109 Engine Mounting

The combination of the 200Tdi engine on Defender mountings and the axle upgrade lead to an unforeseen clash, literally.  Under heavy braking, the front UJ of the front prop shaft was hitting the right hand side engine mounting.  This came about because of two reasons: firstly, the Defender mounting hangs very low to clear the los slung injection pump; secondly, the later axle’s diff is inclined upwards towards the engine mount.  A combination of spring compression and axle wrap (rotation) under heavy braking was making that reduced separation disappear.

Fortunately, having fitted a Discovery engine (with Defender manifolds and mountings), my injection pump was much higher and allowed me plenty of room for a custom mounting that clears the prop shaft.  I used a 300Tdi mounting on this side and made an adaptor to attach to the chassis’ existing bracket as well as the new engine bracket.  The joints are welded inside and outside of all corners, along the full length of all joints.  You can see the difference in profiles to create the clearance in the photos.