Will a P6 V8 fit into an SD1? I guess the front cover with the water pump, dist and oil pump will ahve to be swapped, but will the bottom pulley go on and the flywheel? or do I have to fit an SD1 crank?

Why? well the P6b engine in question is an early one, for 5* petrol, and as I have one and my SD1 needs an engine fast, it will be going in possibly with the SD1 heads (these are better for unleaded fuel) and the old 10.5:1 cr of the early V8 is perfect for LPG (octane rationg 110, near 105 or 5*) and these early V8s were rated at 184BHP so I should have close to 155 on gas so the result will be no perfomance loss and deisel running costs. (Gota love LPG!).

Stewart

Hi Stewart,
I don't see any reason why it wouldn't go in, lot's of people have done it the other way around!
Do you have to change the front cover for a particular reason?
If your using the P6 engine in it's entirety the front cover can be used. The P6 had a shorter water pump so there should be lots of room.

The engine mount arrangement is different of course, and the sump is slightly smaller in the P6, so just watch that it'll clear the subframe etc.

Also, the early 10.5:1 engine's were indeed rated at 184bhp, but that was SAE. Which in the later DIN standard is around 160bhp.

Why not?

fear not for any metal work, I've run a lot of cars on LPG and have got avoiding any butchery for fillers ECT down to a fine art (tow bars make great mounting points for the filler much better than bodywork) so it can be returned to standard with little or no sign of it having been there. This has been becuse I never sell a car with the LPG fitted ,you don't get any more with it on, so might as well keep it, and who wants a car with holes where the LPG filler has been?

LPG is far kinder to the engine than petrol. Not need for cold start enrichment fopr one thing and therfore none of the attendant bore wash, and never soots up the oil so you can halve the number of oil changed and it still comes out looking like it did when it went in and the bearing life is way beyond the original life expectancy. This with the fact it costs me a 1/3 of petrol, so the result wouidl be an SD1 V8 returnig the equivalent of 60 MPG. And the range rover boys have been converting them for years so as far as the engine goes its a well beaten path.

And I do actually intend on driving it when its done! and Brown and whoever his sucessor will be getting too much money as it stands!

So for the los of some boot space (not like its a small boot!) I get..
A V8 that can be run daily
A V8 with double the life expetancy of it's petrol equivalent
A V8 with half the serviceing costs
A V8 that I know is cleaner than any desiel

Sorry its a no brainer.. Given I already have the parts and have been converting my own cars scince 1994

Stewart

Didn't the earlier blocks have rope seals?

They did indeed matey and have a tendency to leak.

They did have rope seals until around 1973 (when they lowered the compression). So all original 10.5:1 engines will have them, unless they have been converted (possible with some machining to the block).
9.25:1 and later engines will have the neoprene rear seals.

This is a common swap here in OZ where lots of 4.4 P76 engines have found their way into Rangies and SD1s. They bolt right in. But there are some differences too. The long stroke P76 block is taller than the Rover, hence wider apart at the top so you need spacers for aftermarket inlet manifolds or you can fit the Willpower P76 four barrell inlet. The rocker system is different, uses hollow pushrods to oil the rockers which are on studes, not a shaft, Chevvy style.

Front covers are inter-changeable with the Rover, as are cams, etc. These motors produce a lot of torque but cannot be revved too high because of the long stroke, and cranks can break. A common mod here is to fit Volvo or Holden 186cc pistons to bring the Leyland P76 out to a full 5 litres.

Heads are same as P6 B Rovers, so a swap to SD1 heads is better, or Buick 300 work better still. You can fit SD1 type rocker set up but you need to drill down into the block to link up with an oil feed - the hole's not there on the P76 block, although there is an indentation in the metal where it would be if it were a Rover block.

This engine was developed and used in F5000 open wheelrs in the mid 70s and produced over 460bhp in 5 litre form.

Some good info on:

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