Outer Limits 4x4 Board

I am looking at purchasing an 88 Rangie with a blown VM diesel. I will then replace the VM & LT77 with an Isuzu 3.9 & LT95.
Does anyone know if the turbo from the VM with fit the Isuzu or should I throw it away with the engine & look for a better turbo. Does anyone know what the the VM turbo is like? What sort of crusing speed should I expect with turbo, non turbo it is said that the Isuzu will only do 110kph tops. Also can you fit inter cooler to this setup?
Thanks
Steve

The turbo off the Vm runs at about 14psi standard but it is off a 2.4 litre compaired to the 3.9 isuzu.

It should cope with the bigger motor with the boost turned down as you probably won't want to run that high pressure with the isuzu anyway.

Also they have enough power to go faster but maybe the gearing is the limiting factor as we used to get the Army Rovers over that but was noisy and reving but if you had taller tyres on it then that would solve that.

380 gbox would be the go, those 3.9s can produce 500Nm of torque if you get them setup with a decent sized turbo and intercooler.

Regards

Tom

You need to call Chuck - Sam (Strangerover's business partner). He has an ex VM RR which now has a 3.9ISUZU with a WRX turbo and an R380 gearbox/LT230 T-case. He did all the conversion and turbo work himself. It goes really well and drinks the same or less than the NA 3.9 in my county.

just remember boys the R380 is called that because it is built to handle around 380 Nm of torque...I know there are many guys running around with more torque than that going through it but do you really want to .....
I'd be putting in a ZF or Torqueflite auto.

landy_man wrote:just remember boys the R380 is called that because it is built to handle around 380 Nm of torque...I know there are many guys running around with more torque than that going through it but do you really want to .....
I'd be putting in a ZF or Torqueflite auto.

Chuck has put 100,000K on the clock with the r380 and yes it is
called that cause of the torque. The r380s are farily cheap in comparison to the rest of the gear you will need to run the isuzu not to mention the $5000+ you will need for the engine.

ZF would be nice though

I baught a new defender in 2001....within 6 months, the gearbox(R380) was replaced 3 times and the transfer(LT230) twice....I will never drive a vehicle with a R380 gearbox ever again...
The LT230 was not at fault I believe

landy_man wrote:I baught a new defender in 2001....within 6 months, the gearbox(R380) was replaced 3 times and the transfer(LT230) twice....I will never drive a vehicle with a R380 gearbox ever again...
The LT230 was not at fault I believe

Your joking, Chuck uses his to tow people's rock crawlers out of
tracks when the break transfer cases, his car would be around 3 tonne
with 500nm of torque @ 1700 rpm reco r380 that would have 100,000 hard Ks on it without any signs of missing a beat, I beleive he has had it out once or twice to check it over.

Amazing how different the same product can be !!

All Land Rover 5 speeds are crap to a certain extent, especially with that sort of torque!!

The Lt95 is the only decent manual box that land Rover ever designed. noisy and ruggard, but tough as nails!!

I'll stick with my ZF, I know it's not going to play up (also had it rebuilt in June last year). I gotr 255,000 out of mine and it had a hard life by both me and the previous owner.

Regards,

Trav

Maybe Chuck should use this thread to make his first post on this site

Concidering he joined 2 days after the site started

http://www.outerlimits4x4.com/PHP_Modul ... ofile&u=40

steve i just bought one the same 88 5spd 2.4 vm
with blown motor, but it did last 350000 ks for the old
owner. paid 1500 bodys in good shape interior is shabby.
I was wondering what to put in it to replace the vm.
thinking about a 300tdi so as to change as little as possible.
still going through the list to see whats needed.
keep us posted on what motor/hassles/$$$ is needed.

good luck

We also purchased an 88 vm turbo diesel, but have pulled it out and fitted a p76 and auto. We therefore have the vm for sale. The previous owner had the motor rebuilt about 30,000kms ago, all bar the heads. The motor is complete except the heads have been removed. The car had done about 190,000 km's. The motor has new pistons, liners, rings, bearings, water pump, radiator and a second hand intercooler. The clutch has also been done. We understand that he had spent about $15,000 to have all of the above work done.

He said it was working perfectly but started to loose water, he believed the heads were leaking, we actually found the heater unit under the dash was leaking. Can't gaurantee that this was the only place the water was leaking.

We are looking for about $1500 (plus freight) would prefer not to separate. It comes with the starter, alternator, turbo etc.

Guy 0414 837 819