Arthur242630 Posted February 15, 2008 Share Posted February 15, 2008 I'm planning on Fitting a Lexus 1UZFE 4.0ltr V8 into a Defender 110 I do not own a Landrover yet as I am in the process of searching for a suitable candidate. Has anyone ever done this conversion? I know I might get hung for suggesting a non Land Rover engine for the conversion but these engines sound and are amazing so much tuning potential. Check out www.Lextreme.com for info on these fantastic engines. What I'm after is a Vehicle that everyone expects to be slow, yes I'm affraid I'm a bit of a speed freak but I still would love to be able to take it off road once in a while. Another question is this, are the Defenders a constant 4 wheel drive? As this is what I would want in order to get good traction for extreme acceleration. I have big plans for the conversion eventually a fully forged rebuild, individual throttle bodies and turbo charging. I know very little about Defenders only that I like the look of them. Does anyone know how much Torque and power the Running gear can take? Any advice opinoins or just general thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Hiatt Posted February 15, 2008 Share Posted February 15, 2008 Ok, I'll have a go at this one. The drivetrain can be upgraded to as strong as you want or can afford, and it is permanent four wheel drive. The Lexus engine was used by Milner Off road (try google) in a number of their 4x4 racers, and they spent alot of time and money improving the engines, throttle bodies etc. Whilst the engine may be quick in a car don't expect it to turn a defender into a rocket ship, you will struggle to get the torque needed. You're looking at a two ton brick with a power sapping agricultural drivetrain, expect it to be spritely and you won't be disappointed but don't expect to do donuts. Most people with the Lexux Milners have now fitted sequential gearboxes to get some speed, but spending best part of £10k on a gearbox to get a cheap engine to work seems like false economy to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted February 15, 2008 Share Posted February 15, 2008 Burn him! Only kidding, I think that's a cool idea. Much more sensible than all these people who keep sticking TDi's in everything. Quick answers to your questions: Defenders are constant 4WD with open diffs, or you can lock the centre (transfer box) diff when off-road. It's basic but it works. Running gear is a minefield, it depends how much power we're talking about and how aggressively you're going to hammer it though, and if you're hammering it off-road everything is multiplied. - Some gearboxes are stronger than others, the late LT77 & R380 5-speeds are strong, they were used in Jag & TVR in various forms, although I'd imagine you'd be better off using the Lexus gearbox if it's a RWD box. - The transfer box (on most vehicles the LT230) is strong and can be had in a number of ratios from 1:1 to 1.6:1. They're all 3.332:1 in low range. - The props should be fine - The back axle on 110's is a Salisbury which is more than up to the job, the half-shafts may want uprating if you're doing racing starts on tarmac. - The front axle is a Rover type, the half-shafts and CV's are fairly weak (although early 110's had stronger CV's and uprated parts are available), the diff isn't particularly strong but again uprated parts are available. You can also swap axles from another vehicle under (Nissan Patrol, Toyota land Cruiser being strong & cheap) which is often cheaper than uprating Rover axles if you can do the fabrication. (just wait for people to nail you to the stake for fitting japanese axles AND a japanese engine ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mortus Posted February 15, 2008 Share Posted February 15, 2008 Ok, I'll have a go at this one.The drivetrain can be upgraded to as strong as you want or can afford, and it is permanent four wheel drive. The Lexus engine was used by Milner Off road (try google) in a number of their 4x4 racers, and they spent alot of time and money improving the engines, throttle bodies etc. Whilst the engine may be quick in a car don't expect it to turn a defender into a rocket ship, you will struggle to get the torque needed. You're looking at a two ton brick with a power sapping agricultural drivetrain, expect it to be spritely and you won't be disappointed but don't expect to do donuts. Most people with the Lexux Milners have now fitted sequential gearboxes to get some speed, but spending best part of £10k on a gearbox to get a cheap engine to work seems like false economy to me. my girlfriend lives right next door to Milner off road Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
101sean Posted February 15, 2008 Share Posted February 15, 2008 I'd say you need to do some serious talking to Milner off road and the like. LR transmissions can handle decent bhp now but sounds like you need to be looking at autoboxes which are rare in Defenders but anything is possible. Also what's the torque range of the engine, LR engines are biased to low revs, a high revving engine will be carp off road. Need to be looking for max torque well down, around 1500 - 2500rpm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted February 15, 2008 Share Posted February 15, 2008 What they said about performance, it's a heavy thing (2 tonnes) so you really need the low-down grunt to do anything spectacular. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
66gaza Posted February 16, 2008 Share Posted February 16, 2008 Stick with the Lexus gearbox and remote mount a tcase for 4wd. Gaza Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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