Chevy 350 conversion

RoyLuke

RoyLuke

Well-known member
Apr 18, 2007
261
11
Hello All;
As I am being totally frustrated with rebuilding this Landy 4.0 engine, I am seriously considering the Chevy 350 Covert.
I got some information from: Marks 4wd in Dingley Village, Victoria but I really need is some detailed information on what is needed.
Does anybody know a source or has ever done it?

The next engine change will be to electric. Right now the cost of THAT is more than my house cost.

Roy
 
ERover82

ERover82

Well-known member
Nov 26, 2011
3,918
458
Darien Gap
RoyLuke said:
Hello All;
As I am being totally frustrated with rebuilding this Landy 4.0 engine, I am seriously considering the Chevy 350 Covert.
I got some information from: Marks 4wd in Dingley Village, Victoria but I really need is some detailed information on what is needed.
Does anybody know a source or has ever done it?

The next engine change will be to electric. Right now the cost of THAT is more than my house cost.

Roy
Click to expand...

If you're part way through a rebuild it probably makes a lot more sense, outside of an unknown specific desire, to overcome the speedbump and finish it.
 
D

discostew

Well-known member
Sep 14, 2010
7,733
1,024
Northern Illinois
ERover82 said:
If you're part way through a rebuild it probably makes a lot more sense, outside of an unknown specific desire, to overcome the speedbump and finish it.
Click to expand...
I totally agree with this. For some reason the thrust surface on that bearing is too thick. I can’t remember if that’s a selective bearing or not, but it sure looks like it is.
 
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RoyLuke

RoyLuke

Well-known member
Apr 18, 2007
261
11
This is my Third engine change !!!! I love that old Landy but it really doesn't seem to love ME !!!!
 
SCSL

SCSL

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Apr 27, 2005
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I have a Chevy 350 in a 90 and it is awesome. I bought it that way, however, so can’t help you on the how-to. Pretty cool to peel out in a Rover lol.
 
Knightspirit

Knightspirit

Well-known member
Sep 22, 2019
251
84
Mount Shasta, CA
I spoke with a mechanic about swapping in an LS - and he suggested it would be very expensive. I don't see that here though - heck for the price of the D1 kit and a completely rebuilt LS motor - it's about $2500 cheaper than buying a rebuilt 4.0 LR motor. These swap kits are always a crap shoot though. I don't see any motor mounts here for instance. You would need to know what you're doing. Really tempting though!

Here's an engine source for rebuilt:

GMC Engines

GMC Engines
www.powertrainproducts.net
 
Knightspirit

Knightspirit

Well-known member
Sep 22, 2019
251
84
Mount Shasta, CA
p m said:
Nick Markiw, my best authority on LS swaps, suggested $10k ballpark figure for engine+transmission swap, assuming most of the work is done by owner.
The donor drivetrain is barely a half of that amount.
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OK - well there you go - that's what I was hearing as well, so thanks for confirming! In looking at the site selling the kits - using the stock transmission was an option if using the 4.8 so that expense could be shaved off.
 
p m

p m

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Apr 19, 2004
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Knightspirit said:
OK - well there you go - that's what I was hearing as well, so thanks for confirming! In looking at the site selling the kits - using the stock transmission was an option if using the 4.8 so that expense could be shaved off.
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It makes zero sense. You can have a bulletproof six-speed instead of always-on-the-verge-of-dying-in-absence-of-spare-parts 4HP22/24. Also, it would take some effort to divorce the transmission from the engine in the ECU tune.
 
p m

p m

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pinkytoe69 said:
I thought general consensus is these ZRs are pretty robust as long as you don't overpower them?
Click to expand...
Till one morning you find that it takes a little longer to shift out of the 1st.
Then you think you'll just change the fluid a couple of times and it'll go away like it did the last time.
And it doesn't.
Then it takes a fully city block to shift out of the 1st.
Then it takes a mile to shift out of the 1st, but it happens in the desert, so you don't care.
Then you pull the Y-pipe and transmission pan and change the filter, too.
It still does it.
Then you realize that you need to replace some obscure parts in the transmission oil pump, and need to pull off the exhaust, driveshafts, and transfer case.
You find that the parts are few and far between, and shops willing to work on these transmissions are nearly inexistent.
You still find the obscure parts and do the job yourself or farm it out to an indy shop you trust.
Pay your bill, take the keys, and drive the truck trying to convince yourself that it is fixed. It isn't.

This kind of robust.
 
p m

p m

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D

discostew

Well-known member
Sep 14, 2010
7,733
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Northern Illinois
p m said:
Till one morning you find that it takes a little longer to shift out of the 1st.
Then you think you'll just change the fluid a couple of times and it'll go away like it did the last time.
And it doesn't.
Then it takes a fully city block to shift out of the 1st.
Then it takes a mile to shift out of the 1st, but it happens in the desert, so you don't care.
Then you pull the Y-pipe and transmission pan and change the filter, too.
It still does it.
Then you realize that you need to replace some obscure parts in the transmission oil pump, and need to pull off the exhaust, driveshafts, and transfer case.
You find that the parts are few and far between, and shops willing to work on these transmissions are nearly inexistent.
You still find the obscure parts and do the job yourself or farm it out to an indy shop you trust.
Pay your bill, take the keys, and drive the truck trying to convince yourself that it is fixed. It isn't.

This kind of robust.
Click to expand...
Not a very common failure. I’m sure it sucked, but it doesn’t happen very often.
 
R

robertf

Well-known member
Jan 22, 2006
4,792
361
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p m said:
yeah.
You need to pay for the transmission, core charge, shipping from UK to you, and likely pay to ship your core back to Ashcroft.
Without any upgrade options, it translates into a neat $1675 at today's exchange rate. You'll eventually claw some of that back as core refund.
Click to expand...


that seems reasonable. Id expect to pay at least that to local generic chain rebuild shop

I went through ashcroft a couple months ago after killing r380 #3

I ate the core charge. They didn't really want it anyway since it's a weak suffix J and not the upgraded K or L
 
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