Engine Conversions

We are only doing Conversions on full-Restoration projects

Not all engine conversions are the same, or built to the same quality, or the same costs. It is our responsibility to inform you of the costs, benefits, and draw backs associated with various engine conversions that we do and often are immitated by others. By publishing costs, (which no one else does) we aim to charge you, Joe, Jane, Steve, and Paul all the exact same. We can only do this because we have gained an understanding through repetitive practice of the following conversions.

Diesel's are great! But they are terrible for short distance driving and commuter cars. While they can certainly live in this environment, it is common knowledge that these engine's suffer premature wear in these conditions. As such if you have a short commute it would be of far more interest to swap over to a gasoline engine. Little known fact, a 300tdi @65mph will return between 22-24mpg, however @75mph that figure is between 18-19mpg as the RPM increases drastically and you are running the engine at higher RPMS than we recommend. If prolonged distance driving is desired, we recommend a Mercedes 3.0L Turbo diesel. A vastly superior unit to the 300tdi, German quality, German parts, world wide praised and known as a "million mile engine". Whilst the 2.8L cummins diesel craze is starting to settle down a bit based on the various reviews and endless warning's, it is a new alternative to any of our remanufactured options. The crazed LS3 swaps out there are bit to rich for our choosing, Yes we will gladly build one in, but understand that a basic LS3 drivetrain (new only) runs $18K+ and we will still require all the addons required with the LS swap and we will also have to remanufacture the remnants of the drivetrain with uprated parts to cope with the power provided. This really is opening a can of WORMS, and ends up nearly always being in the $45K+ range due to the necessity for uprating everything well beyond the noted below.

Some important points:

THE FIGURES BELOW ARE ESTIMATES BASED ON A ROW RHD 300tdi 110 in original format without any aftermarket add-ons.
LHD vehicle, please be advised that there are spacing issues due to the steering box. To resolve this, add 10% to the figures below.
We charge you to take winch bumper's, roof racks, and all other accessories off that are needed to do the conversions.
Lifted trucks, great.... ad $10 per hour for every 2" of lift @135 hours.
AC if installed.... bbbbbrrrrrrrrr..... we have to redo it entirely, brackets, new compressor, condensor hoses, fittings, gas, and labor. Add $2500 to the total below.
If you have a 3rd world knock-down, aka Otokar, etc... we only work on those vehicle on a per hour basis while doing these swaps. We have no interest in the endless hassle these cars create and feel it fair to warn you in advance that doing the below specified conversions tends to be thousands upon thousand of dollars more expensive due to the cheap nature or lack of maintenance on these 3rd world vehicles.
"supposedly" restored vehicles, fall into the same category of per hour work, as we are simply running into many of these vehicles being shyster jobs that we prefer having no hand in at all. We are a restoration shop that restores these cars @$75 per hour which is as competitive as it gets world wide, and are simply tired of delivering endless bad news because of European/3rd world shyster's.
Please be advised that we are not responsible for other state regulations, when it pertains to engine swaps. You as the owner are responsible for updating registration and knowing what is and is not legal in your state of residency.
Since COVID.... A friendly reminder, we don't make most of these parts and are dependent on a supply chain, this has become a bit of a nightmare, from shifter's to radiator, tires and computers... everything is affected and TIME FRAMES we are no longer entertaining because of it.
The figures below for each individual build are "rough" figures and should be seen as guidelines not final exact figures. There are to many things going on in the current world situation which are having an effect on pricing and supply chains, which we cannot keep up with. Unlike other places, we do everything for our conversions "AT COST", that means we share links to the parts that we order online so you know what you paid for and what part came from where so as to make it as transparent as possible and make for a far easier interaction.
Finally, for those who think they are adding $$$$$ to their resale value, we are frank in saying that investing in cars for a financial return is not smart, we build cars for people to enjoy, not for people seeking to gain a return on investment. If we get the idea that you are trying to sell the vehicle for capitol gains while we are still working on it, it null and voids any agreement made and further work will stop immediately, and you will be invoiced for the work that has been undertaken already, and asked to collect the vehicle in it's state current state upon.
PER JANUARY 1st 2023, we are no longer entertaining USED, or doing conversions on USED FRAMES. We have tried over and over again, but simply are done trying to explain what NO WARRANTY MEANS! Rough reference for additional cost, $9500 for the frame and labor. It will cost nothing extra to change the springs and shocks at that point on the labor side so we recommend doing this.

New/Remanufactured Engines

Land Rover 300tdi 2.8 Turbo Diesel Performance Upgrade

Off/road + Leisure cruising

135hp + 277lb ft. torque

The tried and true standard Land Rover Engine swap. The 300tdi 2.8 upgrade is a fantastic engine for leisure use. We do however not recommend this for prolonged highway driving as RPM's at 70-75mph+ are sustainably too high for prolonged engine life (in our opinion). It is a substantial upgrade over the original 300tdi engine with a torque increase from 195lbs to 277lbs which is more than 40% gain at 400rpm lower over the standard 300tdi.

Starting at: $23750 + Delivery Fees and applicable taxes.

Mercedes 3.0L

Turbo Diesel

Long Distance Road Applications - 99% on road

275hp + 400lb ft. torque

Starting at: $42900 + Delivery Fees and applicable taxes.

Known as one of our "million mile club" Engine's that we use in our conversions. This engine should outlast the vehicle's life span (10 years) multiple times over and is the best option in our professional opinion for the money. Option's to increase the horse power are available to the tune of 400hp, albeit the same rule of thumb applies with upgrading axle's beyond the 300hp limit. Please note that this is the engine we choose in our "Forever Defender" builds and as such should speak volumes for it's self.

Cummins 2.8L Turbo Diesel

Mixed use off/road on road

20/80%

161hp + 310lb-ft torque

The data is still out on this conversion. Being one of the newest additions, we cannot state anything to it's longevity. It certainly does not mean that it will not be a good engine, it simply means that we have no input, nor are willing to buy into the bla bla of this setup. Please be advised that not all Defender's are legally able to receive this engine. If your vehicle was imported as a "passenger vehicle" and not as a "light duty truck" then the vehicle cannot be younger than 1993. For further details see Cummins website and reach out to NHTSA/EPA/DOT on further clarifications.

Starting at: $35400 + Delivery Fees and applicable taxes.

New Gasoline Engine's

GM 6.2L LS3 Gasoline

Corvette Power

430hp + 425lb ft. torque

Engine $8500
- Fully Remanufactured including new ancillaries.
Gearbox $4500 6 Speed Automatic
Adapter's to connect Gearbox to Transferbox $1300
Engine Mounts $250
Stand-Alone ECU + Harness $1000
Stand-Alone TCM + Harness $1000
Custom Radiator $1200.
Custom Stainless Steel Exhaust $2000 (cat cost depends on state emissions)
Custom Propshafts for uprated HP and Torque $1400.
Strengthened Remanufactured LT230 transfercase $2500
Transmission Tunnel, hilow plate, shifter $1500
Additional Parts needed, all custom $2500.
Labor $8500 (it takes 125-145 hours on average)

= Starting at $46250 + Delivery Fees and applicable taxes.

Keep in mind that while it may sound awesome, fuel economy estimated is going to be in the 10-15mpg range.

2.0L Turbo Gasoline

The common sense conversion

265hp + 285lb ft. torque

Engine $6500
- Remanufactured long block
Gearbox $1800 6 or 8 Speed automatic
Adapter's to connect Gearbox to Transferbox $1300
Engine Mounts $250
Stand-Alone ECU + Harness $1000
Custom Radiator $1200.
Custom Stainless Steel Exhaust $2000 (cat cost depends on state emissions)
Custom Propshafts for uprated HP and Torque $1400.
Remanufactured LT230 transfercase $1000
Transmission Tunnel, hilow plate, NAS style center console $1500
Additional Parts needed, all custom $2500.
Labor $7500 (it takes 105-130 hours on average)

= Starting at $37950 + Delivery Fees and applicable taxes.

Our most recent addition 2023! We are the only people in the USA who are doing this conversion. Common sense American made engine. No long wait times for obscure 200&300tdi parts or Chinese made items that we are not willing to warranty at all.

Ford 5.0 Coyotte (new)

460hp + 420lb ft. torque

Engine $9869.99
- New Crate motor from Ford
Gearbox $5750 + Clutch Package
- New 5 Speed (strengthened)
- Correct Cluth Plate ancillaries
Adapter's to connect Engine To Transmission $2000
Engine Mounts $250
Stand-Alone ECU + Harness $1800
Custom Radiator $1375.
Custom Exhaust $2200 (cats required)
Custom Propshafts for uprated HP and Torque $1400.
Remanufactured LT230 transfercase + uprated internals for excessive HP and Torque $2500
Transmission Tunnel, hilow plate, NAS style center console $1500
Additional Parts needed, all custom $2500.
Custom Front + Rear Axle's (Re-engineering of frame + mount locations) $12000
Labor $8500

= Starting at $49250 + Delivery Fees and applicable taxes.

The bastard of the bunch! Big engine, no space to work on it in the engine bay. While we do this conversion, we will tend to steer you towards the 2.0 or Mercedes setup.

USED ENGINES

Yes, we can install used engine's, but do not recommend so! We check the state of the engine's and make sure they run correctly, however these engines are sold without any warranty. Our engines do get serviced where applicable. Please understand that the horse power and torque figures cannot be predetermined on a used engine, so we give the new HP and Torque figures below but are well aware they they will trend lower as engines wear over time. When a used engine conversion leaves, our property that is where our warranty ends. The old saying "you get what you pay for' applies here. After 8 years, we will no longer be doing USED, per January 1st 2023. (no exceptions don't call)

The Upgrades you need when going over 300hp that no one is telling you about!

The issues of adding HP to a drivetrain are often overlooked by many of the quick dollar builders, and often dropped off at other shops like ourselves who have the difficulty over the years of explaining to customer who had an engine swap done, that thousands of additional dollars need to be spent on the conversion to make it safe and drivable. Some common items but not exclusively are below:

Including Fitting

Rear 24 spline half shaft, HD limited slip differential. $5300 (Rover axle's only)
Centre heavy duty limited slip differential, fully rebuild front axle, front HD limited slip differential, HD CV joints, drive flanges and half shafts $7500
Wilwood 6pot front caliper and 4pot rear caliper upgrade including caliper and rotors + bearings in conjunction with the above. Starting at $5500.

Additionally, anything entering the realm of 400hp that is driven spiritedly will have a very short life-span. There is only so much we can do until you get into custom items that are not on the shelf. For instance, we only recommend heavy duty frames in 400lbs torque applications due to the twisted frames we have seen.

DCRovers (est. 2014)

Handcrafted & Reimagined Land Rover Defenders, Series, and Range Rover Classics right here in America.

703-939-7674