Facelifted Facelift

Hey guys,

I finally got round to tarting mine up a bit . I polished the headlights to perfection a week ago but unfortunately they are already covered in salt and crud but still look ok. It's looking much prettier now than when I got it that's for sure! That's about it for the exterior for now, I'm going to work on in dar entertainment and gadgets next. Parrot asteroid and CB radio to start with .

Will.

oooo a looker

like the grey black contrast on the front bumper .. .. and Those Shoes !!!!!

Nice FL

Oh I forgot to mention, I removed all the grills from behind the bumper, cleaned them to spotlessness and then sprayed them silver with alloy repair spray. I think they look great I have to say !

WLJayne said:

Oh I forgot to mention, I removed all the grills from behind the bumper, cleaned them to spotlessness and then sprayed them silver with alloy repair spray. I think they look great I have to say !

Click to expand...

Pic please?

DD3 said:

Pic please?

Click to expand...

Sorry didn't take pics of the process but you can see the silver in the above photo . The light isn't great, granted.

All you have to do it cut off the littl mounting tabs leaving enough to re-seal them when you refit the lower metal grill and the one piece plastic upper grill. You have to clean and key them thoroughly though or the paint won't adhere properly . I like the grill on the FL2 so I thought it would be fun to do the same on mine.

WLJayne said:

Sorry didn't take pics of the process but you can see the silver in the above photo . The light isn't great, granted.

All you have to do it cut off the littl mounting tabs leaving enough to re-seal them when you refit the lower metal grill and the one piece plastic upper grill. You have to clean and key them thoroughly though or the paint won't adhere properly . I like the grill on the FL2 so I thought it would be fun to do the same on mine.

Click to expand...

Meant pic of finished job - should have looked more closely. I like it, very smart.
Chrome spinners next!!!

DD3 said:

Meant pic of finished job - should have looked more closely. I like it, very smart.
Chrome spinners next!!!

Click to expand...

Nah chrome is a bit too on the showy side for me . It is still a Land Rover - I don't want to look like a drug dealer .

waiting in anticipation for the 190bhp version

hd3 said:

waiting in anticipation for the 190bhp version

Click to expand...

Me too. I'm going to enjoy just having a working Freelander for a while though, don't want to rush into an engine transplant! But the more I look into it the more I think it can be done now that the cooling system is adequate . I think I ca even use the same gear ratios as I have larger tyres so no need for the lower ratios given by the L series PG1 box to get all that power down. The factory prototype ZRt used the stock PG1 and that was 160bhp with 220 max torque, so it should be fine.

Looks really nice Will. I like the silver grill :cool2:

Snap

WLJayne said:

Me too. I'm going to enjoy just having a working Freelander for a while though, don't want to rush into an engine transplant! But the more I look into it the more I think it can be done now that the cooling system is adequate . I think I ca even use the same gear ratios as I have larger tyres so no need for the lower ratios given by the L series PG1 box to get all that power down. The factory prototype ZRt used the stock PG1 and that was 160bhp with 220 max torque, so it should be fine.

Click to expand...

The L series final drive is higher than the 1.8 not lower but it will take the torque although it won't mount to the 1.8 engine!!

Are you sure the 1.8 turbos torque is 220 Ftlb ? Or maybe 220Nm?

Hp = torque x rpm / 5252

Diesel Do said:

View attachment 39169
Snap

Click to expand...

Nice looking Flander

Nodge68 said:

The L series final drive is higher than the 1.8 not lower but it will take the torque although it won't mount to the 1.8 engine!!

Are you sure the 1.8 turbos torque is 220 Ftlb ? Or maybe 220Nm?

Hp = torque x rpm / 5252

Click to expand...

Sorry yes 220Nm my mistake. Yes final drive might be an issue, probably stick with the 1.8 box and maybe stick some heavy duty bearings in it.

Oddly, that silver nudge bar on DD's feels more like injected foam and mine is hard plastic. Weird.

WLJayne said:

Sorry yes 220Nm my mistake. Yes final drive might be an issue, probably stick with the 1.8 box and maybe stick some heavy duty bearings in it.

Oddly, that silver nudge bar on DD's feels more like injected foam and mine is hard plastic. Weird.

Click to expand...

You can fit the larger bearings into the low torque PG1 but it will need some machining but it's worth it in the long run. Sadly the standard 1.8 PG1 box will only take about 160 Ftlb of torque which is'nt enough for a standard turbo 1.8 let alone a modded one. It will work long enough to test you have a working car but not for long
Maybe the nudge bars are from different manufacturers? They look good though

Nodge68 said:

You can fit the larger bearings into the low torque PG1 but it will need some machining but it's worth it in the long run. Sadly the standard 1.8 PG1 box will only take about 160 Ftlb of torque which is'nt enough for a standard turbo 1.8 let alone a modded one. It will work long enough to test you have a working car but not for long
Maybe the nudge bars are from different manufacturers? They look good though

Click to expand...

Where did you get the 160 ft lb figure from mate ? Thats about 210 Nm so it's not far off.

What did they use in the 220 Turbo PG1 gearbox's then? The torque that thing put out was pretty gnarly.

WLJayne said:

Where did you get the 160 ft lb figure from mate ? Thats about 210 Nm so it's not far off.

What did they use in the 220 Turbo PG1 gearbox's then? The torque that thing put out was pretty gnarly.

Click to expand...

160 Ftlb came from my own testing some years ago. I found that the mainshaft bearings broke up with my own VVC engine which made 165 Ftlb. Rover rated the low torque box as "suitable" for the VVC 1.8 which has just under 150 Ftlb as standard. The 220 turbo box was what Rover called a high torque box which has larger bearings. This box was used in all the 2.0L turbo cars and the ZS180 but sadly it uses a different bell housing bolt pattern to the K4, although that is of no consequence as it doesn't have the IRD mounting lugs ether. It's correct that the standard box not far short of handling the 165 Ftlb of the 1.8 turbo so might work in the short term. I do think that with the grip available with the 4 wd system on the Flander a week to marginal box would likely let go pretty quickly. Obviously in a fwd car the throttle needs feathering to avoid wheel spin which limits the torque taken by the box

Edit
It's just occurred to me that the IRD reduces the drive so this would reduce the torque seen by the box by the same amount!! You can only try it out

Nodge68 said:

160 Ftlb came from my own testing some years ago. I found that the mainshaft bearings broke up with my own VVC engine which made 165 Ftlb. Rover rated the low torque box as "suitable" for the VVC 1.8 which has just under 150 Ftlb as standard. The 220 turbo box was what Rover called a high torque box which has larger bearings. This box was used in all the 2.0L turbo cars and the ZS180 but sadly it uses a different bell housing bolt pattern to the K4, although that is of no consequence as it doesn't have the IRD mounting lugs ether. It's correct that the standard box not far short of handling the 165 Ftlb of the 1.8 turbo so might work in the short term. I do think that with the grip available with the 4 wd system on the Flander a week to marginal box would likely let go pretty quickly. Obviously in a fwd car the throttle needs feathering to avoid wheel spin which limits the torque taken by the box

Click to expand...

Interesting. I've been reading around and powertrain rated it at about 177ft lb so your figure fits . It is possible to rebuild the K4 box using heavy duty bearing and metal carriers to replace the nylon ones. This should mean it could handle it. However one tuner stated that he had put 312 ft lb's through a 220 box and it had run fine for several thousand miles, but he drove it carefully and didn't ever drop the clutch.

Sp perhaps the standard map and uprated bearings would do just fine - it's still 220Nm's which is very respectable. The guy I'll be having the map from said that he has a 185 BHP map which runs pretty standard peak torque, that might be more suitable .

WLJayne said:

Interesting. I've been reading around and powertrain rated it at about 177ft lb so your figure fits . It is possible to rebuild the K4 box using heavy duty bearing and metal carriers to replace the nylon ones. This should mean it could handle it. However one tuner stated that he had put 312 ft lb's through a 220 box and it had run fine for several thousand miles, but he drove it carefully and didn't ever drop the clutch.

Sp perhaps the standard map and uprated bearings would do just fine - it's still 220Nm's which is very respectable. The guy I'll be having the map from said that he has a 185 BHP map which runs pretty standard peak torque, that might be more suitable .

Click to expand...

Which box was it that Rover rated at 177Ftlb? Where did you find that info?. I do know the standard High Torque box will take 250 Ftlb but you don't need that!! All you need is 170 Ftlb for a small "safety" margin. If you are happy with running a standard 1.8 turbo you might be ok. Like I said the IRD is on your side

Your engine change looks more do-able than my manual gearbox conversion but even that shouldn't be impossible.