. That is an absolute and many times over proven fact. There are a thousand reasons this is true and I could write volumes on them. If you don't believe me on this, you might as well stop reading this post right now. There are many valid reasons to swap a diesel into you're truck but saving money isn't one of them. Also, be honest with yourself about your mechanical skills and the tools and work space available to you. If you don't possess the tools and equipment and are going to try and do this out front and hope the condo association doesn't see, this probably isn't for you.
I've seen Robert's oil pan and things for the Range Rover but didn't know he was doing a kit for a Series truck. He's called me a bunch of times over the years asking me questions and I've seen pictures of his R.R. swaps. Last one I saw turned the engine ten degrees or so giving clearance to the factory oil pan. I've seen photos of the (very nice) oil pan and pickup tube he's building but haven't seen it in a truck yet. If he's got something for a Series truck, great, but I see two problems with that; First, the engine is just too long to fit into an unmodified, non 2.6 engine bay as far as I'm concerned. My 109 uses a 2.6 bulkhead and a Series III radiator and it just fits. And yes, I have removed the fan and run an electric pusher fan. There are pictures of the engine bay in the Expedition Portal thread....Go take a look. The 2.6 bulkhead is at least three inches deeper than the standard bulkhead and I just make it. Perhaps Robert is suggesting you move the radiator forward six inches to make room for the motor, which would work too (if you have a Series III) but that puts a lot of weight in front of the axle. Second, a good running 617 puts out 125hp and 170ftlb of torque. Series transmissions are no great piece to begin with and I wouldn't bother going through all this work and leave a questionable transmission behind it.
If you're set on a Benz diesel swap but don't want to get into changing transmission, consider a 616 engine. They fit in the hole, are even simpler and more reliable than the 5cyl and are very efficient. This is the engine my 88" has in it and I get 25mpg all day long with it. If you use the Davis kit, (assuming the rest of it will work...can't tell you for sure as I've never seen it.) you'll have to modify the oil pans yourself (as you have an equipped shop and a tig-welder, or at least a buddy with one this isn't all that hard) but I think its a better option than trying to stuff the 5cyl. into your truck. This is only a 75hp engine (it can be turned up a bit pretty simply) but it's no speed demon. It'll have about the same power as your good-running 2.25.