Freelander 1 Auto 1.8

Had a chat with Philip, PSCAN. He and subsequently I, wondered if there was an easy route to the above ?

Anyone know if the V6 Jatco could mate to the 1.8K ??
Any other genius ideas ?

Thanks.

andyfreelandy said:

Anyone know if the V6 Jatco could mate to the 1.8K ??
Any other genius ideas ?

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Anything is possible Andy.
The bell housings are different, but an adapter plate could be used. The flex plate is easily drilled to fit a different crank.
It wouldn't be easy, but probably doable. The TCM would need to communicate with the ECM, which might be an issue.
I don't know how good the 1.8 would be at propelling the vehicle down the road with just 118 ftlb of torque to play with.

The MG ZS180 had the V6 mated to a PG1 gearbox. Doesn't that imply that the bolt pattern of the V6 and 1.8 K series is the same? Concerning lack of power, we are in London so the car would rarely need to go over 30mph (hence why we need a ULEZ compliant auto). If it really is too slow then a turbo conversion is always a possibility.

pscan.eu said:

The MG ZS180 had the V6 mated to a PG1 gearbox. Doesn't that imply that the bolt pattern of the V6 and 1.8 K series is the same?

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No.
The bell pattern is definitely different, the bell housing side of the PG1 box was matched to the relevant engine, along with different gear ratios and stronger bearings for the KV6 were also used.

What about a Rover 75 1.8T auto fitted as 2WD ?

andyfreelandy said:

What about a Rover 75 1.8T auto fitted as 2WD ?

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Admittedly, if you could mechnically and electronically mate the existing Freelander/Rover bits together, it would probably be cheaper. But the further you get away from 'standard' Freelander components, you may as well throw the whole engine/transmission away and go with something completely different - such as the EV conversion threads, it may end up being easier.

People elsewhere are saying the same i.e. that no Freelander Jatco will mate to a 1.8K. In terms of performance I can't see it being too much worse than a 75 1.8 auto, so no ball of fire but perfectly driveable, especially round town where we are.
I think that the electronics would work, at least looking at the diagnostics data the Jatco ECU doesn't know about road speed, only input and output speeds, so as long as it gets things like engine speed and throttle position off of the MEMS3 ECU, which it would if converted to Rover 75 MEMS3 then hopefully it would be happy.
So I think it comes down to whether an adapter plate could be made and whether there's room for it, or maybe if some kind of mashup could be made using bits of Jatco casing from a 1.8 75 joined to bits of casing from a V6.

andyfreelandy said:

What about a Rover 75 1.8T auto fitted as 2WD ?

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The 1.8 75 auto is a Jatco IIRC, so will fit a 1.8k series Freelander engine. However it would only be a FWD Freelander, as the gearbox bell side casing doesn't have the castings or drillings to mount the IRD.

ahh. So although the IRD is driven by the output of the gearbox, it is also bolted the bell housing end?
so an adapter plate would be the only way, or go to 2WD and get custom drive shafts.

Facebook folks are telling me that the V6 shares bolt pattern with the T Series.

pscan.eu said:

Facebook folks are telling me that the V6 shares bolt pattern with the T Series.

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It's similar, but not identical as the starter is in a different location between the KV6 and T series.

pscan.eu said:

ahh. So although the IRD is driven by the output of the gearbox, it is also bolted the bell housing end?
so an adapter plate would be the only way, or go to 2WD and get custom drive shafts.

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Yes the IRD is driven off a dummy final drive via a hollow splined tube, the front diff being located in the IRD, along with a take off for the rear.

You may only need 1 custom drive shaft for the RH side, as the LH side could be in much the same location.

I have a TD4 manual transmission sitting in the garden which I just had a look at.
The bit that actually bolts to the engine is over an inch thick but with most of it being air space; what I mean is that the actual strength of the thing is a fair bit back from the engine.
I don't know if the V6 auto is the same, but, I think that one make an adapter plate out of 10mm steel plate and just cut away 10mm of the bell housing, and that would be the bit that's mostly empty space. I don't think it would weaken it at all.
An adapter plate is just a hunk of metal with holes drilled and threads tapped in the right places, which is well within my skills I think.
To me the hard part of mounting transmissions onto engines for which they weren't intended is getting flywheels, clutches or torque converters matched up, but by using Rover 75 1.8 auto parts I think that all those problems go way.

If anyone comes across a nice facelift, five door 1.8 with a high trim level (I'd like A/C and leather really) maybe let me know. One with a blown up transmission would be perfect....

Rover 75 1.8T auto on Facebook for £1k

Most 1.8 seem to be a more basic trim level. Presumably I can add heated screen, reversing sensors, heated seats etc from bits from crashed cars?
Our TD4 didn't have a heated screen and it was pretty easy to retrofit.
Luckily they all seem to have air conditioning.

pscan.eu said:

Most 1.8 seem to be a more basic trim level. Presumably I can add heated screen, reversing sensors, heated seats etc from bits from crashed cars?
Our TD4 didn't have a heated screen and it was pretty easy to retrofit.
Luckily they all seem to have air conditioning.

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Most interior stuff can be retrofitted easy enough, so having heated leather seats isn't that hard to achieve.

A heated front screen could be retrofitted too, if you don't mind spending on the screen itself. Incidentally only the TD4 and KV6 were ever available with the heated screen, it wasn't an option on the 1.8. I suspect this is due to the higher output alternator required for the screen, which the 1.8 didn't have.
I don't see this being an issue though, as the screen times out after just a few minutes, so the electrical system should handle the additional load ok.
You might have to play with the software on the CCU however, as it needs to be told the HFS is fitted, as it's all under CCU control.

Nodge68 said:

Most interior stuff can be retrofitted easy enough, so having heated leather seats isn't that hard to achieve.

A heated front screen could be retrofitted too, if you don't mind spending on the screen itself. Incidentally only the TD4 and KV6 were ever available with the heated screen, it wasn't an option on the 1.8. I suspect this is due to the higher output alternator required for the screen, which the 1.8 didn't have.
I don't see this being an issue though, as the screen times out after just a few minutes, so the electrical system should handle the additional load ok.
You might have to play with the software on the CCU however, as it needs to be told the HFS is fitted, as it's all under CCU control.

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I didn't know that.
My mate who's a professional mechanic is telling me to just get the highest spec one I can and just spend the money. He's saying that adding stuff is expensive and a hassle and it's just better to spend a few hundred quid more to get the best one in the first place. I think he's probably right.

pscan.eu said:

I think he's probably right.

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He is right, but if you want a 1.8 auto, you'll have to create your own. If you want a 1.8 with a HSF, then again you'll have to create your own.

Have you thought about finding a good condition 50th Anniversary edition? These were normally fully loaded, with the exception of the HFS.
You could then add the auto box, HFS and facelift bumpers and lights to make it look more modern, but still keen it's ULEZ exemption.

I found a low mileage HSE. The seller is claiming that it has a heated screen but who knows if he really know what that means. Anyway, a HSE is that highest spec so that that's what I'll go for. I rather just get a facelift one from the get go, i prefer them.

And which way are you thinking of an auto conversion ?

2WD.

V6 Jatco and adaptor plate.

T series and a tweak.

??

If you go Rover 75 donor worth getting a turbo too.