diahatsu running gear into a IIa LWB.

[greatbignath]

hi
 has anybody put the engine, gearbox and transferbox from a diahatsu into a LWB series IIa or seen it done?

 i have a landy with a bmc diesel engine that aint very powerfull. i need the wagon to be able to tow and also fanceid a 5 speed series.

 i also have the option of a 2.3 or 2.8 cologne v6, this would mean keeping the original gearbox and stuff...

 what do people think?

[Jim-Willy]

Diahatsu transmission sounds like a lot of work.  V6 you would need a conversion plate Steve Parker used to make one but doesn't anymore for the cologne.  I thought a conversion plate was available for Diahatsu engines but not sure where from......

[greatbignath]

i have everything i need to put the v6 in (steve Parker conversion kit) apart from the engine mounts, but im rather handy with a welder so aint worried about them.

 i was wondering if anyone had seen it done with the hattie transmission, if so how did they do it?

 i know on the defenders the gearbox xmember is bolted on. is this the same on the series.
 is the transferbox in completely the wrong place to mate up to the landy props?

 loadsa questions but really want to know if it is worth the effort or just chuk the v6 in?

 i wanted to keep it diesel as you can chuk them under water coz there isnt any crappy electrics to deal with!!!

[Jim-Willy]

Yes waterproofing is the main worry i have about my V6 S3 it ain't an issue on my Tdi 90........

[Bob Ajob]

Go for the 2.8 over the 2.3, or a 3 litre Essex if you can find one.

The gearbox cross member is only bolted on a series if it's an ex-military chassis, this certainly applies to Series 3, though 2s and 2As I don't know if the military chassis was that different.

I don't know what a hattie transmission is, so don't know about your Q on props. You can get props custom made by several companies though.

You main issue on dunking a petrol is afterwards when you stop, you quite often have to pause after a water dip on some courses, just keep the revs up and don't let it stop, or it may not start again, especially if it is faltering or threatening to cut out. Get some sort of splash guard fabricated, the v6 sits quite low, so the fan belt pulls up more water, even with no fan. On the Cologne, IIRC the distributor is at the rear (Jim-Willy can verify / deny) so not much problems there from spray to the dizzy, not like my Essex with the dizzy at the front...

You can get silicon grease or spray from  Difflock (search for silicon) to sort out water Ingress via the HT leads. Though you will always get problems from condensation inside the dizzy, unless you pull some special mods like vacuum to the dizzy, or air pressure to the dizzy. How deep do you plan to go? If you are going in water over the tops of standard tyres you'll want a snorkel anyway so as not to get water in the air intake...

Rob.

[Jim-Willy]

I don't think the essex will fit as i think the conversion plates are different so best staying cologne.  Dizzy is on the rear on my 2.3 but not sure about 2.8 i thought they were different......  My plan is to go for a 2.8 or 2.9 with fuel injection 8)