Date: Thu, 14 Jun 90 10:36:12 EDT From: caloccia@sw.stratus.com To: Simon Lewis cc: lro@stratus.com Subject: Re: 109" Engine Conversion. // 2 1/4L alternator supports Hi Simon, > I have 5.7 litre Chevy engined Range Rover on loan at the moment. Would that be one of the conversions by Broadfeilds ? Is that a common conversion in the UK ? For those of you `Stateside', the 90 and 110 are the current Short and Long Wheelbase offerings from Land Rover Ltd (now part of the Rover Group, which is owned by British Aerospace). The 90 and 110 look almost exactly like LRs did when last they were imported to North America, but underneath they have the mechanicals of the Range Rover (full-time 4WD with centre locakable diff, 5-speed gearbox, *coil* springs, disk brakes etc. etc.). > heard of Land Rover's new vehicle, `Discovery'. The is the vehicle with The Discovery has gotten some coverage in a number of places here, (ie. _Autoweek_, which is the comprable US publication to _Autocar & Motor_ , though the latter seems to be a better publication, [though I preferred _Motor_'s style before the takeover]). I've also read the reports in _AutoCar & Motor_. Previously, RRoNA was non committal on importing the Discovery, but I get the impession that it will show up here eventually. Tarriffs on 2dr. sport/utilities differ from 4dr. ones, and the import tax people, National Highway & Traffi c Safety Administration, and insurance people here all seem to thing light trucks and sport/utility vehicles are differnet... (I think a 2dr is a 25% tarriff and four door is a 2.5% tarriff, which used to be just front seats was a 25% tarrif, and more seats was a 2.5% tarrif, but like I said, these government types are confused.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- As for the 109" engine converion, while I was on my way to Rovers North, I stopped at Chesire motors, in Marlboro, NH. They have their own Land Rover bone-yard, as well as a number of vehicles on the lot, from Series I 80" to more recent vehicles. There were two 109"s, one had a straight-6 chevy engine (which required moving the radiator housing slightly forward. Another had the 2 1/4 L engine, as found in 88"s. (BTW, prices were 16 and $18,000) One was equipped with a full roof rack, which was secured to the very large diamond-plate covered bumper in the front. (If this wasn't bumper, it could be a workbench.) They also had a few 88"s including a '73 which had just been transported from California, which appeared to be in excellent shape ($13,000). After getting a tour of the bone-yard, I left for Northerd Vermont, and picked up a used rear diff from Rovers North, and then I traveled to Albany, and installed it on Saturday afternoon. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Alternators In my '69 88", one of the previous owners installed a lucas alternator in a somewhat non-stock position, attaching to the top of the head, the bracket to a water pump bolt and the rear of the mount to a piece of steel stock which was run over to the top of the intake manifold. It seems this arrangement has two problems, first it does not want to stay tight, second, I think that getting it tight places some strain on the water pump & its bearings... What I'd like to do it try to mount it on the normal generator mounts, which are low on the block (though, I wonder why this wasn't done originally, and thus conclude, that it didn't fit properly... Does anyone have any experience with the generator to altenator conversion ??? (Heck, I'd even go for throwing a 90 amp delco, if I had a better idea of how it would fit...) --bill