Freelander Engine Swap

expectthebest

Well-known member
Apr 13, 2005
366
0
Washington State
With all the Freelanders out there blowing engines and with no new engines available, there will eventually be no way to repair a Freelander. This should mean they will be cheap! So, what about swaping with a Toyota engine or something like that? Is this remotely possible?
 

Flip

Well-known member
Jan 9, 2008
226
0
Roanoke, VA
buy a blown up freelander for no more than a grand and swap the euro spec diesel and tranny and a 2 inch lift and you'll have some fun and said and done if you do the work yourself i would think you would be in the car for about 6 grand
 

expectthebest

Well-known member
Apr 13, 2005
366
0
Washington State
Interesting. The gas milage would be great for a DD that would also do well in the snow. As these things don't have any engines to replace, I'd think one would be able to pick one up cheap in the next couple years and do exactly what you said. Well, we'll see what happens.
 

Flip

Well-known member
Jan 9, 2008
226
0
Roanoke, VA
I work in at a dealership and i wouldn't be surprised if someone here has one done in the next year.
 

quick128

Well-known member
Jul 21, 2008
1,378
1
Waynesboro VA
what would a diesel cost? my wife was going to sell her freelander this winter and maybe get an LR3. should I keep it around? maybe I could hide it in one of my parents barns. definatly keep me informed of any further information that comes up.
 

Flip

Well-known member
Jan 9, 2008
226
0
Roanoke, VA
Any of these companies who are importing defenders and series trucks could give you a quote on a motor and all the running gear im sure.
 
I drove the shit out of a diesel Freelander in the UK in '03 or '04. It was incredible! 100 mph, 30 mpg, fun little car (I won't call it a truck).

Once they got the IRD issues settled, they were OK. But, the autoboxes are junk, if you could find a diesel and manual transmission, you'd have it made (well, as much as you possibly could with a Freelander).

The only Freelander worth a shit to me is my cat named Freelander! And that's only if I keep him on his hairball meds!
 

Michael Slade

Well-known member
Oct 11, 2004
516
0
SLC, Utah
www.tawayama.com
I drove a Camel Freelander for a weekend and it was pretty cool actually. Not quite my cup of tea, but I did like the diesel engine, and it did OK off-road. Also beat the livin' piss out of it.

Get rid of the crappy TC crappity crap, and it would be a decent little off-roader. I did like the diesel engine though. The RHD, stickers and CT stuff made it fun to drive...a plain-jane version with the diesel engine wouldn't be as cool. I don't know if a swap would be worth all of the hassle TTYT...
 

agbuckle98

Well-known member
Mar 10, 2006
1,831
1
there is a guy here who is swapping out a Subaru Outback engine / drivetrain into a blown up freelander. Should be interesting.
 

agbuckle98

Well-known member
Mar 10, 2006
1,831
1
I'm sure you're right, but from what I understand the Subaru was already rendered usless by a T-bone collision. After some thought, it does seem like alot of work when you could just go out and buy a Subaru Forester and be miles ahead of any Freelander conversion project you could ever come up with.
 

climbskiroverguy

Well-known member
May 2, 2008
475
0
St. Charles, IL
The freelander is a great vehicle...when you're saving the miles for the other rover.

Has anyone tried to bring over a diesel freelander? are the regs the same as a disco?
 
L

lrcb40

Guest
Anyone looked at a Honda engine for size? Rover did a lot of 'sharing' wih Honda UK when they developed the Freelander - hence the clock and some switchgear etc.

You could also look at getting the Austin Maestro diesel engine and g'box (it was front drive too) - I think it's a Perkins 'Prima' 2 liter engine. The mules used to develop the Land Rover were Maestro vans so about the same size. They'd be really cheap since the vans are all crap and there's likely a bunch sitting in scrap yards somewhere. A lot of them were used by the Gas Utility and other service companies.....
 

mgreenspan

Well-known member
Feb 28, 2005
4,723
130
Briggs's Back Yard
Hey. I will maybe have some info on this topic soon. Once I get settled. There is a 3 door Freelander for sale on base $500. Manual, and diesel I think, but needs a new engine. I'm tossing around the idea of getting it and putting a new engine in it. Will see what the options are over here and report back if I end up doing it.