Military Lightweight Forum

At last I have got hold of a perfect new old stock shaft for the transfer box. 1973 part in its original Leyland box and cover in waxy grease.
I found loads of copy parts and found some are made in Romania, China and not always great copies. I hope all parts I get hold of are new old stock.

That was short lived, after checking it looks like I was sent a shaft from the gearbox and not the transfer box. One is in the way as a replacement though.

The transfer box is now fully stripped and I just need to get 2 more bearing which I’m going direct to a local bearing supplier to get them.

I have been able to get every part as new old stock apart from the low range gear which appears to be out of stock everywhere. I’m not to concerned because I checked mine very carefully and it doesn’t have signs of wear or damage. I’m taking a guess this is due to it having been an RAF support vehicle that didn’t do much off roading. Due to transfer box being mated to a TD5 rebuild R380 5 speed box I used the Ashcroft adaptor kit.
One downside is a leak from a channel on the case which has now been filled to sort the issue. The selector fork was pretty worn which is fine as I have a replacement. Sounds mad but the more worn parts I find the better because it can only mean the difference when rebuilt will be more noticeable.

Here is the complete set of parts I have purchased over the last 2-years to do this build:

It’s now fully rebuilt and fitted to the R380 gearbox.

The next picture shows the Ashcroft Transmissions Series transfer box to R380 adaptor.

As most conversions don’t go exactly as you want them we found when fitting the R380 gearbox the engine no longer lined up correctly to the bell housing, despite using the Ashcroft Transmissions shortened version with all the correct hole spacings. The way round this was achieved by adding some small rubber washers 4mm thick to rotate the engine position. While the engine was out we took the opportunity to replace the rubber mountings.

I recently sent my rear prop shaft off to Bailey Morris to check its condition and suitability for my set up.
After a long chat I decided to have a new bespoke one made.
Firstly my one had a small dent in the outer sleeve which certainly won’t help with balancing and vibration. I’ve decided to go for wide angle double cardon joints on both ends. This weekend coming we will refit the box and test fit the two different sized spacers wedges to tilt the diff and reduce the angle. Fingers crossed after doing both of these alterations the prop angle will be improved and reduce possible vibration and noise
I know it’s a series Land Rover despite the engine and gearbox change and it will never sound like a car. I’ve tried to do everything on this build to the best standard and at this point I’d try anything to get it right.

StuWright wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 04, 2024 1:54 am

I recently sent my rear prop shaft off to Bailey Morris to check its condition and suitability for my set up.
After a long chat I decided to have a new bespoke one made.
Firstly my one had a small dent in the outer sleeve which certainly won’t help with balancing and vibration. I’ve decided to go for wide angle double cardon joints on both ends. This weekend coming we will refit the box and test fit the two different sized spacers wedges to tilt the diff and reduce the angle. Fingers crossed after doing both of these alterations the prop angle will be improved and reduce possible vibration and noise
I know it’s a series Land Rover despite the engine and gearbox change and it will never sound like a car. I’ve tried to do everything on this build to the best standard and at this point I’d try anything to get it right.

Hi Stu
Your perseverence in the face of the adversity in this conversion can only be described as legendary.
I wish you all the best and hope you can finally nail it, you deserve it mate.
Best Regards
Bob

Bob Fell wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 04, 2024 8:09 pm

Hi Stu
Your perseverence in the face of the adversity in this conversion can only be described as legendary.
I wish you all the best and hope you can finally nail it, you deserve it mate.
Best Regards
Bob

Much appreciated Bob. You never know before I’m dead I might get round to fitting the radio kit I have.

The prop shaft is back and looks well made as expected. It couldn’t have a double cardon joints both ends or there wouldn’t have been enough room to have the sliding action.
It definitely has wider angle joints than the previous one.
The angles are much improved so let’s see how it drives.