mike.gamble
Member
This is a friends 80" S1. He has owned the vehicle since he was 18 and the vehicle is the same age as him.
It is running a 3.5 RV8 on twin SU's. Witha few other mods, but it's still very much S1 Land Rover. It looks fab and he uses it loads still. We go green laning annually and with the V8 he has no issues keeping up with the 90's on the trip.
It also sounds unbelievable good too.
There is no issues with handling or braking, it's as good as any other Series Land Rover.
I have another friend with an 80", they put a Tdi in it. It went ok, but was a bone shaker. They have since pulled it and put a V8 in it.
If you want to go diesel, yes a Tdi (200 at least) is a very swap into pretty much any Series. Although I think the extra effort fitting a Td5 might well be worth while if budget isn't a concern. I'm not sure how easy if at all possible it is to mount a Td5 to a Series gearbox though. Swapping in an R380 and LT230 would be the obvious answer, but is a huge amount more work and will likely result in the need for custom prop shafts too.
And as mentioned previously, the L-Series is a lovely engine. Easily tweaked to 120hp+ and lighter, smoother and less noisy than a Tdi. You'd have to R&D it, but I think the way to fit would be to use the bellhousing from a Discovery MPI as the L-Series shares the same bolt pattern as the T-Series. But this would also mean R380 and LT230 swap.
Lots of options with the axles. I think S2 onwards are slightly wider so could be an option and lots of different disc brake upgrade options. Or go for coil axles, but you'll probably need to add Defender style wheel spats.
If you want really modern and a bigger project. A p38 Range Rover has a 108" wheelbase. It really wouldn't be that difficult to mount the 107 body onto the p38 chassis. With some thought I'm sure you could retain the air suspension and have the choice of 5 speed manual or automatic gearboxes and V8 for BMW 2.5 diesel engines. The only issue doing this would be the registration. The DVLA would likely see it as a body swap, so there would be no need for an IVA or a Q plate. But you should be using the Range Rover ID, so not tax or MoT exempt.
The P38 body conversion is an interesting thought, especially as I could leave the original chassis and engine sat at the back of the unit for the future if required?
Has anyone done this?
I’m trying to a avoid cutting the bodywork and would it be simple enough to keep the S1dash?
