Freelander 1 rwd conversion?

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Kosmicno

Kosmicno

New Member
Posts
6
Location
Hereford, England
right now hear me out on this sounds dumb but who cares
removal of vcu and solid one piece prop and remove front shafts from ird so only the rear wheels have drive
would my stupid idea work?
plan is to build a 250ish horse K-series turbo so rwd would be fun
 
Kosmicno said:
right now hear me out on this sounds dumb but who cares
removal of vcu and solid one piece prop and remove front shafts from ird so only the rear wheels have drive
would my stupid idea work?
plan is to build a 250ish horse K-series turbo so rwd would be fun
Click to expand...
I guess it might work for a while but as they are predominantly FWD I doubt the drive train would last long. Especially with 250hp
 
Kosmicno said:
would my stupid idea work?
Click to expand...
Yes in theory, but pointless. The diff won't last long though. Why no just keep it 4WD?
Kosmicno said:
plan is to build a 250ish horse K-series turbo
Click to expand...
The K series will last 5 minutes making 250 Bhp, unless you're going to fit steel internals. If that's the case, you'll be better of finding a more suitable engine and fitting that instead. The transmission won't last long though, so it's still a pointless exercise.
The suspension or brakes aren't up to handling that power level either, unless you plan on redesigning all that too.
 
The IRD is a weighty thing - if going 2WD, I'd be looking to ditch that weight! Quite what you'd replace the IRD with is a different question of course...
 
Nodge68 said:
Yes in theory, but pointless. The diff won't last long though. Why no just keep it 4WD?

The K series will last 5 minutes making 250 Bhp, unless you're going to fit steel internals. If that's the case, you'll be better of finding a more suitable engine and fitting that instead. The transmission won't last long though, so it's still a pointless exercise.
The suspension or brakes aren't up to handling that power level either, unless you plan on redesigning all that too.
Click to expand...

planning on using qauife gearset and qaufe rear lsd and suspension and brakes would be uprated with airbags and re-designed control arms and such engine would be forged with different pistons lowering the ratio to 9:1 or something similar
 
Sounds like it would be simpler to buy a Ford Mustang cut the body off it and them weld a Freelander body onto the chassis. Why god knows but I have see some crazy cars over the years so why not if you can afford it.
 
Kosmicno said:
right now hear me out on this sounds dumb but who cares
removal of vcu and solid one piece prop and remove front shafts from ird so only the rear wheels have drive
would my stupid idea work?
plan is to build a 250ish horse K-series turbo so rwd would be fun
Click to expand...


It is an interesting idea but ....
Front propshaft vcu rear propshaft ,you can't using one solid piece because is not straight from ird to diff .
i will stick with max 200 hp ,thats will be a safe number.
depends on the budget i will buy a k series turbo or low compresion piston and liner.
for rear diff need a lsd ,https://shop.quaife.co.uk/land-rover-freelander-rear-quaife-atb-helical-lsd-differential
weak point i think is rear driveshaft ,it needs something more solid there .
 
The rear diffs don't fail much, so breakers yards must be full of them and presumably cheap. So if you visit Santa Pod frequently, it shouldn't be an expensive item.

Looking at the design of the IRD, I would have thought that the rear pinion or input shaft would give out before the rear diff.

But then, the Freelander K Series gearbox will give out before the IRD.

So the rear diff is probably the last of your worries.

As @ColinNI says, I think you'd be better off looking for a RWD engine and box, so long as it fits in the engine bay and doesn't foul the front subframe. Not sure how difficult it is to change the transverse engine mounts though. Alternatively, dunno how difficult it is, but maybe some form of hydraulic drive from gearbox to rear diff?
 
Alibro said:
I still think a dirty great electric motor replacing the VCU working alongside the existing K series or V6 would be the ultimate Freelander. :p
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TonyReeves was talking of doing that before he got the hump and left the group. Would have been a great project and he had the skills to do it as well. I see though he's flicked all his gear (controllers & motors) on as he listed them on our Kiwi eBay a while back. Shame.
 
Nodge68 said:
I thought I'd not seen him for a bit. What happened there then?
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I don't really know Nodge. He got upset by something on AG and and left the whole group. I'm not sure exactly what upset him. I did try and contact him, but he didn't reply.

Its a shame cos he knew his stuff, had put a few Freelanders back on the road and likes to play with stuff - like Ali's suggestion, he had plans to bolt on a leccy motor to drive the back axle which was a cool idea and he was an electrical engineer having been part of the teams that built a lot of NZ's hydro capacity and big projects offshore as well.

He was a nice bloke as well, he came round here a few times to help me out or get bits off my parts car etc and we always had a good chat over coffee and cake :) He was a fella who liked his privacy though, on the 1 occasion I went round to his house (I think to drop a scanner off he had lent me), it was obvious I wasn't getting invited in for coffee there which I thought strange, but maybe he had his reasons.

As I say, shame he left.

I think he may have lost someone in the Chch quake and someone, maybe me, said something that upset him, but I looked back over what was said and I couldn't really see anything.
 
GrumpyGel said:
I don't really know Nodge. He got upset by something on AG and and left the whole group. I'm not sure exactly what upset him. I did try and contact him, but he didn't reply.

Its a shame cos he knew his stuff, had put a few Freelanders back on the road and likes to play with stuff - like Ali's suggestion, he had plans to bolt on a leccy motor to drive the back axle which was a cool idea and he was an electrical engineer having been part of the teams that built a lot of NZ's hydro capacity and big projects offshore as well.

He was a nice bloke as well, he came round here a few times to help me out or get bits off my parts car etc and we always had a good chat over coffee and cake :) He was a fella who liked his privacy though, on the 1 occasion I went round to his house (I think to drop a scanner off he had lent me), it was obvious I wasn't getting invited in for coffee there which I thought strange, but maybe he had his reasons.

As I say, shame he left.

I think he may have lost someone in the Chch quake and someone, maybe me, said something that upset him, but I looked back over what was said and I couldn't really see anything.
Click to expand...
That's a pity GG but if you can't take a bit of banter then LZ is not the place to be.
 
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