Land Rover Defender 90 300 tdi Engine Rebuild

The Defender went in this winter for an engine rebuild.  It wasn't 100% needed, I could have done small maintenance for years.  However, this is an enjoyment vehicle, and I wanted my prime years with it to experience a Defender in fantastic condition.

I took it to the helpful team at TRS Automotive in Calgary.  The list was generally - strip the current engine block, re-machine it, replace with new pistons, new [much wider range] variable turbo, intercooler, new fuel pump, and while we had it all out, throw in a new heavy duty clutch.  Motor & Diesel Engineering was the kit supplier, with their MD Engineering Land Rover 300tdi stage 2 kit as the one installed.

Engine block work and pistons.

Single main belt that was one of the redesign items from the 200 tdi engine to the 300 tdi.

More complete view.

New turbo view 1.

New turbo view 2.

Intercooler.

The improvements are not designed to make it a hot rod.  To me that's not really what Defenders are for.  Recall that even a base model Honda Civic has more power.  The torque boost doesn't exactly make the vehicle faster, just more driveable.  The 0-100km/h time would still be well into the teens range, as the vehicle isn't a lightweight, nor is it aerodynamic ; )  The engine outputs are somewhat comparable to a VW Jetta TDI, and as one can imagine, that's a much smaller and more aerodynamic vehicle, yet even those 0-100 times are over 10 seconds.  The variable turbo and other improvements makes the powerband wider, smoother, and just so much more driveable.  It's nice.

So the rejuvenation continues.  This is a hugely material difference and it drives well.  Plus, despite all the "progress", I'm just not into these new ones.