The 1st Rebuild

The story so far: I'd bought the 109 in crusty but roadworthy condition, taken a bath on the 3.9 V8 swap, added parabolic springs and gas shocks, done a load of random maintenance and other stuff - the bug had definitely bitten… the next issue nagging at me was the original gearbox (and overdrive) were quite loud and I was fairly sure that running around with double the horsepower they were designed for was not going to be a good idea long-term.

So, I did some research on the fledgling internet forums (most notably LRE which eventually imploded and from the ashes rose the excellent LR4x4.com) and convinced myself that the way forward was to fit an R380 gearbox and LT230 transfer box, both of which are far more suited to the V8 and would give me 5 speeds and hopefully a little bit more civility.

However, I couldn't find anyone who had actually done this with a Series, and there was a marked difference between the Defender version (which never had a V8 with an R380 as far as I know), and the Range Rover/ Disco variant which DID have the V8 but put the shifter way too far back.

Eventually, after getting no more solid info on t'internet, I called up Ashcroft Transmissions and just flat asked if they could build an R380 with a V8 front end but a Defender back end, and they said “yes, no problem”. Well, that was easy¹⁾. Guess we're lucky Land Rover re-use bits across the range!

I also ordered a 2WD conversion kit for the LT230 I had acquired. It's a common misconception that this is required if you're putting an LT230 into a Series, but it's not. It's just “nice to have” if you want to retain the same 2WD on-road setup - the LT230's centre diff actually makes it far better in many situations than traditional locked-centre style 4WD systems as it doesn't force wheels to break traction when turning. A subtle bit of design genius by Land Rover that's often overlooked.

Anyway - I was kinda set, I had a brand new R380, a very good LT230, and didn't know enough to know what I was letting myself in for.

Through a friend, I found a slightly²⁾ mad guy called Mark who had a workshop and basically did whatever took his interest. I'd hung round a bit, we got on, and eventually it was decided to have a go at this swap.

So, the 109 was driven to his yard and we started dismantling it, ready for the gearbox swap…

We hadn't gotten very far into this when we discovered Bad News - the 109's chassis had been plated, badly, front-to-rear by someone - this didn't bode well at all.

They had literally gone over the whole chassis and given it an extra coat of metal - and badly, so there was no chance it could be left like this.

While contemplating options and planning modifications, my mate with the workshop had acquired, tarted up, driven, got bored with and then parked in the corner of the yard an old Volvo C303 in fairly rough condition. This was about the time that portal axles were becoming known about in the UK and a few people were even trying to fit them on Land Rovers. He offered the remains of the Volvo to me, I told him there's no way I could pay him what the axles were worth, he asked me what I could afford to pay for them, and a miraculous deal was struck.

Well, at this point it was either a new galvanised chassis or something else…

Unfortunately, being young and enthusiastic, I had the brilliant idea of making a chassis in a semi-Ibexy-style, from box-section steel. I forget how much time and money was wasted on this but it was a lot. It didn't help that my mate had kind of over-sold his welding ability as well as the capability of his welder, which was a shitty hobby-MIG that may as well have been run over.

Of course, I didn't really know enough at the time to know just how badly this was all going - after all, metal was appearing in vaguely car-shaped bits an if you squinted you could kinda imagine that a car might happen at some point…

Then, as things were getting trickier and progress was slowing, a workshop move and a new project or three meant the 109 was relegated to a gazebo in the yard and assistance dropped off somewhat too…

This was not going well, and I had spent money on parts, tools, supplies, and materials and was still miles away from anything like a working vehicle.

I'd need a miracle.