kwik queston

[fronteramac]

hello, my mates breaking a lotus bighorn and i was wondering if engine wud mate up to by 2.3 box or wud it be better to drop all running gear and bolt it up any help wud be great cheers

[gregster]

I might be wrong but I dont think it would bolt up...2.3 is an old bedford lump, so bellhousing will match, wheras 2.8 is an out and out isuzu engine...
I would go for engine and box mate complete for a transplant, that is assuming that is uses the same system as yours with auto lock hubs at the front, and not the B series type 4wd system, as this wouldnt work with your front end without some major headscratching and modding.

[fronteramac]

yeah its the old dinasaur engine in my A series ?? wud axles etc go on mine?? cheers in advance

[Drift]

The bighorn is likely a 3.1 and will be coil sprung and your 2.3 will be a leafer so the axles wont fit, neither will the box match the 3.1 engine
The later 3.1's where vac hubs like the B series Frontera.

The engine and gearbox from the Trooper will fit into the space on the Frontera fine though, If your keeping the top mounted intercooler you will need to cut a hole in your bonnet.

[fronteramac]

cheers for info ,,its about a h-reg one,3.1 lotus addition and the engines tossed he finks its overheated he brought it like that .hes sold the lotus alloys plus side steps and nudge bar both chrome,so my next queston is ??? wud the diffs fit in my axles ?wont they be lsd/s i will jack them up and spin them because hes offered it to me for 250 and after i sell sum bits off it i can get me money bk when i weight it in so i will break it on here if anyone wants bitsw off it

[Drift]

The diff will not fit in the Frontera housing, its likely LSD, look for the G80 code on the bulk head plate.
H reg seems early for a Bighorn, I could be mistaken.

Where does your mate live? I used to live off Hawthorne Road near the Burma

[fronteramac]

i live down linacre rd by seaforth taxis me mate lives by marion square near netherton ?? wont the diffs fit in my axles then ???

[Drift]

No afraid not, you live just a cross the cut from my old house , I also lived on the Sefton near Marion Square for a lot of years, went St Thomas Aquinas

[fronteramac]

yer see yr showing yr age now {the cut} new generation dont call it that ?do u know litherland libarary i live down the side road there born and bred 46 yrs ago so back to my queston yer sayin theres nowt on this bighorn that will go on mine .....just my luck that is

[RatCav]

Only just read this thread and there are posibilties here. £250 is a good price as you could make something out of this. Now I am talking with a hangover but bear with me.

The front torsion bars are a uprated. I have a Mk.I Trooper Lotus edition and the handling is astounding. I have driven a normal one and it wallowed around corners whereas mine hardly pitches at all. They would be a good modification to any truck. The shocks are fairly tough as well. I think they are stronger as well. If you can get them off in one piece then they would also be a good thing to keep. I am on the original factory ones and they are still going strong 21 years later and over 100k miles. I would be surprised the engine is cooked to be honest. I would run a compression test on it to make sure. The 3.1 is based on the 2.8 so by default a hardy block (though not quite as strong as the 2.. There are lots of little things people would be interested in. If the steering wheel is in good condition I would be interested in that as mine is falling apart. Does it have a rear ladder on the door. Again I would be interested but other Trooper people would part with cash for it. The Lotus editions had no modifications to the engine and gearbox however. But 3.1 engines are always up for grabs if you want to convert your truck. However I think the wheel base is different and you would have to change prop lengths as well as making top mounts for the coils etc. If you have G80 on the VIN plate (and being a Lotus Edition I would be surprised if it wasn't) then your onto a winner. However the gear ratio's may be different to yours. If you are going to put the rear axle in yours you may well have to change the front diff as well. Check your 2.3 VIN. I have noticed a lot of them have LSD as well. If that is the case the Trooper axle is of no real use to you ... but it can be sold with the front axle as a pair.

Parts to consider is things like the brake and clutch master cylinder. They may be the same as yours. The clutch slave is the same as the Frontera (I think but you would have to confirm).

Bits of trim like interior may be interesting to Trooper peeps. The seats for one.

Obviously as you say the rest can be sold for scrap.

One interesting note is the axles on the Trooper are wider than the leafer Frontera I believe. This means you can gain a bit of clearance for larger wheels at the front when turning on full lock.

Just some ramblings

[Drift]

Buig issue is getting the axle to fit being a coiler onto a leafer, good if your handy at fabricating

Yer I know the road very well

[fronteramac]

no ive jacked mine up and its not a lsd ,the ladder and roofrack been taken of already,steering wheel is a momo one nice looker,am not sure weather its a coiler havent looked under it but am tryin to go and sort the deal out today befor sum one else gets it so i can advertise it for breakin cheers for info mateys

[RatCav]

All Lotus Troopers had Momo steering wheels ... in fact the Mk.I and Mk.II had the same wheel ... just the centre was different.

If you do get it I may be interested in some bits after you have pillaged it yourself

[fronteramac]

haha i didnt know about the steering wheel am just waitin on the lad to let me know if mine or not and if i do get it i dont think theres anything i want of it ????? am just seeing it as scrap and makin a few bob on it

[Drift]

Any bits needed I could FOG express them or you could get them to the beach meet in a couple of weeks at Ainsdale