MPI Engine swap

[88inchthing]

Hi all, i am thinking of buying an MPI Disco with a blown engine.My question is does a Rover 820 engine fit and if not do any other rover car engines fit?A TDI or v8 conversion is not an option as i plan to convert it to LPG.Any help or coments most welcome.

Cheers Bill.

[paul the plumber]

a rover 820 engine is the same & easy to find. but run it first as they can be a litle smokey. a friend of mine converted his to tdi, you have to weld on engine mounts & change gearbox to suit tdi. the mpi was a little under powered but quite a nice drive all the same. would be better to buy tdi rather than convert it though.

[Quagmire]

Why is a v8 not an option with LPG?

[MECCANO]

Why is a v8 not an option with LPG?

Because diesels are better... Every one knows that

[sotal]

With the price that TDI's are going for - just buy a tdi.

The MPI body would have to be absolutely mint to be worthwhile, then you've got to do all the work and expect to find the odd problem along the way. Then you've probably got to tell your insurance that the engine has been changed and probably pay an excess. Then you've got to fit the LPG kit and pay for that, then you've got to tell the insurance you've fitted LPG and pay extra for that. Finally you would have an underpowered discovery which wouldn't work out much cheaper if at all to run than a tdi.

Just my thoughts

[FridgeFreezer]

Meh - why go TDi like all the sheep, there are several interesting engines in Rover cars (such as the 220 Turbo) that would fit into that and be a bit different. You can buy a whole 220 for similar money to a TDi lump but with less faff to fit (you'd need the TDi gearbox too for that swap). The 4-pot will weigh a lot less than a TDi too.

The Rover lumps can make some very good power whilst still giving reasonable MPG on a run. The GEMS setup is a good one, or Megasquirting it would be a straightforward swap if you wanted to do some tweaking, especially if you get a distributorless engine - almost all the wiring & hardware is there for you already.

Certainly an interesting project, everyone writes-off the MPi as they are not very common and weren't terribly well received, but then nether was the TDi auto yet the flavour of the month is TDi auto challenge trucks.

[MECCANO]

Meh - why go TDi like all the sheep, there are several interesting engines in Rover cars (such as the 220 Turbo) t

Isn't it quite hard to get the bits for the 220 or t16 though. I know the n/a version is common as muck, but what about the interchangeability ( even a word???)

Was it not the predecessor to the K-series??? what about a turbo one of them or a KV6 heh

[88inchthing]

With the price that TDI's are going for - just buy a tdi.

The MPI body would have to be absolutely mint to be worthwhile, then you've got to do all the work and expect to find the odd problem along the way. Then you've probably got to tell your insurance that the engine has been changed and probably pay an excess. Then you've got to fit the LPG kit and pay for that, then you've got to tell the insurance you've fitted LPG and pay extra for that. Finally you would have an underpowered discovery which wouldn't work out much cheaper if at all to run than a tdi.

Just my thoughts

My initial idea was simply that the MPI is claimed to do 30 mpg, and LPG is about half price.That would work out a whole lot cheaper to run than any TDI i've ever seen.However having looked into it more i am not convinced the MPI is as economical as claimed, and also LPG is closer to 40% saving.Still cheaper to run than a TDI in my opinion.With regard to telling the insurance company about a like for like replacement engine it will not increase insurance and i see no need to tell them.

[88inchthing]

a rover 820 engine is the same & easy to find. but run it first as they can be a litle smokey. a friend of mine converted his to tdi, you have to weld on engine mounts & change gearbox to suit tdi. the mpi was a little under powered but quite a nice drive all the same. would be better to buy tdi rather than convert it though.

Cheers mate that was the engine info i needed. Tdi is not a option as it's just to dear to run.

[88inchthing]

Why is a v8 not an option with LPG?

Sadly V8 and TDI not an option as i need to achive at least 40 mpg.

[88inchthing]

Meh - why go TDi like all the sheep, there are several interesting engines in Rover cars (such as the 220 Turbo) that would fit into that and be a bit different. You can buy a whole 220 for similar money to a TDi lump but with less faff to fit (you'd need the TDi gearbox too for that swap). The 4-pot will weigh a lot less than a TDi too.

The Rover lumps can make some very good power whilst still giving reasonable MPG on a run. The GEMS setup is a good one, or Megasquirting it would be a straightforward swap if you wanted to do some tweaking, especially if you get a distributorless engine - almost all the wiring & hardware is there for you already.

Certainly an interesting project, everyone writes-off the MPi as they are not very common and weren't terribly well received, but then nether was the TDi auto yet the flavour of the month is TDi auto challenge trucks.

Yes exactly.the point is i need to attain serious MPG, at least 40.

[sotal]

My initial idea was simply that the MPI is claimed to do 30 mpg, and LPG is about half price.That would work out a whole lot cheaper to run than any TDI i've ever seen.However having looked into it more i am not convinced the MPI is as economical as claimed, and also LPG is closer to 40% saving.Still cheaper to run than a TDI in my opinion.With regard to telling the insurance company about a like for like replacement engine it will not increase insurance and i see no need to tell them.

If the MPI does manage 30 mpg which I would be surprised, then the LPG will do more like 24mpg. (approx 80%)

I would have thought that the MPI would do more like 24 as standard so on LPG it would be more like 19mpg

Last time I saw LPG it was 58p / litre, diesel is 117.9p / litre here

So for £10 you would get 17.2 litres (3.78 gallons) of LPG or 8.5 litres (1.87 gallons) of diesel

A 300tdi Manual will get about 32/gallon - which would give you approx 60 miles for £10

Assuming my guess of 19mpg on LPG is correct then the LPG would give you approx 70 miles for £10

So as a best guess I reckon you would save 15% on fuel, but then you've got the cost of the LPG kit and the installation cost - so you are looking at approx £2000, if you want to stay legal then you do need to tell your insurance company about the LPG kit, and if the model number of the engine isn't the same then you would have to tell them about that. So you would be looking at extra costs there.

If you do the average 10,000 miles / year I reckon it would save you at most £250 / year or in other words it will take you 80,000 miles to break even on the cost of installing the kit.

Feel free to correct any of my maths as it is still early

[88inchthing]

If the MPI does manage 30 mpg which I would be surprised, then the LPG will do more like 24mpg. (approx 80%)

I would have thought that the MPI would do more like 24 as standard so on LPG it would be more like 19mpg

Last time I saw LPG it was 58p / litre, diesel is 117.9p / litre here

So for £10 you would get 17.2 litres (3.78 gallons) of LPG or 8.5 litres (1.87 gallons) of diesel

A 300tdi Manual will get about 32/gallon - which would give you approx 60 miles for £10

Assuming my guess of 19mpg on LPG is correct then the LPG would give you approx 70 miles for £10

So as a best guess I reckon you would save 15% on fuel, but then you've got the cost of the LPG kit and the installation cost - so you are looking at approx £2000, if you want to stay legal then you do need to tell your insurance company about the LPG kit, and if the model number of the engine isn't the same then you would have to tell them about that. So you would be looking at extra costs there.

If you do the average 10,000 miles / year I reckon it would save you at most £250 / year or in other words it will take you 80,000 miles to break even on the cost of installing the kit.

Feel free to correct any of my maths as it is still early

Wow Diesel is a lot cheaper in Your area, £1.27 a litre here! LPG however is about the same as yours.The percentage saving on LPG seems to depend on who you ask.I have been told anything from 50% to 25%.Still looking for info/evidence on that one.Got a quote on an LPG kit yesterday £505 inc VAT. Would fit it myself and then get it inspected and certified by the supplier.I am assured that as long as the install is certified and the insurance are informed the premium is not much higher.

I do about 25k a year which is why i need high MPG.

Overall i am going off the idea, but i will do some more research before i decide.

[sotal]

Just filled up again this morning and it was 118.9 but I got 5p off as it was tescos so it was only 113.9p per litre.

Anyway - I'm not trying to say it's a bad idea - it's just I looked into LPG myself and really can't see how it is worthwhile, but two of my main reasons behind that are that I only do 10k a year maximum and I rarely keep a car longer than two years!

What kind of kit is it for £505, the cheaper ones tend not to provide as good as system and therefore not as good MPG. Did they give a price to certify your install? When I'd looked into it the price to certify made it almost the same price as having it installed as they don't want to take the risk of certifying other peoples installs.

I never got as far as looking into insurance costs.

Just remember that LPG does less MPG than petrol, the figure usually quoted by LPG kit sellers is the figure I used which is 80% of the MPG it does on petrol. I'm guessing that is a little optimistic and reality it will be less, I've read forum posts where people complain that the MPG on LPG is less than 50% of the MPG on petrol and with LPG being half the price of petrol it makes the LPG cost more than petrol

[FridgeFreezer]

TBH I think you'll struggle to hit 40mpg on anything petrol, it's tricky enough with a TDi. Mind you, a non-LR TDi such as the Isuzu 2.8 would probably get closer. Or just buy a Freelander diesel.

[MECCANO]

TBH I think you'll struggle to hit 40mpg on anything petrol, it's tricky enough with a TDi. Mind you, a non-LR TDi such as the Isuzu 2.8 would probably get closer. Or just buy a Freelander diesel.

Theres an article in one of the comics that talks about the MPI disco. Seems to suggest you achieve low 20's if your lucky! Only scanned it, will give it a better look tomorrow.

[thirstybeast]

I had an MPI as a runbout for a couple of years, I liked it to drive but it was thirsty averaging 17MPG.

Definitly faster than my 200TDI on road and good fun off road though it made more heat and noise than progress!

[88inchthing]

O.K. thanks fellas.Think i will give it a miss then.Gonna look mat running a tdi on cooking oil instead.

Cheers Bill

[FridgeFreezer]

Frankly I'd look at buying a smaller car for commuting, pick up something small and diesel for £500 and run a landy at weekends. It's cheaper in teh long run, and you're more likely to get to work on Monday AM if you've been out playing on Sunday.

[88inchthing]

Frankly I'd look at buying a smaller car for commuting, pick up something small and diesel for £500 and run a landy at weekends. It's cheaper in teh long run, and you're more likely to get to work on Monday AM if you've been out playing on Sunday.

Well it's funny you should say that.See that's how it all started.I was running a mk3 golf TDI for work, and it was reliable and very economical.I then bought a rough series 3 for off roading.Welded it up for the M.O.T. and used it for a while.Then i unexpectedly fell in love with it.Before i new it i had carried out a full rebuild on it, installed a 200 tdi and so on.

Problem then was felt guilty driving it hard off road.

Solution was my current project, an 88inch v8 hybrid which will be for off road use only.Trouble is i will need something to tow it with.The car just won't pull it and the series won't stop very quick towing a heavy trailer.

This is why i would like to find a way to run a Disco every day rather than having more cars than John Presscot.

[FridgeFreezer]

I think the closest you're going to get with a green oval on the bonnet is a diesel freebie.

[sotal]

Or send a few hundred quid and improve the brake setup on the series? Then use the 200tdi Series to tow the V8 Series.

I'm sure I saw some bolt on disc/calipers somewhere a while back - they were pricey, but cheaper than a disco

[ChrisV8]

TBH I think you'll struggle to hit 40mpg on anything petrol, it's tricky enough with a TDi. Mind you, a non-LR TDi such as the Isuzu 2.8 would probably get closer. Or just buy a Freelander diesel.

Well I think a Freebie doing 40 mpg is not very likely, you might get a td4 to gewt somewhere near, but a Freebie 2 forget it, lucky to get 30mpg according to my conversations with people with them, that's why I bought the Jeep Patriot cos that does what it says and gets well over 40 mpg all the time !!

I have been helping a neighbour convert an Mpi to tdi and it has been a pig of a job, changing engine and box then the wiring nightmare !!! Then I had a look at the boot floor mmmmmmmmm just say stalled project for the moment !!!!

An Isuzu would drop in no bother but all the conversion plates etc are for the normal LT77 boxes not the mpi so I think a change would be required unless you could make up a very funny spigot bearing !! I get an easy 35mpg out of the Isuzu in my 110 so 40 mpg may be feasible with a light right foot !!