Thread: Series 3 Coil Spring Conversion???

Shortening the chassis and doing a body swap is probably technically simplest. My best advice would be to consult an engineer first if you ever want to register it.

Incidentally, LT95 transmissions in SWB series Rovers won't allow much rear axle travel due to the very short rear propshaft you will end up with.

Edit: Just saw your location, not sure about engineering requirements over there.

So is there a better option of Transmission for SWB and V8??

Try finding a forward control bellhousing,thier shorter. Pat

I have read of swb with the V8 mated to the original driveline. OK with a salisbury rear axle (still have propshaft length issues) but you have to be a bit gentle with it.

I've played around with this type of thing. What I found, is that if you run the V8 behind the original facia, then your rear propshaft will end up being about 30cm long which is not real flash. The front shaft will end up being the same as that used in a Discovery rear. I guess really to solve this you may want to run the engine forward in the same position used in the Stage 1's but this will also mean that you cant run the same Series 3 front panelwork.



Converting axles from coils to leaves can be a no brainer as its a matter of cutting all of the brackets off and grinding them flush, the welding on prefabed leaf perches..... but check the widths of each perch! The complication with this when using RRC axles from what I understand, is that the steering linkages for the front interfer with the leaves. I have done a spring over setup with Hilux axles which was ok to do but gives a lot of ride height and presents a centred rear diff. Landcruiser axles sprung under which was an absolute no brainer and is a really good setup. These axles are strong..... but not LandRover

Hilux SOA




Before I got to drive this one I stripped and binned it because I felt a few things were not satisfactory with it. It also had the Rover V8 behind the factory facia.

Here is another which was done SUA using LandCruiser 60 series axles. This I do think is an excellent setup. The front axle just bolted in. The rear axle needed new spring perches. I run an LC60 PAS box and complete brakes. Despite how Im setup, I believe that with LC split rims, the tyres will remain under the guards, but the track will be wide.



For coil conversions... I never did the front as it was a bit more complex, though I did play around with a rear. I used the leaf mounts as a point to pick up the lower links and fabricated these using Nissan Patrol lower bushes between the leaf mount and perches which I bought, modified and welded to the axle. The upper was an A-frame which came off a new Xmember and down to a Defender Salisbury mount plate which sat on a fabricated riser which was welded to the axle. When I did this, I also pushed it out to a 100@ wheel base and then used a Hilux front DC propshaft as a rear shaft.








All of my pics are at www.slunnie.com and in the Gallery under Technical.

Thanks for all the info Slunnie!!! Hmmmm I am totally un-decided on what to do now, half ideas of just putting a Falcon engine back in(see my gearbox I.D. thread ) but not sure on the rest of the series running gear taking it.

I think I will strip body off chassis and start restore and try and work on a chassis plan.

Thanks for all the info Slunnie!!!

I am unsure what to do now, I can just throw another Falcon engine back in but unsure how well the rest of the running gear will handle it, or if my gearbox is in fact a Toyota of some sort(see here) a 1UZ-fe would maybe be on the cards, but again it's the rest of the running gear scenario......

It sounds like you're really chasing power and a V8

I'd definately look to change the axles out from the stockers to something else then. Even Rover axles will be fine, but if you go the Rover route then look for 24 spline stuff.

The 1UZ-FE is becoming a really popular conversion here - although I haven't heard of any being put into Rovers. They're meant to be a really good motor. You'd need to check, though I was under the impression that these were compatible with Hilux gearboxs, or the transmission that comes with it can be adapted to suit a hilux transfer. I'm not sure about strength with the Hilux gear, though I'd assume if you're not beating it up in the bush it'd be ok. This output on the transfer then affects your axle options to keep the propshafts and their angles appropriate.

If you're after a V8 conversion, then I wouldn't let it be dictated by the gearbox which is in it. There may be better options, and there are gearboxs everywhere. Then again, I may be in the non-purist minority.

I think that a 1UZ-FE into a shorty soft top with Hilux axles would be a hell of a lot of fun to burn around in. If you ran 31x10.5 or whatever on Landcruiser offset 15x8's you could also probably just cover the wheels with Defender flares. Hmmmm. I wanna build that now!!!