1950 Land Rover 80" Rover 4 pot conversion.

Hi, thanks. I do want the period engine but it needs to be as reliable as possible so any modern additions to help with this will be most welcome. No point having something that can't really be used/abused, in a good way. The inner wings have already been hacked about to get the Tdi in and make the turbo fit so that won't be a problem. The whole engine will be stripped down and rebuilt before its installed, I have been told that 10000 miles before it was taken out of use it had quite a bit of work done to it but after that its been stood for a long time so it will need to be looked at. I am not putting it in only to have to take it out again!
I want to do a proper job and have all the time in the world to do it, the 80" is pretty much a member of the family and we have had some proper adventures over the years and this really is the engine it deserves. It is an absolute hoot to drive even with the fairly soulless diesel in so with a petrol engine that has real heart and drivability, what could be better (apart from the loss of MPG).
Steve.
 
Hi, I am looking to buy a P6 Rover engine for my old Land Rover. My 80" is an old (and still a bit bent) comp trailler. It is my daily driver and gets used a lot for family holidays, camping, carrying wood and Euroleafing (adventures on the continent). It has a 200Tdi engine at the moment that is going strong but sometime in the future I am planning to change, I am not sure just when this will happen it could be a while as I have some more long Eurotrips planned and there is no rush at the mo. The Tdi is great for fuel economy is very reliable and has some grunt but it looks like the tide may be turning against Diesel, not being very environmentally friendly.
The P6 engine conversion was a popular mod in he 70s and 80s being a good size with good smooth power from the same stable and fairly easy to do (I think). Increasingly it seems that all early LRs are getting the full resto treatment, the outcome being lots of carbon copies rebuilt to a set template and better than new that never get properly used (as every good Land Rover should). With the history of my motor I think this conversion would be a great nod to the past while still keeping it very usable as a retro trailler.
So the question is which 4 pot should I go for?

My priorities are-

Reliability/Durability
Economy (I know I won't get Tdi miles)
Power would be nice…
Parts availability?

So everything then;).

I really love the idea of the 2200TC, being the most high performance unit, but would this be the most suitable for my needs?
I know that every Rover product suffered as BL got into its cost cutting/mismanagement 70s stride (Land Rovers too) so are the earlier engines the stronger units?
I am no great mechanic and don't know too much about the engines good points and bad points so any advice would be most welcome.

To give you an idea of what the 80" gets up to here is a part from a series of videos we did of a trip last year.

Thanks Steve.
That's an awesome bit of footage - stunning scenery - and in the best vehicles.
Where is it - we went to Montenegro earlier this year - it looks similar.

Mark.
 
That's an awesome bit of footage - stunning scenery - and in the best vehicles.
Where is it - we went to Montenegro earlier this year - it looks similar.

Mark.
Hi, thanks, this part was in the French and Italian Alps. If you go to my YouTube page you can see the whole trip in 9 parts!
Cheers Steve.
 
Hi Steve,
Bit dim on location request !
Have just watched them all back to back - absolutely epic - is an understatement.
Well done !

Mark.
 
A bump of this thread. I now have the 2200TC engine (at last), and have got it into the workshop at work for a slow strip down and then a rebuild. I will probably asking lots of stupid questions from time to time.
If anyone is interested we went abroad with the Series Ones again this summer, you can link to the whole trip on my YouTube page from this part.
 
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