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P38a (re)build


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A long time ago, in a galaxy swamp far way, this was my daily driver. A manual V8 converted to a 4.6, with Ashcroft lockers and a Milemarker hydraulic winch, named Piper. She did very well, both on and off the road.1720042623_Ladoga2011-7juni(42).thumb.jpg.d93b6080c34b8b3d9b216cc8c68f43b9.jpg

Unfortunately, it got destroyed when our workshop burned down in 2015. At that time I was registered to take her back to Ladoga, but obviously never made it. I drove another, standard, P38 for the last couple of years, but always wanted to rebuild a similar car. Now that our Workshop has been rebuilt and is operational again, the time as come to stop dreaming and start getting greasy.

After lots of thought, I decided to start from another P38 I've had for some time, named Prue. Prue is/was a 4.6 automatic, and as soon as I found a manual one (Piper) I preferred driving that. She 'only' had a 4.0, so the 4.6 was transferred from Prue and Piper evolved into the above car. That left Prue as a 4.0 automatic, mainly driven by my girlfriend at the time. Eventually put aside with a water leak at the valley but I never got 'round to sorting her. Couldn't bring myself to sell or strip either, as she was my first V8. So now the time has come to bring her back to life. It wont be the easiest way though, as I want to convert to manual. She will be aptly renamed Phoenix.

I've got a 5.0 engine block with all the goodies, a Megasquirt to power it (thanks to @FridgeFreezer) and managed to salvage the gearbox and flywheel/clutch from the burned Rangie. The Milemarker looks like it can be rebuilt as well. By chance I also came across a manual diesel P38. In a poor shape, but a perfect donor for the interior parts for a conversion to manual.

First task is to get the MS running in a P38 with direct coil drive and reusing as much of the standard fuses, relays and wiring. Including the original CKP (hence the choice for direct coil drive). Test case will be a GEMS, but I've also got a later P38 with Bosch/Thor engine, and plan to use the intake manifold for the 5.0 to maximize torque.

Next would be to install the manual box. I'm thinking a body off will probably be the easiest way to swap engine and gearbox. That will make it easy to redo the brakelines and stuff as well. And it's not that hard on a P38, as I've found out stripping the manual diesel. Arnott GenIII airsprings and longer Terrafirma dampers will also be installed. A new set of pegged Ashcroft lockers is on order, brakes will no doubt need refurbishing and bushes replaced. Most work will be the interior I fear. The dash has to be removed to get access to the pedalbox and install one with a clutch pedal... Still convinced I want a manual and the conversion is worth it!

Once that's done, I'll get to building up the 5.0. So it wont sit around for too long before being fired up.

Then there will be loads of smaller tasks. Like enlarging the wheel arches for the Mickey Thompson Baja Claws. Those were almost impossible to get, I had to resort to importing directly from the US, with an expensive surprise to get it out of the port and through customs. A custom bumper, based on the above design will be made. It's basically a hidden winch mount, with the standard inner bumper welded to it and the original plastic cover. A snorkel will need to be fitted, which requires a different airbox.

Ideally she should be finished by April. To be pressed into service as a daily driver. The new LEZ in Brussels means I will no longer be allowed to drive my Esprit to work, as it predates the Euro emissions standards. So for the environment's sake I will have to trade in the 2.2 4-pot for a 5.0 V8. 🙂 LPG should keep things affordable. In May I need a good Rangie as a tow vehicle, to do tech support on a classic car run. Hoping we wont actually need the trailer, but she should be there and make an impression. And then there's Ladoga, as mentioned in another thread. And what got me to start this topic.

I'll try to update regularly and add some pictures. Being the dinosaur I am, I don't have a fancy phone that outsmarts me, and getting my greasy paws on the good camera is frowned upon. So don't expect too much, unless @elbekko remembers to take some pics while helping me.

Greetz,

Filip

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3 hours ago, FridgeFreezer said:

Surely one of the technical bods coughBENcough could rig up a couple of cheap webcams or chinese CCTV cameras to record a nice time-lapse of the workshop? :ph34r:

Sounds like a lot of effort for not very interesting footage. The workshop is used for a fair amount of other things, and relevant footage would probably be 90% us standing around scratching our head, bickering and/or drinking beer :P

I'll take some pictures on my phone, or with the proper camera if my hands aren't too filthy.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 12/21/2018 at 9:39 PM, qwakers said:

a 5.0 p38 is a very cool concept and i want one. especially in manual form... but i think if you dont supercharge it, youll be missing a trick :D 

and twin turbos just for fun lol

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A saw a twin turbo V8 powered Mini (the real one, not the German Maxi) at Brooklands. Must be a hoot and seemed quite driveable when he left the site!

On another note, our outing to Bunny Lane has forced me to add some underbody protection to the list of necessary modifications. 😛 

Filip

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The chain is a bit of a weak point as it can/will stretch under load, compared to the all gear LT230. But I wouldn't consider that a real weak point. For me the appeal of an LT230 is be the mechanical difflock instead of a viscous. Not sure an LT230 would have faired any better when hitting that rock. And as that would have been modified to fit a P38, finding and fitting a replacement would be a lot harder!

Filip

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I like it as well, but the casting does seem to be a bit of a weak point.

Tbf, I'll research handbrake solutions as well, and/or underbody protection, but fitting an LT230 to a P38 has been on my "how hard can it be?" list for a while, so I'll definitely look at it. Especially with an ATB in it I think it would be rather good.

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Indeed, getting it to line up with diffs on the other side is the big challenge. Putting it upside down could affect lubrication. You could mount it back to front and drive through the PTO, but the casing on the rear doesn't look like it will safely handle the forces applied.

Filip

 

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If it helps I'm sure I saw someone (Rakeway or Milners perhaps) selling short-nose output housings for the LT230. I reckon turning it round & driving through the PTO hole would be the winning combo but I've not looked closely. ISTR they're pretty robust in all directions though?

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5 hours ago, daveturnbull said:

But if you do that, are the gears not cut in such a way that they are stronger in one direction that the other; like a CW&P in a diff?

 

As far as I've read, it doesn't matter. And since they're supposedly good for 1000hp, 200hp backwards shouldn't break things 😛

It's still just an idea in my head, need to do measuring and shaft fitting and all that, the adapter shaft may be the most difficult, depends on what the input gear looks like on the PTO side.

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