I have a 1979 series 3 88" station wagon with galvanised chassis and have acquired a discovery 1 200tdi
rolling chassis c/w withe all the props diff and axles, 200tdi and gearbox.
Is it possible to convert the series to use the 200 tdi and gear box? obviously I dont want to touch the chassis as its galvanised so wondered if its just a nut and bolt conversion.
I also would like to use the power steering and axles.
Any Info right ups and photos would be greatfully received.
 
Look at my king cab thread and you'll see how a disco box fits in an 88, you need a seriously short prop with extra wide angle joints
One small bit of cutting is needed
 
items wanted from the disco for a simple installation/swap

complete engine, rads, expansion tank and both diffs

items wanted from the Series engine

both engine mounts and the alternator bracket

i've swapped two into 88" Series and one into a 109 to date, all have been bolted to the Series gearbox and had the disco diffs fitted, 7.50 or 235/85 tyres and you have easy 60/65mph cruising speeds, with an overdrive as well 90mph is possible with the throttle buried depending on how much junk is bolted to the outside of your truck

it's worth "clocking" the turbo outlet to save you cutting the inner wing

all this has been covered so many times by umpteen of us that have already performed these conversions that full write ups and pictures are readily available to find with minimal searching

call back for the trickier bits
 
I did or still doing this conversion, without the gearbox change, another serious stripdown, best of luck not that easy to do especially getting the axles to work
 
I'm fitting R380 gearbox, check my king cab thread in series section to see how it fits although would use fender lt77 if possible but cant for V8
 
So am I right in thinking I cant use the disco 1 lt77 gear box?
or has some one done it previously?

you have a galvy chassis that you don't want to cut, so no you can't use the disco gearbox

the simplest 200tdi conversions are always going to be by bolting it to the original Series gearbox

you are still going to need to cut out the battery tray if it is under the bonnet to clear the timing chest/injector pump, i relocate the battery under the passenger seat but you could extend the battery tray legs and make it demountable if you're determined to keep the battery under the bonnet
 
you have a galvy chassis that you don't want to cut, so no you can't use the disco gearbox

the simplest 200tdi conversions are always going to be by bolting it to the original Series gearbox

you are still going to need to cut out the battery tray if it is under the bonnet to clear the timing chest/injector pump, i relocate the battery under the passenger seat but you could extend the battery tray legs and make it demountable if you're determined to keep the battery under the bonnet


You still can if you get inventive with how you put it together………..
 
Thanks for the replys.
I have measured the engine mounts to prop shaft at hand brake drum on disco 1 and series 3 and found that if fitted the disco 1 handbrake drum will snag up at the rear most cross member and a very short rear prop about 8" if that, I`m not going to butcher a galvanized chassis so looks like it will be 200tdi onto series 3 box, battery support will be cut down but I can handle that, makes things a bit simpler so the hunt starts for an overdrive.
I will also fit the power steering from the disco 1 which looks like a straight bolt on.
I do have a whole donor vehicle so all parts available. The seats from the disco are a good upgrade and pretty much bolt in with a little bit a tweeking enabling access to battery under passenger seat.
At some point in the future I will see about fitting the axles with leaf springs to give me disc brakes.
 
You can move the engine forward and rear mount the rad to get a decent length prop its how I'm getting round it now. In which case chassis won't need cut just make some adapters using some angle and 1/4" plate
 
How far forward do you reckon you can move the engine forward fabricating adapter brackets?
Power steering isn`t a deal breaker for me, whilst changing over the engines if there is cutting to be done to fit PAS then I`ll leave it as it is.
It would be good to get the Lt77 in but a straight bolt on to series box does seem easier.
 
I'm moving my V8 forward 110mm to give me a 390mm prop shaft as 290 is minimum and without moving it would have been 280. If 200 is shorter than V8 can move it further forward. I fitted a stumpy crank to allow for this as I only need one harde drive belt for alternator and water pump then rear mounted rad under the bed with an inline pump to increase flow rate
 
i know this thread is a little old now but a tdi fitted complete (without changing diffs) took me 3.5-4 days the first time (in my old bitsa 88"), it was a quick and dirty job as the vehicle was my daily driver so i needed it back on the road, i did the swap in the middle of summer so i had maximum daylight hours and worked long and hard at it (this included cleaning and painting the chassis back to the bellhousing cross member)

it is useful if you can weld and have collected a few scrap exhausts from kwikfit and the like to make your own exhaust,50mm bore at a minimum (mine have no silencer), it's also worthwhile to "clock" the turbo to save cutting the inner wing panel

be careful of the routing of your lower oil pipe to the cooler as this can rub against the steering drop arm and evntually scrub through and lose your oil without any indication until you pull up and see a thick trail (it happened to me :( )

i suggest lifting the engine a little by using thick washers above and below the engine mount rubbers (4x shock top washers) to reduce the frequency of hard strikes on the front axle with the front crank pulley (both my 88 and 109 have this happen occaisionally when laning or over big curbs) this can be very detrimental to the life expectancy of your engine/crank

there are several ways of fitting the radiator and intercooler but i prefer to use a TD5 intercooler as i personally think it makes for a nicer looking installation

i also cut down the 200tdi rad' surround to fit tightly around the rad' and the mount the TD5 i/c to the front of it, this requires a little trimming of the deflector panels on the back of the rad' panel to allow the rad' to be fitted snugly to the back of it, i also weld two mounts to the front crossmember to support the bottom of the rad'

a 90na airbox is slightly smaller than the disco one, i cut the legs off them for in the S2/2a and sit them on the passenger footwell, in the S3 i can stand them vertically on the timing chest and with a little adaptation can fit the banjo off the disco airbox to connect them up

engine to gearbox, all i do is remove the four studs that don't align around the bellhousing and in the 4 or 5 years i've been driving them i've had no problems (disclaimer, maybe i'm lucky)

the throttle linkage is easy as i use a S3 diesel cable linkage all of which except the bulkhead bracket is still available new, you can make the bracket easily, only other thing required is a large nut and bolt that fits through the cable anchor on the injector pump, i drill through this to allow the inner cable to pass freely and then a larger drill follows in for about 5mm to seat/locate the outer cable, i then run a 2mm thick cutting disc down the length of the bolt to make the required slot to get the cable inside it, slip it through the anchor and do the nut up, connect both ends up and hey presto, job jobbed (p.s. throw away the old Series throttle return spring as it's no longer required and makes for a heavy throttle)

they really are a simple conversion with a little thought, i personally don't see the di as a simpler conversion but each to thier own
 

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