300TDi Auto Conversion

Been planning to do an Auto Conversion on my 300TDi 90 for a while now.
I have done all the usual searches but most information refers to using recycled Disco parts and as I intended using an Ashcroft purpose made kit (recon'd box and everything else brand-new) information has been a bit thin on the ground. For that reason I will post information & photos as I go should anyone else be thinking of going down this route.
My reason for changing is the I have not liked the R380 from day one. It is a horrible gearbox and all protests were dismissed by the main dealer who said that it would "bed in" (it didn't) and LR were not interested until 20K miles had been covered (with my annual mileage that would have taken about 6-years and the warranty wasn't that long!) so I have stuck with it but recent illness has forced my wife to change to an auto so I thought it gave me an excuse to convert the 90 as well.


Placed the order with Ashcroft's back in Feb but it only became available last week so I popped down and picked it all up today (no point paying for a courier when I am so close). Unfortunately it was (very nicely) secured in a large box mounted on a pallet and as it was not going to fit in the back of my 90 like that we had to open it and load up as separate parts. At least this made it easier for me to unload at home!

The first downside as far as I am concerned is that it comes with no instructions whatsoever! The only guidance is what is on the Ashcroft website FAQ's or by contacting David Ashcroft direct but that said, I have dealt with them before and know that they are more than willing to talk and offer advice.
I see a rapid learning curve ahead as I have no experience of fitting / setting-up an auto!

My vehicle is a 90 soft-top with 2004 300TDi which has covered only 40K miles from new so it is still in the first flush of youth (in fact people often comment on just how sprightly my vehicle is). It runs a 1.2 Disco transfer-box and 265/75x16's and whereas others often comment that they find this set-up too high geared (especially 110's or when towing) it suits me perfectly.
Opinion is split on whether I will find the 1.2 Disco-box too high so I am sticking with it for now and if I decide that the 1.4 would be better I will buy one next year (and go for the ATB diff while I am at it).

Let the conversion commence!

dont want to teach you to suck eggs but ensure t/c sits further in bell housing than drive plate sits back from rear of engine by a 1mm or 2

No worries James, any advice welcome.
Actually this is one of the bits of information I was given by David A, clearly an important point.

My biggest problem at the moment is trying to identify all the components and where they go, I am sure it will become apparent in time but at the moment I have lots of boxes of bits and not a lot of ideas how they fit together. A bit like having an Airfix kit with no instructions, you know the general shape but don't know where everything goes.

After 30-years of LR ownership I never though I would reach this stage (again!).

youve a new bracket to hold hi /lo lever plus linkage for diff lock , oil cooler and hoses ,bracket and kick down assembly for injection pump, presumably drive plate etc is a complete assembly ready to bolt on to crank once spigot bush is removed and flywheel housing swapped for the auto plate, i think youll find most self explanatory once you get started, console is a better idea than alot of conversions you see, i presume it comes with a blank for when clutch pedal box is removed

"i presume it comes with a blank for when clutch pedal box is removed"

Yes, that was one of the few parts that was labelled (typical, even I could work out what it was for)!
That's why I wanted the kit, apart for working with new components (always nicer than s/h ones) there is the real hope that everything needed has been supplied (fingers crossed but I already know that the oil-cooler will require brackets & pipe-supports manufacturing).

The console is quite nice.
I am not a fan of too much plastic in the cab (other than the door-trims it is just bare metal in there) but in this case it seemed to be the neatest solution. I have seen the various takes on the problem of mounting the shifter (some really nice and others not so) and I decided that if I was loosing my cubby-box then I ought to replace it with something that will at least give me a limited amount of storage. Apparently it has to be trimmed to fit the centre-bulkhead and as the lid won't fold back 180degrees I won't be able to make use of the integral cup-holders but hey-ho, worse things happen.

i prefer autos , it will be interesting to see how your build goes plus the results of a few miles

Will find this thread very interesting as the wife can only drive auto's and would love an auto defender. Make sure there are plenty of pics, and a final bill.

I'd love to do this.....I love autos

"Make sure there are plenty of pics, and a final bill."

Certainly intend to take lots of photos, I found relitively little information across the web (specifically about this conversion kit) so hopefully it might help others.

With regards to cost, the kit supplied from Ashcroft is £2,616 inc VAT. Delivery is extra (about £50 I believe) but they are local to me so I picked it up myself. Of course you might be able to recoup some of this cost by selling your old gearbox etc but certainly in my case I am keeping it (along with the security cubby-box, pedal assembly etc) just in case I ever decide to swop back (you never know....).

Very interested to see how you get on!

Something I've talked about doing for years!

Will be following this with interest The only thing I don't really like about the Ashcroft conversion is the huge console to get the gear lever in the right place- seems like you lose a load of storage compared to a proper cubby box. Admittedly, something has to be figured out for the auto shifter but I can't help thinking there must be a better place for it somewhere. A yankee-style column shifter would be the best ergonomically but would no doubt be tricky to actually get working. I'd be tempted to have it mounted at an angle on the lower dash near the steering wheel...

You might want to look at tweaking your motor.

I know you said it ran well... but there is no denying stock Tdi's are not all that spritely, not too mention a 1.2:1 transfer box and tall tyres would have been sapping a lot of acceleration.

Auto Disco Tdi's were complete slugs. The lighter 90 should cope better and they can be made to go quite well.

"The only thing I don't really like about the Ashcroft conversion is the huge console to get the gear lever in the right place- seems like you lose a load of storage compared to a proper cubby box."

You are spot on about the amount of lost storage space (especially in a soft-top like mine where the security cubby was most welcome) but you don't have to fit the NAS style console and if your fabrication skills are good then you can knock something up yourself however I have seen several different DIY versions and only liked about two! The NAS console is a lot of black plastic (which is probably going to look out of place in my otherwise bare cab) but it is a neat solution so I thought I would go with it. Once again, if I find that I really don't like it then I can take it out and make up something myself but I can't really see that happening.

"You might want to look at tweaking your motor.
I know you said it ran well... but there is no denying stock Tdi's are not all that spritely, not too mention a 1.2:1 transfer box and tall tyres would have been sapping a lot of acceleration."

No worries on the engine side, that is already well sorted.
Difficult to make a decision about the gearing hence why I am going to keep the 1.2 for now. No point buying a 1.4 on the assumption that I am not going to like the gearing only to find that it might have worked very well hence why I am willing to try it for a while.
Anyway, more relaxed gearing might slow me down a bit!

Litch said:

You are spot on about the amount of lost storage space (especially in a soft-top like mine where the security cubby was most welcome) but you don't have to fit the NAS style console and if your fabrication skills are good then you can knock something up yourself however I have seen several different DIY versions and only liked about two! The NAS console is a lot of black plastic (which is probably going to look out of place in my otherwise bare cab) but it is a neat solution so I thought I would go with it. Once again, if I find that I really don't like it then I can take it out and make up something myself but I can't really see that happening.

Click to expand...

I reckon the best place ergonomically is on the dash, to the drivers' side of the central oval panel (i.e. in line with the hand brake.) You could come up with a mounting bracket relatively simply that could be covered in the same vinyl material as the rest of the dashboard. You could keep the existing cubby box or middle seat (handy in a soft-top or truck cab, respectively) and the lever would fall nicely to hand. The hardest part would be routing the shift cable, and you probably couldn't use the Discovery shift lever and something smaller would work better.

Or, some American cars had push-button PRND selectors which would be great if you could get them to work. With an electronically-controlled box it would be relatively simple as an aftermarket device.

Thats a very expensive way of doing it , although you have got lots of nice new bits . I was starting without drivetrain so just dropping a complete discovery set up in was the easiest and cheapest , I also retained the fbw edis system , slightly more power . The change lever is mounted on the front righthand corner of the centre seatbase so still have room for a decent size cubby , and two cup holders, transfer box ratio depends on usage really not towing and m/way dual carriageway usage the oe discovery 1.2 , towing etc needs the 1.4 for optimum performance JMHE

After a few busy weekends which unfortunately stopped me making a start on the conversion I finally got some free time and made a start.
Busy day but I am quite happy with how it went.

As it was.
No interior trim or carpets, just a cubby-box and gearlever tray. If it gets mucky then I just wash it out and rinse with a hose, simples!






Empty space between chassis rails.
Clutch pedal has also gone, all that remains is the clutch / flywheel, adaptor ring & starter-motor.

This was the second time I have removed the gearbox & transfer-box as a single unit and I am not certain that I would do it that way again as it is a bit of a lump. Last time was when I had the bulkhead off and I removed the gearbox & transfer-box manually without the use of a jack or crane (NOT to be recommended as they are VERY heavy!). This time I have treated myself to a crane as I have a chassis swop coming up next year so it will get some use (I do everything single handed).




Unit sitting on the floor.
I just have to split the transfer-box from the gearbox and then the gearbox will be put into store along with all the other parts that I will no-longer be requiring.

Owing to the lack of fitting instructions I have been doing as much research as I can over the past few weeks and things seem a bit clearer now.

I am still wondering about mounting the oil-cooler & pipes but can't really sort anything out until the gearbox is in situ.
Standard location is low down in-front of the radiator, my front-panel already has air-holes at the bottom so that is no problem, I just need to make up some brackets (or buy the correct ones).



Pipes are a bit more of an issue.
I asked David Ashcroft why they don't use Disco items (seemed to me to be the logical solution) but he said that they had problems with those (though he can't remember what) and so supply flexible hose instead.
I think I will buy a set of Disco items and see how they go, if they need shortening / lengthening then I will get a hydraulic hose company to do it for me.

Onwards & upwards!

Coming along nicely Looks like that's most of the unbuilding done, now you can get to bolting things together instead of taking bits off

Very interesting, I am toying with sticking an auto box in my 200tdi

Great to see you doing this, and documenting it on here. Thanks for sharing

(There were two problems for me in a defender - firstly the manual box, and secondly the lack of seat adjustment. Both of these problems are now entirely solvable, and I am watching this with considerable interest)