Front or mid engine ?

[Auda]

I have a SWB with a LD28 Diesel in it. The front suspension is shot, I suspect from the extra weight.
I have seen a couple of photos of V8 s mid mounted and Rogue Troopers 186 .I figure that this would be the way to go. Is it worth the effort for the ride, handling and extra foot space or not ?
Rogue Trooper do you have any photos that show your engine mounts ?

Auda

[ben]

it depends if you feel like being adventurous??

sounds like a big job to me.. id just put some lwb springs or torana lowered springs in if it was me..

butmid mounting would be rad.

ben

[BusyKiwi]

think about this: foot space vs van space

I have a custom CF with mid mounted Chev (mounted behind the front seats), the van will be totally impractical because of the engine there.
Another thing you have to remember, desiels need air so flattening your floor in the front could kill your engine so really you wont gain leg space you'll just loose van space.

Also depending how far you go back the engineer will want a sub frame for mtr and box (did for mine). You could use the gearbox mount holes for your engine mounts but the sub frame is still a good idea as there will be a lot of weight in the middle of the van where there is not much strength. Cf's don't have a chassis, they just have stiffners.

My advice would be to rebuild your front suspension, use jumbo springs, new shocks and bushes. If you say it's flogged now anyway you'll still have to rebuild it for safety reasons.

[Sundownernz]

We had a guy in our club a number of years back who had a 350 mid mounted in a CF LWB (behind the seats) and it worked well but as Busy said you sacrifice interior space in the van. Wasn't too bad in the jumbo but in SWB could be a major issue depending on the layout you want for the interior. Handling etc was excellent with the better weight distribution. Rogue's is mounted more between the seats than behind them which would be a better option in a SWB, but as Busy said, you'll still need to rebuild your front end if it's shot.

Hard call so good luck. Keep us posted on what you decide.

Garry. 

[Auda]

The van has been off the road for 5 years, its still registered and has a cert. plate for the LD28 but no one knows where the engine was mounted. I figure that if it was between the seats like Rouge's is then I would have a better ride and steering, and more foot space for the middle seat.
This van has front brake parts missing so I'm going to use the front suspention from the CF280 I have for spares along with its 3.3:1 ratio diffy.
As the rain has stopped Im going pick the van up and have a look underneath.
Thanks for the ideas.
Auda

[ben]

"As the rain has stopped Im going pick the van up and have a look underneath."

you must do some hefty weights man.. or on some hefty steroids

[obsession]

mate of mine Ken Kinnear had a mid mounted 308 in his but hed also done the outside seems, said it drove heaps better but reckoned it needed to have those side panel seems to flex , they just kept cracking on him.

[ben]

oh so he bogged the the seems or something huh?

hmmm mid mounted v8 sounds full on cool.. it would have to be a chev for me thou.. 400+

[Auda]

 I have found a problem with my idea though the motor and box are a too long, The drive shaft would only be around 500mm long. A bit short for my liking. Bugger ! I'll still look into it a some more maybe with a manual box if its shorter.

"As the rain has stopped Im going pick the van up and have a look underneath."

you must do some hefty weights man.. or on some hefty steroids

Nope I have and old tractor, its very handy.

Auda

[ben]

oh good idea lol..

whats wrong with having a short tail shaft? its less to go out of balance yeh?
ben