'THAT' Land Rover: Photobombed by a hobo. (P26)

So yesterday I find myself in Bexleyheath after a 3hr drive to collect the new gearbox.

The seller, Trevor, is an awesome guy and I soon find myself sat in the back garden, enjoying the sun with a cup of tea in my hand while we chat V8's and other assorted car stuff. I like Trevor.

Luckily for me, he likes LDV's and this is what led me to his house when I find out he's got, and selling, a hard to find, getting rarer by the day ZF gearbox from an ex-London ambulance. This is the ideal greabox for the Landie because it's 2WD AND will bolt straight onto the V8 engine. No messing around with different tail sections or sourcing the right bellhousings/torque converters/flex plates if I went for one of the other, more common, ZF gearbox options.

Here is the LDV ambulance he's stripping...luckily for me, this motor is giving up its 'box for the Landie


V8 bellhousing: CHECK, 4speeds: CHECK, 2WD output: CHECK.....that'll do!


The ambulance is looking sorry for itself but a lot of the parts have been sold onto other LDV owners...and Trevor is using the powerplant for his own devices.


The bulkhead of the V8 LDV's is different to the normal ones (clearance bulges in the bulkhead for the V8 heads) so Trevor has cut this one out for other owners who want to convert to V8.


In the back garder is Trevors LDV that he's converting into a camper. The engine from the ambulance is now residing in this thing and he's gradually working around it making everything how he wants it


Mmmmmm - V8.


The reason he doesn't want the ZF box himself is that he's managed to source a brand new (NOS) LT77 box for not a lot of money! He also knows the wereabouts of at least two brand new R380's but the seller is currently wanting strong money.


My box of 'various bits'. There are a some shims and spacers that are used in the bellhousing to space the flexplate & torque converter. Trevor hadn't taken any notice of what order they go in when he removed them, but Dez came to the rescue last night and now I have a good bit of info that will save me a few hours head scratching and trying different combos out. Thanks Dude.


Parting shot: Trevors 'man cave'. I'm sure everyone will appreciate this - a classic double garage so full of tools and 'stuff' that it's no longer a garage. Dead cool though with LOTS of nice tools and other bits.


So there you go, my trip to the other side of London and back to grab a gearbox. Updates to come at the end of hte weekend showing my attempt to get the 4HP22 fitted. Fingers crossed heh? (doesn't help that I sliced most of my thumb off the other day so can't grip anything at all with my left hand which will makes things interesting!)

Techically, Torrington Races are ball, needle or roller thrust bearings made by Torrington Engineering (it's one of those Hoover/vacuum situations). The generic term for the one on your shifter (nice solution btw!) is a ball thrust bearing, or Kugeldrucklager in German, which isn't too different from Flugelbinder!

That is a shame bud. Still, it sounds like a good excuse to tidy up the gear surround/shifter assembly with some new tinware and a chance to fit a bracket for the arm rest/ ammo tin combo Always a positive dude! (how come I'm always really positive about your cars and not mine? Probably cos I know that you'll have it all sorted in record time ;D )

Well, it's been LONG day (just climbing into my sleeping bag now) and its become apparent that this gearbox is a lot bigger in every respect that the old one.

The majority of the gearbox crossmember has been cut out only for us to then discover that the bellhousing sits so much lower that it was impossible to fit thanks to the rearward front suspension crossmember which can't be moved. Not to be beaten by something so trivial, the engine has now been relocated 20mm higher on custom adaptors which wasn't a straightforward task I can tell you!

The autobox is now in place and bolted up so work can start tomorrow on the new gearbox crossmember and mounts....then the fun begins getting everything else to fit.

What a challenging day but what an awesome day too. Massive thanks must go to Richard, Jon and James for their amazing help. It's been a proper teamwork days and thanks guys, I couldn't have for this far without you.

More updates as things happen. I'm going to try and get some sleep now....

I've been a lurker on this site for about 3 years now I think and only recently joined, I don't tend to Comment on a lot of threads because I can never think what to say!

However seeing this reminded me that I saw it somewhere <some other website i think> about 2 years ago I think, and remembered thinking, 'Wow can't believe they lowered a landy so much' Of course,.. It never was or is a Landy.

I see this as a really 'belt and braces' Kit car in a sort of way, and i hope you don't min me saying that, It's a compliment. I'm sure (having seen your past projects) that you will Stamp your own calculated, and sympathetic style onto this Motor.

I often wish i had something similar to Area 52 where I'm located,.. least of all for the selfish fact that It's a god send when you need tools, workbenches, and other peoples eyes over things - But also because It becomes a tight-knit community of friends helping friends, this in an age of constant conflict and aggravation is something to be cherished.

There, Soppy and slightly off topic bit over, you guys also seem familiar with the old bucket of KFC here and there, I would fit right in lol.

Having collected the new 4 speed gearbox from London on Friday, it seemed a good idea to get cracking and get the swap done on Saturday. No time like the present I guess?

The original plan: take out the Borg Warner, fit the ZF....drive the car and grin like a loon.

"The best laid plans of mice & men" and all that!

First things first, I removed all the panels from around the transmission tunnel to give as much access as possible. I think it's nine panels in total that make up the tunnel....


Next up was to unbolt the selector mount which also forms the front mounts for the seats. Four bolts and out it comes giving more room and access.


LOTS of room to get to everything. I wish all cars had this kind of arrangement....




Just as a reference, I took some shots of the rear gearbox mounts and crossmember (the selector bracket also bolts to this crossmember)




Richard (Ettore Bugatti) arrives and immediately gets stuck into removing the transmission cooler pipework


Another reference shot - the current measurement between the two halves of the prop. Just so I've got something to go on when I get the prop shortened...although the spacing may have to be tweaked because I have another plan forming for a later date.


We offer the selector back in to get some reference shots of the current clearance to the gearbox


Not an awful lot of room under there....


With everything disconnected 'topside' we put it up in the air and disconnect the last few parts ready to remove the box.


Lots and LOTS of access which will prove to be very, very handy later on.


Borg 'Borked' Warner box now out....it came out pretty easily except for one thing....


...the torque converter decided to stay put on the flexplate/crankshaft despite removing all the bolts from the flexplate to ensure it came away with the 'box. When we got the box half out, it dropped into the bellhousing despite our best efforts to keep it in place.


That little mishap led to the contents of the TC and box barfing all over the ramp and floor. Once it started coming out, it was easier just to leave it there and let it pour in out the same spot than try and move the gearbox out of the car while spreading the ATF love all over the unit! Lots of mopping up and sawdust followed....


The back of the engine....awaiting the fitment of its new partner.


Net up....comparisons. This is when the worrying starts!

The BW gearbox has this flexplate/crank mount arrangement:


The ZF has a slightly more convoluted affair. Luckily, Dez came to the rescue in telling me which order to put them in. I'd worked out a few, but he knew exactly which way everything fitted. Thanks Dude.


Something to do with the design of the ZF 'box & bellhousing being made for RangeRovers, they needed to add spacers and shims to the V8 2WD ambulance vairants. I'm not sure why, but that's the way it's supposed to be and who am I to argue?


Next up....the challenge begins.

Before trial fitting the gearbox, we drain it out:


I'd figured the original mount would be in the way and hoped by removing the 'V' part in the middle of the crossmember, we might get lucky


The 'V' section was seam welded along the crossmember both sides, so took some work to get it out without cutting the box section beneath it. Flap wheeling the remaining weld off:




Time to hoik the ZF into the space and hope for the best!


This is that point where we were all thinking "SH*T!"


The reason why


James sums it up perfectly

With the crossmember now cut out, we drop the gearbox back in. Seeing as there is nothing to support the back end on now, we use a bar to suspend the rear of the gearbox from:


Not good....the back of the gearbox is pretty much clear now (bar a slight trim on one side to clear the asymmetric sump) but the bottom of the bellhousing won't go anywhere near the engine. Not even close. We put the car back up in the air to investigate....

...."BOLL**KS" and other words to such affect (i.e. James: "Permission to say Cock?") The suspension crossmember is *right* where the bellhousing wants to be. It's not even close to going in!


Some measuring and it's worked out that the bellhousing sits a good 20mm lower than the original one from the Borg Warner. This means it sits 20mm below the top of the crossmember.


One thing for it, gearbox *back* out and time to do some headscratching. And some more measuring. The big hole in the car is big and empty once again!


I build up the torque converter and flexplate and fit to the ZF to check exactly how much deeper the new bellhousing is compared to the old one (centre of input shaft as datum point). It's exactly 18mm deeper which means the engine has dropped a couple of mm when the BW gearbox was removed. Basically we need to find 18-20mm to get it to fit onto the engine.



At this point I'm pretty frustrated, feeling tired, feeling low and about to ring Dez to say I'll be doing a 360 mile round trip to pick up a Borg Warner 65 from him in the morning. At least I know it'll fit....even if it means retaining a 3 speed. I check my watch and it's just gone midnight. Maybe I won't be calling him then....

......


......"OK guys, this gearbox *will* fit, we can do this, we won't be beaten"

Richard, James and Jon all smile and respond, "Cool, a challenge it is then...."