88 3.5 V8 to old 4 speed

[mongoswede]

Will the 3.5 EFI V8 out of my old range rover bolt up to my Series IIa 4 speed or do I need a lot of additional parts? Just thinking that I have a good running 3.5 V8 and a 109 that is begging for something else to power it.

[graniterover]

http://d-90.com/forum/showthread.php?t=26266

answered there

[siiirhd88]

You would need an adapter to go from the V8 block to the Series bellhousing, and the aft end of the V8 crank needs to be cut off with an angle grinder and a spigot bush adapter bolted in place with the flywheel bolts. If you have a Defender / Range Rover / Disco manual trans flywheel it will need to be drilled for the Series clutch cover. A Rover SD1 flywheel would work as is, or there are aftermarket flywheels (for the MGB V8 and TR8 crowd) available. The engine mount brackets could be easily fabbed from plate. You will need to move the oil filter, either with an available adapter for this application, or use a remote oil filter.

You will need to widen the bulkhead opening to clear the cylinder heads and exhaust manifolds on the V8. If your truck is LHD, the left side exhaust manifold will foul the steering box arm. This can be worked around, but it is a real pain. If your truck is RHD there is no steering issue.

I bought a complete conversion kit (less flywheel) from Jake Wright in England.

I have 3.9 V8s in my SIII 88 with the stock trans and the wife's SIIA 109 with an R380 5 speed, both are RHD.

Bob

[yorker]

The Series 4 speed is marginal for the V8's torque. If it were me I'd sell off the 3.5l and the series 4 speed and use something else altogether. The 3.5 is too much work for too little gain especially when fitted to the Series 4 speed. Get the AA adapter and use something different altogether from the Series T case forward.

[greenmeanie]

You could look at a Stage 1 for reference. 3.5L V8 (May as well go to a 3.9 or whatever is commonly available from a Disco 1/RRC) mated to an LT95 4 speed running 3.54 diffs. They can clear the tonne with very little fettling.

The stage 1 did have a special front axle with CV joints. If you want to avoud this then merely put FWH on the front, keep them unlocked on the road and run the LT95 with the center diff locked. Or slip a set of Toyota axles under there while you're at it.

[mongoswede]

it was just a thought. I happen to have a good range rover 3.5 laying around and pondered putting it into the 109 if it would bolt up to the 4 speed. I am aware that the 4 speed is not overly robust.

[siiirhd88]

I had several trouble free years running the 3.9 V8 with the stock SIII trans, before the rollover. I have a very late SIIA trans that I planned on dropping in, if I ever had issues with the SIII trans. If you drive sanely, and treat it like a Series Rover it might last quite a while.

The V8 in the 88 made the hills effortless, and with the Fairy I could maintain easy highway speeds. My current 109 cries for a V8 with its much heavier weight and Sals axle, but I intend to keep it stock. The wife's 109 with the 3.9, R380 and 3.54 RR axles is no comparison. Hills are a breeze, it gets 17 mpg, and can go much faster than I want to in a Series truck.

Bob

[yorker]

it was just a thought. I happen to have a good range rover 3.5 laying around and pondered putting it into the 109 if it would bolt up to the 4 speed. I am aware that the 4 speed is not overly robust.

Rounding up the LT95 might ber a trick though. If you could find one it is probably one of the best transmissions Land Rover used- very robust.

Then again we live in the "Land of V8's" and there are ample other V8 engines and transmissions out there that would swap in and that would be better suited long term. They would involve more or less the same level of fabrication as well. I have 2 good 3.9s right now and I wouldn't ever bother to swap them into a Series.