v8 - tdi conversion specialists

[jasper110]

hi,

i've made my mind up and intend on replacing the 3.5 v8 in my '85 110 with a 300 tdi and associated gearbox etc etc. the thing is i'm not able to do the job myself so therefore i need a reccomendation for someone who can do the jo to a professional standard (also to supply all parts) can anyone suggest someone north of birmingham who is up to the job and has a good reputation for both quality of workmanship and costs?

thanks.

[callum]

hi,

i've made my mind up and intend on replacing the 3.5 v8 in my '85 110 with a 300 tdi and associated gearbox etc etc. the thing is i'm not able to do the job myself so therefore i need a reccomendation for someone who can do the jo to a professional standard (also to supply all parts) can anyone suggest someone north of birmingham who is up to the job and has a good reputation for both quality of workmanship and costs?

thanks.

i presumo you're jasper110 in aberdeenish area.

george mcclay at larbert might do such a thing. probably someone much closer to you though.

trouble is, its gonna be costly to get someone else to do it. its not a particularly taxing process, but it takes time. at £30 an hour, that mounts up. a friend found a good mechanic in forres who would swap his 2.25 diesel for my old 2.5 for not too much money, but that's hardly local.

also, if the garage supplies the parts it can get expensive too. how much have you budgeted for.

nice thing to do, but be prepared for a big bill if you're getting it done by a professional. worth getting a few quotes. someone who knows what they're doing will probably charge more, but will be quicker. someone who doesn't may be cheaper per hour but will take longer.

dont let that dicourage you though, someone might be able to help a bit better than i

[jasper110]

i presumo you're jasper110 in aberdeenish area.

yes thats me! i'm not too bothered by costs in order to get a proper job done. ideally i would like the same place to fit and supply all the parts in order to try and avoid something going wrong and one lot saying it's not our fault its the suppliers problem and the suppliers blaming the fitters. locality isn't an issue, like i siad north of birmingham is fine. i've only managed to find one company so far who will supply, fit and give 12 months warranty. they are liveridge near solihul, but thay aren't cheap. guess i'll have to keep looking.

[Tiger]

Not a direct answer this but I looked at changing the engine on my old 110 2.5D for a 300 TDi. I looked around for an engine and these seem to go for about £800-£1000. Then you need an R380 gearbox budget £250?. Now I was going to do this myself so labour not a issue but if you are putting a new engine in makes sense to strip and check while its out (new timing belt etc) So add another couple of hundred for bits and unexpexteds like new engine mounts sheared off bolts and the like and then daft extras like getting a metric PAS pipe made thats metric for the 300Tdi pump and imperial for the old steering box.

So to swap an engine you gonna be looking at the best part of £1500 to £2k and headaches

Solution!

Sell your old 110 £1500 - £2000 ish

Put ya money on top for the engine

Go and buy another car with a 300TDi from the factory and get rear discs less rust newer propshafts etc.

Don't do what I did!! I still have the old 110 and now a 98R 110 Hmmmmm.

[jasper110]

Not a direct answer this but I looked at changing the engine on my old 110 2.5D for a 300 TDi. I looked around for an engine and these seem to go for about £800-£1000. Then you need an R380 gearbox budget £250?. Now I was going to do this myself so labour not a issue but if you are putting a new engine in makes sense to strip and check while its out (new timing belt etc) So add another couple of hundred for bits and unexpexteds like new engine mounts sheared off bolts and the like and then daft extras like getting a metric PAS pipe made thats metric for the 300Tdi pump and imperial for the old steering box.

So to swap an engine you gonna be looking at the best part of £1500 to £2k and headaches

Solution!

Sell your old 110 £1500 - £2000 ish

Put ya money on top for the engine

Go and buy another car with a 300TDi from the factory and get rear discs less rust newer propshafts etc.

Don't do what I did!! I still have the old 110 and now a 98R 110 Hmmmmm.

thing is my 110 may be old but has NO rust, has only done 57000 miles and has had an easy life. newer models (300tdi fetch a premimum) and suffer more from rusting body cappings (not galvanised) and electrolysis. (mine has NONE). so in this case it's perhaps a case of better the devil you know. i would like the tdi for economy and range. there is nothing wrong with my V8.

[FridgeFreezer]

Then you need an R380 gearbox budget £250?

Why? You can bolt a 200/300TDi in the place of a 4-pot

In the case of V8->TDi you may well need a new gearbox though as the bellhousing & input shafts are different, your best bet would be to bit the bullet and get Ashcrofts to send you a new one to go with your new engine, during all this work it'll be the easiest time to do a gearbox swap too. While you're on the phone to Ashcrofts it would also be the ideal time to go from LT77 to R380, one fits in the space of the other.

[Mr Bean]

I would like the tdi for economy and range. there is nothing wrong with my V8.

Why not fit a good LPG ki then?

I would sooner have the V8 then a 300tdi with it's associated head problems.

[FridgeFreezer]

Add up the cost of all this Vs the few pence per mile you'll save, is it worth it? If your V8 is still on carbs you can perk it up and hit an easy 20mpg by going EFi.

[white90]

300TDI is only going to return 25-30mpg at the very best

for the ££ I'd go with FF and gas the V8.

MrB never had and head issues with the TDis I've had ranging from 19k when purchased sold at 60k to 58k purchased 75k sold

to the current 98k purchased showing 140k

all had fuel pump adjustments and or Turbo boost increases

[Lewis]

Depends how far north of Birmingham you were thinking - but there is a guy at Longcliffe in Derbyshire who runs a small business called GB Developments - his specialty is Land Rover diesels and engine conversions.

The guy's a really nice chap and his prices are good too - I think he does recon/rebuilt engines too - and his workshop is like V8 porn from the amount of Tdi conversions he does

He advertises (or used to) in the back of the Land Rover comics

Hope this helps

Lewis