Drivetrain handle a V8

[series3dc]

Hello All,
I just bought my first Land Rover. It is a 1962 Series with a 289 2 barrel engine conversion. After reading many posts on this forum, I am curious how concerned I need to be about breaking the transmission and rear axle. Will normal street driving (unagressive, but keep up with traffic) destroy stock parts? No offroading for me. I live in West Texas and it is flat here if that makes a difference. The previous owner said all of the work for the conversion was done before he purchased the vehicle. I know the transmission is stock. I am uncertain if the rear has been upgraded. Is there a way to tell visually? I will be running a 265/75/16 tire.
If this is a disaster waiting to happen, will salisbury rear axles handle a ford 289 under normal driving conditions? Would a range rover transmission be an upgrade that would handle the power? I would like to do some highway driving. Would it bolt to my Ford to Series transmission adapter? Sorry for all of the newbie questions. Thanks in advance for information.
Scott

[TeriAnn]

Hello All,
I just bought my first Land Rover. It is a 1962 Series with a 289 2 barrel engine conversion. After reading many posts on this forum, I am curious how concerned I need to be about breaking the transmission and rear axle.

Yes the gearbox is a disaster waiting to happen as is a stock 10 spline axle.

You didn't mention if you had a 109 or an 88. A 24 spline Salisbury is a bolt on swap to a 109 and cures your axle problems. If you have an 88 you might prefer to go with an aftermarket 24 spline axles, drive flange and a stronger diff. A 24 spline Trutrac would be the easy solution to upgrading your diff while going to 24 spline.

Your gearbox is good for about 130 HP and you have more than that.

I suggest that you go to a light truck top leader four speed gearbox that has an off the shelf bell housing and clutch for your engine. Advance Adapters makes adapters to go between common truck gearboxes and the Series transfercase which is plenty strong for your engine.

I have a web site covering common gearbox swaps.

I also have a web page going over Advance Adapters offerings.

Next you need to know what your R&P ratio is. Stock is 4.7:1. A common swap with an engine swap is 3.54:1. Jack a wheel up, have the transfercase in neutral, and rotate the tyre one revolution and see how many times the rear prop shaft turns.

If you have 3.54 R&P gears you can just leave things be for gearing. If you have 4.7:1 you can go one of 2 ways. Install a pair of 3.54:1 diffs (Defender, Range Rover Classic or Disco I) or swap out your transfercase with a high ratio transfercase. Your choice. Both will get you to very similar gearing.

I have a Ford 302 with 1991 Mustang EFI. The gearbox is a Ford NP-435 housing with Chevy NP-435 close ration gears inside. This means a Chevy disc and a Ford pressure plate. An adapter to a Series high ratio transfercase. A Salisbury rear end (I have a 109) with an ARB locker and hardened 24 spline axles. But I beat my truck off road. A stock Salisbury would work fine for the kind of driving you are planning to do. Or for an 88 what I described above.

By the way your 2 barrel is likely 500 cfm. A four barrel 500cfm carb can provide better fuel mileage if it is set up for economy. EFI is only good for 1 or 2 MPH more on the highway because of body shape but almost doubles the round town mileage where wind resistance is not a major deal.

[o2batsea]

EFI is only goof

Freudian slip?

[I Leak Oil]

A 289 with stock tranny and stock rover axle is a ticking time bomb. Doesn't matter how gingerly you drive it, it's only a matter of when and where. Series trucks can go through trannys and axles with the stock 2.25L 4 cylinder.

[yorker]

A Ford 289 @ bbl made ~195hp SAE gross, that is probably about 155hp today. Your stock Land Rover was designed for an engine that was ~70hp. You can break 10 spline axles with the stock engine so you can imagine the eventual results with a 289.

[yorker]

If this is a disaster waiting to happen, will salisbury rear axles handle a ford 289 under normal driving conditions?

Better than the Rover 10 spline stuff- sure.

Would a range rover transmission be an upgrade that would handle the power?

Maybe. The ZFHP22 or 24 can be a decent tranny. (I assume you aren't talking about the 5 swpeeds which weren't imported here in Range Rovers)

I would like to do some highway driving. Would it bolt to my Ford to Series transmission adapter?

nope

Your best bet would be to replace the stock transmission with an American one with one of the Advanced Adapters adapters. There are a lot of different transmissions you could use that would exceed the strength of Land Rover transmissions.

[keithg]

It seems like the questions about Rover axle strength comes up often but why not use a Ford 9" rear and narrow it with the correct offset to match the original Rover setup? Or a Jeep Dana 44 rear? Aside from using different wheels what is the downside?

[I Leak Oil]

There are many different axles you could make fit. The down side to most are mearly cost and complication. Sticking with the stock rover axles is free and easy in the short term.
We've all heard someone say "just slap a v8 in it and...." yet we all know it's easier said than done. Same goes with axles and transmissions.

[keithg]

I agree that you could make anything fit if you want to but even RR axles were behind a very mild, low power Rover V8 so what is the longevity behind a 289/302 making modest power. You can find a 9" Ford rear in every town around the country and for a couple hundred dollars narrow it to fit your application and have 28 or 31 spline axles, decent brakes, and posi/traction lock with a multitude of gear ratio options. In my area there aren't many RR parts floating around so the cost of shipping a rear axle would cover most of the conversion cost.

Again....I was just wondering why no one has ever mentioned it. The same would go with a Dana 44 front axle to match.

[yorker]

I agree that you could make anything fit if you want to but even RR axles were behind a very mild, low power Rover V8 so what is the longevity behind a 289/302 making modest power. You can find a 9" Ford rear in every town around the country and for a couple hundred dollars narrow it to fit your application and have 28 or 31 spline axles, decent brakes, and posi/traction lock with a multitude of gear ratio options.

RR's had full time 4wd, I don't think that was done by chance by Land Rover I suspect it was an attempt to spread the torque over both axles. Range Rovers with 10 spline axles break them far less frequently than 88" and 109's that have part time 4wd.

Fabbing a 9" would be great but beyond most Land Rover people's abilities and then you have the segment of owners who think that the axles act as a shear pin to protect the rest of the drive train. Lastly you have a large segment who feel it is a sacrilege to put anything non Rover on a LR.

The easiest solution would be to swap in a set of Toyota Landcruiser axles, you get better brakes, stronger axles and more gear ratios available. You can often find them for $100-$200 an axle complete. They are passenger side diffs and they have front CVs rather than U joints. Despite the ease and advantages of that swap most people seem to find it abhorrent.

[I Leak Oil]

Again....I was just wondering why no one has ever mentioned it. The same would go with a Dana 44 front axle to match.

If you look around the web, and more importantly, local rover events, I think you'll find that swaps are mentioned often and carried out as well. This RN board is a small part of roverdome and many who participate here tend to want to preserve the marque. But even here it's not a new discussion.

[amcordo]

My pile of metal has a 283 GM v8 in it plugged into a sIIa transmission, ashcroft high ratio transfer setup, and v8 axels.

The second gear was stripped when I got it, so clearly the engine's a little more powerful than you'd want.

Just switch out the transmission with an Advanced Adapters plate, and put in the salisbury rear axels and you'll be fine. No reason to switch out a whole bunch of parts if you can just get away with a few.

[I Leak Oil]

It really depends on how you use your truck. There is no one answer that fits everyone.

[TeriAnn]

It seems like the questions about Rover axle strength comes up often but why not use a Ford 9" rear and narrow it with the correct offset to match the original Rover setup? Or a Jeep Dana 44 rear? Aside from using different wheels what is the downside?

How about prop shaft alignment? Most other transfercases have the rear shaft directly in line with the gearbox. Better off upgrading to 24 spline hardened axles or a Salisbury. Either would be less work and plenty strong enough for a non-hipro 289.

[yorker]

How about prop shaft alignment? Most other transfercases have the rear shaft directly in line with the gearbox.

That isn't that big of a problem if you are narrowing it.