We Bought A Cheap Luxury 4x4 And Engine Swapped It!

I can get this started in an hour here. You can get it started in an hour? Yeah, I can drop the body, put the electrics in and turn the button. If you like high mileage heroes, cool builds and the UK's finest selection of shitboxes, Zen Shed Fest at Goodwood Motor Circuit on May the 25th is the show for you. Tickets live now. This is Big Pete, my high mileage Land Rover Discovery. It's a cheap luxury 4x4 that I've owned on and off for two years and in that time I've spent a spectacularly stupid amount of money to keep the wheels rolling. In fact, over £12,000 has been spent, ranging from normal stuff like brake discs and pads to things that really hurt the wallet, including countless suspension arms, a diff, a gearbox rebuild, two new prop shafts, countless sensors, wheel bearings and every belt and tensioner you can throw at an engine. The list goes on and on and on, so you're probably wondering why I continue to throw good money after bad if all I do is complain about it. Well, there are two reasons and the first is easy to explain because a Discovery 3 or Discovery 4 is the only vehicle in existence that we can use as a crew car and that's because it's got air suspension for smooth tracking shots and comfortable towing, lots of space for all our gear and most importantly, a split tailgate that means we can easily film out of the back. The second reason why I refuse to give up on Big Pete is because he is family and despite being a massive pain in the ass, the adventures we've been on have been absolutely incredible. In fact, Big Pete's been to Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Germany, Poland and even did a lap of the Nürburgring 7-up. He's also been off-road, has towed 36 vehicles and even clocked 124 miles an hour on the Autobahn. And now with over 193,000 miles on the clock, Big Pete is in need of even more work and this time it's engine related, which is why I've come to MDRS Automotive in Durham to get that fixed. Well, that and the fact that these guys also specialise in V8 engine swaps, which is exactly what's happening to this Discovery, which also happens to be mine. Wait, what? Yeah. Say hello to this 2008 Discovery 3, aka Bigger Pete, aka the new crew car. Bought for £1,500 with a blown engine, David and the team will be swapping the engine with a 3.6 litre 270 horsepower diesel V8 found in the Range Rover Sport. These engines are bulletproof, powerful and economical and were never fitted to Discoveries because Land Rover didn't want their utilitarian 4x4s to take away sales of their flagship models. So Big Pete's being fixed and retired for lighter duties, while Bigger Pete in there is going to be transformed into our perfect workhorse. So you're probably wondering why we're not doing the swap on Big Pete. And the answer is simple. Firstly, it's time to retire Big Pete from all the heavy lifting. After all, he is an old man now. And secondly, the CAN bus, which allows all the ECUs to communicate with each other, makes it too labour intensive to do the V8 swap. So a slightly newer model is needed, which is where MDRS come in, because they source, fit and test V8 conversions in only a matter of days. To find out more, I chatted to David from the team. While the guys are working in there on Bigger Pete, I thought I would get a little chat with you about the V8 swap. This is a Disco 4. Yeah, early Disco 4 van. And it already has a V8 in there. Yep, chucked that in the other night. Tell me about the engine. Why are you putting these engines in these cars? The 3.6 V8 diesel is just a bulletproof old engine service at well. It'll look after you forever. What does well look like to you? Probably three, four hundred thousand miles quite easily. OK, yeah, yeah. More power, more reliability, just a better thing. Big Pete, he is our workhorse, 163 horsepower from the 2.7. This, what are they like, 250ish or something horsepower? 287 standard. OK, that's pretty spicy. Yours will be getting just a little mild map on it. Really? Tweak it a little bit, 320 to 340. So literally double the power that we've got at Big Pete. Double the power at Big Pete. And apart from the engine swap, it's not only that that goes into the cars that you put them in, gearbox and brakes as well? Yeah, so gearbox gets the V8 box. However, the internals are very similar, if not identical, to the 2.7 and the three litre six speeds. It's just the bellhousings and gearbox casings that's different. Brakes, we upgrade the brakes from your standard disco brakes to the four part Brembos. And in some cases, the six part Brembos. Yours is getting the four parts on. OK, no, that's, jobs are good and I'm very, very excited. Do you struggle with low energy and a lack of concentration? 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Mango, passion fruit and pineapple. Lovely. So if holy sounds like something that you guys could benefit from, then get yourself a Starter Set Deluxe that gets you 42 portions of holy's energy, iced tea and hydration. And use code AUTOALEX5 for £5 off your first order. And then for any order after that, use code AUTOALEX for 10% off. Thanks, holy. Day one of the MDRS conversion starts by pulling both the V8 donor car and the new Discovery apart, including both engines, ancillaries and sorting the parts into keep and not keep piles. Lights, doors, bumpers and trim are also removed for better access before the chassis is unbolted from the body and then lifted off. Next up, the engine is unbolted and lifted out using an engine crane. And so by now, you're probably wondering how long this all takes. My name's Chris. I'm one of the mechanics at MDRS. I started splitting the sport at nine o'clock. So it's half four now and as you can see, we've got the engine and the gearbox out. Just stripping out the steering rack ready for the sport rack because it's slightly different. The fuel system's coming out round the back and then we've got to remove the 2.7 exhaust and then the aircon pipes on the bulkhead, the heat matrix pipes on the bulkhead, that all comes off and strip out all the wiring from the bulkhead forwards. And then we're exactly half of the way through the conversion on the D3. So over here, we've got the engine, new turbos, new gaskets. We'll put new inlets on it. We'll service the gearbox, give it a good flush. New oil and filter in the engine. We'll get rid of the A system, plop that in, put the new downpipes on, make a new exhaust. So we cut out the centre box and fit these babies. Nice little straight through. Give it a nice V8 growl. I think for this D3, we're going to put a new back prop on because the middle bearing looks a bit rubbish and a new air tank because it's corroded and should be good to go. Before the oily bits get sorted, day two started with a replacement windscreen because the one on bigger Pete wasn't in the best shape. Right, day two, already put in the engine mounts, the vacuum pipes, the fuel burning heater hose. Me and Wurzel's going to tackle the loom next. So what we're going to do is drop the body. And then after we've got the loom in, all bolted up and dropped and routed nicely into the body, then I'm going to start with the engine with the inlets and the turbos. And then Wurzel's going to start fitting modules, BCM cages, clipping the wiring back into the body nicely. And then we'll meet in the middle and then we'll fit the engine in the gearbox, the radiator pack and then just start rebuilding it like a normal car. With the V8 swap progressing at pace, I arrived to join the guys for a catch up. How long before that goes in there and bigger Pete has an engine? About three hours. We've got a little bit of work to do. We're going to swap the inlets, swap the turbos and we're going to de-ace the engine with a stretchy belt. Fantastic. Now, Wurzel, I don't know if you can see him. He's just finishing off all the brackets in the engine bay for the air con pipes, because he'll have work in air con. Sticking all the brake pipes in. He's done the servo, he's done really well. Then next, you're going to get your Brembo four pot upgrades. Very good. Very good. Which are over there. That's one of the biggest shortcomings of this car, isn't it? It's underbraked. Yeah, it's rubbish. And wheel spacers. Oh yeah, we need wheel spacers. 30mm. You are getting, I believe, some 20 inch Range Rover Sport wheels with all terrain tyres. Oh, I do actually have Big Pete here in a trailer. Yeah. So on the way home tomorrow, back down to Reading, Big Pete is going to be on the trailer, being towed by this at 140 miles an hour. That's fine. In Mexico. Yeah, in Mexico. Otherwise known as the North. Yeah, because I'm so North. I'm five hours North. Yeah. This is really, really far. Turbos, belts, chuck it in. 20 minutes. Jobs are good. And we'll get your hair. Yeah, well, if you come back with beer, I'll have that done. Jay, we're going to the shop. What beer do you drink? Strong Bill Dark Fruits. That's not real beer. Jesus Christ. You shouldn't have asked me that. I'm with that. I'm out. All right, see you. I can get this started. Really? You can get it started in an hour? Yeah, I could drop the body, put the electrics in and turn the button. I bet you can't. 50 quid. I will buy you 50 pounds worth of fruity beer. Yeah, **** it. OK, thank you. OK, right, so it's been 20 minutes and Chris is so desperate to get his Strong Bill Dark Fruits, 50 pounds worth of bottles that they are really cracking on trying to get this engine in. How are we doing, Chris? We're doing fine. Yeah? Yeah, loving it. Good. Do you need a hand? Yeah, sure. Confident? How much time have you got? You've got like 40 minutes. Yeah, don't worry about it. Yeah, yeah. I'm not worried. Are you worried? No. OK. I'll have this running in no time at all. Yeah? OK. You really want those Strong Bites, don't you? Yeah. OK. I'm thirsty. I'm not. Hi, are you all right? You're always in the wrong place. We need the countdown. Did it, did it, diddle did it. Boom. Done the earths. Hiya. All right. Yeah. Well, is that what we got? Yeah. Running and driving, yeah? First test drive. That wasn't the agreement. That means fresh year, but you have nine minutes. That's fine. And 30 seconds. I've done bigger jobs in less time. I love you so much. You know that. I've known you for a day. It's time for me to walk away now. And. No, I don't want to hear it. Oh, hold on, David's getting involved now. Dave, do under the bonnet, mate. Cheers, because I've bitten off more than two. Three minutes and 14 seconds. Dave, you're going to have to power probe the white, purple, white. Chris. How are you? I f***ing love you, Dave. F*** off with the close up. We've got a slight issue here, but we'll get past that issue. Hello, Jay. All right. How long? 50 seconds. Is that how long you last for your last life, is it? 20 seconds. Yes, David, throw it in, lad. Make it yours. 15 seconds. Come on! 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Oh, God. We haven't played it. But it started. Technically, you won that. Fair play. So that, then, is day two complete. We'll be back tomorrow morning to finish up. Yeah. And then clean up. Finish up. Right. Dinner? Dinner. And beers. With the engine officially fired up the night before and beers now delivered, the morning of day three consists of redressing Bigger Pete with new wheel arch liners, bumpers, lights, wheel spacers, and his fancy new wheels. After which... Done. He's now done. And earlier on today, I gave him a good old wash. And doesn't he look amazing? Now, we were supposed to do a little walk around and a talk through what's been done to Bigger Pete with Alex. But he's actually on holiday at the moment. So I have brought Tom Lentful. Tom, you are a specialist in these cars. So what do you think of Bigger Pete? I really like a Disco. And to put a V8 engine in it, it's just a perfect combination. Because we love a V8 as well. Discos aside, we absolutely love a V8, especially a diesel V8. They're very cool. Well, I've had a lot of V8 diesel Range Rovers. And to have a V8 diesel one of these is just, yeah. I think it's very, very cool. They're a great car. But the engine, I think, was always a real letdown. Obviously, this is a HSE as well. So it's top spec. It's got black leather interior. It's a hall heated front and rear. These need to go in the bin. The chrome mirror caps. I'm not a fan of that. They are awful. But do you know what? I think Bigger Pete looks really nice. The rest of it's good. So also, Tom, if we go around the back. Remember, this isn't just a conversion. This is going to be a camera car. So we're going to take this on road trips around the world, stuff like that. And to do that, we need to film. So when we film, we have to have this tailgate open on the motorway. And we have someone sitting in the third row with a camera strapped in. It's all legal and everything. But we need to be able to access the tailgate. So open and close it. And that's always been a problem in Big Pete. So we've fitted a handle and electric boot release. So you can do from the inside. What we would actually have to do is we'd pull over on the side of the road, jump out, open the tailgate up, then all jump back in or whatever, and then drive off down the road. And then we'd shut it down. But once you shut it, you couldn't then open it again. You had to start the process again. This is something that we always wanted to do. It's amazing for filming. And yeah, that's, I think, a really cool addition to this car. It's got a tow bar. It's got the proper fixed tow bar. Remember, all that time ago, I fitted that massive fixed tow bar to Big Pete. This already has it. So that's another thing that we don't have to worry about. Also, the black interior, I think, is so much nicer. I prefer the black interior. I do like a cream interior. But in Big Pete, it's worn quite badly. The trouble with a cream interior in Big Pete is the animals that use it. Whoa. I know I'm getting it. Look at him behind the camera. But it's all about the drive, isn't it? It is. The proof is in the pudding. So I haven't driven this car. You haven't driven it. Shall we knit the keys when he's not looking? Go for a little spin? Yeah, go on then. Come on then. You first or rock, paper, scissors? One, two, three. Yes. So I'm noticing, first of all, it feels like it's got a lot more low-down torque. You don't have to rev it quite as high as the TDV6. The noise! It's got... What? It's a diesel. It sounds like a petrol. It's got a bit of a V8 burble, Taylor. It has. Go on, do it again. It does sound like a petrol, doesn't it? It shouldn't. It shouldn't sound like that, should it? No, it shouldn't. And do you know what? It actually drives really nice. It tracks straight and true. Big Pete has always felt quite wobbly and wallowy. I've always said this about Big Pete. I always felt like the steering rack was never right on it. You were constantly correcting and stuff like that. You're not having to do that in this. No, it's all right. No, it feels really nice, actually. It feels really tight. Well, it has done, again, half the mileage of Big Pete. The brakes feel really sharp. Oh, Jesus! Yeah, all right. Yeah, they work. They do work, yeah. Yeah, they do work. They feel really good. This drives brilliantly. I'm really, really genuinely surprised. It's quite smooth in here. I'm not feeling loads of vibration. And the gearbox in this is really smooth. There's no torque converter fluctuation. There's no juddering from the gearbox. Even when you floor it, it changes really smoothly and quickly. I did say, if you did a Disco 4, they can put the later V8 engine in it. It's still a 3.6, but they can put the 8-speed box in. Oh, really? That's interesting. Which is really, really cool. I think this is bang on. Yeah, yeah. I think this... I wish this car came from the factory with this engine. This is one of the best engine conversions I've ever seen. If you love a Disco, yeah, and you've got one and the engine's blown up, if you want to keep it and keep it going because you love the car, this is a really viable option. Yeah. Do you want to have a go at it, Tom? Of course I do. That throttle response is good, isn't it? It's nice. I'm barely touching that, and it's just... The pickup, it comes in at such lower RPM than the V6. That's what I really like about things like this, is you can literally just touch that throttle and you're off and running. You haven't got to overdo it. When you were driving a minigun with a floor in it, yes, it makes loads of noise and all the rest of it. It's the drivability. It's got really good drivability without... I completely agree. If I was in a TD6, I'd be having to give it a lot more throttle to get the same response. Yeah, yeah, 100%. And do you know what? Something... Go on, give it a bit, Tom. That noise! That's a ridiculous noise for a diesel. Oh, those brakes are good, aren't they? They're really good. This is good. It's good, isn't it? Yeah. All right, go easy. Oh, my God. Oh! F***ing hell! But it handles all right as well, doesn't it? Oh, look. There's so much traffic down this lane. I'll tell you what I'm going to be really interested to know, is I want to know how well it's going to tow. So... I've towed with my Disco 3. I've towed with a Disco 4. I've towed with a Range Rover Sport. And I've towed with a Range Rover. When you're in the Range Rover, the 4.4 V8, I mean, even with my big trailer on the back of the car, it's like your heart, you know, it's there. Yeah. And I still think that a Disco 3 and a Disco 4 is a good tow vehicle. Yeah. But I think this is going to bring it up on level with the Range Rover. Yeah. Effortless towing. Because the suspension system and all the rest of it is really good on one of these. Yeah, they're really good. It can cope with the weight. I'm not worried about that. But now that extra little bit of punch, I think it's going to tow really good. I completely agree. And with the bigger brakes as well. The brakes were never good enough on these. No. For the weight of this vehicle, I used to work, you know, in a garage as a mechanic. And we had a few customers that had Disco 3s. And every single service they came in, they'd need pads and discs. But it's not just pads. Yeah, because they're... All the time. It's a big, heavy vehicle. You've got to stop them. I think this has been a brilliant conversion. I'm really, really impressed with this. Yeah, I think this is a really good shout. So overall, I think it's safe to say we're both very impressed with that. Yeah, it's a good shout. A success, I would say, Taylor. A really good success. And for now, that is it for Bigger Pete. We are going to be doing plenty more content with him. We're going to take him on some road trips and things like that. And we're very excited to put him into good use. Don't forget to like and subscribe. And we'll see you for the next one. Don't forget to tune in next week, where we'll take our £3,000 rare cars on an adventure of a lifetime. Expect smoke. Oh, God. Jesus Christ. I hate doing that. Bodge repairs. Nothing to see here. The pillar always smells. Epic scenery. And a lot of laughs. Life is about pushing yourself to do things you don't want to do. Come here, you git. Come here. I got you a present.