MECCANO

Hi guy's, finally found a spare moment to tap back in. the lwt is still going strong! My setup uses a lt77 with a Sherpa/ sd1 2000 bell housing and pinion which is only 7 inches long. The lt77 seems more than strong enough for the turbo version and it has had a thrashing. I do have an issue with the sychros on 3rd, but I think the problem is I have the wrong pivot on the clutch arm so the clutch always had a hint of drag. For good measure I have an r380 ready to go. I did toy with using an mpi bell housing ( there's enough room as the engine is so short, But I liked the idea of sitting right back. I have a 1.2 transfer and the lt77 is a v8 box. Mpg. If driven sensibly aka keeping up with traffic, crusing 65 you will achieve 35mpg. I recently collected a rapier trailer from Leicester (250 miles round trip) and achieved higher than this. Probably nearer 40. The flat torque curve means you can just leave it in fifth and cruise along. If you think ahead, you dont even need to change gear when overtaking trucks in the slow lane. However if you give it the beans you will be down to the 20's. The open diffs and short wheelbase can make things a little wild when the boost kicks in, and can be a little unpredictable. I'm considering converting the lt230 to rwd. I haven't blown anything yet! The conversion wasn't massively expensive. the expensive parts these days are the bell housings. My engine cost me £90 but was missing the turbo. That cost me £50. I made my own loom for £50. The front property is standard Land Rover and the rear was made for £90. I had to install a swirl pot and injection pumps. The swirl pot was £20 off eBay. The fuel pumps are a cheap defender type low pressure and a jag HP. The most expensive parts were intercooler hose. (The intercooler was £90 off eBay new) and the exhaust was made from parts and probably topped close to £500. But that could have be built using two sections and enough time.

I presume this applies to any chassis modifications. For example, foley doing a 3rd axle extension, even if the rest of the vehicle is original.

Its a poor mans Ibex! It was actaully inspired after seeing your build.

Personally i think the statement is snake oil, if they are to consider a body change as something inspectable, they would have to change the point system to reflect. Something along those lines. I'm getting to old , fat and soft to drive a series anymore. i find i barely drive the Lwt any more but as it was my first car and ive had since i was 16 '(now 32) i can't brind my self to get rid. I had planned this, but if things aren't clean cut i will probably cut my losses and just go down the defender route. ( apologies for pic quality, had to bodge them to upload)

Its been a long time since i've been on here, but i have an itch that needs a scratch. I'm hoping the guys that have experince of Iva's kit cars etc can enlighten me. I understand the points system for radically altered vehicles. But if you preform a body change (in this case putting a series body on a defender chassis without any modications to the chassis) are you still required to submit the vehicle for inspection to check the change is mechanially sound. Something was mentioned on a kit car forum about an amendment in 2015 which means you can no longer change bodies like this. Do you think its bogus, or are they right? I don't hold much hope of an answer from the DVSA. They havent responded before! Thanks in advance Chris

Cheers guys, I feel educated. So if I understand correctly, the viscous in effect replaces the dog clutch (diff lock) on an lt230. Giving the variabilty with load. I don't actually own a bw box, but wanted to understand the theory of how they worked.

Trying to work out how the viscous operates in BW transfer boxes. Does the transfer directly drive the rear wheels and then bring in the front when required, or act as a centre diff like an lt230. Im assuming both rrc and p38 operate the same way. Manual suggests the input and rear drive is linked via the viscous, aka not directly linked. Can any one confirm. Ta muchly.

Early 127 chassis were also stretched 110's.

I believe so, there is a slightly different rear cross, and the rear tub supports stretch further up the chassis.

I recently tested my servo vacuum. The vacuum was still present 4 hours after I had last driven it.

Bearings size and synchro size is different between R380 and lt77. I tried to the the reverse, put an lt77 pinion into a r380. There might be some late lt77's with larger bearings (super rare) but the synchro in the r380 is much larger so still not compatable.

No mods to the bulkhead were required, but i did have to rotate the turbo housing. I personally think 140bhp would be idea for the series, the turbo version is a little fiesty at times and brings its own head aches.

Theres a few pics here. I didnt take many, but hopefully this gives you an idea. http://forums.lr4x4.com/index.php?showtopic=81634

Sorry for the slow reply. Comps been playing up. Just search ecu decoding, theres alot of companies that do it. Heres one in the uk i found that does rover MEMs ecu's, but you must have comapnies that do it locally. http://ecu-technologies.co.uk/ Looking on the rover tech forum, it should cost around £30 + postage to have one decoded. So shop around. As for parts, i would try to lift the ecu/ engine loom and fuse box. the fuel system isn't much use as teh disco will have an internal tank pump. but the exahust should be chopable. and is a fairly decent bore to start with.

I run my lwt t16 turbo through a lt77/lt230 using sd1 2000/v8 parts so I have a very short bell housing setup. Although I will soon be connecting it to an r380. You can use the disco box, but its much longer.

Never fear, Chris is here! In a word yes. You will need to get the ecu decoded so that the immobiliser is removed, but some one on the many rover forums will be able to point you in the right direction. Alternatively you could try and source an early rover t16 ecu without it. But they aren't wasted spark and will require a 2 gap reluctor ring to be fitted to the flywheel as well as a dizzy to the back of the cam shaft... and possibly the matching camshaft with a dizzy drive. Personally i'd get the immobilser removed as it will give you more clearance on the bulkhead. And it shouldn't be too expensive. The wiring diagrams are all available. You should be able to use the disco loom. But you may need to disconnect the immobilizer connection at the ecu plug. Don't use a turbo ecu. It won't run right. If you need any more help just shout.

I believe fridge has gen - u -wine Gone 2 far.

Looks superb mike.

As mike says, If the plastic tank spills over the rails like the disco, the rear tub supports that go over the filler neck look like they will be in the way on a 110.

Isn't it just using p38 pinion and bell housing. Slapped on a normal defender r380. The bell housing is two parts on the p38.

Sounds like your planners are alot nicer than ours. We have to have a car length in front of any door, gate, so you don't block the highway. Looks good!

Will the new door open on the boundary of the pavement?

Thanks guys

Jon, how did you change the wipers out to the defender setup, did you have to drill the bulkhead to take the nearside wiper position?

Cheers Jon