mcspool Posted December 2, 2009 Share Posted December 2, 2009 Most of the Lightweights for sale in Holland are ex-Netherlands Army LHD 24V diesel engined ones. But for me an ex-BAOR LHD petrol engined LWT is an option, too. Q2: What is the better enigne? The diesel or the petrol? Thanks, Hanno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G506 Posted December 2, 2009 Share Posted December 2, 2009 (edited) Hi Hanno, for me, the 2 1/4 litre series 3 engine takes some beating. The five bearing crank makes it run that bit smoother, and the fact that basically the petrol engine uses a diesel block makes it quiet (walk past a well maintained 2 1/4 petrol and you will barely hear it running). Coupled up to a series 2a semi-crash gearbox (nearly indestructable), and a good Fairey over drive, you'll be onto a winner. Edited December 2, 2009 by G506 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormin Posted December 2, 2009 Share Posted December 2, 2009 Q2: What is the better enigne? The diesel or the petrol? Thanks, Hanno Want to get there fast (relatively) but don't mind spending the extra money on fuel, it's got to be petrol. Want to run it as cheap as possible and not bothered about speed, go with a diesel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daz76 Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 I've run both in 109's and agree that the petrol (especially 5 bearing) is a very nice engine. However it cost me a fortune in fuel as I like to drive it to it's full potential. The petrols have always disliked the damp. Yes the diesel is agricultural, dated, noisy and slow, but I've got a soft spot for it. Well looked after they are reliable and cheap to run but won't be hurried anywhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 Got to be the petrol. More correctrly the Dieseil engine uses the petrol block. Land Rover first introduced a Disiel in 1957, stretching the wheel base two inches to do it. Pity they still haven't got it right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fesm_ndt Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 The Dutch tampered with the engines and a lot of other things on the Lightweights. The tampering caused a lot of grief and premature failures. So there is some differences between the mod diesel and the Dutch diesel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G506 Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 (edited) Theres a lot of mention of 2 1/4 petrols being thirsty, but my 109'' with a three bearing 2 1/4 litre petrol coupled to an overdrive will return a minimum of 19mpg on an average run, and can get as high as 23mpg. The book says 15mpg, so I'm a happy boy :drive: Edited December 3, 2009 by G506 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daz76 Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 Theres a lot of mention of 2 1/4 petrols being thirsty, but my 109'' with a three bearing 2 1/4 litre petrol coupled to an overdrive will return a minimum of 19mpg on an average run, and can get as high as 23mpg. The book says 15mpg, so I'm a happy boy :drive: I think choice of carb fitted to the engine seems to make a difference. That's great MPG for a 109. No wonder your happy! I think mine suffered from a heavy right foot and a permanently fitted steel roofrack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G506 Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 Good call Daz, I forgot to mention I have a Weber fitted, I find Solex and Zenith carbs make excellent doorstops Awaiting the barrage from Zenith and Solex fans............ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcspool Posted December 3, 2009 Author Share Posted December 3, 2009 (edited) The Dutch tampered with the engines and a lot of other things on the Lightweights. The tampering caused a lot of grief and premature failures. So there is some differences between the mod diesel and the Dutch diesel. Indeed, the Dutch MoD incorporated a number of "improvements" to lower the cost. An example is the fitting of 7.00-16 tyres which were still in stock for the M38A1 NEKAF. This led to all sort of problems with the Lightweights driveline. A prime example of "buying cheap is expensive". . . Read more about the Dutch Lightweights here: http://www.chaosboyz.nl/rubriek/techniek/techlandroverlightweight.htm H. Edited December 3, 2009 by mcspool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcspool Posted December 3, 2009 Author Share Posted December 3, 2009 (edited) Thanks for the input, all! I tend to favour a petrol engine, manily because I do not have experience with diesels. Plus they tend to have a bad name here, possibly because of what Mike noted. As for the 2 1/4 litre petrol engine, I read the 5 bearing crankshaft was introduced in 1980. Now, the Lightweight remained in production until 1983-1985(?), so I'd be looking for a late production example. Does anyone know if the British Armed Forces ordered any LHD 12V GS Lightweights during that period? Looks I would be looking for a rare variant, a bit of the opposite I want to attain. Probably best to do what many LR owners seem to do: mix 'n match components - isn't it called a Meccano set on wheels? H. Edited December 3, 2009 by mcspool end of production? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fesm_ndt Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 i know some of the ill fated mods were rectified but i dont know if all, was always curious about that. I have a great article on it but operatin off my phone tonight as the laptop is having a fit. the article make the comment that after this they decided to buy of the shelf and never in house mod again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andreadavide Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 I have both engines (Diesel on the 109" SW and Petrol on the 88" GS) and I must say that reliability wise Petrol has so many factors that can go wrong both on the ignition and the fuel ssytem, while the Diesel has just one thing that can go wrong... but it's more expensive when it does. Andrea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daz76 Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 Good call Daz,I forgot to mention I have a Weber fitted, I find Solex and Zenith carbs make excellent doorstops Awaiting the barrage from Zenith and Solex fans............ :rofl::rofl::rofl: Is now the time to mention also that my beloved 2.25 diesel lump has been binned and a lovely 300Tdi awaits transplant...... As the 109 will be my everyday driver when restored I couldn't face my reasonably regular trip from Cornwall to London with the old engine. Reliable as it's been it's no motorway cruiser. :cry: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G506 Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 Fair enough Daz, if its a daily driver and for long distance I can see the sense in the 300 transplant, mine is for shows only. Hanno, as you say, mix and match to get the vehicle ideally suited for you! Happy motoring :-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnA61 Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 Good call Daz,I forgot to mention I have a Weber fitted, I find Solex and Zenith carbs make excellent doorstops Awaiting the barrage from Zenith and Solex fans............[/quote The weber suffers from icing and doesnt give enouch power .Having said that I,ve got one on my series 2.I,ve tried putting a zenith on and most of them seem to have warping problems.I,ve got a solex in bits and cant get the parts to fit.I,ve even tried an SU on an adapter that was a failure too.I,ve had both diesel and petrol 2 1/4s .The petrol I find much better I sprayed the electrics with battery terminal protector which more or less waterproof never let me down.The diesel was so underpowered I had an overdrive fitted which I used as 1/2 a gear to keep momentum going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnA61 Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 I,m looking at putting a 200Tdi into a marshall bodied ambulance to give power and a bit of economy:whistle:At least Landrover finally made a good diesel in this and the 300Tdi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormin Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 At least Landrover finally made a good diesel in this and the 300Tdi With quite a bit of help from Perkins I believe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daz76 Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 I,m looking at putting a 200Tdi into a marshall bodied ambulance to give power and a bit of economy:whistle:At least Landrover finally made a good diesel in this and the 300Tdi The 200 is by far the easier of the two to fit to a Series as you can use the original mounts and flywheel housing. The ancilliaries are also mounted in different places. I just got a bargain 300 so went with that. Are you doing the whole TDI conversion or leaving the turbo and intercooler off? I'm leaving it as it is, but people say the Di is good in the Series land rover as it's not going to chew the transmission up. All the best with the conversion. Daz Have a look here: www.nickslandrover.co.uk www.glencoyne.co.uk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G506 Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 Good call Daz,I forgot to mention I have a Weber fitted, I find Solex and Zenith carbs make excellent doorstops Awaiting the barrage from Zenith and Solex fans............[/quote The weber suffers from icing and doesnt give enouch power .Having said that I,ve got one on my series 2.I,ve tried putting a zenith on and most of them seem to have warping problems.I,ve got a solex in bits and cant get the parts to fit.I,ve even tried an SU on an adapter that was a failure too.I,ve had both diesel and petrol 2 1/4s .The petrol I find much better I sprayed the electrics with battery terminal protector which more or less waterproof never let me down.The diesel was so underpowered I had an overdrive fitted which I used as 1/2 a gear to keep momentum going. Hi John, to be honest Ive never suffered a lack of power with the Weber, quite the opposite, but I reckon you're right to protect the electrics from damp/water Cheers G506 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoggyDriver Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 I owned a Series 3 from '94 right up to a few years ago (pictures on my album). It was parked up in a garage for 10 years, and wasn't started for about 5 of those. All I did was put some fresh fuel in, connected some slave leads and after 30 seconds she fired up. I used to drive from Colchester to Milton Keynes and back most weekends when I was posted in Colchester, and up to Beverley, Yorks (5hr each way) to see a girl I was with at the time. The only trouble I had was with the points once. They definitely need a lot more maintenance than the diesel, but in my opinion are much better. Modernish diesels are the best option, but the S3 knocker is like a dumper engine and slow as hell. The engine in mine was so quiet that you couldn't hear it running and it would wheelspin the back wheels in the wet if you weren't carefull. They are very thirsty. Mine had two tanks and would drink both on a colchester to MK return trip.:shocked: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcspool Posted December 4, 2009 Author Share Posted December 4, 2009 This is what I found on http://www.glencoyne.co.uk/buyguide.htm : Myth: Only diesel Land Rovers are worth having Truth: It depends entirely on what you are planning to do with the vehicle. For extensive off-road use with lots of short journeys, I would most probably recommend a diesel, but for some other applications the diesel's noise, harshness, lack of power and short service intervals may count against it. I am particularly enthusiastic about the 2.5 petrol engine when converted to run on LPG. This engine produces about the same power as a 2.5 turbodiesel, it is smoother, quieter, easier to start in cold weather and, running on LPG, the fuel bills are about 15-20% lower than a diesel 110. For heavy-duty towing applications the 3.5 litre petrol V8 cannot be beaten, and I can offer LPG systems to suit this engine as well. So keep an open mind, and let me advise you on the engine and fuel option that best matches your needs. Sounds like a fair assessment? H. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daz76 Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 Sounds fair to me. As always it depends on the preference of the driver/owner and intended use. Also there's been no mention of purchase price verses LPG conversion costs. diesels seem to be more expensive to buy in the first place and if mileage is low then the petrol (even unconverted) seems more attractive given quieter smoother running. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fesm_ndt Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 The 200 is by far the easier of the two to fit to a Series as you can use the original mounts and flywheel housing. It depends which 200tdi. A disco one fits the original mounts but the turbo hits the chassis. A defender one the turbo is higher but you have to slice off the RH engine mount at the chassis as the injection pump is lower so the engine bracket is longer. Easiest way after cutting the RH mount off is to take the RH engine bracket off the 2.25, invert it and weld it to the chassis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 Stick an Isuzu 3.1 turbo in it. Then take a pilots licence :cool2: Very easy to fit, uses a Land Rover 90 clutch. Solid economical and reliable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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