Engine & Transmission Services
One of the trickiest bits of any Land Rover restoration is sorting out the engine and transmission, without which your shiny Land Rover will just be a driveway ornament. Perhaps the vehicle hasn’t run for twenty years, has the wrong engine or gearbox for the model, or just a big empty space under the bonnet. I can help. I have more than thirty years' experience working on the four cylinder 2.25 / 2.5 Land Rover engines from the "two and a quarter" to the 300TDi. I know these engines inside out and can offer a range of repair and rebuilding services to help keep your vehicle on the road. Same with Series gearboxes: these are getting harder to rebuild due to a shortage of good quality parts but I can usually save a poorly gearbox.
Being small I can be flexible to suit your needs and budget - each engine is different and I can do anything from a cylinder head overhaul to a full bare-block remanufactured engine with original quality components used throughout.. Want a 2.5 diesel with a vertical injection pump and Series timing case? Or a Series III gearbox with a IIA bellhousing and clutch release? Or even a 200TDi engine fully conversion-prepared and ready to drop in? I can do that.
At the moment I am not offering rebuild services for the later five speed gearboxes as they really need the correct tools to dismantle them easily. I will tackle an LT95 four speed box subject to being able to obtain the parts. Fairey overdrives are no problem for me although rebuilds can get very expensive purely due to parts cost - a bearing kit alone is £250, worn clutch sleeve splines (very common) £350 in parts, etc.
Recent jobs include:
Defender 300TDi - full rebuild from bare block with new cylinder head
Series IIA - "hybrid" diesel using 2.5 block, crank and head with recalibrated 2.25 injection pump, retaining the original appearance but with more power and durability. See above photo.
Ex-military One Ten: original 2.5 non-turbo diesel rebuilt from bare block
Ex-military 11J diesel overhauled and converted to full 19J turbodiesel specification
Series IIA 2.25 petrol engine rebuilt and converted to run on unleaded petrol
Don’t have an engine or gearbox to rebuild, or want to swap to a different fuel type or size? I can offer (subject to availability) "fully dressed" engines with all ancillaries (starter, alternator, fuel system etc), bench tested and ready to simply drop in and connect up. I also have a good stock of second hand parts for the four cylinder pushrod engines.
I do not carry out machining work in-house but have an excellent working relationship with two leading machine shops, both of which possess far more modern and sophisticated machine tools than I could ever justify buying. Reboring, block sleeving, crank grinding, cylinder head work, cam bearing fitting and reaming etc etc are all "no problem" to these guys.
Prices: I do not have a fixed price list as I work to your requirements rather than expecting you to fit your needs in with mine. However, a full bare-block rebuild on a 2.25 petrol or diesel engine will typically cost around £2,500 (excluding ancillaries) if all the major castings are reusable. A 300TDi with new head, AE or Kolbenschmidt pistons, OEM quality bearings, head gasket, crank seals etc would come in around £4,000. A "budget" mid-life overhaul of a 300TDi where the bores and crank are in good shape, using unbranded pistons etc would be about half that. Series gearbox overhaul from £750 upwards depending how many broken bits I find inside. All engines are bench run with compression and oil pressure checked, so you know you can just drop the engine in and not worry about it. I don’t know anyone else who does this.
Ring me on 01953 888731 to find out what I can do to give your smoky old Land Rover a new lease of life.
P.S. If you have any old engines lying around, please do not weigh them in for scrap until you have spoken to me. I am always interested in Series engines (petrol or diesel), later 2.25 / 2.5 petrol/diesel or 200 / 300TDi in almost any condition - worn out, seized, incomplete, even an engine with a rod through the block can yield some useful parts.