4x4 Mag - Road Legal V8 Hybrid

The "Beast" - Road Legal V8 Landie

written by Paul Wilson

My first V8 was a Series IIa Land Rover with a V8 engine conversion, I broke more half-shafts than I'd like to admit. So when a customer of ours at work said he had a Range Rover based Trialler which had been sitting on his driveway for the past 12 months, I was keen to view this machine.

As with most triallers the vehicle had been built as basic as possible, although a few comforts were added, like Range Rover clocks fixed on the dashboard, and headlights, indicators and brake lights on the front and back. All the bushes had been replaced with Polybushes, which I was pleased with as these are quite expensive. No door tops or rear cab meant 12 months of rain and snow left the seats growing a nice healthy moss, and the clocks on the dashboard not functioning. One headlight worked and also one indicator light, so at least I knew there were wires connected somewhere!

The bonnet and front-end was Series II Land Rover. The bonnet had been extended about 10 inches, and the front-end moved forward to fit the engine, which is a clever and cheaper way instead of using a 90 bonnet and front-end.
With a fully charged battery connected the engine fired OK after a few goes. The clutch had stuck, but after rocking the vehicle back and fore a bit I managed to free it and was able to take it for a quick test drive.
Money exchanged hands shortly after and I transported it home to begin the task of transforming it into a mean, street legal offroader!!

The first thing to do was to get that V8 running right. I fitted a pair of SU carburettors, changed all the spark plugs, leads, points, oil and filter, and had the timing set right.
Most of the head light, indicator and brake light problems were caused by corroded connectors and wiring, which were replaced. New indicator fittings made them more reliable instead of just "sometimes working when they feel like it", and new lenses were also fitted.
I decided to fit a Land Rover Series III windscreen wiper mechanism. The wiring loom was Range Rover, so all the wiring for the wipers, washers etc. was already there so a Range Rover wiper-lever was easily attached to the steering colomn and connected to the loom.
The tyres were much too small for what I wanted, so I sacrificed a bit of the quick acceleration for larger 750 SATs and 16" wheels which I already had, taken off my previous Land Rover before I sold it. The next task was to replace the roll cage and flat aluminium roof with a truck cab. The top and front part of the roll cage had to be cut off, allowing room to bolt the cab to the body, then door tops were fitted.

Now it was looking much more like a road legal machine...

I thought it was now time for the MOT, luckily I decided to ask a mechanic friend of mine to check it over first though. There were a few things needed to be done: new brake pads, fix the horn, and replace the flasher unit on the indicators. After all this had been done, it passed the MOT with flying colours!!

Now that I was able to drive my Land Rover on the road, I began thinking of ways to upgrade and improve it, remembering I was on a fairly limited budget...

I managed to get hold of a set of "almost new" second hand heavy duty coil suspension and gas adjustable shocks. These lifted the machine an extra 3 inches and made the ride much stiffer than the original coils, but the ride and handling was excellent (as Land Rovers go!), the Polybushes may have helped here.
The existing fuel tank was situated in the rear body and had a 5 gallon capacity , which is plenty for trial use, but not very handy for a petrol V8 on the road! This was soon replaced by a 15 gallon tank and fixed inside a purpose built steel frame.
Refitting the rest of the roll cage was next on the list. The way the original cage was made (without a cab), it was easier to have the top and front internal. This meant cutting 3 holes in the roof to allow the top bars of the cage to run inside the roof, down the front of the cab and then straight down to the chassis, and welded into place. I then covered these internal bars with foam cladding, which is much nicer to look at, and much softer to bang your head on!

A lid of some sort was needed for the rear body to prevent the equipment being buried in 2 inches of mud after every offroad adventure. This was done using 19mm plywood (for extra strength when standing on) with 3mm aluminium tread plate on top, and hinged just behind the roll cage for access. Another hinged door was made between the roll cage acting like a "trap door" to maximize access and create more available room for storage.
The sky blue colour which the body was coated in did not look mean enough in my opinion. So a Nato green was chosen as the new finish.

I decided to splash out a bit now on some brand new offroad accessories. An aluminium steering guard which was expensive, but I'm sure has paid for itself already, and really looks the part. Also a raised air-intake or "snorkel", again quite expensive, but is certainly worth fitting and better looking than the one I was going to make myself!
My 7.50 SAT's where old and wearing a bit thin, so I chose some 10.50 Dirt Devil's to do the job which meant fitting some 90 Land Rover wheel arches as these tyres protrude quite a bit past the body. The arches had to be cut quite a bit to fit the Series II body and large tyres. I was also lucky to find a good second hand 8000lb electric winch, which has proved invaluable in my offroad escapades. Now my Land Rover was looking more like the mean offroading machine I was aiming for.

I have since fitted twin Kenlowe fans which should reduce any overheating I encounter when pushing the beast to the limit.

At the moment it is sitting on my driveway with 2 broken diffs, which I managed to break during my most recent offroad exploits. (I broke the rear first, so removed it, being careful not to spill oil on the ground, and carried on the rest of the day with only 2 wheel drive at the front, until I ventured up the last steep hill of the day which... well you know what happened!). It must be said though there is such a contrast between 2 and 4 wheel drive. Traction was greatly reduced and the vehicle was much more difficult to control.
I think this is an excellent opportunity to fit Detroit locking diffs with True Track at the front. And I'm looking forward to testing these out soon!