I ordered up a load of genuine ex Dutch army parts and we started to put it back together. Now it was having a 3.5 V8 fitted, I decided to improve the brakes. I upgraded both the front and rear to Jeep CJ-7 drum brakes and fitted a remote servo and adjustable restrictor on the rear. We removed all the 24 volt wiring, gauges, senders and accessories and converted it to 12 volt. We offered the engine and gearbox with the modified bell housing in, expecting it to be a relatively straightforward fit, as it had fitted in the older Willys previously. This is when the headaches started. The standard car manifolds fouled the steering box with the down pipe going straight into the edge of the chassis and a steering rod. Also the height that it needed to sit at to clear the front axle, steering box and to get the propshafts at a sensible angle meant trimming the bulkhead and modifying the gearbox tunnel to get clearance. We ended up moving the gearbox and engine 1” to the right and raised the gearbox mount to trim.
We built some custom engine mount brackets that adapted to the original chassis mounts. I have tried to keep the modifications to a minimum so it could always be converted back to original if needed without a big effort. My goal was to have a fairly standard looking vehicle from the outside with no giveaways to what lurks under the bonnet. The engine sits as low as possible in the chassis, offset to the right. Level but slightly pissed to get the clearance for the front propshaft to clear the side of the sump. It is all quite snug. I managed to track down a pair of Rover V8 MGB GT stainless steel tubular manifolds that hug the block. I had used these previously when we used to fit V8’s into Toyota Hi-Lux’s. These worked well and enabled me to route a 2 into one exhaust around the front of the sump keeping it up out of harms way and hidden from view. I have had to do some further mods on the right downpipe as the prop yoke just managed to nibble at it under hard braking. With the engine in place, it was time to sort out the cooling. I opted for a Land Rover 200TDi radiator that I had some modifications made to. I couldn’t use a manual fan, so I have used a large single Pacet electric fan in front of the Radiator on a thermostat mounted in the top hose. The radiator also has an internal oil cooler that I have plumbed the engine oil circuit into.
The end result is very good, the fan hardly ever comes on, even when idling for long periods. The biggest headache was getting a header tank that mounted higher than the top of the radiator (to avoid airlocks), we just managed to squeeze one in at the back of the engine bay. The next thing was to mount a Vacuum pump. I wanted to retain the vacuum wipers for originality and the quirkiness of their operation as well as provide a vacuum source for the brake servo. The answer was to fit a belt driven vacuum pump from a Peugot diesel engine.
