R380

[galen211]

I'm looking at the possibility of rebuilding the R380 in my Discovery versus buying one. Looking for an R380 that is in need of a rebuild. Preferably East Coast.

I don't know the specifics of what is different between a Disco and Defender R380 besides the bell housing and shift mount, which I have both of on my current trans.

Thanks,
Galen

[Disco96JSWB]

Hi Galen,
My Disco is rusting. The driver's side floor/rocker is bad, the rear body mount on that side is shot, the rear seat belt mount rusted out a few years back and I welded in a patch, and there's a 12"-15" long hole in the rear load area. The front timing seal leaks off and on, and the suspension has some worn out bushings. (The chassis is rusty behind the gearbox cross member too.) There are a ton of good parts on it, some of which I want to keep, so I'm considering either parting it out or selling it minus bumpers, sliders, diffs, etc. My son Derek needs a first car and I'm not comfortable with him driving the Disco.

The R380 in my truck is decent but not like new (has 110,000 miles). The (genuine) pressure plate is 1,000 miles old. It's all together right now; in fact, I drove it every day last week to try to decide what to do with it. It shifts fine if you pause between gears. I run Redline MTL in it. The only thing that is bad about it is reverse synchro, which is not a problem if you go into second before going into reverse. If you wanted, you could come drive it around and see what you think. I don't think you'd want to rebuild it. Frank Battersby drove it, so you could see what he thinks. Let me know what you think of the idea.

- Jeremy
1932193319341935

[galen211]

Maybe I should just sell you mine to put all your off-road stuff on.....now that I'm back in PA and live so close to work I could daily drive a Series. My ultimate goal is to buy a house so close to work that I can ride a bike and have a Series only for when I "need" an extra car.

[Disco96JSWB]

Galen, I think you and I would be happy with the same thing . . . a LHD Ex-MOD 110 2.5 diesel, preferably with a truck cab.

- Jeremy

[galen211]

Well yeah, there is that. :) Buying a second house is killing my funds. But for the cost of rent in this town buying makes more sense. A mortgage is 1/2 the cost of rent if you have the means to put money down.

Of course this doesn't leave much money for Land Rovers. :(

[spechols]

If you guys really want a 2.5 diesel motor I am ready to sell mine.
Just no time to get it done.
Stuart

[galen211]

If you guys really want a 2.5 diesel motor I am ready to sell mine.
Just no time to get it done.
Stuart

I don't so much want the engine as the MOD pickup wrapped around it. Wonder how well a Discovery would get down the road with a 2.5 NA diesel?

[Frank84]

I don't so much want the engine as the MOD pickup wrapped around it. Wonder how well a Discovery would get down the road with a 2.5 NA diesel?

It wouldn't get down the road very well at all. A 200/300 Tdi provides just enough power in my opinion to not be a road hazard in a 4500+ pound vehicle on NJ roads.

Jeremy's R380 shifts decently, especially for that many miles. The lack of synchro in reverse is no big deal and not worth opening up the trans until something else needs attention - unless you already have it out of the truck of course. A pause between gears in these transmissions seems to be pretty normal and is probably good to practice if you want the box to last for a while. My disco R380 is freshly rebuilt and I can push through the gears at a "normal" speed if I want to, but it is smoother with a pause and that is how I try to drive it. My D90 really likes a pause, especially for 2nd and 3rd.

Since you already have a 5-speed, you could find yourself a defender or disco trans to rebuild. The top part of the case is different that houses all of the linkages but the guts are the same. However, if you can find a used Disco trans it will make life just a bit easier since you won't have to take apart 2 transmissions to make one good one.

And just FYI, after rebuilding the R380 myself and replacing all of the warn out components I only saved about $300-400 over buying an Ashcroft rebuild. I had fun doing it, but if you are trying to save $$$ you might not save as much as you think.

[galen211]

I got a used R380 from Paul Grant for $100. Once I get it Sven and I will start the rebuild.

My R380 shifts fantastic, as Frank says if you pause between gears no problem. I am having a problem with what I think is the layshaft. When you shift and the engine/trans are mismatched in speed you get a terrible grumble like splines slipping in a shaft. This is pretty common in the R380, so we'll rebuild one on the bench and then swap it out.

[Disco96JSWB]

That sounds like an excellent plan, given what seems like a really good deal on the R380. I guess it's time for me to get out the Millermatic and patch up the holes in the sill for now . . . since the Ex-MOD 110 isn't in the budget.