Please be aware that ECR is now a Defender repair and modification shop only.
We no longer work on Range Rovers, Discos or Series Rovers.
These pages are from work we did in the past and left up for your enjoyment.
This coil sprung Lightweight was refurbished by ECR a number of years ago for an owner in SC. It has recently changed hands and the new owner loves the Rover, but wanted some changes made, so he sent it to ECR for the work. The neat little Lightweight will be getting a new, more powerful Turner HO 2.25 engine, as well as a conversion from RHD to LHD and much more.
The first step is to remove the front bodywork and the old engine. Here you can see we are starting to strip the 88 down so that we can access all the parts for the RHD to LHD conversion. The coil chassis in this 88 is galvanized, and then painted black, so we have no worries about chassis rust or rot, and last time this 88 was at ECR it was fully re-wired and rebuilt, so tear down will go smoothly as we won't have any 35 year old rusted pieces to deal with.
This image shows the 88 taken down to the basics in the front end. The steering box and engine controls are removed, and the engine is out as well. Next we'll make the needed changes to the bulkhead to allow for the LHD steering box and the power dual brake box, swap the wiring over and then work on converting the front axle to LHD.
While the Lightweight already had the engine out, the customer decided to have us cure the leaks from the original gearbox and transfer case. The image above shows the gearbox assembly removed from the 88. As you can see it has leaked a lot of gear oil in its life and is a real mess. We'll strip it down, rebuild or replace any needed parts and then seal it up using the correct techniques so that it will not leak. A lot of people think you can't make a Series gearbox that doesn't leak, but ECR can.
The interior of the Lightweight has been totally stripped down for us to complete these work orders. Here you can see that some of the LHD parts are now going in. You can see the new steering box, as well as the gas pedal are starting to take shape. We've also removed the RHD hand brake lever and all the other pieces that need to be changed. Did you know that in most of the RHD to LHD conversions we see coming out of the budget shops in the UK, they don't even relocated the handbrake lever! They leave it in place as a RHD, and some even leave the RHD gear shift lever in place. We assume this is so that the passenger riding with you has more to do when he/she goes for a ride!!?? At ECR we do complete and correct LHD conversions. A great thing about the coil chassis in this 88 is the removable gearbox crossmember. That upgrade means we drop the gearbox out from the bottom, rather that having to take out the seat box and dismantle more of the interior. This is a much easier way of working on, and installing the gearbox assembly.
Speaking of gearboxes, this image shows the completely refurbished, and correctly sealed Series IIA gearbox, with Overdrive, built up and ready to go back into the 88. The gearbox assembly will now give the owner years of trouble and leak free operation.
The LH bulkhead has now been modified and all the brake and clutch systems have been installed, as well as moving the wiring as needed. The new brake and clutch lines will now be fabricated and installed.
Here you can see that we have removed the RH steering knuckle and replaced it with the correct LHD unit. We have also removed the steering relay, panhard rod and drag link and fabricated new mounts for them on the other side of the chassis.
In this image you can see a close up of the newly fabricated steering parts on the chassis. The panhard rod mount and steering replay mount all had to be fabricated in exactly the right locations to ensure correct steering and suspension geometry. You can also see that the brake lines have now been installed, and all the steering rods have been adjusted and put in place. Now we are ready to install the engine and gearbox assembly and start hooking up the systems.
This image shows the freshly refurbished gearbox mated to the new Turner HO engine with a new clutch and other parts as needed to make a quality repair. We'll now insert the set up into the Lightweight and get everything up and running.
Once the engine is installed we can hook up all the systems and get the front bodywork back in place. In this image you can see that all the major systems are in place, and now the final checks and adjustments of everything from clutch to throttle linkage can begin.
To make this Lightweight a little easier to maintain, we installed a spin on oil filter system. This uses a standard Rover V8 oil filter and is easier to service than the old canister type, and makes for an easier oil change. In this image you can also see the detail that ECR goes to in its work. The fuel pump and distributor from the old engine were in good shape, so we fully clean each piece and then install them on the new Turner engine. This makes for a clean and tidy engine bay and will make any future repairs a snap.
Inside the Lightweight you can now see the completed RHD to LHD conversion. Notice that all systems are fully converted to LHD and nothing is left undone. The Rover has the correct LHD gearshift lever, handbrake system and much more. Each detail, right down the relocating the windscreen wiper switch is correctly done so that it appears as if this 88 came from the factory as a LHD unit.
Here you can see that all the bodywork has been installed and all the systems are double checked. The 88 is now ready for road tests and any needed final adjustments.
This image shows the completed Series IIA coil Lightweight, now sporting a new Turner HO 2.25 engine, a fully refurbished gearbox with overdrive and a correct LHD conversion. This neat and unique example of the rare Series IIA Air Portable Land Rover is now ready for years of enjoyment by its new owner.
If you have a left hand drive conversion you are considering having done, make sure you have it done by the full time professionals at ECR, as we will make sure every detail is done correctly. We'll help you make your Lightweight, or any other Land-Rover world class... just like this one.