Category Archives: Restoration

Land Rover: Final day of engine swap?

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Philippe: “We lowered the original square motor mount (and) it improved (vibration) but I think the 200Tdi type will work better. Same height more rubber. I just don t like the dash vibrating at idle; makes the car like a tractor. I think the dash (is) missing a support on passenger side and all the lower screws are not even in! The plan tomorrow morning (Wednesday) is swapping motor mount and realignment of the dash (and) that should be it.”

After ten long weeks, the truck leaves Philippe’s garage and Mr. Wolf’s final (?) shake-down cruise begins. No word on the vibration but, at this point, I think I can live with some serious shaking.

Old Engine – New Engine

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This doesn’t really mean much to me because I don’t know shit about engines, diesel or otherwise. But some of my mechanical friends might find this interesting. The motor on the left is a 2.25 diesel that was part of the original restoration by Lucra Cars. The one on the right is a 2.5 liter 300Tdi diesel from a 1994 (European) Land Rover Discovery. Rebuilt by Zombie Motors and installed by Philippe at EuroLand 4×4 in San Francisco. Click image to enlarge.

Land Rover: New engine in and running

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Mr. Wolf drove the truck this afternoon. The rebuilt engine is in and he is happy with Philippe’s work. The vibration during idle will (hopefully) be taken care of with new engine mounts.

Nice to see her back together! We are going to wait for Philippe to swap the motor mounts. Fires right up, runs smooth, and his work under the hood looks impeccable, very happy with how this came out.

Land Rover Update

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Update 1:20 p.m., Friday July 22, 2018: Mr. Wolf will be at Philippe’s garage later this afternoon to drive the truck. P reports it “vibrates while idling” and I assume that means more than it should. P’s research reveals the engine came with wrong mounts and new ones should arrive Monday. Mr. Wolf will make determination on whether to go with new mounts. He says it’s not a huge task but I am wary. Expecting another call from Wolf at end of the day.

The Great Land Rover project will soon be 15 months old. Philippe the Mechanic reports the truck is at the muffler shop getting a new exhaust system. No idea what remains to be done.

I can’t find the exact date Mr. Wolf took the truck to Philippe but he had it on February 21st. The rebuilt engine left Zombie Motors on April 30th and arrived at Philippe’s on May 3rd. So old Philippe has been working on the engine for ten weeks. Two-and-a-half months. The truck has been in his shop for five months.

Stay tuned.

Updates from Philippe

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I’m now thinking putting a rebuilt engine in an old Land Rover is a much bigger challenge than a heart-lung transplant. Couple of brief updates from Philippe:

“Have some more trimming to do on the frame; clutch slave rubbing when engine running; finishing fan and cable; replaced battery cable and clamps (the existing ones were not good.)”

“Got stuck on the ignition switch. Couldn’t get the on-off for the fuel cut-out but finally figured out to install a switch just where the stop-run cable was.”

Watch this space.

Time to start her up

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Text and video from Philippe: “That was just the first start. I need to bleed the injection and hook up the down pipe for the electrical; I need to run bigger cable and wire all the new sensors. The engine sound(s) good.”

I think he’s planning to use one cartridge with the ignition off to clean out the cylinders.

Visiting the truck and Mr. Wolf

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Mr. Wolf picked me up at the airport in a vintage Italian sports car and headed straight for Philippe’s garage (reaching speeds of 100 mph)

The engine is in and Philippe expects everything will be wrapped up — wait for it — by the end of next week.

Since arriving I have seen exotic vehicles worth millions (?) and met some really nice and interesting people. I’ll post a proper report and more photos upon my return.

Land Rover Timeline

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This timeline includes my payments to Lucra Cars, Zombie Motors, Mr. Wolf, and — eventually — Philippe. I’ve been reticent about sharing that information. Seemed in poor taste. Or I come off looking like a chump. I’m over that. The truck will wind up costing what it costs and that is undeniably part of the story. Video runs just over 3 minutes. More info on each of these events by clicking the Land Rover link below. You can also navigate by date using the tool in the sidebar.

New engine is in

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I gather this was only slightly more difficult than a heart-lung transplant and will cost about the same. Next comes wiring, redoing the exhaust system, and finding someplace to stick the radiator. Might be done by the end of the week. The real test will come when Mr. Wolf starts driving the truck again. Speaking of Mr. Wolf, he’s out of town the rest of this week at some kind of off-road event.

This video is pretty amazing and if off-roading is your thing, worth a watch. Mr. Wolf will be driving a Unimog.

The Big Engine Swap

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After a week with no news on The Big Engine Swap, I called EuroLand 4×4 and left a message: “You guys are working on my truck and I’m calling for an update.” Ten minutes later I got a call back from the mysterious Philippe (whose accent is somewhere between Pepe Le Pew and Inspector Clouseau).

The old engine is out and Philippe’s concerns about its condition were confirmed. Unfortunately, the new engine from Zombie Motors isn’t going to be the plug-and-play fit we were told. Philippe had to contact the Land Rover folks in the UK for some instructions on how to make the new engine fit. Battery will have to be moved from the engine compartment to under the driver’s seat; instead of belt driven fan we’ll be using an electric fan for cooling (which is a better way to go I’m told); and some changes to the wiring and exhaust system. Translation: expensive.

Philippe sounded confident he could make it all work and might be finished in a week. I’ll believe it when I see it. O when Mr. Wolf sees/drives it. In three short weeks I’ll wing it out to San Francisco to finally meet Mr. Wolf and — with some luck — play with the truck before it gets shipped back to Missouri.