Full length r380 conversion help...

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Dr_evil said:
I have a feeling its a V8 looking at the transmission tunnel, engine will have been moved all the way forward to help it and the seats have been moved back too
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yeah it looks different.

so, iirc the r380 disco and fender ones are same length. the disco one attached to the 300tdi has the gear lever come up at the front of the seatbox.

but i just realised you said 200tdi. the 300 sits more forward than the 200, so would the gearsticks be even further back?

also i think the props won't be standard parts anymore

someone must have tried this before to check
 
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Transmission tunnel is definitely more of a V8 shape, LT85 would be 5 speed so I reckon its that

The Disco R380 and late Defender R380 are the same length but different positions

200tdi sits further back than the 300 IIRC and yes you can buy or convert long to stumpy, I made one earlier this year and sold it off
 
As quoted by the pic owner,don't know which Disco box he made mention of, since he posted in the lr77 to R380 I would hope its an R380 swap.

"Is this thread destined to become one of the many I have trawled in the past looking for answers to this question, where a few people say how easy it is to do, a few others state it is a pig of a job, someone gives a few vague references on what is involved. and in the end no-one actually sets out just how to do it?

I gave up trying to get a definitive answer in the end and just fitted a disco box to my 110. My thinking was that they are cheap and plentiful compared to defender R380s, my seat box was FUBARed, and I wanted to fit a flat floor in the cab anyway so a reworking of the tunnel wasn't really an issue. I am more than happy with the results though it was a fair bit of work to get it looking halfways decent."
 
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rtc6826 is diaphragm for v8 and 300 tdi it has wider hole than lt77 diaphragm ,it is the best 300 tdi conversion if not the least work as all parts are std lr and not modified ,,if you use disco cross member you do need to cut out a bit to fit around seat box chassis support
 
that diaphragm is wider so as to accommodate transmission fitting further forward as for std 300 or v8 ,though would fit any age bulkhead,
 
jamesmartin said:
that diaphragm is wider so as to accommodate transmission fitting further forward as for std 300 or v8 ,though would fit any age bulkhead,
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Oh Ok. Thanks for the info and fast reply. I think I will have to build a 300 and place it on stand by.

Many people like the 200tdi which I have, easier to squeeze some more hp out of but parts here are more expensive than the 300 and few left. In this case more difficult to do a gearbox swap it seems.

Thanks again James.
 
lr used to supply a kit to fit 300 tdi and r380 transmission into 200 tdi and earlier trucks, so as engine etc was in same position as std 300tdi , the short bell housing r380 was made by lr as a replacement for the defender short lt77 so as no mods were needed
 
jamesmartin said:
lr used to supply a kit to fit 300 tdi and r380 transmission into 200 tdi and earlier trucks, so as engine etc was in same position as std 300tdi , the short bell housing r380 was made by lr as a replacement for the defender short lt77 so as no mods were needed
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You are right James and I think this is the kit that Ashcroft now makes since it seems like LR no longer produces them.

Ashcroft Transmissions

What I am not sure about, is the shorty bell housing made just to have the gear stick lever and gearbox mounting bolts fall in place. I wonder what the pilot shaft length plays in the who conversion equation......for the 200tdi LT77 swap.


.
 
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basically lt77 and r380 main cases are the same ,but because reverse is in front of 5th gear in the extension case and not inside main case like lt77 ,r380 has longer extension case so to make both boxes the same length r380 had shorter pinion and bell housing fitted than its lt77 counterpart, the gear stick fits on all defender lt77s and r380s in the same place in relation to rear of gear box ,so a 200 tdi with lt 77 will sit 50mm ish further back than std 300 or v8
 
So James, in other words, I can mate the 200 to the R380 with the only issue being the positioning of the gear stick and gearbox being 50 mil off with reference to the chassis and body?

Don't want to hi jack this guys thread but since we are on swaps and I been posting info on both the 300 and the 200...I hope not. :D
 
if you fit short r380 then fits as original lt77, if you fit a 300 tdi long r380 (same length as disco r380 but on disco gear lever fits at rear of box not forward as def)then you can can fit box in either 300 tdi further forward position or leave as is, though since lr made 300tdi with engine forward thats the best when fitting a 300 as all parts are then 300 standard ,(if you want a exhaust down pipe it will be a std 300 down pipe etc, gear stick will be as is for r380 tunnel etc ),but since 200 never sat at front of engine bay its going to need mods anyway so best leave the mods to engine rather than seat box ,tunnel floor plates ,props etc as well (both r380 and lt77 will have gear stick in correct place if using 200 tdi tunnel and box position ), if you fit disco box then gear stick positioning will be wrong anyhow but just 50mm ish further into seat box with 200 tdi transmission position than 300 tdi postion ,hope that helps
 
Wow thanks James, you seem to have a trillion billion Tera byte accessory hard drive in your brain with all that info and knowledge :D I know it comes with all the experience from what you have been doing.

I will grab the disco R380 since that's all that's around here. I will post pics and definitely document the process with pics when done.

Thanks so much for the priceless information and for sharing.
 
thanks ,you can convert disco box and fit lt77 def top either with an adapter fitted to disco selector shaft or swapping disco selector shaft and yoke for def selector shaft and quadrant, you just remove rev plunger from def lt77 top and cover hole:)
 
jamesmartin said:
thanks ,you can convert disco box and fit lt77 def top either with an adapter fitted to disco selector shaft or swapping disco selector shaft and yoke for def selector shaft and quadrant, you just remove rev plunger from def lt77 top and cover hole:)
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Sounds great James. I will take the gearbox out of the scrapped Disco and take a good look to familiarize myself with it and it's components.

I will also like to swap the suspension rear end of the disco with that of my defender to convert to disc brakes.

Your input and advice is very much appreciated.
 
id fit both axles ,front would need disco radius arms too,def calipers will fit disco front axle, the rear just bolts on a frames are the same as are trailing arms ,just need to make up new brake pipes to calipers
 
jamesmartin said:
id fit both axles ,front would need disco radius arms too,def calipers will fit disco front axle, the rear just bolts on a frames are the same as are trailing arms ,just need to make up new brake pipes to calipers
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Sounds cool, will have to see if the front axles are on the Def. I can make the brake lines, I might have shipped my flaring tool here. Will prepare everything on the ground first, might do wheel bearings and definitely new brakes.

Thanks again.
 
Don't worry about hijacking, james is a wealth of knowledge that we can all use!

The box I've got is a disco box but I'm converting top housing and dropping it onto r380 cross member so it should all fit as per factory spec. I hope!!

James, what's the difference in handbrake mechanisms I've been reading about? I'm currently running a disco transfer box but she's a bit long in the leg so I'm planning on coupling a defender 1.4 ratio to it before it all goes back in? Also, slightly off topic, but am I right in thinking the main fuel screw at the rear of the pump is the one to help out at dual carriage way speeds? I seem to be running full boost and nearly foot to floor to maintain 65 ish? I rebuilt engine last year so I know there's no boost leaks etc, but I know the pumps been messed with by the previous owner. Itl do 70 with the disco transfer box but seems to require a lot of pedal to hold it there. (265/75/16 bfg muds)
 
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