# 1971 Series IIA Land Rover conversion blog...



## Overlander23 (Jun 15, 2009)

For those interested in the electrification of an old British classic, head over to:

http://adventure-ev.com/

The site is in its infancy, and it's scattered because I launched it quickly. No design details there yet... but for you guys.

1971 Series IIA Land Rover (SWB)
11" 192v Kostov DC
Soliton-1 Motor Controller
64 x 160Ah Thundersky LiFePO4 cells (205v nominal)

I'm in the early stages, I just removed the front today, so I can extract all the old ICE stuff tomorrow. Then its on to fitting the motor and adapter (I'll be retaining the clutch and flywheel), and designing and building the four battery boxes.

Big thanks to this site and those on it that have been tremendously helpful and given me the motivation to actually attempt the conversion!

The site is really for those friends and family... so it has a mix of tech and non-tech stuff. Hope you like it!


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## madderscience (Jun 28, 2008)

Us series owners will be watching. (I've got a 1962 IIA 88")

Gotta ask: what are you expecting for range? 

My quick calcs would say 60 to 80 miles at 55mph. 

Those rovers aren't exactly aero. Of course, if you are planning mostly bumping around on side roads, it will do great, and you certainly aren't messing around when it comes to the battery.

One series-ous consideration (pun intended). 40 year old british brakes and no engine braking or regen. If you are planning on tackling hills of any significance, a 4-wheel disk brake upgrade is in order (such a kit is available). At least your truck probably already has dual circuit power brakes. More than I can say.

Hate to make your project bigger, but take that tranny out and do an overhaul on it as well. Again, its old and british. And that 11" kostov and 1000A controller will dump way more torque than that transmission was ever built for. Rear axle halfshafts are also a known weak point. With stock drivetrain, I've broken two. (both times, towing) The good news is series transfer cases are generally pretty solid.

Good Luck.


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## Overlander23 (Jun 15, 2009)

I actually used the spreadsheet on your site for my calculations! I think it came out to 45-50 miles at 60mph... 75 @ 40mph. Conservatively. Around here it's mostly 40mph and under, so that's good. I'm also at 7000 ft ASL, so the air is about 20% thinner... makes aero 20% less of an issue, hehe. And of course, unlike a ICE, I will lose no performance with the EV. Win, win.

I rebuilt the whole truck about 10,000 miles ago... installed an Ashcroft high-ratio kit in the transfer case at the time. So, the truck is in solid shape. I'll actually take swap the gears back out, because the stock gearing in the case should perform better than the high-ratio gearing.

I'll be installing 24 spline rear axles and a TruTrac limited slip diff back there. That combo should be significantly stronger then the stock 10 spline setup. 

Brakes, yes, I've been looking for a disc kit for the front and I am lucky enough to already have the dual circuits. There's supposedly a kit out there that uses GM parts (Rocky Mountain Expeditions), but my e-mails have gone unanswered. Time to use the phone. Or get the details of the kit and figure it out myself.

I actually chose the interpoled-Kostov because of its potential for regen... EVnetics should just have to code the right software for it. Fingers crossed...

There's a lot to like about the old Series trucks in this conversion. It's relatively light, and there are plenty of spaces for batteries under the vehicle. You've got both side fuel tank positions, and behind the rear diff you can have pretty big box. I've currently got a large Jeep fuel tank sitting back there between the rear diff and rear crossmember. And of course, there's up front. 64 cells will be tricky but easily accomodated. It'll really balance the vehicle out better, too. I measured a 60:40 weight split between front and rear stock, but with that rear tank (albeit close to empty).

Wish me luck.


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## Woodsmith (Jun 5, 2008)

That is looking great.

My first Land Rover was a Series 2 and I loved it. I was only 10 at the time but it set me on the Land Rover route for many years.

I have just posted your link to www.lr4x4.com. It is a great site for advice and information on all things Land Rover.


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