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Chevy or Ford small block into Land Rover

Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2013 6:34 pm
by mateyboy67
Hi Just wondered if any one has any experience of these, my easy route would be a RV8 without too much work but I want better reliability.

Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2013 8:19 pm
by Rossco
454 is what you want.

I've mocked up a Buick 455 into a Discovery and apart from exhaust headers there';s no real issue

Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2013 8:30 pm
by mateyboy67
Are you running carbs or efi? Can they run LPG?
cheers Martyn

Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2013 9:54 pm
by Rossco
I never went any further than a mockup.

In fact I was just on the phone to Coops discussing the £12k engine that is sat there with nowt to put it in

No reason why they cant run LPG

Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2013 10:06 pm
by mateyboy67
Thanks for this info, I never considered a big block but I do have plenty of space in engine bay.
I've been doing a bit of googling about these engines, they seem big on torque but not so much power about 240 hp and 400lb/ft which is ideal for my 130 especially for towing a boat & big trailers. Post 87 L19 engines are fuel injection and are used in 1 tonne pick up trucks.
It is now a case of seeing how cheap the are available at.

Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2013 10:07 pm
by Coops
i think he was trying to talk me into fitting it in the cappa lol

Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2013 10:19 pm
by mateyboy67
Have you got this engine?

Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2013 12:25 am
by Coops
i haven't but Rossco has,

Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2013 9:43 am
by kiwicar
Hi
if you are putting a big block into a land rover the Buick is more suitable as it is a lighter engine, with ally heads and a bit of care you should be able to get it in without loading the front axel above it's rated loading (and having to change it for something stronger). This in turn will mean you do not get beyond the points that mean you need an SVA/IVF on the whole car and need to re-register it on a Q plate. The BBC is a good engine and will produce silly torque for relativly little money, however it is a heavy beast with iron heads weighing in at 110lb each and a block about 60lb heavier than the Buick.
You can relativly easily get 400+ cubic inches out of the Chevy small block (400 block bored +40 thou with a 3.875" crank = 422 ci or 6.9L) and with a roller cam and decent heads it will also make big torque, and will weigh about 150 to 200Lb less than an equivilent BBC
Best regards
Mike

Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2013 1:03 pm
by Rossco
kiwicar wrote:Hi
if you are putting a big block into a land rover the Buick is more suitable as it is a lighter engine, with ally heads and a bit of care you should be able to get it in without loading the front axel above it's rated loading (and having to change it for something stronger). This in turn will mean you do not get beyond the points that mean you need an SVA/IVF on the whole car and need to re-register it on a Q plate. The BBC is a good engine and will produce silly torque for relativly little money, however it is a heavy beast with iron heads weighing in at 110lb each and a block about 60lb heavier than the Buick.
Mike is right. My 455, or 502 as it is now, has alloy heads and inlet manifold. It weighs roughly the same as a diesel setup so you can use TD5 springs.

Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2013 8:13 pm
by mateyboy67
Hi cheers for this,
I'm doing my head in thinking about this, big block/small block; I've decided to sort the 3.5 overheating problem and flog it for a few more miles (until I get the heads off and discover that everything is bolloxed of course!)
In the mean time I can look, think, do my head in a bit more and source a suitable engine/box and dig out that old engine frame from where ever it is now.

Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2013 8:17 pm
by mateyboy67
Out of interest what box would you put with the 502? 350/400, Tremec? T5??
Is it for sale btw?

Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2013 8:41 pm
by kiwicar
Hi
anything big block is going to mash a t5 or a th350, a th400 would handle it in a mild state of tune a th700 would be a good bet. A powerglide will handle the power, if you stay with the rover transfer box you can add a GKN electrically operated overdrive unit and have 4 speeds, actually you could add it with a 3 speed auto and use it as an OD on top gear.
I would go auto, I do not see the point of a manual box on a big block 8)
best regards
Mike

Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2013 8:52 am
by Rossco
mateyboy67 wrote:Out of interest what box would you put with the 502? 350/400, Tremec? T5??
Is it for sale btw?
It's currently mated to a TH400 Switch Pitch and a Land Rover Borg Warner transfer box.

Sorry but it's not for sale as I'm sure at some point I'll find something to put it in.

Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2013 6:02 pm
by griffman
Hi guys

I have just done this - went for a sbc 4-bolt with eagle forged stroker kit and complete edelbrock top end.

e-tech heads, performer manifold and inlet, 750 carb, roller rockers etc.

Mated to a new ZF22 auto (Ashcroft stage 2 internals and a huge torque convertor with bespoke boss/adaptor, new R230transfer box.

In process of uprating diffs(will pin the front, probably), half-shafts etc.

Vented discs on front, cross-drilled on rear

ran it all for 2000 miles in my Overfinch discovery(RIP - RUST) before transferring the whole shooting match across to my 90.

see link below for first start-up

No exhaust on yet - chevy K5 Blazer ceramic headers from Flowtech USA fitted perfectly on one side and needed very minor fettling on the other.

Weight is same as 300 tdi

I have lowered her 30mm all-round, uprated the anti-roll bars, bushes etc.