Chassis query

[skauldy]

Hi Folks

Now before you say it I have talked to marsland and BLRC and haven't got my question answered.

It is....

I need a new chassis for my rebuild. I'm putting a 4.6 with R380 GB and LT230. On marsland site they have a V8 chassis but this is for the 3.5. This is the only one they have. Will this work with my engine and R380. Thanks

[Bowie69]

V8 blocks are all essentially the same externally, so you can probably bolt 3.5 mounts to a 4.6 block and away you go.

[landroversforever]

Have you tried speaking to Richards Chassis?

[bluespanner]

I don't think an off the shelf v8 chassis would work because I'm sure an lt95 and r380 are different lengths. So you'd have to alter the transfer box mounts at least

[skauldy]

Ah I know there all the same dimension and its just the internals but as blue spanner says its what happens when you bolt it to a R380 rather then what was on the 3.5.

A 50th chassis won't do me either as that was automatic.

I rang Richards and there 8-10 weeks lead time while marslands is 3 weeks plus I hear marsland chassis are genuine land rover and when it come to DOE in Ireland (equiv to MOT) there shouldn't be a problem as the new chassis will look the same as the original

[western]

I hear marsland chassis are genuine land rover

made by GKN for LR, they are the same bulid type 2 x C sections welded to form each long rail box, I recently bought one for my 200tdi/Stumpy R380 110, it has the Td5 type rear & gearbox crossmembers. ,

[Aragorn]

You could get them to supply the chassis with the TD5/R380 style gearbox mounts and get them to leave the engine mounts off the chassis.

Then you can weld the engine mounts on in the right place to suit your gearbox etc.

[skauldy]

I was hoping to get it galvanised by them rather then me doing it, as all they knock off is 80 pounds and would cost me a lot more plus then I would have to clean up all the threads

[Aragorn]

Ye, get them to galv it, then just weld the mounts on after.

Thats what i did with mine, due to a change of engine plan i'd originally ordered a TD5 chassis without the engine mounts, then later got them to send me out the TD5 mounts and i welded them on.

A wee bit of welding isnt going to seriously jeopardise the galvanising.

[Eightpot]

Don't know how much this helps, but certainly on a standard LR chassis this would be no problem.

I have swapped out a lt95 for a r380 and all the holes were in the correct place, and everything lined up correctly.

The r380 crossmember uses the same chassis holes that the earlier chassis crossmember used up front, and the lt77 chassis mount holes at the rear if I remember correctly.

[skauldy]

What engine was in it when you swapped the LT95 for the R380.

[tacr2man]

If you get a V8 chassis the V8 will fit and the chassis will either use the Lt85 small mounts direct to chassis or 380 mount , as 380 was used with V8 in 110 IIRC

[skauldy]

So get a V8 90 chassis and then get the 110 R380 crossmember.

[muttleyd]

Consider the td5 rear cross member as it would allow you to fit a td5 plastic tank as well as an underseat tank. Extra fuel capacity would be useful with a 4.6. Wish mine had a bit more fuel capacity

[skauldy]

Marsland supply their chassis with the rear TD5 crossmember as standard but with no mounts for the tank.

At no extra charge you can ask for the mounts. Bit confusing.

But as you say going to get the mounts and put a second tank in. The one under the seat is only 12 gallons.

[sighnbox]

Richards chassis all the way for me when I did my change.......from what I understand Richards build there own chassis but slightly thicker metal than standard (so stronger last longer , but slightly heavier so more fuel) then galvanize it where as Marsland buy a standard land rover chassis and then galvanize it. As the guy mentioned above Talk to them they were very helpful when mine was dun.

[carlosbeldia]

do you think it's an option to just galvanize my actual chassis after fixing some sections? in my country is really hard to import a chassis due to legal restrictions. does it worth to galvanize an old chassis like mine that already has some dents due to rust?

[Eightpot]

What engine was in it when you swapped the LT95 for the R380.

It was a V8, then Isuzu, then TDi was installed with the R380..

So far as I can work out, if you get a standard V8 chassis, you should be able to drop the V8 and R380 (with the appropriate bellhousing) without modification, you just need to pick the right propshafts after. I'm still running with the original props from the LT95, though they may not be optimal, it's only used on-road these days.

[Boris113]

I'm very pleased with my Richards chassis. Prior to ordering, I spoke to Richards and Marslands. Marslands won't do any modifications other than standard LR bracketry.

In my case I wanted engine mounts in a different place to normal but they wouldn't do it. They would supply a chassis with no engine mounts and a set of brackets for me to weld on, but that would damage the galv.

Marslands are good and have a much shorter waiting time, but if you want anything non-standard then speak to Richards.

[Diablo]

Richards are brilliant and would get my business every time. Know exactly what they're on about and very happy to discuss modifications.

I got my 200tdi chassis with TD5 rear tank mounts, but the correct, tdi, rear xmember - suitably modified so that a tank would fit.

[skauldy]

I need to go marsland as its a land rover chassis. When it goes for DOE (Ireland) equiv to MOT and they cop its not a standard Chassis it won't be worth the hassle. If I can replace it with original say nothing there will be no questions asked. Looks like I'll have to go down the route of them giving me the mounts and welding them on. I want to be able to use standard props so will want the R380 in its normal spot.

[Diablo]

It's not standard though as they use TD5 rear crossmembers. Richards' can give you the chassis you want, with the x-member you want and the mounts you want.

Would be easy if it wasn't for damned regulations!

[Aragorn]

Richards cant give him the chassis he wants, because richards weld the chassis up from bits of plate. It looks nothing like a normal landrover chassis when you actually compare the two. If they're going to pull him up about a slightly different crossmember, dont you think they're going to notice a chassis constructed completely differently to the standard one?

As i said in the other thread, i'd imagine should you goto Landrover themselves and buy a new chassis for a 300tdi, you'd get one with a TD5 style rear crossmember.

I think you'd have to be fairly knowledgeable about landrovers to know that a TD5 crossmember doesnt belong on a TDI, but its fairly obvious to any mechanic that a richards chassis is not a factory part.

[Anderzander]

I haven't seen one and didn't realise they are that different ?

I perhaps naively thought it would just be the seam missing from where the two C sections are welded.

[Aragorn]

I'll try and get some decent photos of my mates one for comparison, might be a week or two before i get over to his though.

To my eyes, the richards one looks like someones got 4 strips of steel plate cut to shape and welded them together in their garage. Whereas the landrover/GKN/Marslands one looks like it was made in a factory, by machines.