Defender 90 adding a petrol V8

[Greg Vos]

Hi
Im new to this forum, and wanting some guidance please
I am considering purchasing a (older) Defender 90 and fitting a V8 Discovery petrol engine and auto box, making it nice and adding new upgraded suspension with 31 inch wheels.my thinking is I will fit the mega squirt fuel injection system, also will rebuild the engine to new before installing along with re doing the box

Im quite handy but am wondering what will it be like on road for say daily driving? Im sure some of you must have done this and I will appreciate being pointed to the build threads if they are on here.

[paintman]

You may want to consider the insurance issues & cost as it will be a modified vehicle.
You may also want to ask on some of the Land Rover specific forums such as Landyzone, LR4x4 & LROi as diesel to petrol & vice versa conversions are common.

[Greg Vos]

paintman said:

You may want to consider the insurance issues & cost as it will be a modified vehicle.
You may also want to ask on some of the Land Rover specific forums such as Landyzone, LR4x4 & LROi as diesel to petrol & vice versa conversions are common.

Thanks I will search those forums.

[FlipFlopGriff]

My S3 Landy has an SD1 V8 which was in when I bought it so no idea on fitment cost, but insurance is £150 fully comp. (3000 mile p.a. limit)
FFG

[madcal]

Never had any insurance issues nor issues re-registering it with DVLA as a 5.0 V8 Petrol auto rather than a 2.5 Dieseasel

It is a pretty standard conversion and transforms the vehicle, easier to drive on and off road.

You could do it yourself if you are (very) handy with a spanner; or any good LR independent specialist will do it; or you can pay someone like Nene many thousands to do it.

Massive amounts of info on the LR specialist sites.

Good luck!

[phib]

At a guess it will drive like a Defender 50th with worse handling (due to the tyres)

A few 50th's about so worth driving one before you put the effort in

My 50th drives very well well and its not used everyday have others for that.

Suspension needs to be carefully looked at, I have been through 4 set ups before I got it right ( for me)

And mpg is c. 9 mpg on average

Phib

Edited by phib on Monday 7th August 17:22

[300bhp/ton]

Greg Vos said:

Hi
Im new to this forum, and wanting some guidance please
I am considering purchasing a (older) Defender 90 and fitting a V8 Discovery petrol engine and auto box, making it nice and adding new upgraded suspension with 31 inch wheels.my thinking is I will fit the mega squirt fuel injection system, also will rebuild the engine to new before installing along with re doing the box

Im quite handy but am wondering what will it be like on road for say daily driving? Im sure some of you must have done this and I will appreciate being pointed to the build threads if they are on here.

It'll drive like a Defender!!!

Meaning somewhat harsh and compromised by most people's measures.

Auto boxes blunt V8 performance. Making them slower, less fun and worse on fuel vs a manual. That said, a Defender is lighter than a Disco. So with the same engine and gearbox will be more spritely than the Disco.

But it won't ride as well, have worse NVH, and will be a lot less refined.

Basically if a normal stock diesel Defender is not for you. Then a V8 automatic one will address none of the points that you are likely wanting to resolve.

Personally I love Defenders and would have no issues using one daily. And indeed have done so.

But speaking obscene amounts of money on them as the current trendy must have. Which seems to be the fashion these days and very much so on PH. Will not solve the underlying issues if it's basic construction and design. And it's these areas which make them feel the way they do.

I see it time and time again. Even more on some of the LR forums I frequent. Some 'new money' decides they need a new fashion accessory and that it must be a Defender. They buy one and hate it and sell it with in weeks. Or buy it, hate it, spend loads doing bits to it and still hate and sell it.

Not saying you are one of these. Just that 80-90% of the posts on PH about Defenders seem of this ilk.

The only good thing is. Defenders are currently holding their money well. So financially it might not cost a huge amount to try out.

But the reality stands. If you want it as a daily and won't be doing any serious proper off roading. Then a Classic Range Rover, Discovery or Discvoery 2 would be much better vehicle for the job.

[300bhp/ton]

phib said:

At a guess it will drive like a Defender 50th with worse handling (due to the tyres)

A few 50th's about so worth driving one before you put the effort in

My 50th drives very well well and its not used everyday have others for that.

Suspension needs to be carefully looked at, I have been through 4 set ups before I got it right ( for me)

And mpg is c. 9 mpg on average

Phib

Edited by phib on Monday 7th August 17:22

9mpg is either:

-constant off road low range
-100% city and poor driving style
-100% total ragging it
-it's broken
- miscalculated

My 4.6 V8 p38a auto does mostly short journey use and averages 16.7-17.1mpg and weighs more than a 90. It has slightly better aero. But not 60% mpg better aero.

I also regularly use a twin carb 3.5 V8. That averages around the 15mpg mark and is never driven in an aconomical manner.

Edited by 300bhp/ton on Friday 18th August 12:20

[bakerstreet]

Greg Vos said:

Hi
Im new to this forum, and wanting some guidance please
I am considering purchasing a (older) Defender 90 and fitting a V8 Discovery petrol engine and auto box, making it nice and adding new upgraded suspension with 31 inch wheels.my thinking is I will fit the mega squirt fuel injection system, also will rebuild the engine to new before installing along with re doing the box

Im quite handy but am wondering what will it be like on road for say daily driving? Im sure some of you must have done this and I will appreciate being pointed to the build threads if they are on here.

The 31 you are referring to is tyres, not wheels. As 300 says, my guess is you want this an accessory rather than something that will ever see the rough stuff. This is one of the many reasons why Defender prices are on the rise

If you go for a LR flavor auto box, they are a far cry from modern boxes. Slow to change and sluggish. Expect low teens for MPG.

I personally couldn't live with a Defender as a daily, but that's just me. Uncomfortable and noisy.

The cabin and centre tunnel looks awkward in auto configuration with the auto shifter in rathern aofd place compared to wear a manual lever would normally sit.

You will have to use a lot of parts form the 50th anniversary model and as far as I'm aware, they are not plentiful and can be quite expensive.

Unless its done well, it could actually devalue your vehicle. I looked at some V8 converted 90s when I was looking to buy and the two I looked at were pretty bad, but I appreciate that won't be the case with all conversions.

For everyday use, I would stick to standard defender fitment tyres which are 235/85/R16 and these look just right on a defender with something like Boost alloys (Very popular)

At least with those fitted on standard height suspension, you will still be able to get into carparks.

I would also budget £5k plus for conversion. The engines aren't as cheap as they used to be. I'd budget £500 for a injection model V8 lump and maybe £200 for the gearbox and another £700 to re-build it. Syncro Gearboxes have a great rep on the FB groups.

[eliot]

300bhp/ton said:

phib said:

At a guess it will drive like a Defender 50th with worse handling (due to the tyres)

A few 50th's about so worth driving one before you put the effort in

My 50th drives very well well and its not used everyday have others for that.

Suspension needs to be carefully looked at, I have been through 4 set ups before I got it right ( for me)

And mpg is c. 9 mpg on average

Phib

Edited by phib on Monday 7th August 17:22

9mpg is either:

-constant off road low range
-100% city and poor driving style
-100% total ragging it
-it's broken
-mod calculated

My 4.6 V8 p38a auto does mostly short journey use and averages 16.7-17.1mpg and weighs more than a 90. It has slightly better aero. But not 60% mpg better aero.

I also regularly use a twin carb 3.5 V8. That averages around the 15mpg mark and is never driven in an aconomical manner.

Indeed. My 5.7 twin turbo will return single digits only if you boot it everywhere. my p38 returns 15.

[CAPP0]

eliot said:

300bhp/ton said:

phib said:

At a guess it will drive like a Defender 50th with worse handling (due to the tyres)

A few 50th's about so worth driving one before you put the effort in

My 50th drives very well well and its not used everyday have others for that.

Suspension needs to be carefully looked at, I have been through 4 set ups before I got it right ( for me)

And mpg is c. 9 mpg on average

Phib

Edited by phib on Monday 7th August 17:22

9mpg is either:

-constant off road low range
-100% city and poor driving style
-100% total ragging it
-it's broken
-mod calculated

My 4.6 V8 p38a auto does mostly short journey use and averages 16.7-17.1mpg and weighs more than a 90. It has slightly better aero. But not 60% mpg better aero.

I also regularly use a twin carb 3.5 V8. That averages around the 15mpg mark and is never driven in an aconomical manner.

Indeed. My 5.7 twin turbo will return single digits only if you boot it everywhere. my p38 returns 15.

Have never properly checked the consumption on my twin-carb 3.5 V8 Defender but in-my-head figures based on mileage and how much fuel has gone it, it's about 12-15mpg, probably nearer 12.

[FlipFlopGriff]

My mpg is about 12 with a P6B 3.5 V8 in a SWB S3.
FFG