Thank you Mollusc!

ZGPhoto, Nothing personal but the Gaiter kits are $37 plus $7 shipping. That's $44 for a little piece of paper thin imitation leather. They don't even come with the plastic retainer rings that hold them in place . Land Rover prices are ridiculous.

I can go to the local fabric store and buy a nice thick piece of vinyl or quality fabric for $5. Cut the shape that fits or use the old D1 shifter boot as a template with 1 stitch up the back. Glue it to the retainer plastic ring. Boom done!!!

Actually I bet my wife has some nice pieces for the shifter boot in her crafting collection. I'll sneak out a piece to use!!

 

I see your concern. I very rarely ever shift out of high gear. I can shift over to neutral and diff lock high. I can't remember the last time I shifted into low. If it's in the way I'll make another little bracket to move it back some.

The bracket is a piece of 16ga sheet steel. Cut into a strip. Added holes on both ends. Then bent it to 90 degrees in the middle. I screwed it into the bottom of the dash.

 

You should find a way to make the retainer plate for the boot out of aluminum, the plastic ones crack

 

All right all you followers of this thread!!! BIG BIG NEWS!!!! The check engine light is out!!! No engine codes!! It passed Pennsylvania, USA Emissions with all systems checked!! This is the biggest problem doing this conversion is stopping the ECU (or ECM in the UK) looking for the auto trans. Since the ECU can't find the autobox. It won't check all the emissions equipment.

I contacted Tornado Systems in the UK. I told Mark Adams (owner) what I was working on and my concerns. He said "let me program an ECM and see what happens." It took awhile for him to figure out and program the North American Bosch fuel injection program since it's different than a UK version.

He sent me the reprogrammed ECU and a new mass air flow sensor. He said it should be replaced if the truck has 80k-90k miles. So I went for it.

Next step is to install the new parts. Mass air flow sensor piece of cake. Next the ECU. It's not a plug n play computer. The BCU and ECU talk to each other on every start up. So the new ECU needed synced to my old BCU.

I called the 2 local import garages and the Land Rover dealerships to get the new ECU synced with my truck. 1 garage didn't have the program to do it. The other garage said "you have to have matching ECU and BCU. It's not going to work. Sorry". The Land Rover dealership said "we can give it a try and see if we can sync it. it'll be $250 for us to try." I'm not paying $250 for a dealership to "try".

So I called my friend with a Nanocom in Pittsburgh, PA. He said the Nanocom can do it but hasn't tried it. So I drove out to he's place. I swapped out the ECU's in he's driveway. The ECU is found on the passenger side behind the right side kick panel. Kind of a tight squeeze. I suggest putting the connectors on the new ECU then bolt it back in.

There is little to no instructions on how to sync with the Nanocom. Here's how you do it.
1. Disconnect negative (-) lead on battery.
2. swap out old ECU with new ECU.
3. Reconnect vehicle's battery.
4. Plug Nanocom into the truck (ignition turned off)
5. Go thru the menus to the Motronic computer.
6. At the last page there's "learn security code"
7. Tap on it. It'll be processing for a second and go blank.
8. Turn the ignition to on position. Do not start!! wait a second or 3.
9. Turn the key off. Wait a second or 5.
10. Turn key to on position and try to start.

It should fire right up. I had an error that happened twice with no start because I was being impatient and excited to try the new ECU. Once I chilled and took my time and let the computers think a little. The old boy fired right up and no check engine light.

The drive home was about 50 miles with a mix of highway and city driving. It ran so smooth. Each shift had a little more power then before. It felt like the Rover was firing on all 8 cylinders and running really good. The crazy part was not having the CHECK ENGINE light shining in my face all the time. haha!! I was so happy and had a big sigh of relief it was off.

So I put about 500 miles on the truck with new ECU. I have to say it's been great!! I have to send out a HUGE thank you to Mark Adams at Tornado Systems. He said "let's try" instead of everyone else saying "it can't be done. Bye!"
If anyone plans on doing this conversion. Please contact Mark. The ECU is under warranty and if there's any problems or the ECU losses the program or whatever. He keeps a back up of the program. If needed.

Link to Tornado Systems for information.
Tornado Systems | Engine Management Technology Specialists

Here's the new ECU. It's all official looking and proper.


The victory stickers of passing Pennsylvania, USA emissions!!! haha!!


These are the security codes I got from cycling the key too fast and the engine not starting. These codes have no effect on the car itself. They don't turn on the MIL lamp or nothing. Notice in this picture the EMISSION STATUS light is green and all the circles for emission are on and check OK. None are blicking.

 

Here's a little video of the truck with the conversion completed and truck running. For some reason my voice is really quiet. Sorry for the messy winter salty look of the inside and outside.

 

👍👍👍👍👍

 

 

Great job Conrad! Congrats!