moore101

i'd put a set of locking wheelnuts on as well. paddocks do some basic ones which you could get off with a socket hammered over but the site of them might be enough to put theives off. http://www.paddockspares.com/pp/SERIES/Accessories/Locking_Steel_Wheel_Nuts_-_S3_-_set_of_4.html

Reb78- viva will most likely only get an engine that fits in with minimal modification to existing parts and the original engine will be put up safely so that if one day I wanted it back to standard it could be. Although I am tempted to go v8 but I think if I go that option I'll sell my viva in exchange for a completely rotten one just for panels and fully spaceframe it. Anyway, I digress. I also agree that underwriters are being stupidly arsey about it as they've insured the vehicle before. I did wonder the last time I rang it to swap why I had to give all the details of the vehicle again, almost as if they're not kept on record. As for it having to be insured for full road use if it's taxed and mot'd then that leaves me completely stuffed. It sits on the drive/in back garden/wherever for the days in which it's not in use, and I already pay for an mot and tax for it to sit there just so I can rtv trial it. On top of that i cant afford to pay £1600 for the privilege of driving the vehicle 12 days a year (it probably would get more than that but you can see my point I'm sure) Think I'm going to have to 'sell' the vehicle to mum or dad and get them to insure it as there's no other way of getting it insured easily just to be able to drive it to trials and back. Mum or dad would only have to drive the vehicle to work two days a month and they'd then be legible for main user based on mileage.

just come across this thread with great interest as ive had enough of insurance company at the moment. this may seem rather long winded and to cut to the 'interesting' bit go to * im currently insured with nfu and at the age of 19 im paying an extortionate amount to insure my 3.5 lightweight with defender gearbox and rangie axles. £1680 to be exact (only way i feel better about it is that 17 year olds currently pay £2000 on 1.2 corsas, and of course the sound of the v8!) a few weeks back i bought myself a classic car, 1974 1256cc vauxhall viva to run as a daily driver to and save a bit of money on fuel as the v8s been returning 13mpg recently. even if i put the v8 on megasquirt and drive it very conservatively its not going to return car like figures. so i buy the car with its mot expiring that day (a saturday) and tax expiring on the monday. i had the intention of booking it in for mot within a week after taking the gearbox out and freeing the clutchplate from the flywheel so didnt declare it sorn (naughty i know but without having a tax reminder letter or the reference number off the front of a v5 its not the easiest thing to do?) i rang nfu on the tuesday to get it covered for fire and theft in case it got pinched off the drive by some theiving sods. added it to my existing policy for the landrover as another vehicle for a cost of £5.84 for a year. i ring them later in the week to arrange to swap over my insurance from the landrover on to the viva for the friday so i can take it round to get it mot'd. fine, no problems, got the reworked schedule and price (viva was £14 cheaper a year on fully comp etc, same cover as landy) got the vehicle mot'd, taxed and roadworthy so have the vehicle that weekend and all is well. * this is where the problem starts. i rang them the monday after the weekend as id forgotten to put the landrover on cover for fire and theft when i swapped the insurance to the viva, and i also wanted to enquire about a quote for a change in engine (just to see what it would cost to put a modern efi 2 litre lump in for, amongst other things, a bit more power as it can struggle to keep up with lorries if theres a strong headwind) the very nice polite young lady asks me if im sure i only want this cover and not 3rd party or fully comp as well as with the vehicle having a current mot and tax i could potentially use it on the road. i reply saying that because the insurance wont cover it for road use i therefore cant use it on the road even though it has the potential. she says ah ye fair point and says it'll just get put on as fire and theft and there wont be any issue. yesterday i ring them asking to swap the insurance over on to the landrover from midnight tonight until midnight sunday so ive got its use for this weekend for the trial sunday. i had a phonecall yesterday afternoon telling me that because of the modifications it had brought up a referal on the screen asking for a few details. the underwriters had asked for evidence for the engine modification and the change of gearing and axle swap. previously i had provided them with an engineers report for the engine conversion and when id emailed them about the axle and gearbox change they hadnt asked for this as it wasnt affecting the premium at all. so i tell the nice young lady on the other end of the phone i can resend the engineers report for the engine conversion through and can also send them one for the axle and gearbox change if its required. she says she'll check and give me a call back today. today i receive that phone call (at 4:30) and she tells me theres a few issues. firstly i get the good news that they will be able to insure the viva with a 2 litre for an extra 25% on my premium which is a lot but for cc compared to percentage increase its better than the 10% increase to change the 1256 for a 1300 ford crossflow! then she moves on to the swapping of the vehicles for the weekend. she tells me that due to new legislation, its not possible to insure a vehicle for fire and theft if it is taxed and mot'd so for this weekend i wouldnt have any cover on the viva. not a problem, i can park it in the garage or just box it in with the 101 as a semi measure to protect it. then she lets me know of even worse news. the underwriters have said that they would like the engineers reports for the axle and gearbox change even though they havent wanted them previously, (since May when the gearbox went in and i first notified them) without those reports they cant insure it. so im now left without insurance on the landrover for the weekend so cant trial it. not only that though, because of the new legislation saying its not possible to insure a vehicle for fire and theft if it is taxed and mot'd i dont currently have any cover on it at all not a happy bunny! needless to say, monday morning i shall be ringing round every single insurance company i can find a number for to try and get some multicar quotes as i cant afford to insure both vehicles at £1600 a year each. must remember the first question to ask when i get through: will you insure a 19year old on a 3.5 modified landrover. have made the mistake of spending 10minutes writing down my details at a stand at a show before to be told that they wont insure anyone under 21 on an engine of 2 litres or more

Ah i didnt realise yours was a 1 tonne. I thought it was a standard 109" with a diesel conversion. How come you've not run it on 9.00s as it should originally have?

Right, just my last say on this matter having looked it up to help clarify it in my head so at least i know what is and isnt legal even if others dont. Snagger: You reckon you have 11 points? Because you've lost 1 for engine, and 2 for it no longer having original axles yes? But you havent mentioned your non-original chassis which loses 5 points so you have 6 points meaning you'll need SVA and Q-plate etc. Can a mod delete anything in this thread that is to do with SVA because i'm sure sooner or later people will realise that a huge percentage of landrovers on the road these days are in fact illegal in some way or other and i dont think we should be arguing about it so frequently on a public forum. What problems arise?

Would be interesting to see pictures of the chassis differences. Axles, steering and suspension looked like standard series setup so, as well as the 5 points for the chassis, it'd have 2 for each of the above giving it a total of 11 points meaning its perfectly elligable for its original registration? As mentioned, theres so many vehicles out there that are much worse (shortened rangie chassis vehicles) (in fact i think 99% of vehicles in the trialling scene are technically illegal and vosa/dvla must know about this, it'd just cause them so much hassle to try and sort each one out, especially when the could have "been built before all of that came in") Im not saying ringings right but when its near enough like for like parts then i dont see the problem

Just to confirm that they are indeed 3/8 UNF x 1-1/8 long Hooray for military parts catalogue for lightweight that gives sizes for all bolts as well as their part numbers

No? I always thought all series handbrakes were the same? We just did a nut and bolt swap of a 1973 series 3 hand brake onto a 1951 series 1 80" with no problems with alignment or operation so i dont know why it wouldnt fit a 1969 chassis? Looks a reasonably tidy project but while at that point in the build the chassis really needs to be looked at in the flesh to check its up to your standard and not just the last guys as its going to be a fair amount of rework if its not. And as people have said, there is a fair amount of britpart boxes which could be a quality issue depending on what parts they actually are.

im thinking about it but at 220miles away its going to cost a fortune to fuel a v8 up there to just do rtv. maybe if i get my backside in gear and get a rollcage sorted then i can do ccv as well so i'd have more to go up there for

Oh ah... Could it be that the engine it's off had an SD1 flywheel fitted? Are they thinner? I think they have the same 9inch clutch cover mounting holes as landrover so would allow a cheaper conversion (back in the days when you could get SD1 parts that is) The plan of using a v8 bellhousing to space it out sounds good. Also when fitting the ring i'd recommend getting yourself some capheads as i replaced mine with them due to it not really being possible to get a spanner or socket onto an ordinary bolt.

sorry for delay in measurement, adaptor ring is 50mm thick could you post up a picture of the adaptor ring you have. when fitting to a series 3 box i have heard of the pivot for the clutch arm (the one screwed into the bellhousing i think) needing adjusting out, maybe the adaptor plate has been machined down to get the clutch to work properly?

I'll have a measure of my adaptor plate when i get home but i'd say about 60mm. What flywheel is on the engine and has it got a clutch on it? The V8 clutch wont fit inside the philips/milner adaptor ring. If by clutch housing you mean the gearbox bellhousing? Then a rangerover one is very long and you are very likely to struggle to get it to all fit in. I think you want to have the same set-up as me? Short lt77 and v8 adaptor ring on to the v8? If so you'll need: - V8 with flywheel drilled and dowelled for series clutch cover (also diesel defender is the same, but with stronger springing in it so it doesnt slip as much) - 'Standard' V8 in series style adaptor ring - Short bellhousing lt77 - 'Standard' series v8 conversion bolt on engine mounts to use the existing chassis mounts. - The only other thing you'll need is a spigot bush holder to hold a diesel bush as the crank hole is only about 2mm bigger than a shortbellhousing input shaft. (You could get the input shaft ground down to fit inside the V8 bush but that involves stripping the gearbox) When i made my spigot bush adaptor i made it such that it doesnt require the end of the crank to be cut off, but this means the spigot bush has to be shortened which could lead to premature wear (when i had the engine out to do a core plug i did notice that it had worn a bit quicker than i thought it would but chucked it back in with plenty of grease and just make sure i knock it in to neautral in traffic) I'm not sure if i've put a thread on here under the members vehicles for my lightweight but its something i will do ASAP with pictures of all the modifications such as v8 and lt77 and rangerover axles. In 2011 it'll be getting powersteering and an auto (without modifying the external looks) and i think ive almost finalised the planning for it

insurance is going to be the biggest problem. quite a few companies will insure a 17/18 year old on an old series landrover providing its standard. when i started out with my lightweight as standard with a 2.25 petrol it was about £1500 fully comp, own policy. as soon as i put the v8 in it shot up to about £2400 (that was a hell of a chunk out of my wages each month!) now im 19 with a bit of no claims bonus its down to just under £1700 (and it'll be an extra 10% if i want to increase the engine from a 3.5 to a 3.9) im insured by nfu for a number of reasons, the price seems competitive enough (look how much it costs to get insurance on a 1.2 corsa for example using all the price comparison sites). i have an nfu office less than a mile down the road so contact is always prompt and its nice being able to talk to someone face to face. they dont mind modifications and apart from the engine change none of my other mods put the insurance up. reliability - use genuine/oem parts and it'll end up just a case of basic maintenance. that vehicle looks nice and shiney, i dont like the arches. but more importantly theres no pictures of any of the important bits like engine and chassis

Hmmmmm, at last a thread on almost what i want to do, its just backwards. I'm looking at changing the LT230 in my lightweight to a viscous transfer box. So I just have a few questions: -Overall transfer box size, is there a major difference between the two? I currently only have about an inch clearance between handbrake drum and crossmember behind gearbox (nightmare when doing handbrake shoes, gearbox has to be dropped) -Front prop difference, which box uses a longer prop? Thinking of engine crossmember clearance issues (will be making another crossmember when I finally get round to doing twin downpipe exhaust mod but would be nice to be able to leave that for another day) -Gearbox mounts, i currently have the defender type mounts that bolt to the chassis, rangie uses a 2 big rubber block type mount on the crossmember under the gearbox? Will i be able to swap my current mounts onto the BW t'box? -And as for speedo drive, its just a case of swapping my existing 90 gear into the rrc BW box? I will have to look into ratios, im guessing theres difference BW ratios or are they all the same? Did any defenders have the BW t'box fitted as standard? Think thats everything i wanted to ask, Al

Place I get mine tested at managed to think the engine was still had no temperature in it after 20 minutes of running because the temp gauge was sat on the bottom. The gauge they were looking at was the old series one but is no longer connected up since engine change. The other gauge I have was at 110 by the time I went and checked why they hadn't put the fan on (manual switch) Luckily there was no damage done but next MOT I will be keeping a close eye on the vehicle when they test it even though the fans an auto switch because I don't trust them to not make another mistake. I must remember to tell them it's now permanent 4wd as they'd be putting it on the rollers for brake test otherwise. At least they don't test the handbrake on there!

if only id seen this yesterday, id have been very tempted to come across

Why's this gone quiet? No v8 thread should be quiet!

landrovers were intially stated as being capable of 30degrees as a safe operating angle. it was then advertised as being possible if careful to turn one round on a 45 degree slope. that was for series vehicles which with the softtop and lack of dash and creature comforts probably have a lower centre of gravity. i think 30degrees is probably a safe angle to operate at but remember to always drive cross slopes nice and slowly and never be tempted to steer upwards. and others have said, the driver will normally bottle it before the vehicle falls over.

one of our series 1s has no bobbles on the clutch pedal from years of use and that passes MOTs fine with no mention about it. so what is the rule regarding pedal grip? the accelerator pedals on series vehicles dont have anything to assist with grip but during trying to avoid an accident its not normally the pedal that is rapidly aimed for!

is it an 80" or an 88"? my 88" lightweight on leafs has a short lt77 on a series adaptor plate onto a v8 with the v8 in the same position as the original 2.25p and the rear prop is almost exactly the same size as an 80" one. it binds on heavy braking but this is mainly due to me putting the gearbox so high up to keep it out of harms way from rocks. Another thing to consider is gearlever positions, highlow/difflock is behind main gearlever on a short lt77 so may well end up in your seatbox (mine did) so yes it will go in an 88" and im pretty sure it'll go in an 80, just. Are you wanting to keep the original front end or would you consider pushing the front panel forward a bit as that would definitely help rear prop length. having just re-read the post, it seems like one of the initial problems is the heavy clutch. i dont see how this will be resolved by fitting a later box? i find the clutch just as heavy with the lt77 as it was with the series 2a box i originaly had. i do run a diesel clutch cover plate as apposed to the series item but thats only because i found the series item not upto the job of the v8 power.

4x4byV8, your 2a box will have a different type of clutch release mechanism so will have a different clutch cover (with the triangle piece between the fingers and the release mechanism when all put together). the series 3 clutch cover and release bearing should work. i have heard that the arm with the ball on the end (screwed into the bellhousing) can sometimes need adjusting outwards to get the clutch to release but it seem the difference in distance on the bearing is too much for that to solve your problem. has the flywheel been skimmed as this would cause a situation of needing a wider bearing? as for the jumping out of 4th, that is normally the synchro teeth on the input shaft being worn i think

ok, back to the topic of axle conversion. not wanting to put a negative point to what is already a good start to the conversion but id recommend bracing the spring seats to stop them folding up sideways. i only used 3mm steel to brace mine but then i did make the rest from flat bits of 6mm plate so it was probably already stronger than the spring seats you have used.

I live in midsomer norton and am free on the 17th if you wanted someone to show you the local lanes? Cant do this weekend as im out at west harptree with SWLRC doing the mendip challenge

Having seen the vehicle i can confirm that its an eye catcher! In the pictures it looks a bit too fake? In real life the colours seem to almost blend together and its a genuinely tidy vehicle!

On my lightweight ive used 6mm thick rubber strips attached through the body into 3mm plate drilled and tapped. Short M6 bolts with big penny washers. They're virtually indestructable and ive given them a good testing against trees! Went to my local metal and engineering supplies shop and paid about £20 for the 4 100mm wide strips i bought which were cut off a roll 1.4m wide and i think 100m long so you'd have no limit on what size arch you want! sorry for poor picture quality, too sunny outside, makes a change!