Mk1 Freelander mods... who does what?

Hey all! New to the forum, and will no doubt have many questions for my oddball project (fitting mk1 freelander running gear into a R45... quite a lot of it is bolt-on parts, only the steering to sort now) but I digress...

How many L series engined Freelanders are modded? I mean beyond just maybe a backbox, air filter, and variable resistor on the pump feedback (I forget the correct name for that mod)


With one of my Hybrids on an L series powered MGZR, it made 180Bhp - a friend made 212Bhp, and my next target is 300Bhp (lots of tasty bits I've designed to achieve this)




So, is there actually a market for people wanting modded mk1 derv freelanders? If so, who currently makes what?



Or... does nobody care for the early ones?

A lot more happens on the rover forums as far as engine modding. A few people on here do though

All I ever hear about is Dark Ice Designs

If so, who currently makes what?

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i got a plan for 125-130 Bhp, but something goes wrong when fit one of major components :suspicious:

Hi Dan. I'm curious, however did you find the space to fit a Freelander rear diff into the chassis of a R45?
As to the Freelander tuning, many Freelanderers tend to be more restrained where power is concerned.
Partly because the Freelander chassis won't handle lots of power, nor will the drive train. The IRD and gearbox splines fail, even with the modest torque the 1.8 produces.

SES88 said:

All I ever hear about is Dark Ice Designs

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A company in the states called Callaway did a supercharged KV6 Freelander some years ago. That's what I would love.

Nodge68 said:

A company in the states called Callaway did a supercharged KV6 Freelander some years ago. That's what I would love.

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That she same Callaway that makes the 'Vettes?

SES88 said:

That she same Callaway that makes the 'Vettes?

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I suspect so, they do a lot of special mods on a variety of different vehicles.

Nodge68 said:

I suspect so, they do a lot of special mods on a variety of different vehicles.

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Busy making a bunch of supercharger cradles to suit the Lexus IS200, they use the Mercedes kompressor 'charger, wonder if it'd work with the KV6

SES88 said:

Busy making a bunch of supercharger cradles to suit the Lexus IS200, they use the Mercedes kompressor 'charger, wonder if it'd work with the KV6

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Now that's an interesting idea
There used to be a KV6 kit but they were big money and not super reliable, well the bottom end wasn't anyway
Basically all that's needed is the charger and a way to mount it!! The rest is messing about with pulley sizes, piping and mapping.

Nodge68 said:

Now that's an interesting idea
There used to be a KV6 kit but they were big money and not super reliable, well the bottom end wasn't anyway

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Yeah the Toyota TTE kits sell for over £2k when they come up for sale second hand, all the parts can be bought off the shelf from Toyota, apart from the cradles, and a full supercharger setup can be had from the Merc for £250 ish....just the cradles that people need

SES88 said:

Yeah the Toyota TTE kits sell for over £2k when they come up for sale second hand, all the parts can be bought off the shelf from Toyota, apart from the cradles, and a full supercharger setup can be had from the Merc for £250 ish....just the cradles that people need

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2K is cheapish compared to what MG sold the ZS/ ZT kit for. From memory it was over 4 Grand!! It did make reasonable power though, but good value it wasn't.
I might look into the Merc compressor as a possibility.

Nodge68 said:

Hi Dan. I'm curious, however did you find the space to fit a Freelander rear diff into the chassis of a R45?
As to the Freelander tuning, many Freelanderers tend to be more restrained where power is concerned.
Partly because the Freelander chassis won't handle lots of power, nor will the drive train. The IRD and gearbox splines fail, even with the modest torque the 1.8 produces.

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Fuel tank will be heavily chopped about, but that's only really to make space for the propshaft. The R45 is very similar to an early Honda civic in terms of floorpan/suspension/everything (even the interior light is identical!). Have a look for 4wd Civics, and it gives a good idea what's needed

The PG1 is amazingly tough - so far coping with 300lb ft on a daily driver, and has been for the past year, with a driver who had his foot surgically replaced with a lump of lead Incorrect, or low oil will do more damage than torque - but I await to be proven wrong! lol


130Bhp should be as simple as fitting SDi injectors, and swapping the turbo "core" to one from a late-spec Rover (25, 45, MGZR, or MGZS). Simply remove the 4 bolts holding the turbine housing to the turbo, remove the housing, and swap over. Up the boost to 19psi, and you're good to go.

Swap the pump head for an 11mm item from an SD or SDi pump, and you could easily see 155Bhp



But.... I've been looking into 300TDi things... lots more scope for tweaks there

I need to see pics.

DastardlyDan said:

Fuel tank will be heavily chopped about, but that's only really to make space for the propshaft. The R45 is very similar to an early Honda civic in terms of floorpan/suspension/everything (even the interior light is identical!). Have a look for 4wd Civics, and it gives a good idea what's needed

The PG1 is amazingly tough - so far coping with 300lb ft on a daily driver, and has been for the past year, with a driver who had his foot surgically replaced with a lump of lead Incorrect, or low oil will do more damage than torque - but I await to be proven wrong! lol


130Bhp should be as simple as fitting SDi injectors, and swapping the turbo "core" to one from a late-spec Rover (25, 45, MGZR, or MGZS). Simply remove the 4 bolts holding the turbine housing to the turbo, remove the housing, and swap over. Up the boost to 19psi, and you're good to go.

Swap the pump head for an 11mm item from an SD or SDi pump, and you could easily see 155Bhp


But.... I've been looking into 300TDi things... lots more scope for tweaks there

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I know lots about the R45 body. I've had ZS180's since they came out.
The R45 body was a licence built Civic anyway. The R45 / ZS suffered the same faults as the Honda such as the windows coming out of the runners.
The PG1 box is pretty tough but the drive shaft splines fail regularly on the Freelander setup.