donor vehicle

[67ak109]

Ive decided to tear into my 67 IIa 109. Im going to try and make it a good dd, so i wanna make it a little more reliable. The rover engine was removed by the last owner, and the axels and tranny are in pretty bad shape. As i am not really concerned with preserving the rover drivetrain, I was thinking I'd pick up a donor truck and just swap out the motor, tranny, tcase, and axles.

Im thinking an early 80's chevy would work, but i thought I'd ask yall what else you think would work well? Im not quite sure on axle widths, so does anybody know how fullsize axles will fit?

[Old Scout]

80's chebby would equal a 10bolt front and a C clip 12 bolt rear. You can do MUCH better! A frt D44 and a rear D60 would be a better choice.

[ISUZUROVER]

Although I generally like keeping things rover...

Get a D60 front and rear and an SBC (or a chev 3.8 v6), then everything is nice and bombproof. If you plan on running an auto with overdrive or a 5-speed you can even use the series T-case because it is very strong (or you can just pick your diff gears so the highway gearing is right).

Another option if you can get a cheap RRC with a dead/rolled/rusty body is put the LR body on the RRC running gear.

[redrangie]

my vote - toy axles front and rear with toy squirels for a motor. you can swap in a 3.0 litre toy for kicks.

j

[Way]

How about screw the donor vehicle and go pick and pull.

[67ak109]

thats still possible, but i thought i might look at making it easier at first. I thnk im gonna try and go for a 350, but im still stuck on axels. What front axles would come in a truck with a ff14bolt? i know for sure i can get my hands on one of those.

[SeaRover]

search in the chevy and gen 4x4 forums - there's loads of info here that detail both chevy and dana axles.

[Old Scout]

If ya go with a FF14bolt better look into at least 35"s. There a huge rock anchor!

[67ak109]

Originally posted by Old Scout
If ya go with a FF14bolt better look into at least 35"s. There a huge rock anchor!

i probably will go with 35's, but im not too worried about it because this is just gona be my dd, i have my dodge for wheelin

[64rovr]

if it's just a daily driver, then I would put in Toy axles and a domestic V6 and auto trans. A 4.3 V6/700R4/NP231 from an S10 would work well and be cheap, and Toy axles are cheap and easy to put in also. The widths work really well, and the front spring perches are almost exactly the right width.

[67ak109]

i wanna make sure im not underpowering it, cus i want to be able to drive it pretty fast in town. do you think that the v6 would be enough?

[64rovr]

I dunno, you tell me... is 200hp in a truck that should be just over 4000lbs enough for you? It would have the same power to weight ratio as my big block Suburban, which scoots damn well (6000 lbs, 300hp).

[67ak109]

sounds alright to me, i guess i was leaning towards the v8 because almost every swap ive seen, except for putting in other rover motors, has been a 350 or a 302. it also seems like the v8 would give more torque, that would be nice for turning bigger tires.

[ISUZUROVER]

The V6 would probably be a LOT easier to fit, you probably wouldn't even have to move the grill panel forward to fit it in.

[64rovr]

My buddy has a 4.3L and SM465 in his 88", and it fits well... Commando7 knows the rig. He is even running the stock 2.25 radiator with no issues.

[JSBriggs]

Originally posted by ISUZUROVER
The V6 would probably be a LOT easier to fit, you probably wouldn't even have to move the grill panel forward to fit it in.


You can put a big block in with out moving the grill panel forward. The bulkhead will need to be modified, bit it will fit. (not tht I am sugesting a big block, but it can be done)


-Jeff

[Old Scout]

So what is your budget?
Do you want EFI?

I have a local bone yard that has street rod pulls sitting in there showroom. There late model RWD V8 with trans,ECU, wiring harness.

Last time I was there**. I was looking at a 4.6L 32 valve V8 out of a Mark VIII. It's all aluminum engine and had a 4speed auto. Get a divorced 205 and it would be a nice combo for a rig. They were asking $2200 for the engine/trans kit with 38k on the odo.

**This was around the beginning of November.

[Old Scout]

Here are some specs of the Lincoln engine:

Engine:
4.6L 4-Cam SEFI V8

Horsepower:
280 hp @ 5500 rpm

Torque:
285 lbs ft @ 4500 rpm

[67ak109]

no real strict budget, but keeping the max around 2200 would be ideal. the motor sounds like it would be great, but how much would getting the toy axels cost on top of that? which side does the front drop on? it would be nice to put in a standard over an auto.

edit: efi isnt a big concern, i could go either way. seems to me the swap would be a lot easier without it, but if i can get a motor with ecu, it would be great.

[HandBuilt]

Originally posted by 67ak109
no real strict budget, but keeping the max around 2200 would be ideal. the motor sounds like it would be great, but how much would getting the toy axels cost on top of that? which side does the front drop on? it would be nice to put in a standard over an auto.

edit: efi isnt a big concern, i could go either way. seems to me the swap would be a lot easier without it, but if i can get a motor with ecu, it would be great.

Don't buy a donor truck, you can't get everything you need in one pile. I'll be cheap to get everything from pick and pull...

J-L