Thread: The marriage of a 4bd1 into a disco 1

Mate this is the way I would go, link
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/isuzu-land...box-lt230.html
an awful lot of serious information in there, hope that it is of some help, cheers Dennis

R380's probably the most durable of the Land Rover 5 speed boxes behind the 4BD1 / 4BD1T. Ideally, you'd want one made after 1997 (i.e. either 'K' or 'L' suffix), as they're stronger than the 'J' suffix one.

Unfortunately, there is no 'OEM' R380 to 4BD1 bellhousing, but an OEM LT85 housing can be redrilled to fit with relative ease. LT85 housings are very rare, but someone using an Isuzu box with the_grubb's kit in their 110 may have one lying around (if you're lucky).

As for longevity, it should last 200 to 300k if you don't labour it at low revs under load (< 1500 RPM say). Possibly longer if you look after it.

Should mention this guy has a Td04hl-19t which can do all a 4BD1T ever needs.

Use the Isuzu box if you can... It was designed to be behind that engine... There are some pics on my thread 'ZF5-42 to LT230' in Projects and Tutorials of an Isuzu to LT230 conversion that came up in the conversion. Very clear pictures too. The guy who posted them (name escapes me) would have some good pointers for you.. Cheers. Simon.

The only Isuzu MSA gearboxes in the US though aren't overdrive. 5th is 1:1. Which with a 1.2:1 transfer would suck a little much.

1.192:1 or 1.003:1 would gear it up tho....

Thanks for the input all.

It seems the more i get into this rover, the more up in the air I become.

I learned quite alot about changing every facet of a vehicle when I put my 4bd1t and GM trans into a unibody jeep.

In looking at oem rover 5 speeds, I stumbled on a guy in the UK who breaks apart land rovers. He is willing to send me a complete 300td1/R380 with all the parts neccessary for a bolt in factory diesel conversion. And for a extremely good price.

Im back to the drawing board, perhaps I should just use oem parts. The simplicity sure does seem appealing. At the end of the day, All that matters to me is good mpg, reliability, and adequate power to push a 6500# rover run down the road.

Looks like Ive yet another option to research!

The R380 is a toy transmission. You can break a suffix K or L behind a standard asthmatic V8...

Try an MSA 5 (Dougal says yours are not an overdrive?) and a 1.003:1 high range LT230 , guard Flares, a Body lift and 33" tyres. (The D1 with a decent body lift and suspension mods can take 35" tyres, too).

Most of your torque can be around 2000rpm with that TD04 if I am correct, so around 55 to 60mph is right in that nice torque band with 33" tyres,

D1 is heavier than a monocoque J**P, but the mighty 4BD1 doesn't care.


What diffs are you using? Dana? what Ratios? 3.07, 3.54, 3.73 etc?

JC