series III - with 300tdi's

[ellard]

Hi there

We meet a couple of nice people from Tassy some years ago - on there last visit we made some smart comments about there holden 6's..........fitted to the series III's

Well on there visit yesterday - the sixes are out and both are fitted with 300 TDI engines - they used donor disco vehicles for the transplants, using the 5 speed gear boxes etc retaining the original series III diffs fitted with range rover centers.

Well the gisp of the story - I was given the opertunity to take them both for a drive and was very impressed.

Its not often within a series III when comming to an overtaking lane the traffic speeding up behind bunching up and waiting for the right opertunity - but the little series III was still in front with alot of bewilded people behind (little street sleepers)

They also mentioned throughout there trip from Tassy - they have averages 32 MPG...................wowwwwwww....

PS to Andy and Charlie - see you next time when back in SA...for those whom can rememeber it was Andy trumpet abbilities whom we all heard at Polo Flats....
All the best

Wayne

[Jimmy]

More info more info.....I want to do this transplant when I can afford it.

Also, and excuse my ignorance, but is the 300tdi full-time 4WD? if so what happened in the series3?

jim

[dolphint]

More info more info.....I want to do this transplant when I can afford it.

Also, and excuse my ignorance, but is the 300tdi full-time 4WD? if so what happened in the series3?

jim

Me Too Me too:D:eek::eek::eek: I want to ditch the holden out of my Station Wagon;)

[Pedro_The_Swift]

had to laugh,,

was just nodding off in the camper and lo and behold, a trumpet starts up!!

this should be good I thought--

didnt take long for the loud rebuke to arrive,, which only seemed to stir the trumpet up!!

:Rolling::Rolling:

[Lotz-A-Landies]

More info more info.....I want to do this transplant when I can afford it.

Also, and excuse my ignorance, but is the 300tdi full-time 4WD? if so what happened in the series3?

jim
Me Too Me too:D:eek::eek::eek: I want to ditch the holden out of my Station Wagon;)
Yes the 300Td1 is usually fitted to a R380 5 speed manual with an LT230 transfer and is usually a full time 4WD. Remember the Land Rover Tdi engines are the next generation development of the Land Rover 2 1/4 litre diesels, so fit in basically the same space.

If you are partial to part-time 4WD, there is a retrofit option where you fit the Santana part-time 4WD components into the LT230. There is a mob in South Australia who will supply the parts. Cant remember the name at present but will look it up later if you are interested.

Diana

[Dave_S]

Are these the two Series IIIs that were camped at Polo Flats for the 60th? I didn't get to have a really good look at them, but they both looked very professional and really neat from what I did see.

[p38arover]

They are the ones. Really quite friendly blokes. I was walking past and was dragged into their campsite and had a stout forced into my hand. It was awful(ly good). :D

It was so bad I then had to be polite and look a the cars and the conversions. :D

I pointed out to Andy that his car had a split coolant header tank and suggested he replace it post haste.

They were nice blokes (really!) and the conversions were well done.

[ellard]

Hi there all

As for Andys trumpet abilties - after the Cooma weekend he did say he was seeking surjury to fimd the trumpet from his lower regions........no one has a sense of humor anymore........

I will put up some pictures of there vehciles over the next few days, still going through 100's of pictures.

For those whom want to know more about there vehicles just pm me and I will forward there telephone numbers - is was a well done job but I suspect it wasnt cheap....................what Land Rovers are though.

Most of the work was done buy a friend of these in Tassy - he has also converted a few to coil's...

All the best

Wayne

[Jimmy]

Yes the 300Td1 is usually fitted to a R380 5 speed manual with an LT230 transfer and is usually a full time 4WD. Remember the Land Rover Tdi engines are the next generation development of the Land Rover 2 1/4 litre diesels, so fit in basically the same space.

If you are partial to part-time 4WD, there is a retrofit option where you fit the Santana part-time 4WD components into the LT230. There is a mob in South Australia who will supply the parts. Cant remember the name at present but will look it up later if you are interested.

Diana

Thought I would revive this thread.

If you transfered the 300tdi and gearbox (into a series 3 6cly), could you remove the full-time 4WD component and run manual locking hubs and therefore have a two wheel drive run about?

Maybe since this thread was begun a few more conversions have been completed??

My thoughts are that swaping the 200tdi or 300tdi with gearbox completely over would be the best. Particularly when you are starting with a series 3 186 holden.

cheers
Jim

[medic455]

I found the website of a company in the US that restores series Landrovers, one of the items that they have for sale is an adaptor kit that allows the standard series transfer box to be mated to the R380 gear box......:D It is not cheap but have alook at East Coast Rover Co. (http://www.eastcoastrover.com) it is quite a big site but the item is easy to find

[Jimmy]

I found the website of a company in the US that restores series Landrovers, one of the items that they have for sale is an adaptor kit that allows the standard series transfer box to be mated to the R380 gear box......:D It is not cheap but have alook at East Coast Rover Co. (http://www.eastcoastrover.com) it is quite a big site but the item is easy to find

Thats interesting, but expensive. And also it seems to be only for a 2.25, rather than a 6cly variant.

More research required.

[garryseries3]

I found the website of a company in the US that restores series Landrovers, one of the items that they have for sale is an adaptor kit that allows the standard series transfer box to be mated to the R380 gear box......:D It is not cheap but have alook at East Coast Rover Co. (http://www.eastcoastrover.com) it is quite a big site but the item is easy to find

I am not sure about this but I looked into this type of conversion a while back from what I understood some conversions use a 90" Defender bell housing and input shaft. You end up either putting the motor 4" forward or the box 4" back. Does anyone know about this conversion. Am going to pull the 300 Tdi out of my 130 for a isuzu so it could end up in the shorty. Umm that sounds good and the economy sounds even better.
regards
Garry

[bcr2734]

i have been looking for a detailed retro fit for ages. I want to put it into a SWB.

[ellard]

Hi there

I will get some pictures next Thursday - as the guys form Tassy will be staying overnight at our place.......

Any particular pictures your after.....

Wayne

[chazza]

Pictures would be cool Wayne but just the basic parts list would be handy e.g. does the 300tdi match to a series gearbox?

I have been thinking of converting one of my series 3's to a 200tdi but I suspect the 300 tdi might be more readily available. I was going to use 3.54 diffs but I don't know if Discovery ones will do. I have a Salisbury axle but I am not sure if the diff centre can be bought in 3.54.

So many questions :(

Cheers Charlie

[Lotz-A-Landies]

Thought I would revive this thread.

If you transfered the 300tdi and gearbox (into a series 3 6cly), could you remove the full-time 4WD component and run manual locking hubs and therefore have a two wheel drive run about?

Maybe since this thread was begun a few more conversions have been completed??

My thoughts are that swaping the 200tdi or 300tdi with gearbox completely over would be the best. Particularly when you are starting with a series 3 186 holden.

cheers
JimJim

The easiest way of doing the conversion is to use the complete Disco 5 speed transmission and 1970s/80s Range Rover classic or similar diffs front and rear for a SWB. If you have a LWB SIII then use the rear Salisbury out of a Stage 1 or use the 3.54:1 crown-wheel and pinion (From Stage1/County/Defender) in place of the standard 4.7:1 crown-wheel and pinion.

The big problem that you have is that the front swivels have spicer joints and not CVs. Spricer joints don't like constant 4WD.

There are two solutions. Either you use CVs out of a Stage 1 (Stage 1 front end) or you fit the Santana selectable 4WD gear set inside the LT230. (No constant 4WD though.)

All very simple, sort of. You would be best to have the entire Disco which will donor the bits you didn't think of when you bought the engine and transmission assemblies.

The last issue you may want to consider is the LT230 ratio, the Disco Hi ratio is slightly taller than the Defender/County version because of the smaller diameter tyres on the Disco. Try it and if it's a problem then change the gear-set in the LT230.

Diana

[draper110]

Haha good read......
I had the pleasure of camping next to the tassie fellas at Cooma it was great.
And the trumpet....yea that was fun.
as for a 300tdi in a 88, i had a drive and was blown away.
But they still have series3 steering & brakes.
i still want one thou,

[Grover-98]

Well for the brake issue mentioned below, why not use a 300TDi Discovery put a series body on the chaasie. Chop the chassie move the tank foward. Like people have done with Range Rovers.

This way you would get the series land rover image with the comfort of coil springs the 300TDi and better gearbox and decent brakes :)

[Lotz-A-Landies]

Well for the brake issue mentioned below, why not use a 300TDi Discovery put a series body on the chaasie. Chop the chassie move the tank foward. Like people have done with Range Rovers.

This way you would get the series land rover image with the comfort of coil springs the 300TDi and better gearbox and decent brakes :)If he wanted the comfort of a coils then he'd have a Defender or County. :wasntme:

As for the braking issue. (My understanding is that) the 300Tdi is a 2.5 litre engine, based on the 2.28/2.5 litre engine of the series Landies. The SIII Stage 1 was fitted with a 3.9 litre Isuzu on what are effectively are the 6cyl Series brakes with the late series 3 dual circuit master cylinder.

So as far as the legalities go the combination should be acceptable as there were production vehicles with the same brakes and larger capacity engines.

However if you are concerned about stopping, you can tune up the braking on the Land Rover by using the master cylinder and Vacuum booster off a drum brake LC Torana (the same as the drum brake Ford F100 with the 351 CID V8 which had narrower brake shoes).

Personally I like the look of the Series 3 over the County Defender.

Diana

[chazza]

In my case I have a S3 LWB with no engine. It struck me that I could make a cheap ute out of it and it seems a really good idea to fit a Rover diesel at the same time.

I agree with Diana, if the brakes are in good order they will cope with the job.

[HBWC]

you can use the series 4 speed if you want
this link may help with the 200tdi

"200Di" diesel conversion for Series Land Rovers - by Glencoyne Engineering (http://www.glencoyne.co.uk/200di2.htm)

[Lotz-A-Landies]

In my case I have a S3 LWB with no engine. It struck me that I could make a cheap ute out of it and it seems a really good idea to fit a Rover diesel at the same time. ...Series 1 Discos to wreck out are as cheap as chips these days and using the 5 speed disco gearbox will overcome the problems of the Farey overdrive to compensate.

Even the ratios may not be such of a problem. I did the calculation on changing the 1.53:1 helical transfer box in an F/C for a regular 1.2:1 series T/F and the numbers came out the same as swapping the 4.7:1 diffs for 1.354:1 diffs. With 7.50/16 tyres and the 1.222:1 disco transfer in a SIII with 4.7:1 diffs will give you a diesel with plenty of pulling power and a .75 overdrive for reasonable highway speeds. (Remember the County T/f is 1.41:1 on 7.50/16 tyres)

Diana

[chazza]

Thanks Diana :D Precisely the sort of information which is invaluable.

All I have to do now is find a Disco, which doesn't seem so easy in WA :(

Cheers Charlie

[TJWA]

I bought a 1993 Disco with a 200TDI for $3500 in Mandurah. I was looking for 1 week, so they are around. I had spent the previous 3 weeks looking for just the 200tdi and had a lot less success. The best quote I had was more than I paid for the whole Disco!

I'm currently rebuilding a S3 88''. http://www.aulro.com/afvb/series-3/78110-series-3-rebuild.html

I'm fitting it with the 200TDI and the 10 spline 3.54 diffs out of the Disco. The 200tdi will bolt onto the S3 4 speed box. The 300tdi will not. The 200tdi has the same power and torque with slighty better fuel economy. I have read that the Disco 5 speed box is longer, needs the mounts moved and the gearstick ends up behind your elbow unless you move the engine forward, which means moving the radiator support forward as well and fitting a Stage 1 bonnet. offroaders rantpage and landrover site (http://www.orrp.com/smf/index.php'topic=22888.0)

With the S3 transfer case ratio of 1.15:1 (unless it's the 1-ton 1.53:1), 3.54 diffs, in forth gear on 7.5 tyres at 100kph I should be sitting on less than 2700rpm. The Disco gearbox, transfer case ratio of 1.22:1,and 3.54 diffs in fith gear would have the engine at 2500rpm at 100kph. That means going to a lot more effort putting in the Disco box, transfer case and modding your front axle to handle full time 4wd will only benefit you 200rpm at 100kph.

Land Rover gear ratios (http://www.expeditionlandrover.info/gear_ratio.htm)

Transfer Case Conversion (http://users.mrbean.net.au/~rover/high.htm)

Hope this helps chazza. :D It's certainly been wrecking my brain the last couple of months! The conclusion is that fitting a 300tdi into a S3 is certainly not for the faint hearted, while fitting the 200tdi is relatively easy.

[chazza]

Top info TJ :D

Cheers Charlie

[Lotz-A-Landies]

Chazza

If you want to go the whole hog with the conversion and not worry about the spicer joints in the front axle flogging out, then you need a 3 way merge.

The Disco Tdi and use Stage 1 running gear - same 3.54:1 ratio as the Disco and same springs and track as the Series 3.

Diana

P.S. there are a lot of people who worry about Series 3 1 ton box ratios in Australia. You have more chance of winning the Lottery than of finding an S3 1 ton in Australia. There may have been two, a prototype that arrived as a private import and possibly one trialled by the Army.

[chazza]

Perhaps the easiest thing for me to do (and possibly the cheapest) is to fit a 200tdi to the S3 box and change the diff centres to 3.54 Disco ones. The rest of the car can remain unchanged.

The rationale behind all this, is that I have two engine-less S3, 2 door LWB utes - one of which I would like to register as a tray top ute - because Defender utes are ridiculously expensive in WA, even if you can find one to buy. There is a distinct possibility I could have a sound, registered ute on the road for around about $5000, which is $13 000 less than the last Defender I saw advertised, which had 190 000km on the clock and probably needed several thousand spent on it :(

Thanks for all of the advice so far :D

Cheers Charlie

[boot]

i dont know if ya can do this but look at my other posts. if you are doing a long wheel base you need a pair of defender manifolds as disco turbo will hit the chassis.

but i have listed all the things you have to do to do a series 3 swb even keeping you grill in std position.

its cost me around $4000nzd worth of parts so far but it is a good nice driving vehicle now. and cheap to run.
you defenitly need to do the bell housing engineering to have a non leaky motor