By last May he had built a suitable 4.2 litre motor but to avoid it turning
into one of those ‘long term projects’ he set a deadline -
in just 8 months the car was booked to go on the club green lane weekend,
passengers were relying on him, accommodation was booked and paid for,
so it had to be done on time no matter what.
The gearbox is a 4HP24E off a Range Rover P38A, mated to the Jag engine
with an adaptor plate that he cut from a great big slab of ally and the
torque converter is mounted on a modified Jag flex plate.
You probably will not be surprised to hear that a Jag engine does not
‘bolt straight in’ to an RRC, in fact it really doesn’t
fit at all. The dangerous phase started last June as Franc explains;
“I took the
old engine out and dropped a scrap AJV8 engine block in, bolted to the
old gearbox, with engine mount brackets attached, to see where they sit
relative to the chassis. Then I cut the old mount brackets off the chassis,
the point of no return!
The new mounts just happen to be the old ones turned through 180 degrees
and fitted further back”
Not only did the chassis
need modification, but the exhausts point backwards and needed a large
chunk of bulkhead to be removed;
“I removed lots
of interior, and the next step was to see just how much of the bulkhead
the engine hits and where the exhaust had to go. The driver's and passenger's
feet will be nice and warm, that's for sure!”
Things were not going
well at the front of the engine either;
“I could have
either an alternator or a steering box, both of which are kind of essential,
so I used a RR P38A steering box mounted on the outside of the chassis.
Unfortunately the mounting bolt pattern is entirely different and there
is no longer room for the Panhard rod, so much drilling and fabrication
of brackets ensued.”
The new set up has
custom Panhard and steering rods which cleverly minimise bump steer and
are significantly stronger than standard.
By August the main mechanical design was set and attention turned to tidying
up the car’s metalwork.
“It was time
to get rid of all the rust and mud from the inner wings ready for a nice
coat of paint. Unfortunately it turned out that the rust and mud was the
inner wings!”
Feverish activity ensued with many of Franc’s chums helping out,
and whilst some removable panels were fabricated from aluminium, the important
bits, including foot wells, floor and inner wings, were repaired properly
and the result is a much stronger shell which is a nice snug fit round
the new power plant.
He needed to check the engine had adequate clearance even at extreme suspension
angles, so taking the worst case scenario Franc removed the front road
springs so the axle sat hard on the bump stops.
“As expected,
various things like the steering damper, trackrod and diff casing contacted
the sump, and so off it came to have large chunks removed and new aluminium
welded on.”
He also found that
the bonnet doesn’t quite clear the supercharger, hence the subtle
bulge which rather complements the otherwise standard looking car, also
if you look closely you will spot the cunning side mounted Aerocatch bonnet
pins.
The cooling system is a work of art and based on a RRC radiator with electric
fans, but also has a custom built radiator for the air to water intercoolers
with its own electric coolant pump.
Obviously all the associated wiring had to be stripped out and re-made
to incorporate an electronic throttle and the Italian EFI engine control
system, similar to the ones on the Dakar racers.
By January the laning trip was perilously close and the car was still
in lots of pieces, but, undeterred, Franc and assorted chums started on
the next task of getting an exhaust system made;
“We created
a stunning work of art otherwise known as the front downpipes and 'Y'
piece of the exhaust. The rest of the system is a mixture of LR parts
cut and shut to fit.”
At that point everyone
was called round for a ceremonial start up (and some beer of course),
the engine fired up first time and sounded awesome, particularly in the
small garage.
Now you might think
that having done all that he would sit back and say it was done, but not
Franc. As this is his main family car, it has to be economical, so he
has fitted LPG with sequential injection. It has two underslung tanks
(with recesses in the floor for good ground clearance) plus one in the
boot, range is important for the annual family holiday as well as several
green laning trips each year.
February duly arrived
and so did a milestone;
It has an MoT and
Tax. But driving back from the MoT, the engine power suddenly dropped
and it would only perform like an ordinary Range Rover. I opened the bonnet
to find the (currently air-filter-less) air intake duct was stuck firmly
to the screenwash bottle by suction. Even with that, it still performed
like a standard car.
March saw the crafting
of a full air filter system in time for the planned laning trip, but unfortunately
one of the rear drive shafts (or mechanical fuses!) snapped. With not
enough time for a repair, Franc simply engaged the rear ARB diff lock,
removed the remains of the shaft and completed the weekend in Wales (including
Srata Florida) with only 3 wheel drive!
The car has several
subtle but effective off road modifications, like protection plates, jackable
sills and the heavy duty bumpers which incorporate recovery points - have
a good look at the photos and you might just spot the front winch. The
usual boot contents include a high lift jack, felling axe and a bow saw,
all of which get used, so the car’s total weight is approaching
that of the current Range Rover Sport.
Having worked a lot
on the current Land Rover products, I was very keen to see how it compared
to its modern counterparts. Not surprisingly, the acceleration is similarly
brisk, with a massive surge of thrust from low speeds it gathers pace
indecently fast, but as we are on public roads and on mud tyres I reign
in the 400 horses before the scenery gets too blurry.
Now I should point
out that the auto box was not quite normal. In fact ‘not quite normal’
could be applied to quite a few things Franc does. He built his own gearbox
ECU and now has full manual shift control as well as an auto option with
his own shift program, manual shifts are commanded from a steering column
switch and the cunning torque converter clutch control makes it feel just
like a manual box. Flicking through the gears in manual mode is a joy
and allows the driver to explore the engine’s considerable potential.
The handling has been
developed over time by Franc and is supple without being too soft. The
front springs are off the back end of a Defender and the rear ones are
police spec RRC with 40mm spacers, dampers are adjustable Konis all round
and poly bushes keeping links under control.
I have driven some astonishing cars in my time, but this one is distinguished
by not only being a very fast road car, but by being excellent off road
and totally practical for every day use as a family car. The overriding
impression I am left with is desire; I really want one, don’t you?
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