And regarding the vacuum pump, I may be taking too simple an approach here but if you have too many ports pulling vacuum I'd think you could cap one off and that would just improve the vacuum on the other, but I don't know much about them so that might be a crap suggestion.

 

Hey guys,
Regarding the oil pan, There is a guy called "franco" in Canada who has a thread with pictures of his conversion of a Discovery and OM617. He had to whack off both left and right sides of the oil pan to clear the steering box and the differential.

Thread here: The Rover-Landers of BC • View topic - Diesel swap OM617 into a Disco.

Pics here:
pic of differential side: IMG_8073.jpg Photo by franko_6962 | Photobucket
Pic of steering box side: http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/n...2/IMG_8074.jpg

To avoid this, you could use a custom OM617 pan from MercedesDiesel4x4:
A-MB102 Oil Pan Assy

This pan is designed for Jeep conversions, but it would probably work great for the Discovery because it would solve two issues: clearance for the differential on the right side, and clearance for the steering box on the left side.

 

I will be hacking my origional. Spending over 200 is not in the cards. And thank you for the link to canada mod. That mount mod makes alot of sense. Square tube is a bit easier to come by. Also thought to cut the mount frame off the mb body.

Not ready to pull my v8 yet. My downtime car needs a few things like front tires. Very soon though.

 

Regarding the donor car pic caption... Just rip it out. U will figure everything else out along the way. Just make sure wiring from engine to firewall is traced. Labled then cut. The large black box is importand as it is the power load center for glow plugs. It also powers your lighting.. Also, the tach signal comes from the pickup located at 2:00 position above on crank pulley. Its single plastic tube clad wire runnong to the twist locking cylinder on driver side wheel well. Its black

 

Hey everyone waiting for the OM617 to R380 Manual Trans Adapter Plate to be out there or at least a template.

I will be getting the material Monday to cut and mill the adapter plate for my project. I don't have 300.00 for the aluminum, nor do I have thousands of disposable dollars to CNC shop to read and cut motor and trans .... so I have researched materials left and right and have found a material comparable to aluminum with only .02 compression yield and is less brittle and less prone to fracture under stress. It is self lubricating and will not interact with other materials and has a heat resistance up to 350 deg F with total transparency to solvents and or chemicals. Did I mention at 1/3rd the cost of aluminum? For half the cost I can make my plate and have plenty left over to make a template for production.

I may use this material for the pilot bearing if needed. HDPE or High Density Polyethelene. They make friction bearings and gears out of this stuff

That said, I plan on having my 3.9 out this week with the hopes of not turning back! I will be using Franco of Canada's square tube design for my motor mounts as availability is high and cost is ridiculously low to produce.

For those of you who "have to have aluminum" I will have at least a template available for reasonable exchange to send to CNC shop of your choice and have milled. I guess I may be developing a kit. Delusions of grandeur?

My downtime vehicle (83 300D) has tires on it and is running great. So I am ready to go!

Anyone out there have input on using HDPE?

 

I have use HDPE for small projects before. I just didn't know it was HDPE until your post prompted me to look it up. The material I used was cutting boards about 1/2 inch thick. I can attest that it is a very tough material (especially at the thickness you would be using). In fact, not that I think of it I used it as a spacer almost exactly like the adapter you are going to make. Today I learned it is so tough it is used as ballistic plate in some applications.

It is easy to cut with a saw and drill. I also used heat to smooth rough edges.

My concerns for your use are it's ability to hold bolt threads and its heat resistance. I read 110 degrees Celsius as the maximum continuous operating temperature, but I can tell you it gets a little tacky and bendable at higher temperatures and the undersides of my Disco get pretty hot from exhaust temps, etc. My other concern is its ability to hold the bolt threads (in my hobby application it was just a spacer so I didn't need to hold threads). Add heat and stress to the equation and I am concerned that the bolt threads will deform or pull out.

Still it is an interesting idea. If I tried it I would be tempted to make sure the adapter was two pieces so it could be removed and replaced without pulling the engine.

 

Thank you for yout input. The cutting tolerance is .02 so I would imagine threading would not be an issue. You have valid point about the high operating temp. I read somewhere that it would hold shape and rigidity up to higher. stress and twisting is my concern... ya know engine against trans and clutch.

I thought to incorporate brass. they impregnate bras threaded studs in plastics all the time; laptop shell, radio and tv casing / coverings.

Just brainstorming here. I can get HDPE 24"x48" for 150.00 locally. I toy with the idea of black nyon plate as well Nylon is almost expensive as Aluminum. I figure on the threading, I will have to go coarse either with HDPE or Nylon.

Using either HDPE or Nylon as only a spacer opens the door for cost reduction buy using half inch steel for my actual adapter there will be my threads and studs pressed in. I could use wheel / hub studs.... or I can drill and tap using exhaust / intake studs or the like

 

I think it is a genius idea if it works. It's easy for people on the forums to say 'take it to a shop" or "ship it to England" or whatever. If that works you will have done a great service to everyone (like me) waiting in the wings on the OM617 conversion. It is well established that the adapter issue is the biggest issue for just about everyone who doesn't live where CNC setups are plentiful.

I'm going to go ahead and pull my working OM and rebuild it in the stand.

 

I am glad I was able to encourage you with my idea. Ever since I bought this Disco I about a year, I have been researching the conversion. I only have been recently getting actual mass on it because I have the engine in hand pulled out for a week now.

When the wheels of thought are turning 24-7 in almost obsessive fashion it is amazing the work around ideas that come to mind. This work around I believe is the solution for me.

The more folks motivated by a project like this is only more like minded folks to contribute to the common goal.

I just sold the shell of the donor and now I can pull the Disco recipient into the garage and strip the ***** down and give her what for.

She's a good *****. Every time I get in her she wants more money...lol

 

This site has a kit including the adapter, the mounts and down pipe for exhaust. They provide an adapter of 10mm thickness out of steel I imagine that is only the mating bolt pattern. This uses the stock adapter plate on the 617 engine. I plan to use the stock adapter and my HDPE plate for mating adapter and space for clearing the axle as this kit does not apear to address this issue. S M T AB

They also suggest using the MB clutch which implies you have a manual flywheel of which for the 300D is almost non-existent. The g-wagon manual fw will work as W460 too has the 3.0L 617 engine but you need a larger clutch assly. The crank bolt pattern on the 200D, 240D and 300D is identical from 1974 - 85 (240D). Dif between 300D and 240D is about 10lbs. Same number teeth on ring gear and same diameter. Research done.

The MB is balanced by the flywheel so this comes to question if the LR fw is even going to satisfy weight compatibility. Vibration under load or high RPM may kill the MB crank by harmonic transfer and interference.

Needless to say I have been trying to source a MB Manual Trans flywheel to cover my **** in the event the LR fw is not practical and applicable. I have seen them listed for 600 and up which I don't have. I know this project is going to cost some but I am geared for the shade tree budget.

Also I have not seen the input shaft to know if it has 10 teeth as MB has in this application or that it has 22teeth spline.

Lack of time at this point has prevented me from getting my 3.9 motor out so I can find out. I hope to have it out late Sunday eve at best.

If anyone has any suggestions, I will be happy to hear them. Until next time... Don't get any on ya.