Thread: Disco 2 CDL convertion/retro fit

After coming across awabbit6 (Paul) post on his CDL copy inspired me into converting the factory high/low lever into combination CDL high/low lever.
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/discovery-...tory-copy.html



My first attempt was a hybrid of D1 lever and D2 cable setup. I was lucky that i had a auto and transfer case from a D1 and had all the gear so didnt have to purchase anything with the mod.

I used the transmission mounting frame and CDL lever from the D1 and modified the high/low lever and add a bracket to take the D2 cable for the high/low

A couple of differences between the D1 and D2 were the thickness of the levers and the size of the bushes/pins. the D1 had a lever that was 10mm thick and a bush hole of 10mm, the D2 was only 6mm for both. I attacked the lever with a grinder and got it down to 6mm thick to take the end of the cable and used a 10mm rod with a 6mm hole in the middle for a adapter bush.

I have heard that using the D1 CDL that you get a lot of transmission noise in the cabin, I still cant hear much difference as i still get a lot of road noise and the radio kills a lot of it. Could be cause im only using half of the D1 unit.


After a long hard look at the high/low lever from a D2 trying to work out how the mod it i managed to get hold of a compete CDL lever to compare the two and see what makes them tick (going price from wrecking yards appx $700-800).

So where to start, from this (D2 high/low lever) Pic 1 to this, D2 high/low with a CDL included pic 2


I started by stripping both down to see where, how, what were the differences. first thing that you can see is the block of steel in the middle and the lever on the side.

Pic 3 is a high/low lever stripped.

Both levers are very close in design but have small difference between them, both bushes are the same but the main part of the lever has a about a 3-4mm length change.

First thing that i did was to remove the high/low lever from the center shaft, as the shaft is welded in place i ground the welds off and removed the lever. pic 4

A couple of other steps, removal of the locating pin on the center shaft, machining shaft down and drill a hole through the center of the it to accommodate the CDL pin and lever (pic to come)

One of the things that was troubling me was, do i need to make a new controlling lever from scratch or could i use the one that came out of the high/low. as it turns out only need to modify the old one. pic 5

Top shaft factory, middle high/low removed, bottom some work in the lathe.

Im about 2/3 through construction but it not far off been completed. There are a couple of small parts that need to be made up from scratch but shouldn't take long.

Once i have made the additional parts will post some more pics.


jessie

Originally Posted by OffTrack

The Ashcroft lever has downsides that have been documented in other threads. The current "best of breed" aftermarket is very similar to what Jessie is attempting to do.

www.discovery2.co.uk / D2 CDL levers..... THE BEST!!

I've used both Ashcroft style and currently the modified D2 Cdl. IMHO the Ashcroft levers leave a lot to be desired and the modified factory levers are far better choice.

had a look at the ashcroft cdl, and i think there could be issues with it as the main shaft looks like it have been replaced and not using the factor bushes, but hard to tell by the photos. plus with todays dollar/pound conversions its $400+ before it is posted.

made some head way managed to weld the lever tower on the main shaft, as well as welding on the new tab for the shifting lever. with that and after a bit of assembly to see how things go, i had to machined the bottom of it at 2 degrees to allow for the angle of the lever.

last pic is of it assembled before todays work. had made a lever for the new diff cable but wasnt happy with it (not the one in the photo), alinement was slightly off, and after looking around the workshop found strips of steel that will work nicely. just have to drill a couple of holes for the pins

two things left now to make find. a cable to to activate the center diff and the shifting lever on the diff.