Engine conversions- relative ease of 300 tdi- disco vs defender

[danebrewer]

Hi all, seeing as decent 200 tdi disco engines are seemingly hard to come by, I thought I might look at getting a 300 tdi instead, I may have the option of a 300 tdi from a disco or one (minus it's rad and intercooler as it's been stored right next to the sea for a while- don't know the overall cond. of the engine but it's only got 54k miles on it) from a 110 defender.

I know the engine mount points are different, to the 2.5 D I have atm, cam I keep my original (LT77) gearbox?

I also intend to change the chassis for a new galv. one in the future, so can I just order a 300tdi one or will I need a 2.5 D one and adapt it still?

Thanks

DB

[Boris113]

I have a 300tdi in my 1989 90, still on the original LT77 gearbox. If possible I would take the r380 gearbox from the defender also, that way the engine will sit where the factory intended and you can use standard parts throughout the conversion

My engine sits a long way back due to the length of the LT77 so all my rad/intercooler pipes have been extended by about 5 or 6 inches. It also makes it difficult to fit the air-filter on it's bracket above drivers footwell because it's so tight. Furthermore it is a struggle to get the air intake pipe from the filter to the turbo round the back of the engine. These would not be an issue with a defender r380 but I like the lt77 and it keeps the weight more centred for off-roading.

The lt77 still sits in the same place so that propshaft lengths don't need altering and I previously welded in new mounts. This summer I bought a galv chassis though. I didn't want to do any welding to it so had Richards put the 300 mounts in the right place for me before it went to the galvanisers. They also fitted a 2nd set of 300tdi mounts further forward so that if I convert to R380 at a later date, I don't need to cut and weld the galv.

Harry