Engine / Trans / Transfer case replace on my 68 SII

[skapegoat]

Hey guys.
I'm going to switch out my 2.25 to something more modern. (motor is shot) Series IIa 88
Do any of you know a trusted engine swap with mated transmission and transfer case that works?
Thanks

[Revtor]

Hey guys.
I'm going to switch out my 2.25 to something more modern. (motor is shot) Series IIa 88
Do any of you know a trusted engine swap with mated transmission and transfer case that works?
Thanks

There's not much in the way of plug and play swaps. RDavis makes a kit to put a MB diesel in with a rover tranny. That engine is slightly more modern and has good parts availability and power numbers. There are many people with chevy 4's and 6's. (and 8's!) TerriAnn (expeditionRover) has a ford V8 and has run it for years. Her conversion is well sorted and well documented. Peter Knowles has a bunch of videos on youtube about his chevy swap, looks like a good setup as well. So you can do almost anything but there isn't much in the way of plug and play.

The weak link in these swaps is the stock tranny. If you up the power considerably the tranny wont live long. Neither will your axles. Or UJ's.. So it's a slippery slope!! A well sorted out 2.25 in good condition is a reliable anchor of an engine and will do what is asked of it for decades. If I was to sway from originality I'd probably be looking at the MB diesel. (OM617)

~Steve

[o2batsea]

To do it right, and I mean with all issues like cooling, transmission, and drive all properly engineered and buttoned up right, is a huge undertaking that will cost you anything from 5 to 15 thousand, Maybe more, depending.
Here's some quick math:
Robert Davis conversion kit is about $3.5K and that is excluding the engine.
Chevy V8 conversion with LS(whatever) is $4500 without the engine.
None of these kits include cooling or exhaust so count on an additional $2K for that.
Transmission about $2k
Driveline mods another $1K

So then you'll have a nice drivetrain with whatever condition body you have along with the whatever condition chassis and suspension and brakes and tires. So maybe you want to upgrade to disc brakes. Bust out another $3K for the conversion. Maybe you will need shocks and springs...

Rebuilding what you have will be in the 3-ish neighborhood, prolly more like 5 by the time you get it all done. It won't win any races, but it will still be a good solid genuine Rover 2A.
Let me just say that the number of good 2As is decreasing by the year. Hacking up an original example to drop a Chevy V8 in it is tantamount to killing it. I vote that you leave it alone and get yourself a D1 or Range Rover Classic as a driver. For what you'd spend on an engine swap you can get a really really nice example of either of those. And it will be far more pleasant to drive.
Keep the 2A as a hobby car or cut it loose for someone who has the means to restore it if you don't yourself.



I am sure I have made my point

[skapegoat]

I appreciate the swap ideas and the desire to stay true to originality. I should have been more clear. There is no engine. The previous owner did something to it and removed it.
I figured that if I had the opportunity to put in something more drivable/powerful, that I would look into it. Are you saying that you would still prefer a 2.25? I would still have to spend thousands to put one of those back in.
Please understand also that I rescued this old girl from the desert and am trying to get her back on the road in the smartest way possible.
If anyone has any other good ideas for a 'swap' please let me know. I want it to be as simple as possible for obvious reasons.
Thanks

[kenscs]

I have much less experience with this than the experts here, but I have been debating an engine swap for my IIa 109 since I got it a few years ago. The truck started out very slow when I got it (more on that later). It had been sitting for 10 years. My experience so far has been exactly along the lines of o2batsea lays out. As I did the work, nothing made any financial sense because it escalates so fast into a $10k plus project when you factor in new transmission and drivetrain. And in the end, you will likely get almost none of that back when you go to sell it unless you find a VERY special person who is looking for exactly the conversion you did. In the end, I came back to what my friends had originally recommended, which is, if I want a daily driver, buy a Defender and start there.

Now, on the "later". Since I have had it, I have "tightened" up the engine by replacing the carb with Webber, fine tuned every aspect of it (valves, points, timing, coil, etc). I also found a problem with the original throttle linkage that was not originally fully pulling the carb open. It now has plenty of power for me for driving around town, short highway, etc. I am now a believer, that the original 2.25 is plenty engine for what most people are going to use their trucks for. The last thing I may do is send the head to Turner engineering for a full porting refinement and tuning. Costs about $1,500 and I think will give me all the power I need. The rest of the money I am going to spend on Parabolic Springs and Paint Job, which should give me a nice working truck for WAY less than upgrading engine and power train.

To your specific situation, since there is no engine there at all I would try and find an original diesel engine or a Turner Engineering upgraded 2.25. You could bolt those right in and not have to upgrade the drivetrain. I would also consider finding a used 200 TDI or 300TDI. I think our hosts will help you track one down. There are a ton of posts on this forum about making sure you get the one with the correct intake manifold so it does not hit the frame. If I remember correctly, the reply to me when I asked about the 200 TDI swap was that it "is the easiest swap, but by no means easy". You will either have to get a short bell housing or move things around a bit. You will likely want to upgrade or need to upgrade to a LT77 or R380 transmission at this point. You can do some research on Ashcroft Transmission on this. They make a short bell housing that I think makes it easy (?) to bolt a 200 TDI to a LT77 and not make major modifications to mounts, etc.

After seeing how well my tuned up 8:1 compression head 2.25 petrol engine does now, I am actually a bit of a fan of keeping the original power train in place and focusing on making the engine perform. The Turner Engineering tweaks, a larger bore exhaust, two barrel carb and electronic ignition system are potential next steps to add a little more zip to it, but I don't really even need those at this point. I hope this helps.

[o2batsea]

I dunno where you are located Mr Goat, but if you need an engine tranny and transfer case for a 2A I know where to find them for little to no money.

Re: 200tdi. If you want one you can install it without much fuss but it will make short work of the Series gearbox. They are a couple hundred bucks in the UK and a couple thousand in the US of A.

[72roverholik]

Hello,
I am looking for a series 2trans.can u help?6154238906
Mark Fletcher