For Lucas coded wire I use British Wiring. They also sell all the connectors you need etc. The original owner of the company just retired so they sold it to a new operator. In the past they were very good. I also found that Painless Wiring PowerBraid makes a good sleeving for any new harness work.

As for improving fuel economy - well you have to understand that you are driving the aerodynamic equivalent of a brick outhouse using using big heavy 9.00x16 tyres. You will be doing very well to beat 15mpg with the original V8 installed. The best and probably cheapest way to save fuel is to make sure the truck is in top notch tune. Also try avoid winding her out on the freeway as she will guzzle fuel faster than an ASU tart on Mill Ave on a Saturday night. You could convert to diesel with good results but recouping your conversion cost on fuel savings alone will take a long time.

As far as gearing goes:
  • The overdrive is available used and was originally fitted to an early Range Rover with LT95 box. It is not available new anymore so you have to take your chances buying a used unit. Installation is fairly simple with the only complication being fabbing up an actuator bracket, getting the right lever to mount next to your transfer selector and then having a bowden cable made up. I have also heard the rumour that 101's tend to eat OD's but a lot of people still run them. The plus side is that it gives you the most versatile set of gear ratios.

  • The transfer gear swap is the strongest and most reliable way of raising your gearing. I used the tallest set I could which was .9962 out of an early Range Rover. This has made the truck a lot more driveable on the road as you can use first gear for more than 2 feet off the line and hold the remaining gears longer without winding out. You will want to give your engine a look over to make sure it is fresh to be able to pull that tall a gear set. There is a whole range of ratio options so you can choose someting more intermediate if you like. As part of a complete engine rebuild I put in a set of high compression pistons to raise the CR to 9.3:1. Along with a new cam this has given the 101 a new lease of life and she now goes like a train. If I could stop burrying the throttle I am sure there are fuel efficiency gains to be had there. There is also a Nick Kay conversion to adress a potential issue with the thrust washers in the transfer box that can be included at the time of the swap. It also does not affect your low ratio so off road remains as good as the original. It is also most likely the cheapest way of increasing your gearing.

  • I have also heard rumours of people adding selectible four wheel drive to the gearbox although I have never seen the engineering behind it. In my opinion this is not a great idea. Any extra length on the front output shaft is only going to compound the drive angle issues on the front prop shaft. You will start eating UJ's. Secondly, you will still be pushing the drive train unless you add freewheeling hubs. I am not aware of any off the shelf hubs that will fit the 101 and having custom ones made up will be expensive. Finally, you will have to have the toe in adjusted for operating as a 2wd. If you want to check for any potential savings down this road I would simply remove the front prop shaft for a while. If I am doing a long road trip I will do that but it is more so that I don't have to listen to the prop grumble than any fuel savings.
Cheers
Gregor