Perkins Prima diesel engine conversion for Series land Rovers

To make the most of the potential from this engine fitting an intercooler will release more power. Properly setup, with adjustments made to the fueling - see tuning section - a power increase of between 20 - 25% can be expected. If you drive it like a racer then the fuel comsumption will rise, but driven sensibly mid 30s mpg can be expected, the extra power is useful for off-roading and towing. Below is data showing how the performance of the Prima engine compares with various Land Rover installations. It's a bit like comparing apples to pears, but gives an idea as to the potential of the Prima engine.

engine type	max power (bhp@rpm)	max torque (lb/ft@rpm)
LR diesel 2286cc	62 @ 4000	103 @ 1800
LR petrol 2286cc (8:1 CR)	81 @ 4250	124 @ 2500
LR petrol 2625 6cyl	83 @ 4500	128 @ 1500
LR V8 3500cc	91 @ 3500	166 @ 2000
LR 2.5 petrol	83 @ 4000	133 @ 2000
LR 2.5 diesel NA	67 @ 4000	114 @ 1800
LR 2.5 turbo diesel	85 @ 4000	150 @ 1800
200TDi (Defender)	107 @ 4000	190 @ 1800
200TDi (Disco)	111 @ 4000	198 @ 1800
300TDi	113 @ 4000	198 @ 1800
Perkins Prima 1994cc	81 @ 4500	116 @ 2500
Perkins Prima with intercooler	100? @ 4500 est.	140? @ 2500 est.

BHP & Max Torque figures are derived from bench tests and do not allow for installation losses in the vehicle which could easily be in the region of 33% nor do they allow for engine wear.

Perhaps now is a good time to be familiar with the principles of How a turbo charger works

Basically any intercooler from a scrapped car will do the job. The TDi 200 LR engine ICs are fairly common as their owners tend to 'upgrade'. These are around £30 2nd hand. But a stroll round any scrapyard should prodduce something usable. It needs to have 2" diameter inlets and be mounted where it will recieve a good unobstructed flow of cold air. This means mounting it somewhere at the front of your Land Rover. You will need various lengths of ducting/tubing to connect up. This ducting needs to be rigid, stainless steel tubing is good; flexiable pipe will expand & contract with the boost pressure causing more turbo 'lag'. You can use blue silicon tubing (available from Merlin Motor Sport, or any good performance car shop) to make the connections. You turn the the cast ali 'U' shaped pipe (see photo of turbo unit above) from the turbo to the inlet manifold through 180 degress and connect the outlet pipe from the intercooler to it. Fitting the intercooler on its own will only give a modest performance increase, to make the most of it you will need to make adjustments to the Bosch fuel-injection pump. First of all make sure the static timing on the pump is correct, the Haynes manual describes the procedure, or go here to see an online Bosch EPVE fuel injection pump This would be best done before fitting the engine to the Landy.

page updated 20th September 2009