may not be popular... lowering a FL1

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Agree with Hippo when he says the IRD will be too stressed for a permanent RWD setup.

Ever heard of a VCU solidifying causing it to be permanently engaged? When that happens it almost always leads to a rebuild of the IRD.

The project as a whole sounds quite interesting though. The freeby is actually a very good handling vehicle, which would only be better by being lowered I'd assume.

Any more pics of the modified Rover 200? And info?
 
what's 100kg between friends? :lol:

To my knowledge - the IRDs get wrecked, due to the slight gearing difference. So driving a ton and a half ton car at 60mph, with this in mind, the gears won't be happy in the slightest! Those bevel gears appear to be larger than even the FD gears in the PG1, so unless they're made of case-hardened cheese, they should be fine for the minimal abuse they'll get from my driving :)




The 200 was fairly minimal in mechanical specs - lowered 30mm on the front, bullbars on the rear, slightly tweaked pump.

The roof box was an old ammo crate, which housed two air pumps, to power three air horns - separate switch, supplementary to the stock horn. There was also a 130W rearward facing red spotlight, 4 forwards facing driving lights, which came on with full beam only.

Sidepipe was supported on its own subframe, with 1m of perforated tube for "silencing" (I use the term loosely)





 
I think this project looks really interesting and is for me, one of the main reasons for keeping an eye on forums. Whilst I'd never attempt anything like it myself I think you should ignore the naysayers and get cracking. You seem to have a good idea about what's what and obviously taking note of some of the opinions and observations on possible problems that may arise will assist you. I look forward to photos of progress when you do get going. Might be worth upgrading the brakes though even if you don't up the power as they are pretty ****.
 
ah, if the brakes don't inspire confidence for an emergency stop on the motorway from 70mph.... then I may well indeed look into some nice simple upgrades.

Slight change of plans too - the wife is willing to sit in the back for a couple of months ( :lol: ) so it's not such an urgent change. Planning on finishing the twin turbo setup on the R45, then selling up after Pride of Longbridge to get my little Hippo :)




 
holy moly... according to my google-fu, some early Hippos came with solid 262 discs. That's the same as my old Rover 220 - and they were mediocre at best on that!

So looking into disc and caliper upgrades - may end up getting some MGF Trophy calipers, and machining some suitable discs to fit :)

$(KGrHqN,!pMFC4W5OmDnBQ9-6Jlcpg~~60_35.JPG
 
oops... I appear to have bought one of the main parts for the supercharger.





Will be geared up via spur gears, bought from HPC. Ratio will be at 8:1, then attached via the alternator belt pulley at 2.76:1

At 4000rpm, it will be spinning at 88,320rpm.. just in the sweet spot :)


As I'll have to remake the shaft for the alternator vacuum pump, I may as well spec it to take the freewheeling alternator pulley from a vw alternator. So once it's spun up, any rapid deceleration won't suddenly try to stop the 99mm diameter compressor




This, along with a GT1752, should help me in my goal of smashing 250Bhp :)
 
I've got a 2002 td4 and the brakes are ventilated , put new discs and pads and belive me with the abs it stops extremely well

think it was 2002 that the discs were upgraded to vented

plus have u looked on myfreelander . com, as it gives the years things were changed etc
 
Lowering a Freelander by 50mm would be no worse than raising one. You'll still have suspension movement unlike most cars. You won't be fitting larger tyres either so your centre of gravity will be at least 6" lower than mine. As long as it's done safely! I've seen some horror stories with cut springs. An after market coilover kit could be the way to go. At least your springs won't fall out and you can pick any spring rate. 2wd handling isn't great loads of wheel spin and understeer also locks the front wheels easily, so for the power you're talking you really need 4x4, it's not a light weight hatch back. Brakes! Yes it's down to how you drive, I'd swap to the v6 set up at least. I'd be interested in seeing some good info on L series tuning as it's something I'd like to do as well.
 
I've just been looking at this thread - how did I miss such a colourful conversation :) Ah, was on hols.

I'll add my weight into the red corner and say that I think these ideas are bloody stupid, ridiculous and borderline insane - good on ya :) Will be great to see some results.

One thing I'll add is that I already have a system of disabling output from the IRD to the props. However, the outcome of this is that the VCU is permanently engaged as the rear wheels then turn the front prop via the VCU. As its permanently engaged what it does is destroy the VCU rather than elongate its life - mine is now absolutely solid (we can't say its seized!)

Unfortunately my system of disabling drive from the IRD (a technical description would be that I've hoicked out a gear or 2) does lack the ability of engaging drive - but its a start :)
 
I dont get this. I reckon it will make a gash motor and likely to break stuff but no skin off my nose so crack on. And post pics.
 
for-the-glory-of-satan.jpg


I need more rear seat space than my R45 has, and it was a toss-up between a freelander or a R75... the hippo won on how it'll look with a few "choice" mods

And GrumpyGel - good point on the freewheeling VCU, not something that's instantly obvious, but makes perfect sense once it's been pointed out.




Now I've got my little Hippo, it turns out it's actually a perfect height for the wife, so that's off the todo list now :lol:
 
I get it completely. In a nutshell a freelander is a big Rover, and having owned many Rovers being an enthusiast, a hippo is an obvious choice for a large family vehicle regardless of its off road capabilities. My missus loves Land Rovers, I love Rovers, a hippo is a good middle ground.

I've seen much of your work on .org and can appreciate the thought and research that goes into your projects.

If people could save the 'what's the point' comments you'd end up with interesting information packed threads that people could learn from.

Lowering, supercharging & converting to RWD gives you the look of Satan to serious offroaders but I cannot see how custom springs to lower is any more dangerous than a 2 inch lift, if anything it'll improve road holding and will give less lean in the corners. It's the 17 year old with no experience that fits chopped springs to the bald tyres bangers that I class as the dangerous ones.

Not everyone has the same purpose for a specific vehicle, I look forward to seeing how you get on just as I have with your previous projects.
 
Rear wheel drive only via the ird pinion will put a lot of stress on the pinion and ird case.
 
Hippo said:
Rear wheel drive only via the ird pinion will put a lot of stress on the pinion and ird case.
Click to expand...

+1 on that!

No Pratt and Whitney 18 cylinder radial engine conversions either. Or the old PG1 will look like a 1960's meccano set.
 
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