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LT77 in a V8 110 chassis?

Afternoon all,

Just spent a good few days swapping the chassis on the 110, so it's now sitting on brand new Marsland galvanised 110 V8 model - all went pretty well, the body all fits properly and not too many bolts had to be ground off in the process + it was very sunny :-)

Anyhow, so I now have a chassis which holds the V8 properly, but of course the LT77 was never a factory fit in a V8 110 (at least I don't think so - LT85, then R380), so the gearbox isn't right at the mo. Basically the driver's side mount is pretty good, I think the box is maybe a couple of mm too close to the rail, but the bracket can be put in without too much difficulty. The passenger side though has a good inch gap between the chassis rail and the mounting bracket.

So I figure I have three options:

  1. Use gearbox brackets that will fit properly - I doubt these exist for a 110, unless maybe the R380 uses the same brackets? Otherwise would Range Rover ones fit, as they did come with an LT77 and a V8?

  1. Bodge the existing mounts to fit - shorten one slightly and maybe put some packing between the chassis and the other mount, along with longer bolts.

  2. Replace the LT77 with either an LT85 or an R380 and use the standard mounts. I guess this would be the best option, but not cheap and I imagine I'll need a new bell-housing and some cab panels as well?

Any advice appreciated!

Cheers,

Andy.

Reply to
Andrew Cleland
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When I ditched the piddly-little 4-cylinder engine from my 110 many, many years ago in favour of a V8, I used an LT77 and it fitted right in no probs with the original 4-cylinder gearbox mountings. I did, however, end up using the longer bellhousing from a rangerover and my engine now sits 2" further back than a factory V8. When I later converted it to an auto, I had to fabricate a new left-hand gearbox mount though. For what it's worth, the last of the 110 V8's prior to the introduction of the R380 gearbox did have LT77's fitted I seem to remember, but I think this was only for about 9 months of production. Badger.

Reply to
Badger

Thanks Badger. So hopefully I might be able to find the proper bracket in the parts book if I look for something with a fairly short range of applicable VINs around model year L or M (1994/95).

Cheers,

Andrew.

Reply to
Andrew Cleland

There's an LT77S ( don't know what the 'S' is for) listed for a V8 110" from

1987 to '92 with mounting numbers NTC9224 left hand and NTC1201 + 90575585 for the right hand. As far as I can see all the earlier ones are LT85 and later ones R380. Probably be easier to fabricate what you want.

Martin

Reply to
Oily

LT77s - let me think ...

LT77 change is race car, Santana change is truck. I know this because I used to run a TD110 and V8 110 alongside each other.

Also I had to get the V8's Santana box rebuilt with a new main shaft due to the problem of the output gear wearing on the shaft (it should have a cross drilled one now, so it shouldn't happen again) - but I didn't know this happened on Santana boxes. It does.

However I had a P6B Rover V8 with LT77 and the gearbox got ate up and spat out - though it was s/h when I got it. The earlier (and most common) LT77s have a problem with wear in the taper bearing, which allows the shafts to run a little out of line, and then some swarf is made, which goes around the bearings, and so it spirals into a mess. Also they run on ATF oil, which is thin as water.

However, the later LT77 boxes (I think from D to H suffix - thats to

1994) are a whole different affair - they still have a sweet gear change, but they are much stronger (bigger bearings). I have a G suffix box in a Marcos with a 4.5 litre V8 leaning on it, and it has 62000 miles so far, and it hasn't died yet.

The R380 box came along and moved the reverse, but I think goes in the same hole as the LT77. Never had one of them, RPi will flog you one.

Incidentally, if you want a strong box, and don't mind a truck change, there are several different versions of the Santana box. Some can run on EP multi-grade and some can't (some have a pump that will die if asked to pump the thick stuff).

If you are hanging an early LT77 on the back of a V8 then I expect you will soon find a small tree growing on the magnetic drain plug. It will be nice while it lasts.

Steve

Reply to
Cheshire Steve

Great, thanks Martin. I'll take a look and see what availability/cost is like, otherwise it's out with the MIG.

Cheers,

Andrew.

P.S. The S was, I think, one with a stronger synchro mechanism or something like that.

Reply to
Andrew Cleland

Cheers Steve. I'll probably stick with the LT77S for the mo. if mounts are available/easy to make. Mine is, I think, an ex-Disco box, or at least the transfer box is, as it's a 1.222:1 unit. It's been on the back of the V8 for a while now, so hopefully it'll last a bit more. When it fails(!) I'll maybe take a look at an R380, although I do also fancy a ZF autobox....

Cheers,

Andrew.

Reply to
Andrew Cleland

Andrew Hi,

please bear in your mind that the Discovery/Range Rover Classic LT77/R380 gearboxes do have the gearchange lever and mechanism located further to the rear.

So if you fit and Disco/RRCl gearbox the gearlever will be extremely close to the center seat.

Take care Pantelis

Reply to
Pantelis Giamarellos

introduction

I think the right hand ones are same as RRC. It may be just the left that's an oddball. Richard will probably enlighten you, he's usually pretty clued up on them, he may even have them in stock.

Martin

Reply to
Oily

Hi Pantelis,

Thanks for the info - I guess that means it must be a Disco transfer box bolted to a Defender main box, as the stick's in the right place.

Cheers,

Andrew.

Reply to
Andrew Cleland

That would be useful - there's only so much I can make out from the piccies in the parts book! Back when I did my Lightweight (late '90's) there was a storekeeper at our local dealers who could help with questions like this, but nowadays you just get a funny look - I tried.

Cheers,

Andrew.

Reply to
Andrew Cleland

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