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1975 LHD 109 SW

Posted: Tue Feb 06, 2018 10:41 pm
by ericappla
Hello folks,
Ill start this thread to share my plans and progress with my camper conversion of 1975 series 3 109 station wagon
IMG_4763.JPG
It is a 6cylinder model and I plan to replace the engine with 200tdi out of discovery along with LT77/LT230 from 90 to allow for better fuel economy on the forthcoming travels.

Planned drivetrain setup is following

engine 200tdi
Gearbox LT77/LT230 (defender ratio or Discovery ratio)
Axles - series Rover axle front and Salisbury at the back. Differencials ratio 4.7:1
TIres 7.50x16

I am still not sure if I should use discovery or defender LT230 as I have both to choose from

With regards to Brakes setup I plan on retaining the 6 cylinder setup with wide shoes/drums at the front.

Springs I will retain original 6 cyl front springs but replace rears with 1Ton springs and associated shock absorbers

Steering will remain standard series without the power steering modification.

With regards to actual camper setup I will post my ideas later.

Re: 1975 LHD 109 SW

Posted: Wed Feb 07, 2018 9:49 am
by RMS
Hi Ondrej,

It's good to see you on here, and I'm looking forward to seeing your camper conversion plans.

Re. the gearbox, I'd be interested in how you get on - I have a 6 pot Carawagon with no engine currently, and a choice of 300TDi or 200TDi, plus a Defender LT77/LT230 box, so could well be doing the same as you.

I know AlexB on here has converted at least one 6 pot Dormobile with that combination, and DrivingDutchman on here is just about to convert his 6 pot Dormobile with a 300TDi and is contemplating an LT77 box.

Patrick's Carawagon was also a 6 pot, but we put a Disco 200TDi with Defender manifolds in that, and kept the S3 gearbox.

Cheers,
Robin.

Re: 1975 LHD 109 SW

Posted: Wed Feb 07, 2018 5:27 pm
by DrivingDutchman
It's a wise dicision to replace the engine when you use the camper for regular trips. 2 years ago we took our 6 pot Dormobile Dora for 3 week through France. We spent just over 1100 euro just on fuel :cry: My wallett was crying for a long time afterwards...

I am indeed converting to a 300 tdi. I am thinking about a LT77 or RG380. But will have to see how it all fits with the dormatic seats and the gearstick. Not much room to spare when the seats are in bed mode. Unlike Alex, I am intending to keep the whole engine bay, read cross members, engine mounts, etc, as original as possible so I can swap back to the 6 pot if I so wish in the future. It is a lovely engine afterall, just a bit thirsty. Mine is not realy healthy at the moment, hence the decision to do it now, before the camping season realy starts.
We plan to do the conversion in the Easter bank holiday weekend. Allready got the donor Disco with good running engine, older 3 door version, manual gearbox. So all good to go.

Michiel

Re: 1975 LHD 109 SW

Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 7:22 pm
by ericappla
Hi Chaps

here are few thoughts/forming plans I had on my future camper

Heating:
webasto hot air from the group buy, 3 air ducts. One to the roof to allow heating of roof mounted tent, second in the wheel arch (just like Oddjob has it) to allow for heating adherent tent. Last one obviously into the cab.

Electricity:
two alternators and two batteries, no split charger. I plan on placing two batteries right next to each other where the middle seat normally is. It would be sitting pretty much as deep as possible in where the optional tool tray is. This setup will allow me to clamp them together if needed either if it's very cold and I have a problems starting or in case of one of the alternators packing it.

Water:
two 45 litre tanks located like the military style under seat tanks. One for drinking water, second for utility water. This one I'm planning on making coil from copper pipe and soldering it into the tank. Coolant will pass through the copper pipe and preheat the 45 litre tank to have warm water readily available for washing dishes hands or whatever. Saves on the propane gas and the heat is there for free

Cooking/Cooling:

propane bottle located under the vehicle at the rear where the toolboxes in the 109 usually are. I still need to think about how to make actual fixing to make it easy to remove and add even as a one man job. I also think mud guard is required to stop the fixings being caked in mud all the time
Fridge the usual 3 way type Propane/12V/mains. Can anybody please share pictures of their arrangements?
When it comes to actual kitchen or better to say cooker how did you guys dealt with all the fumes and oily sticky stuff? I am thinking of using the system i seen I think in Dormobile???? Where it hangs of the rear door?

Re: 1975 LHD 109 SW

Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 8:07 pm
by Dormy
Heating:
Sounds like it should keep you warm. I should maybe pitch in on the group buy too !

Electricity:
2 alternators sounds like overkill ? A modern L/R alternator will have more than enough output for two batteries and a split charge system will be much easier to fit. Unless your chief concern is a failure of the single charging system, but swapping an alternator is only a 20 min. job !

Water:
Using waste heat to warm the water is so up with conservation themes - I prefer "Saves on the propane gas and the heat is there for free".

Cooking/Cooling:
If you can afford/get one, a 12v compressor fridge is so much more able to cool stuff and no worries about carbon monoxide.
Dormobiles have a proper built-in unit to house the gas cooker. Carawagons however, have them hung on the back door.

Ian

Re: 1975 LHD 109 SW

Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 8:20 pm
by ericappla
Dormy wrote:
Cooking/Cooling:
If you can afford/get one, a 12v compressor fridge is so much more able to cool stuff and no worries about carbon monoxide.
Dormobiles have a proper built-in unit to house the gas cooker. Carawagons however, have them hung on the back door.

Ian
thanks for correcting me. I can see compressor 3way fridge is near grand. Quite a lot of money, I'll consult it with my fellow travellers

Re: 1975 LHD 109 SW

Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 9:09 pm
by RMS
Dormy wrote:Heating:
Dormobiles have a proper built-in unit to house the gas cooker. Carawagons however, have them hung on the back door.
Cooker positioning was optional on Carawagons.
Some are door mounted, but most were built in. It all depended on what the customer wanted :cheers:

With the sinks, some Carawagons have sinks built into the top of the work surface. Others, like mine, has a plastic bowl on runners in the cupboard, designed to be pulled out and put on the worktop.
All, I think, had manual 'Whale' type pumps next to the sink (or bowl position), and storage under for 10 litre water containers.

Cheers,
Robin.

Re: 1975 LHD 109 SW

Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 9:16 pm
by RMS
ericappla wrote:
Dormy wrote:
Cooking/Cooling:
If you can afford/get one, a 12v compressor fridge is so much more able to cool stuff and no worries about carbon monoxide.
Dormobiles have a proper built-in unit to house the gas cooker. Carawagons however, have them hung on the back door.

Ian
thanks for correcting me. I can see compressor 3way fridge is near grand. Quite a lot of money, I'll consult it with my fellow travellers
Another big advantage of compressor fridges is that they can cool down to -18C or so, whereas the 3 way absorption fridges can only cool to around 20C below the ambient temperature.

So, if the ambient temperature is 30C then an absorption fridge will struggle to get down to less than 10C, but a compressor fridge will still get down to -18C if you want it to.

Worth thinking about if you are planning any trips to warmer climes :cheers:

Cheers,
Robin.

Re: 1975 LHD 109 SW

Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 9:20 pm
by RMS
ericappla wrote:Hi Chaps

here are few thoughts/forming plans I had on my future camper

Heating:
webasto hot air from the group buy, 3 air ducts. One to the roof to allow heating of roof mounted tent, second in the wheel arch (just like Oddjob has it) to allow for heating adherent tent. Last one obviously into the cab.
Ah, you might need some extra ducting pipe, and another T junction and outlet then.

The kit has around 1m of ducting pipe, 1 T piece and two outlets.

Let me know if you want me to source the extra bits and send them with the heater, or if you are going to find them over there.

Cheers,
Robin.

Re: 1975 LHD 109 SW

Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 9:26 pm
by ericappla
From your experience how often does such fridge run?

It’s 3.3Amp draw, my leisure battery will be about 70AH max I can comfortably fit. With some other draw from interior lights and such I take it it’ll run for about a day??? I take it there’s no such thing as compressor / gas hybrid fridge


Robin,

Regarding the ducting, could you ping me picture of the pipe and T piece? I’ll have a look if it’s something easily obtainable down here.

Cheers!