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tips, technology, tools and techniques related to vehicle driveline components

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markoll
Mark Ollerton
Victoria, BC Canada
(7 posts)

Registered:
08/31/2014 01:43PM

Main British Car:
1980 Rover 3500 SD1 3.5 litre

Putting a 99 ranger rover 4.6 into my 80 Rover 3500 SD1
Posted by: markoll
Date: March 29, 2015 04:03PM

hi all, this my 1st post.
i have a 99 range rover 4.6 that i want to put into my 80 sd1. i'd like to keep the THOR fuel injection.
im getting conficting advice; im told the range rover security system won't allow this to run and that i need to get a new ecu, like a megasquirt.
others say it can't be done and i need to convert it to a 4v carb. ( i do have a 500 cfm edelbrock carb sitting in a box on a shelf).
is this right ?
if i convert it to carb will the edelbrock 2198 intake work properly; edelbrock's website doesn't mention it being used on a 4.6 ?
i also have an offenhauser 4v intake with small gm quadrajet on my running parts sd1.......... i think its a 390 cfm carb.
any help/advice is appreciated

mark in victoria, bc canada


Dan Jones
Dan Jones
St. Louis, Missouri
(280 posts)

Registered:
07/21/2008 03:32PM

Main British Car:
1980 Triumph TR8 3.5L Rover V8

Re: Putting a 99 ranger rover 4.6 into my 80 Rover 3500 SD1
Posted by: Dan Jones
Date: March 29, 2015 06:51PM

> will the edelbrock 2198 intake work properly; edelbrock's website doesn't mention it being used on a 4.6?

Yes. The external dimensions of the 4.6L longblock are no different than your 3.5L. You will need to use your front cover (with distributor, water pump, pulleys and accessory brackets) and perhaps oil pan from the SD1. You'll also need a crank spacer (available from Woody Cooper at thewedgeshop.com) because of the longer crank stout. He also has some other parts like a stainless steel intake manifold bleed that are nice to have. If you look into the thermostat opening of a Buick or Offenhauser Dual Port intake manifold for the 215, you'll see both have coolant holes cast in. For some odd reason, Edelbrock forgot to put these in the 2198 Performer Rover and there have been reports of cooling problems with unmodified Edelbrock intakes, likely due to trapped air behind the thermostat. IIRC, the holes in the Offenhauser were larger. I drilled smaller ones like the Buick in my Performer Rover intake. I also drilled a hole on my Performer behind the thermostat housing and ran a bleed nipple from the intake to the fill tank in my TR8. You can see where the bleed is positioned (on the triangular pad right behind the thermostat housing) in these links:

[www.bacomatic.org]
[www.bacomatic.org]

Woody sells the stainless intake fitting for $15: There are a couple styles of intake manifold gaskets. The original TR8 style is an uncoated metal. The later Range Rover intake gaskets are a little nicer and have a black coating. Woody or Ted at TSI will have them and if you have a local Range Rover dealer they can probably get them too. Some installation tips are here:

[thebritishcar.com]

I think your SD1 is similar to the TR8 in the engine installation so you may need to make a gasket at the back for the heater hose stub. Neither my Rover or Buick gasket sets had that gasket. At the front, for the TR8, Woody blocks off the bypass hose that goes from the thermostat housing to the waterpump. I chose to retain this. On the TR8 there is a difference in diameters of the cast-in pipe stubs of the water pump and the thermostat housing that makes it difficult to fit a single diameter piece of hose. Plus, the distance is short so there's no room for an intermediate adapter. I pre-stretched one end of the hose to make sure it would fit.

> i also have an offenhauser 4v intake with small gm quadrajet on my running parts sd1.......... i think its a 390 cfm carb.

GM never made a Quadrajet that small. Perhaps you are thinking of the much earlier design Rochester 4GC carb that came on original Buick/Olds 215 V8s? The usual 390 CFM carb used on the smaller displacement Rover V8s is a Holley.

Dan Jones


markoll
Mark Ollerton
Victoria, BC Canada
(7 posts)

Registered:
08/31/2014 01:43PM

Main British Car:
1980 Rover 3500 SD1 3.5 litre

Re: Putting a 99 ranger rover 4.6 into my 80 Rover 3500 SD1
Posted by: markoll
Date: March 30, 2015 11:08AM

hi dan,
thanks for the reply and tips & advice.
if i go the carb route i will definitely drill the extra cooling holes and get in touch with woody & ted.
im also looking into possibly using a mega squirt set up and keeping the fuel injection.
i was tired and forgot to mention tit in my post - guess i better do a 2nd post about that.
thanks again, mark


Kelvin
Kelvin Dodd

(1 posts)

Registered:
07/01/2013 06:40PM

Main British Car:


Re: Putting a 99 ranger rover 4.6 into my 80 Rover 3500 SD1
Posted by: Kelvin
Date: April 13, 2015 08:52PM

Hi Mark.

Welcome aboard. We need to compare notes. I just picked up a Bosch (THOR) 4.6L Range Rover motor and am also thinking about fitting it to my Rover SD1.
I also understand that the original ECU does not play well when ripped from it's donor vehicle, although I have heard tales that it can be fooled into believing it has not been heisted.
Since I have two Bosch motors and no ECUs or air flow meters, I'm looking at going with the Megasquirt system to allow both fuel and ignition control.
Dan gave an excellent write up on converting to carbs, my Rover SD1 is currently running the stock 3.5L with the Edelbrock 500, but the motor is pretty tired.
There are other alternatives to carbs. The Lucas 14CUX hot wire system is simple and can be fitted to the 4.6 motor, with suitable bits from an up to 1996 3.9L, such as the distributor and front cover. This can be run with the stock computer by increasing the fuel pressure to match the larger motor. There is a lot of information on this swap on most Range Rover Classic and Defender forums as fitting the 4.6L in place of the 3.9L is a popular upgrade.

Kelvin.


mstemp
Mike Stemp
Calgary, Canada
(222 posts)

Registered:
11/25/2009 07:18AM

Main British Car:
1980 MGB Rover 4.6L

Re: Putting a 99 ranger rover 4.6 into my 80 Rover 3500 SD1
Posted by: mstemp
Date: April 14, 2015 07:40AM

Kelvin,

Not sure about the fuel pressure increase. The airflow meter will account for the larger displacement automatically. Only reason for more pressure would be if injectors max out at higher rpm. Issue though is that you then need a custom chip or else you will have too much fuel injected at lower rom.


Moderator
Curtis Jacobson
Portland Oregon
(4576 posts)

Registered:
10/12/2007 02:16AM

Main British Car:
71 MGBGT, Buick 215

authors avatar
Re: Putting a 99 ranger rover 4.6 into my 80 Rover 3500 SD1
Posted by: Moderator
Date: April 14, 2015 08:40PM

Welcome to BritishV8, gentlemen!


Robrover
Rob Thornton
Adelaide, Australia
(20 posts)

Registered:
10/01/2009 11:52PM

Main British Car:
1978 Rover SD1 4.6

Re: Putting a 99 ranger rover 4.6 into my 80 Rover 3500 SD1
Posted by: Robrover
Date: April 18, 2015 04:21AM

I have a 4.6 in my SD1 with an Edlebrock carb and it goes well. Mine has big valve Buick 300 heads, Crane cam and a Scorcher dissy. No real issues fitting the 4.6 in place of the 3.5, it's a pretty smooth process. I've got the 14CUX on my Disco and that's pretty reliable too (although I recommend investing in one of Stev Heath's Ecumate diagnostic readers).

cheers



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