Robert Davis bell housing info

[msggunny]

Ok, so i have been toying around with this idea for a while and i may have even asked this before somewhere but i cant remember or find it.

According to all the info i have found the enginge that Mr Davis uses for his conversion, the "Iron Duke" has the same bell housing bolt pattern as the 90deg V8/4.3L per this info i have found:

http://www.jeeptech.com/engine/gm151.html

Can anyone confirm this?

Thanks!

[lrdukdog]

Robert' conversion

Go here for this info,

http://www.lrfaq.org/Series/FAQ.S.options.RDconversion.html

Jim Wolf
Elvenwood Kennel

[zayante]

Good question. Information is sort of hard to come by. Has anyone out there tried this?

I thought I understood that Mr Davis makes a couple of adapters, one which works with a late GM I4 and one for earlier engines. As far as I know, he doesn't recommend the 4.3 L installation.

The issues I see are strength of the LR tranny with a more powerful engine, flywheel/clutch to V6 adaptation if you use the stock tranny, and finding the right exhaust manifolds/headers. Don't know if there are any steering or frame rail interference issues. Evidently, late Vortech engines will only accept FI.

A good page on the 4.3 is:

http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/engine/113_0208_chevy_43l_262ci_v6_engine_build/index.html

[yorker]

Last I knew he had swapped over to the transverse/metric/2.8l v6 type bolt pattern adapter that the later 2.5l engines had. The first adapter he used was the type similar to the Scotty's adapter.

FWIW this was one of the last emails I got from Davis ~2006 on this:

Matt:
I plan to stop building complete engine conversions at
the end of this year and sell a complete kit that
someone can build themselves. The kit will be based
on the later GM 4 cylinders (s10 and Fiero, etc).
The are everywhere for $100 at a junkyard - that the
Scotty's adapter won't fit, but my adapter will. Then
I don't have to spend 24 - 40 hours building an engine
that I make anout $10 or less an hour doing. I am now
producing an Isuzu 2.8 or 3.1 turbo diesel conversion
for Range Rover and Disco V8s that will be available
as soon as I can finish the kick down linkage. I am
also converting an 88" to a Perking Prema 2.0 liter
TDI from an MG Miestro and putting the same engine
into our MGB. Both run fine on used cooking oil...
Do you still want to buy an adapter? Batch is due out
soon.

and June 2007

Matt:
We will shortly have the Perkins Prima 2.0 TD (go fine
in a stock 88"), Daihatsu 2.8 TD (better in a 109, but
makes an 88" scream), Isuzu 2.8 TD (for RR and
Discoveries), and may even have one 300 TDI for RR &
Discoveries. All run well on veg oil or waste veg oil
(WVO) and have a Daihatsu currently prototyped with 2
fuel tanks. My WVO kits are way ahead of others and
have a cleanable fuel filter. The engine conversions
are not cheap. I also have 1 adapter left. Am making
a few more GM petrol conversions to deplete my current
supply of engines & parts and after that am going to
offer GM petrol kits only (you supply engine and I
supply the rest of the parts). Am busy as hell with 4
vehicles here for engine conversions.
Gotta run...

[msggunny]

2.8 V6, huh?

that might actually work better, even one of the 4cylinders they are talking about with FI.

Guess i should go to the source.

I know the 4.3 will frag the tranny if i was to romp on it, but im sure i could make it so the skinny pedal didnt go all the way down.

[leafsprung]

4.3L v6 or SBC to a GM tranny with an adaptor to the rover t-case . . . You can adapt the 4.3 to the R380 with those adaptors, but the R380 is kind of a turd as well.

[Leslie]

FWIW, I had the 2.8V6 in an '86 Jeep Cherokee, it wasn't the greatest engine out there.... the sidewall went out on one of the cylinders when I had about 110k on it, the shop that replaced it was surprised I'd gotten that many miles on it, most went out before they got to 90k....

[yorker]

There is a fellow in Canada with a 2.8l V6 in his 88", well actually 2 guys, one is carbed and the other is EFI- they've actually had good luck with them. I'd rather have a 225 Buick V6 but, if you want to talk to Simon about it I can forward you his email address. He cast his own adapters.

[msggunny]

4.3L v6 or SBC to a GM tranny with an adaptor to the rover t-case . . . .

That is more the route i would prefer to go, but i have no idea where to find an adaptor for the tranny to LR Tcase.

That would solve the 2 issues i have right now.

1. need another gear, dont know if i want to spend 1500 on a Roverdrive if i can do a swap for a few hundred more. (it will end up being more expensive in the end i am sure)

2. I love my 2.25, but it will eventually die and i cant see spending what a lot of people are asking for a rebuilt or new one. Mine is already bored 60 over so it wont take any more with out a resleeving.

3. I want the challenge of making a swap work, even if i am not ready for it.

If anyone can tell me where to find a GM to LR tcase adaptor please let me know. Or if someone has techinical info on how to fab one, i do have access to a machine shop and people who know how to do that kind of stuff.

Thanks!

[SafeAirOne]

Has anyone ever dealt with this company out of S. Africa? They seem to manufacture every adapter imaginable. I'm sure they ship to N. America...
see: http://www.giloeng.com/adapterparts.htm

[yorker]

If anyone can tell me where to find a GM to LR tcase adaptor please let me know. Or if someone has techinical info on how to fab one, i do have access to a machine shop and people who know how to do that kind of stuff.

Thanks!

Ike has made a few- Jim Young just used one to mate a NP435 to his series T case:

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8169&page=4

Timm Cooper also does or at least DID make NP435 adapters, a friend of mine is using one in his lightweight- I posted pics of the adapter here:

http://www.landroverusaforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=535&page=2

I think in the past there have been other adapters- I know TW had one for a T18 that Cooper made, and I have heard of some made for the SM465 or SM420 though never actually seen one of those.

[greenmeanie]

From reading the e-mail I see that you are looking for an extra gear. A good read on this is at TW site:

http://www.expeditionlandrover.info/#gearbox

The important thing is not so much how many gear ratios but the gear ratio range. This is, of course, taking into consideration the torque and power bands of your chosen engine. Well that is the two sentence over simplified version anyway.

I'm putting an Chevy 6 cyl (Ooodles of torque) mated to a Ford NP435 (Heck for stout) mated to a high ratio transfer case (stronger and cheaper than an overdrive) in my 109 SW which should give some good useable gear ratios. I'll be fine tuning the gearing with the diff ratios by starting with the cheapest option of Rover 3.54s and, if needed, moving to 4.10 etc.

For 5 speeds NV4500 has been done but it is condiderably longer than the Rover unit so you end up moving cross members and may have issues with prop shaft angles on an 88.

The Novak adapters site is very useful for information about engine conversions although they do not deal with Rover stuff.

http://www.novak-adapt.com/

If you want to stay all Rover then Ashcrofts in the UK offer kits to mount an LT77.

[msggunny]

Has anyone ever dealt with this company out of S. Africa? They seem to manufacture every adapter imaginable. I'm sure they ship to N. America...
see: http://www.giloeng.com/adapterparts.htm

I will check them out, going to be in South Africa for a week next may. May have to find its way into my luggage!

[leafsprung]

too bad all the ZA adaptors use the rover trans, getting rid of that is half the point of doing a conversion

[Mercedesrover]

too bad all the ZA adaptors use the rover trans, getting rid of that is half the point of doing a conversion

Amen.

I don't know why there aren't more 4.3-V6/NP435/Ike adapter/Rover t-case conversions out there. Cheap, easy, reliable, small and plenty of power.