Holden V8 in Series 3

[chrisso]

just been checking out all the threads in here for anything close to what I've got, or think I've got.
Evidently the Holden V8 is mated to a Nissan 5 speed 4wd gearbox, and has Jeep front and rear diff/axle housings.
Havent a clue what models the driveline came out of....and cant seem to find this combo online anywhere either.

[NiteMare]

post up some pictures (and numbers if possible) then if you're lucky you might have someone respond with the information you require

unfortunately i know absolutely zip about nissan or jeep so i'm no help

[101RRS]

A mod that was used a bit was a holden 253V8 to a Nissan Cabstar 5 speed gearbox with an adaptor to fit the series 3 transfer case on the back of it.

[chrisso]

Thanks, I'll have a crawl around under it tomoz.
Got engine running sweet, and painted.
New clutch master gave me a good pedal but clutch won't disengage....
Think I need to start it in gear and hit brake as I hit the clutch to try to shock it free

[goingbush]

40 years ago I shared a house with a bloke that had a 253 in a SWB 2A with 5 speed Nissan Caball gearbox adapted to Series TC .
Had Rover axles and Hilux disc brakes grafted . Way ahead if its time .

[chrisso]

Started in gear and hit brakes and clutch at same time as pumping clutch and almost hit an industrial bin!
Restarted in first and repeated action...this time it freed up and now the clutch works
I can drive it forwards and back and get it into my workshop for further repairs.
Mixed up some yellow blue and a dash of red oxide and s splash of black and a good dollop of flattening base.. made a nice Olive Drab.
Sprayed the whole thing yesterday and last night.
Now it's the next day I'm gonna go out and see what it looks like and gravity bleed the brakes.
Well change the fluid actually.

[mick88]

Mark's 4WD Adapters in Melbourne used to do a lot of Nissan Cabstar four and five speed gearbox conversions for Series Land Rovers back in the day.
The Nissan box was coupled to the Land Rover transfer case and if you looked in the vehicle you would not know it had a gearbox conversion, as it still had the red and yellow sticks in right place with a slightly different gearstick. They had various bell housings available to couple the turn out to different engines like a Nissan Diesel, Holden Six, Holden V8, etc. They are a good strong box and have a very low first gear and their are a couple of different variants available with a different ratios in third gear, so some that have a lower third have a big jump into fourth as they drop the revs by almost half. The Cabstar was a light truck, but i am pretty sure the same box was used in the 720 series four wheel drives, so this probably explains the variations in gear ratios.
I have one in a swb 2A and they are nice to drive, certainly take a lot of the drivetrain rattle/noise out of a series.
They run a standard Nissan slave cylinder which is 3/4" (19 mm) bore, but if you find the clutch a bit harsh you can buy a VL Commodore (that had the Nissan RB30 engine) slave cylinder which is 7/8" (22 mm) bore and it will bolt straight up. This will slow the clutch movement down and give you a better hydraulic advantage, so much nicer to drive. A standard series land rover clutch system is 3/4" master cylinder over a 7/8" slave cylinder, so it will be the same as that.
I don't think Marks do any series conversions now and you probably be lucky to find anyone there now who remembers any of the series conversion specs/details etc.
Below is a pic of mine inside the cab.

Marks 4WD - Engine conversion, transmission conversion, low range gears, rock crawling gears and portal axles (https://www.marks4wd.com/)


Cheers, Mick.