bodumatau Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 tired of my clunky LT77 I bought a R380 from Ashcroft and will be fitting it next week. Dave told me I "might have to modify my seat box" but didn't shed any further light on the topic.... any of you out there that have done this before? any tips or things i should watch out for.? how is the best way to get the box in? middle seat cover and tunnel out.. and a block of timber to pull off in the cab? any tips will help here my box of goodies from Ashcroft! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete3000 Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 You will need to mod the seat box, change the tunnel cover and modify or swap the 2 floor plates. You may also want to get the bulkhead angle plate flange.The R380 box is wider especially at the back RHS next to the hand brake (right hand drive anyway). I grafted a 300tdi seatbox flange onto my LT77 seatbox by gradually cutting more of it out until I could bolt it back in as a snug fit and retained it using some nuts and bolts along with the front seat runner screws and the handbrake bracket etc. You can get a good idea of the cut require by putting the tunnel cover in and drawing round it onto old seatbox with a sharpy marker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eds Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 A lot of people have been moaning about the r380 being more clunky, hope you avoid such experiences now you've made the investment. Boo hoo me :-( dampening your excitement! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miketomcat Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 Surely your going to have to move either the engine forwards or t-box back and change props. The stumpy r380 is a direct swap but it looks like you have the 300tdi on version? Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 As above a direct swap R380 to replace a LT77 in a 90/110 non 300tdi is the stumpy R380 this one http://www.ashcroft-transmissions.co.uk/manual-gearboxes/short-bellhousing-r380.html on my 2nd now, first was a genuine LR new unit & current one is a Ashcroft unit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bodumatau Posted February 12, 2015 Author Share Posted February 12, 2015 Well Mr Ashcroft knows very well that this goes onto a V8 so unless he had a bad packing day I am sure it will be the right one. my seat box around the gearbox seems to have been modified at some point but not sure how or why... pete3000 you say "You can get a good idea of the cut require by putting the tunnel cover in and drawing round it onto old seatbox with a sharpy marker" do you mean by this I need a different tunnel for the R380? what I have in now is a 3.5V8 with a LT77 and LT230 trf case @ eds, most of my Land Rover driving has been with TD5 and Tdi on R380 gearboxes working REALLY hard through the Kalahari sands towing heavy expedition trailers and I much prefer the R380 to the LT77... I did have a LT95 once in a 101 which I used for safari for 2 years in Botswana which I also found a bit clunky but less so than my LT77 I have in the V8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 Ah, a V8, that would have helped if it had been mentioned in your post, hope the fitting goes ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete3000 Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 No, that was me, I was going on my experiences on chucking an R380 and 300tdi defender unit into my ex 2.5NAD/LT77 the R380 (i used) was a fair bit wider than the LT77 so needs the surrounding parts swapped over. i.e tunnel cover and the flanges both on the seatbox (which needs to be opened up ) and the bulkhead which just needs changing over. I can't remember if i re used my old floor pans or cut them down slightly. Not sure what you need to do on the crossmember fron't underneath? I changed mine for a R380/300tdi crossmember to keep the gearbox in the right place as per factory, this did require 2 300tdi props. But i was changing the engine as well.......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete3000 Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 his might help a bit http://v8defender.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/13052011.html about half way down Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bodumatau Posted February 12, 2015 Author Share Posted February 12, 2015 thanks Guys, yes I should have mentioned the V8 sorry.... anyway, Miketomcat got me running to check the length of my 77 against the 380 and I was very relieved when they were the same will let you know how the fitting goes (next Thursday...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miketomcat Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 Sorry I assumed diesel hence my comment. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bodumatau Posted February 13, 2015 Author Share Posted February 13, 2015 no problem Mike, I figured it was either an honest mistake or a wicked sense of humour, either way worth the laugh if you saw how quickly I was in the garage measuring my new gearbox!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bodumatau Posted February 14, 2015 Author Share Posted February 14, 2015 and pulling the gearbox out? what is the easiest way? some timber and a strap in the cab? (short of building a gearbox cradle) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bodumatau Posted February 14, 2015 Author Share Posted February 14, 2015 does anyone have the workshop manual for the R380 - LT230 drive train, I would like to see how the linkages etc for the low/high and diff lock and reverse light switch etc are all put together. (I have checked retroanaconda but his workshop manual only has the LT85/230 setup.. no r380) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bodumatau Posted February 14, 2015 Author Share Posted February 14, 2015 pulled out the floor trays and loosened all the tunnel screws, in preparation for next Thursday when I have booked a friends workshop with a hoist and some space, don't fancy changing the gearbox on my garage floor at -3 degrees... got the rear propshaft off (put a new rear diff and sideshafts in so this was part of the job), all the bits I need (i hope) loaded up in the back of the land rover ready for the swap... found out that Ashcroft rebuilt gearboxes come with drain plugs with magnets in them, both the R380 and the trf case had nice magnets on their Adrian bolts, BONUS, Ashcroft is a bit silly not to mention extra bonuses like this.... I like it when people think of little details...... one more question I have for those in the know, if you look at the transfer case where the gearbox bolts on the bottom left hole which joins it to the gearbox is open into the casing and will leak if the bolt going into it isn't sealed in some way, do I just smear the bolt with some silicon when turning it in? or is there a gasket (can't see one at the join between my LT77 and LT230). see my finger pointing at the hole I mean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete3000 Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 I used an high temp black rtv to make a gasket of sorts, any bolts got a circle of rtv. When I did mine i used an trolley jack with a bolt on cradle and an engine crane, I was able to remove the two front doors and the cover on tunnels floor etc as you have. Then a combination of a couple of sturdy chunks of 4x3 and some of the ratchet straps you get for HGV load lashing to support the weight when the crane was repositioned. These were handy a few times during the process when there was not any handbrake essentially and I needed to control the movement of the 110 to an inch or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bodumatau Posted February 20, 2015 Author Share Posted February 20, 2015 so it is done!! out went the LT77/LT230 combo and in went the R380/LT230 combo. went relatively smoothly, few little hitches, my seatbox and tunnel fitted fine, no need to change anything, - Ashcroft kindly supplied me the R380->LT230 levers (low range and diff lock) and this required minimal adjustment for them to work. - Bottom Bell housing cover doesn't fit 100%, but it didn't before either so I am thinking there is one type of bottom bell house covering for more than one engine/bell housing option. - transfer case was missing two M8 tapped holes to fit my handbrake bracket, this was easily drilled and tapped before the trf case went in. - mountings for the gearbox/trf case bolted straight on. - reverse light switch is a different thread so need to source a new reverse light switch - breathers bolted straight on, same thread for the LT77 and R380 certainly a lot less clunky than my old LT77... lets see how she runs when I get a chance to go for a proper run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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