Hi All

Happy new year ,

Any advice is welcome

Looking to fit Rover V8 in my Viento, for gearbox it seems LT77 or R380 are the obvious options, T5s are now a fortune and whilst there are conversion options for some other boxes they are hard to track down or expensive.

So, it appears most LT77s are pretty shot now and an R380 would be preferable and failry easy to source, however the R380 appears to have been rarly used for RWD options whilst the LT77 was used for SD1, TVR, MGBV8 etc

My question is , can the RWD casing with output shaft to propshaft be taken from LT77 RWD and placed on the R380, almost all r380s have the casing to enable connection to the transfer box for 4x4, i think the R380 and LT77 share same external casing etc ,

I can probably get hold of a shot LT77RWD and then scavange the rear casing for an R380

Any thoughts from those in the know

john

Probably worth giving Ashcroft a call.

https://www.ashcroft-transmissions.co.uk/diy-rebuild-kits/lt77-rebuild-kits.html

The R380 was used in the MG RV8s and is very similar to the LT77. Reverse gear is in a different place but neither are great boxes, noisy and a poor change from first to second. I have an LT77 in my MG V8 and the change into second is so poor that I generally miss out second altogether and go from first to third which it pulls effortlessly.

If you can run to it Vitesse do a converted MX5 box which will fit straight onto the Rover engine. Even LT77 boxes are not cheap now and by the time you've rebuilt it there may not be much in the price but a huge difference in the driving experience. The MX5 box has very good ratios too.

https://www.vitesse-ltd.com/pages/mga-mgb-mazda-gearbox-conversion-kits

Doesn’t sound like you’re interested in the LT77.

But

If you change tack, I have one, bellhousing, Refaced Flywheel, Clutch, slave and Fork, and a 4.0L V8, needs a rebore or liners due to poor storage, heads are very good, with plain covers, thor and gems inlets....