Thread: Engineering costs in QLD for defender manual to auto change?

Check with local authority.
In SA that would be an owner certified swap and just incur the fees to change the rego records.

Registration cost wouldn't change. There's nothing on Qld registration to say whether a vehicle is auto or manual.
Can't personally see why it would need engineers approval, (no change to power, brakes or chassis), but I would call an engineer to check.
I'd just go ahead and do it, but I'm a crusty old fart!

Hi,
years ago in Sydney we changed out Defender 130 big cab from manual to auto (DPL Conversion) and it does not show on rego so we did not even consider eng approval --hope it is not needed. After all in the UK many Defenders ,particularly 90's are autos.
It is a great conversion, particularly in heavily traffic areas, and for towing, and we have found off road--go for it Alan

Originally Posted by donh54

Registration cost wouldn't change. There's nothing on Qld registration to say whether a vehicle is auto or manual.
Can't personally see why it would need engineers approval, (no change to power, brakes or chassis), but I would call an engineer to check.
I'd just go ahead and do it, but I'm a crusty old fart!

I was under the impression QLD were anal on the blue plate and as such a trans conversion falls under that fettish
I know a mate in Qld had a Fairylane converted from auto to man and he had to have a blue plate
This is as everything that was swapped was from a manual ford so no hacking and welding needed .
The build plate actually shows the car was a auto (Trans) from new

One of the small things that may trip you up is the brake pedal. Many automatic vehicles have a larger brake pedal than the manual version, which may not be possible on a Deafener. Evidence of a production model auto pedal would help establish your conversion as a complete package.

Originally Posted by bee utey

One of the small things that may trip you up is the brake pedal. Many automatic vehicles have a larger brake pedal than the manual version, which may not be possible on a Deafener. Evidence of a production model auto pedal would help establish your conversion as a complete package.

Lots of parts from a D1 are interchangeable with a Deefer. Would only take a quick look at an auto D1 to compare pedal boxes. With luck, it might just need a pedal swap. As Alan said above, there are plenty of auto 90's in the UK.

May be a small cost to update rego with the new engine number (make sure you have clear title to the donor car), but most people involved from the bureaucratic level (and most engineers, for that matter!) wouldn't know the ins and outs of a Deefer if it jumped up and bit them on the whatsit!

Brake pedal plate available from Ashcroft if you don’t want to do your own.
But if you are doing the conversion yourself then fitting the D1 plate to the Defer pedal isn’t going to trip you up.
Mine is a standard defender brake pedal.
The D1 pedal isn’t an option for swap.

Disclaimer - Nothing you ‘hear on the internet’ is true unless you confirm it yourself.

I just spoke with two different service agents at TMR.
One woman and one man.
I asked about the transmission swap.
The woman wasn’t sure and asked a colleague then came back to me and said no notification to TMR required.
The man said; we don’t keep those details on our records. No need to tell us.

Interesting......