edelbrock carb on 96 4.0

[b rad]

Considering installing edelbrock intake/carb set up on my 4.0. I am really tired of dealing with FI/cat issues and $114/hr snobby dealer. Has anyone tried this with a 4.0?

I will have install a cam and distributor and will likely sorce some hipo parts. What might be the right type of cam and distributor? Some early buick parts should likely fit.
I am not looking for anything wild as this is my daily driver and reliability is the priority for long trips. I see my cel far too often and taking the disco more than 100 mile from dealer always seams to be an anxious adventure. Love the truck, hate the cel.
Also, no smog test in this part of Canada. Bye bye cats.
Would like to improve hp without losing mileage.
Any ideas?

96 disco 100 000 km

[Paul Grant]

Hey Brad,
These are the guys to talk to in the US about modifying your Disco:

http://www.aluminumv8.com/engine/engcomp.htm

I can't remember if I gave you the link the other day. There is also a guy in Ontario who has done the conversion. He posted on both DWeb and Pirates. A guy by the name of Dominic did the actual work. I'll look for his email. You can contact him and say I sent you. He'll have tons of info.
Cheers,
Paul

[Disco Mike]

If you are planning on wheeling with that truck and a carb, you are going to be making a hugh mistake, between vapor locking and flooding due to the old bouncing float problem, it isn't worth it.
Why don't you just get your problem fxed once and for all and then go play.
Mike

[b rad]

Would likely get set up with a propane conversion,dual fuel system. Gas is about $4.50 gal here. I have heard that this will preform well for off road applications, at half the fuel cost. Have a 120 litre tank that sits nicely behind the rear seats.
Thank for the advice.

[texasrover]

Good luck finding a shop to convert that engine to LPG. With all the nonsense on alternative fuel you would think finding a shop that would change over to a cleaner burning fuel would be easy in the US.... it is not. At least not in Texas... where much of the LPG is actually refined. hmmm

Disco is right about change... if you plan on wheeling the "great" advantage of having fuel injected vs. carb'd is the ability to maintain a constant fuel flow regardless of tilt.

I understand your wish to rid yourself of the pain in the ass over computerized GEMS system, though. Best of luck!

[texasrover]

Nevermind... you are in Canada. You can still actually get things done there. Maybe LPG might work well for you. Check those prices and figure on a drop in MPG though even with LPG. You might find that with the increased use of LPG per gallon of fuel you might not be saving as much as you think.

[pavel]

b rad - I think you are barking up the wrong tree - returning to the days of the carb is a big step backward. Stick with the FI and just get it all set up properly. I have a 96 4.0 that runs perfectly and reliably, so yours can run that way too. If you muck with the engine too much I'll bet you will spend alot of money and still be unsatisfied. Just my 2 cents.

[Badger1]

There was a guy on Dweb that had a thread about his switch over to a carb on his 97, the guy was from Montreal I think. Pretty interesting stuff, and have to admit the thought has crossed my mind. Now I will agree that FI is better than a carb, but the new lines of offroad carbs that are out there now are pretty damn close to the performance of the FI. Now I am not saying you could go out and rockcrawl with these systems, but for the majority of offroading that I see from the pics on this site I will say no one would experiance any problems with those carbs.

[Paul Grant]

Brad,
The guy who had his truck converted by Dominic goes under the name MontrealRR90 on DWeb. If you go to DWeb and do a search for "carb" in the Discovery board the numerous threads started by him will come up. He aslo posted on Pirates 4x4. Needless to say, on both those boards there were as many that advised against the conversion as there were in support of it. It didn't stop him and in the end he was extremely satisfied with the results.

So, don't let all the negatives dissuade you from what you want to do, especially the propane conversion which Dominic specializes in (he represents a British concern for North America that markets the dual fuel conversion kit). Most people here in the US wouldn't know a carburettor if it fell on their heads left alone a dual fuel setup like the one Dominic can do for you.
Good luck,
Paul

[Paul Grant]

Badger1,
I couldn't agree more with your accessment about carbs. Everyone seems to forget that there are an awful lot of carburetted Series trucks performing pretty well out there on the trails, nevermine, all the old CJ's and and Land Cruisers.
Cheers,
Paul

[Badger1]

I just like the simplicity of a carb, and the reliabilty from not having all that electronic crap! Just makes the driving experiance alot more enjoyable IMO. Hell just think about how easy it would be to work on your Disco too. Just like the old cars, nice and easy to work on no sensor for this and that...I am really tempted. If only I had the cash right now, LOL! Story of my life...

[Paul Grant]

That's why I love my '85 Range Rover. It's only marginally more complicated than my Series III. The only ECU I have sits on top of an Edelbrock manifold and it can be easily adjusted with a screw driver!

[300bhp/ton]

6 of one anf half a dozen of the other in here..... lol

Carbs are totally fine off road, and anyone who thinks otherswise it talking rubbish - sorry!

Remember ALL series Land Rovers with petrol engines run on carbs, from the 50's right upto the early 80's. Range Rovers and V8 90/110's also ran carbs, typically twin Stromberg or twin SU, this was right upuntil the mid late 80's. They all perform fine off road. In fact for competition use carb is preferred to EFI as you don't have to worry about the electronics and ECU getting wet.

The only real trouble carb was the Holley 390 coversion which was popular on the Rover V8 in the late 70's early 80's. This was as already stated because of floats. The more recent Weber 500 (Same as Edlebrock) is fine off road because the floats are located in a different place to the Holley.

Ultimatley EFI should be better, but the Rover system isn't the most advanced and is a bugger to tune if you plan on mods. So a carb setup is much easier.

I run a Weber 500 and Offenhauser manifold on my Rover V8 fitted in my TR7, it's a 3.5 litre variant, but apart from that basically the same as the 4.0 except X bolt mains. It runs great, easy to install, very reliable offers good mpg and makes good HP ~230bhp/220lb ft up from 155bhp stock. (it does have a few other mods, cam, headers, etc.)

rpi engineering run a 4.6 HSE Range Rover with a weber 500, and get better bhp/mpg than stock with EFI.

Not too sure about dual fuel, I've considered LPG but the conversion costs way too much over here. Typically cars running LPG will make slightly less HP and have slightly worse mpg than on regular petrol.

Also another nice bonus with carb is throttle response, a well setup carb will always be crisper than any EFI setup.

A well thought about and setup carb will certainly NOT be a backwards step. Just make sure you get the correct bits.

Check out:

Rpi Engineering www.v8engines.com they are pricey but there's loads of good info

http://www.v8developments.co.uk/

http://www.rimmerbros.co.uk/rimmer/r...version%20Kits

http://www.v-8.org.uk/forum/ - handy forum with lots of great info on Rover V8's.


BTW - as there's plenty of room under the bonnet you won't need to go for the Offenhauser manifold but the taller Edelbrock one.

[b rad]

Would like to stick with the LR ignition that has so far been trouble free, but
what will the "brain" do to ignition if it does not operate FI. The LR ignition with knock sensors does a good job of achieiving proper timing.

Does anyone know how the fuel system is linked with the ignition in the ecm?
Brad

[montrealRR90]

Originally Posted by b rad

Would like to stick with the LR ignition that has so far been trouble free, but
what will the "brain" do to ignition if it does not operate FI. The LR ignition with knock sensors does a good job of achieiving proper timing.

Does anyone know how the fuel system is linked with the ignition in the ecm?
Brad

Hi brad! well i have done the carburator swap and its the best thing i ever done! If you want to go that route i will put you in contact with my mechanick he will breeze you throug it.

its been almost 4 months now and its great offroading and has a daily driver.
i put in my 1990 RR coil and distributor and it fired right up!