I think I found a D90. It is a 94 and has a new tranny r380, hard top, roof rack and 33" MTR's. It looks great but has 104,000 miles. How long do the rover engines last? Also, how much is a replacement engine? What concerns should I have with this much mileage? The guy says it is almost all highway miles.

honestly, none. but only if it has been maintained properly. i have seen many good running rover engines with well in excess of 200k on them, and in some cases 300k. it all comes down to just taking care of the truck, and it will last forever.

the R380 is a big deal, they are upgrades from the weaker LT77S trannies that were used in 94. this is a large expense, expecially if it was done by the dealer.

as far as replacement engines go, they arent too bad so long as you stay with a 3.9 or a 4.0. if you want to upgrade to a 4.6 expect to pay quite a few thousand dollars. a stock 3.9 short block will set you back less than 2k.

Well. today I called the maintenance/service rep for my local Land Rover dealer here in Austin and he told me that the 3.8 engine in the D90's are almost exact copies of a 60's Buick engine. Can anyone confirm this? I have read the post on the Buick heads and he said that they will swap out but you have to machine a spot for a head bolt in the heads that are not there in the Buicks. Is this also true? So if I get this D90 with high miles and the engine gives I can go to the scrap yard and get a 60's Buick engine, take it to my local machine shop, get it rebuilt with some extra HP and bolt it in with the stock LR fuel injection system and everything will bolt right up??????????? The rep also told me that the AC in the D90's is aftermarket and is all GM; GM compressor, condenser, etc.. If this is all true then why does the dealer charge so much for parts? Someone please confirm or deny this!!

The Dealer's referring to the early 60's Buick 215. GM sold the manufacturing rights and castings to the Brits in the mid 60's. There are also Olds and Pontiac variants.

The Buick 215 (and also later alu 300 with mods) heads will bolt on your 3.9 block but the accessory mounting bosses are probably in different locations. So your brackets may need to be modified or totally changed to fit. This may be easy or a big PITA! Buick 215's are probably not just sitting around in most wrecking yards.

I have an RRC which uses a Sanden AC comp and the rest of AC system comes from a company in Texas. I don't know about your D90 AC system.

Parts are not that outrageous if you know where to look (NOT dealership!) Of course it depends on your opinion of high. :)

I have access to a complete Buick 215 engine and an Olds 215 but I would still buy a rover head if I needed to replace one simply cause there not overly expensive and easier to fit accessories.

Talk to www.aluminumv8.com.

GregH