Landrover footwell replacement

[Cobbler]

Just had a look at my son’s 110 V8, looks like we’ve either got to repair the footwell on the angled bit, or to make a decent job, replace it. Looking at it, it looks like to replace it requires the wing & inner wing removed, is this the case? If so how much of a job is it to remove, a couple of hours or all day. I know there are a lot of you on here that have done these & thank you in advance. On a different note, the Landy is a 4.6, converted to LPG, the gas supplies have virtually dried up, all the local places to him have given up, not sure what the answer is to that, diesel conversion maybe, frightening running on petrol.

 

[winchman]

There are various alternative ways to fill the bottle if you can find someone who can show you?
Our Series 2A has a Mercedes OM617 will pull a house down and does 29MPG. Not very fast and it really upsets the purists!

 

[Mikes]

Sell the Landy to North America. Often see the V8s advertised as USA exportable.

 

[Tinbasherdan]

Wing takes about 2 minutes to remove, hardest big is disconnecting the wiring harness as they use those moulded Luca bullet connectors. Do the repair on the vehicle, don’t be tempted to pull the bulkhead off as they inevitably twist during welding and are a pig to get back right, I had to use a hi lift Jack to push mine about when I fit it!

Froggats used to be reasonable for repair panels, although they’re much of a muchness between suppliers. Otherwise it’s a case of drilling the old spots out and welding through the same.

Bin the v8, the 4.6 wasn’t a good engine when it was new, it’s a 4.2 block over bored and comes with various issues relating to wall thickness, porous blocks etc. stick a tdi out of a disco in. Don’t be tempted to go for Cummins, the conversion kit is an absolute abortion if you want to do the job right, I sometimes wish I hadn’t started with mine but I’m in too deep now!

 

[Cobbler]

Thanks for that Dan, sounds the way to go. Pity is the 4.6 was built up from a new block, must have cost my son a small fortune, probably worth a bit to a TVR owner though. We will have to look a bit deeper about a swap, it’s got an Ashcroft auto box on it so presumably require a new bell housing & torque converter. Things for the future.

 

[Tinbasherdan]

Thanks for that Dan, sounds the way to go. Pity is the 4.6 was built up from a new block, must have cost my son a small fortune, probably worth a bit to a TVR owner though. We will have to look a bit deeper about a swap, it’s got an Ashcroft auto box on it so presumably require a new bell housing & torque converter. Things for the future.

Istr that the 300 flywheel housing is same pattern as a v8 but I might be wrong. If it’s been a fresh built motor and not dragged out of a manky p38 then there’s a fair chance it’ll be ok for a while yet, if he can stick the fuel cost just run it on petrol. You generally get around 10% less power on lpg anyways! I’ve always had diesel landies as I like to get them wet, with the exception of a poorly thought out v8 disco I bought and quickly dropped a tdi into, and a v8 110 ambulance we ran on search and rescue!

 

[Dozzer]

Thanks for that Dan, sounds the way to go. Pity is the 4.6 was built up from a new block, must have cost my son a small fortune, probably worth a bit to a TVR owner though. We will have to look a bit deeper about a swap, it’s got an Ashcroft auto box on it so presumably require a new bell housing & torque converter. Things for the future.

You can probably keep the torque converter, its the drive plate that will need to change.
Have done a few Footwells & Bulkhead repairs.
Take bonnet off, wings are as @Tinbasherdan 5 min job as long as someone hasn't been there before and used "interesting selection" of fasteners, inner wing wings can be a pain as the nearside nearly always has stuff bolted to it, like the washer bottle, coil etc.
Most of the LR places like Rimmer Brothers, LR parts , will do repair panels, some Ok, Some not so much.
Would look at the door pillars while you are making good, they are normaly not far behind the floor pans, then its round the air flaps at the top.
There is a reason there is a market for new galvanised defender bulkheads

 

[Tinbasherdan]

You can probably keep the torque converter, its the drive plate that will need to change.
Have done a few Footwells & Bulkhead repairs.
Take bonnet off, wings are as @Tinbasherdan 5 min job as long as someone hasn't been there before and used "interesting selection" of fasteners, inner wing wings can be a pain as the nearside nearly always has stuff bolted to it, like the washer bottle, coil etc.
Most of the LR places like Rimmer Brothers, LR parts , will do repair panels, some Ok, Some not so much.
Would look at the door pillars while you are making good, they are normaly not far behind the floor pans, then its round the air flaps at the top.
There is a reason there is a market for new galvanised defender bulkheads

Mate got a galv bulkhead for his series 3 as he’s more money than sense, and it was like a banana. He’d have been better off repairing the original

 

[Dozzer]

Mate got a galv bulkhead for his series 3 as he’s more money than sense, and it was like a banana. He’d have been better off repairing the original

Friend got one for his lightweight, was OK after the second attempt as they sent him a normal one first time round

 

[Tinbasherdan]

Friend got one for his lightweight, was OK after the second attempt as they sent him a normal one first time round

Drove mates lightweight the other week, cured me of whatever misty eyed wanting I had for one. Makes the defender seem like luxury

 

[Dozzer]

Drove mates lightweight the other week, cured me of whatever misty eyed wanting I had for one. Makes the defender seem like luxury

No i don't see the attraction
We have coil sprung the original chassis with mk1 disco coils and axles. fitted a 200Tdib but where it sits in the chassis requires a lot of bogery for the turbo fitment.

 

[Cobbler]

@Tinbasherdan I’m not sure what my son will want to do, the engine was built up with a brand new TVR block, Rangie injection etc. let’s say it’s somewhat exiting to drive, gives a few a shock at the traffic lights. I’m hoping that with the footwell, I can make a repair panel, depends how far it’s gone.

 

[sako243]

@Cobbler it's worth doing the sums on a diesel conversion because by the time you've sourced everything (bearing in mind most engines will be old so need some work doing or getting lucky) that accounts for quite a lot of petrol.

A friend bought a 3.5 exRAF ambulance and worked out that by the time he'd sourced a decent Tdi and all the bits and bobs to make it work he was going to be £3-5k into it for no benefit on performance and not significant improvement on fuel economy (given it was pulling a brick up alpine passes). £3-5k bought a lot of petrol by comparison (bearing in mind he'd have had to buy diesel anyway so that £3-5k covered the difference).

In the end he did drop a 4.6 in because he found a very good runner cheap and already had all the bits to Megasquirt it on the shelf.

 

[sako243]

If you are interested in a diesel conversion I have a good Mazda 3.5 SLTi sat here in the barn which has all the adapter kits for a drop in for a V8 engine bay. For various reasons I'm putting the Sandringham back to a petrol V8 and dropped a 4.6 in there.

 

[Robotstar5]

Drove mates lightweight the other week, cured me of whatever misty eyed wanting I had for one. Makes the defender seem like luxury

My first Landy was a Lightweight, I think I did less than a thousand miles in it before upgrading to something with coil suspension

 

[Cobbler]

If you are interested in a diesel conversion I have a good Mazda 3.5 SLTi sat here in the barn which has all the adapter kits for a drop in for a V8 engine bay. For various reasons I'm putting the Sandringham back to a petrol V8 and dropped a 4.6 in there.

@sako243 i will pass that on to my son. Thanks.

Edit, I think my son has dealt with you before, bought a gun box or strong box that drops between the wheel arches on a 110, going back a bit now.

 

[sako243]

That is going back a bit! Met somewhere near Windsor Castle if I'm remembering correctly.

 

[Cobbler]

That is going back a bit! Met somewhere near Windsor Castle if I'm remembering correctly.

When I mentioned to him about someone with a 6 wheel Landy, he said “I know him, that gun case came from him” not that he’s got guns, but it makes good storage.

 

[jmp49]

I have been hunting a 4.6 for quite some time now! I'm going to replace a low compression military 3.5 in my 101 with one when I find one, because it has to stay v8 to be legal here. I have a good 5 cylinder merc turbodiesel tucked away but type approval and all that nonsense...
My plan involves running it on E85 bio ethanol with a flex fuel sensor/conversion, because its half the price of normal petrol here, and is like running lpg except you only need one fuel tank/system.

For the footwell, if you have access to a folder, I think I'd just make up replacements myself because theyre just formed from flat. I have a 90 and 110 projects too, but I think this is one of the few bits I dont need to touch to fix them

 

[Cobbler]

@jmp49 if you are in no hurry for a 4.6, maybe my sons will sort you out keep in touch