Print

[w3526602]

Good, that just strengthens the argument

Hi Alan,

Just to throw another "wobbly into the works" ... can/could it be argued that a removable cross-member is NOT part of the chassis, and carries zero brownie points? Just in case someone wanted to modify just the removable bit?

Would Richards know about obscure chassis variations?

While working at the "Giant Cheesgrater", circa 50+ years ago, I used to nip down to their library (basement) in my lunch break, and browse their interesting legal magazines.

I read an appeal court ruling that a modification that could be quickly reversed, could be discounted. I cannot remember the context.  Also a piece of paper crossed my desk, stating that a four-wheeled vehicle could be regarded as a tricycle, provided only three wheels could touch the ground at any one time.    Again, I don't remember the context, but probably VED related.  Don't push your luck!

602

[agg221]

While working at the "Giant Cheesgrater", circa 50+ years ago,

This is the point I think John - a lot of policy has changed since then and those rules no longer apply in many cases.

The gearbox crossmember is a structural part of the chassis, whether it it welded or bolted in place. I therefore don't think you could acceptably alter it. You could try asking the question and you might get a favourable reply, but on another day you may not. Any alteration to the chassis is a can of worms best not opened.

Like Alan, I am still not clear on why you regard a Series engine as overpowered? Series Land Rovers are not exactly notorious for their extreme speed. I get the point about smaller wheels so higher revs for a given speed, but this can be addressed by changing the gear ratios at the output which leaves the whole drivetrain either unmodified or converted to automatic. Gear ratios can be changed in the diff and the box to suit, which is a lot less complex than a complete custom build. Have you actually calculated the ratios you would need and checked whether Ashcroft could supply them? If not, try:

https://www.ashcroft-transmissions.co.uk/calc/ratio_calc.html

This deals with all parts of the drivetrain.

You may find that getting the output drive ratios you want is straightforward. If so, it will save an enormous amount of time and, assuming you are not planning on doing your own fabrication work, money, to do it that way. As an example:

You are limited on minimum diameter by one of the diff. casing or the smallest rim/low profile tyre combination that will fit over the brake drum. The diff casing falls 6" below centreline; a 16" wheel with 75mm sidewall therefore gives you 22" diameter and ground clearance of 5" which should be sufficient, assuming you always drive over speed humps with one wheel on the hump rather than straddling it.

If you plug this into the above calculator, you find you can get very comfortable revs from a standard 2.25 at 50mph (I am presuming that will suffice as it does for most people) using any two of three from an overdrive, an Ashcroft high ratio transfer box and a 3.54 diff. All fit, all are standard and require no modification to any structural parts. If you fit an auto box alongside this you have very simple conversion that appears to do what you want, with room to spare if you want to fit lower profile tyres and drop another inch of height.

Alec

[w3526602]

Hi Alec,

I take your points.

I want a Series Landy because ... I fell in love with a beautiful vehicle parked on the other side of the road ... I dived out of the school "crocodile" and dashed across the road (not normal behaviour for me) to see what it was.

LAND ROVER!

I'm guessing this would have been about 1953.

I first drove a Landy at the RAF driver training school at RAF Weeton  (Blackpool), although I was on the "black hand" side of things.I drove them continuously, for the next nine years. in UK, Arabia and Malaya. There was an interval (several years) after demob, that finances did not run to buying what was still a relatively new vehicle.

I consoled myself buy dropping a £10 BMC 2.2 diesel engine and gearbox into a £100 Austin Champ. It was cheaper to run than Barbara's Hillman Imp. Performance was adequate, and it was fun to drive. Reducing the sump capacity to two pints (to clear the front diff) was probably not a good idea, but it didn't seem to do any harm. Oh! Why, why, did I sell it?

I had Land Rovers, off and on for several years, but my medical retirement , circa 1985(?), and Barbara on HEO salary, enabled us to buy a few acres, breed a couple of heavy (and very sought after) heavy foals, plus all the other stuff ... Grey Fergie, Suzuki 250 4x4 Quad, street legal, bought new, and half a dozen S1 and S2 scatttered found our half acre garden. Goats, Pigs, Poultry, etc. Barbara joined in with a Reliant Sabre (Google SABRE 361WYD IMAGES to see what happened after she sold it)  a TVR Vixen, and a Honda CRX (Stopped twice at over 100mph ... and told not to do it again) Married for over 50 years, and I still wake up ...screaming. I've done three new chassis rebuilds.

We moved from South Wales to a Victorian semi near Milton Keynes, to be near our daughter, then to a detached bungalow, as Barbara's knees deteriated ... she no longer walks. She has not driven since she became unable to exit neither front nor back doors.  I flexed my keying fingers, and "frowned" last week (egged on by Wittsend). Three (3) knocks at front door on Sunday. Two social workers and a lady from SSAFA (Soldiers, Sailors and Air Force Association)  Things might be starting to happen, My thanks to Wittsend for the nudge.

Today, Barbara told me that Freelanders are available for £3,000. I don't want a Freelander ... but that's the first time she's indicated what funds are available. She's whizz with money, so I just let her get on with it, while I keep bending the plastic. (In a previous life, she had a "mandate" with lots of zeros, and two commas. She said it ruined her housekeeping skills) I know my place.

602

[Wittsend]

You need to be quite clear what ground clearance you need.

At the back of my mind I seem to recall that speed humps could by law be no more than 4½" high.
Given lack of quality control when these things were installed, and that some councils were taken to court because some of the humps were too high - I think you need to add another 1" or so to be sure of clearing all speed humps.
Then you have the option of going over the hump on just 2 wheels up and 2 wheels down.
But traffic conditions may make this impossible and you have to straggle the hump and ground clearance then becomes compromised.

I would suggest that 6" ground clearance would be a safe margin to allow.

I still think your best option to get Barbara into a Land Rover is to see what aids the mobility people have.

They have seats that swing out and can lift up.
You would need to remove the seat box on the passenger side.
Plate across the new floor and fit a seat unit that swings out, lowers, then lifts up and swings back in.





 

[Simon K.]

Apparently an Aston Martin DB11 and a Lambo Aventador both have 4.5" ground clearance, so find one of those to follow and 6" will be a doddle.
Simon

[Wittsend]

Good call 


Aston Martins are made near MK aren't they
Should be plenty to follow.

[agg221]

Hi Alec,

I take your points.

I want a Series Landy because ...

Hi John,

I think you have made your desire for a Series Land Rover clear on the forum, along with the constraints you are working under. What people are trying to do is help you find a route to meeting those needs which is legal and economically viable. The further you move away from a standard 'as built' vehicle, the more difficult this becomes. Some changes are personal taste - if you like the look of heavy duty track rods, chequerplate etc well it's your vehicle and you can do what you like. Other changes are possible but the outcome depends on the path you take - change the engine for a Land Rover engine, fine, period conversion of the right type, fine (but you have to know what they are), others, lose the MOT-exempt status and one point which may or may not matter depending on what else you change. Some changes, e.g. to the chassis, are setting yourself up for a major headache and potentially losing the vehicle.

What people are trying to do is help steer you through the above minefield by identifying ways in which you might meet those needs that will cost less and make the process easier, by ensuring that you stay the right side of the line on what is currently acceptable to DVLA. These are of course only suggestions and in the end it's up to you which direction you take, but the further you move from a Land Rover to a custom car, the less the forum is likely to be able to help you. The intent is to help you have a vehicle, rather than an endless project, assuming that is your plan?

Alec

[w3526602]

Hi.

The ground clearance on a 1960 Mini was 6".  That was the full length of the car, not just under the axles. I've never heard of a Mini grounding on a sleeping policeman ... although I remember my 1959 Minivan going airbourne on the hump back bridge outside RAF Barnham (now Honiton or Honington?) a couple of miles from Thetford, on the Bury St.Edmonds Road, speedo off-the-clock. But I was young then).

Today, Barbara joined the discussion ... told me that I could buy a Freelander for £3,000. It sounded like authority to do so. Freelander? I was thinking sub-£1000. One available, listed at £600.

I can't remember if I mentioned ... Ivor Williams list all sorts of wheel diameters, with Land Rover PCD, maybe down to 12". They also sell wheels with tyres, and I didn't see anything about them being trailer tyres. I'll research that further as/when/if.

There is an 80" listed somewhere at a smidgen of £1,000, but it's in a sorry state. New chassis? Home-brewed bulkhead (easy).?  I think, I'll leave it for an enthusiast.

602

Overtaken by Alec, lunch, and the "Cruel Sea"

Thankyou for your thoughts, Alec.

Series Land Rovers are going for silly money, and I suspect that many of the slightly cheaper ones are heading for "organ donation", with the "harvest" suggesting that others can join in, and make a killing. They may be right. Up goes the price.

Barbara doesn't really need a new car, and new knees are £15,000 a pair. Manageable, without breaking sweat, even on our pittance.  So, what's to stop me just going out a buying somebody else's project?

BORING! And Barbara wants to leave a healthy sum to our daughter ... who doesn't need it. So I choose to go for the interesting lo-buck option. My choice?  But I may have missed the boat

[gcc130]

I think the Ifor Williams wheel/tyre combo will be trailer tyres as a lot of them run at 90 psi.
I’ll study one of mine in the next day or so.

In answer to one of your other questions, there is an early 80”(‘49 I think) in Bristol running an 1800 MG engine. Not sure who he is but occasionally turns up at our meets.

[Wittsend]

I'm not sure how a Freelander will help you If Barbara can't climb over a 3" door threshold

That said, there's more chance of an easy mobility solution for a Freelander than a 60 year old Land Rover.

[w3526602]

Hi GCC,

I have already thought about IW tyres being fitted with trailer tyres, but will leave nagging them until nearer the time. I'm pretty sure they will be "C" marked, indicating they can carry a heavier load than car tyres. There is something in my mind, that a workshop manual for a small van (Marina?) mentioned commercial tyres as an option ... but that was many yonks, and of no interest to me at the time, so I didn't pay much attention. I would have assumed that car tyres can be fitted to trailer rims. Anybody?

I think it was in the 1980s, that John Brown Wheels used to advertise in Hot Car magazine. They said they could supply any of their wheels, drilled to fit any stud pattern.

My thoughts, when I first went broody, was to ask Weller to make me a set of 14" white "steel slots". , drilled to Land Rover PCD. Wellers make 16" steel slots to fit Series, and my Jago Geep was on 14" steel slots, but with Ford Escort Mk.1 PCD. The "obvious" assumption if that both parametres are "within their gift".

Thanks for (hopefully) confirming that an MGB engine has been fitted into a Series. I'm sure that many of our readers thought "P***!" when I mentioned such a car.  The publicity indicates the Marina 1.8TC used the MGB engine. Way back when, I swapped a 1.8 engine for a 1.3 A-plus engine, working in the gutter. A straight swap ... I can remember having to move the engine mounting brackets ... the alternative holes were already drilled, but I cant remember if the extra holes were on the engine or the "chassis". Logically, they should have been on the chassis. Whatever, a very easy job, with the 1.3 axle making it great for traffic light sprinting.

In also fitted a 1.3 A-plus into Barbara's 1965 1100cc Midget. That involved drilling the original 4-bolt flywheel to fit onto the 6-bolt crank-shaft, plus some lathe work. Again, an easy job, provided you know what needs doing. The difficult bit was actually finding the required/specific plate to go between the engine and gearbox.

602