Currently my plan is to use a divorced set-up with a short connecting propshaft, as some of you have suggested.
There is at least one person I know of who is in the process of developing a close-coupling adapter plate, which I will be watching closely to see how it pans out for him!

But anyway... on with the progress that has been made to date.

What was originally a twin-SU fed 3.5 Rover V8 had been upgraded by the time I bought the vehicle to a 4.2 Rover V8 fed by an Edelbrock 500 4 barrell carb. I estimate that it was putting out around the 200 bhp mark, as it certainly went very well and sounded the nuts!

Here are a couple of videos I took of it as it was in V8 trim.





A few of you will be cursing me now for ever considering replacing the V8. Believe me it was not an easy decision to come to! I had considered LPG conversions and did lots of 'man maths' to try make the V8 make sense... but in the end, what would realistically be 8-12 mpg just wouldn't make sense for an overland/expedition truck.

So out it came!

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Wings off for better access.

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Steady... steady...

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A big hole where V8 power once lived...

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The 4.2 which has now gone onto its next life to live in a Snatch 110.

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Next things off were bulkhead and seatbox. Many parts!

The bulkhead I knew would need some work, but I was totally unprepared for how bad it actually was once removed:

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It probably could have been repaired, but I haven't really got the time, skills or inclination to do so!

Therefore, this happened :D :D :D

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Ah, the infamous SamTheSuave! Thought I remembered seeing the truck on YouTube somewhere.

Where did you get the galv bulkhead from?
 
Hi,
Motor and diesel engineering in Cambridge make an adapter to mate the merc 722 auto to the LT230, they can also supply a Compushift controller to run the Autobox,

Dave
 
Ah, the infamous SamTheSuave! Thought I remembered seeing the truck on YouTube somewhere.

Where did you get the galv bulkhead from?

Yes, you have the right person :p New episodes coming soon, incidentally!

The galv bulkhead was from somebody's unfinished project, I got it for a steal in truth. It's not brand new but is as good as - a repaired Td5 unit hot dipped.

Hi,
Motor and diesel engineering in Cambridge make an adapter to mate the merc 722 auto to the LT230, they can also supply a Compushift controller to run the Autobox,

Dave

Thanks Dave - I've sent them an e-mail asking for more info on their adaptor. Do you know if it's to mate the 4x4 ML version or the saloon version?

Cheers
Sam
 

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