Lucky 8?s Project P38

I may have lost my mind but....... L8s new full on project truck will be a 2000 P38.

photo-8.jpg


The P38 is one of my favorite looking Rover products. I love the classic folds in the hood, low roofline, proper tailgate and 4dot6 motor.
Unfortunately this is where the good ends and all that can be evil about a Rover begins. These 3 letter strike fear into any P38 owner " BCM "and if that was not scary enough we have "EAS" to keep them company.

The goal for this project is to have it ready to handle the Easter Trip with out failure. See video below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMwe5K0JYOk

Here is a quick run down of the things I have in store for this endeavor.
3-5 in lift
Dump the 20in dubs for 16in and 33in mud tires
Front and rear bumpers
Sliders
Front and rear lockers
Ok That was the easy stuff. This is were things will get interesting
HD drag link and track rod
Rear links that are not made from Fiberglass
Lock the Borg Tcase some way some how.
HD rear shaft
HD CV and shafts " this maybe a pipe dream"
Water proof the BCM
Disconnect the BCM from the ECU "incase of failure the truck will still run"

Any suggestions from you guys with more seat time in these trucks? What would you like to see made available for P38?
 

David Despain

Well-known member
Feb 24, 2005
791
1
46
Salt Lick City Utah
i can not wait.

first let me say that i think the P38 is the best looking rover ever made. RRnet has lots of useful info, but the new forum is horrible. also tons of mis-info in there as well, you have to kind of weed through to find the good stuff.

the sync thing scares me more than just about anything else as far as going too far off the beaten path. look into setting the truck to the australian market, i think that turns most if not all of those type of settings off. of the few P38s around for a while i think a few of the guys never leave home without a faultmate from BBS

your list is pretty good. anything else might just be personal preferance. i know for me the big things were in order:
lift; this brings up a whole host of other issues: stay airbags (arnott gen III) or go coils.
drive line vibes are really bad at that much lift. a DC front shaft would probably take care of 90% of it.
panhard bar length, the steering wheel is off and also both axles are shifted over to the side. the steering wheel bugs me much more than axle shift, i dont really notice the shift at all.
castor, or lack thereof. i dont know of a good solution to this. i guess DII have the same problem, but it seems like its a much bigger deal on the RR.
sway bar links, easily sorted
brake/abs length, not too bad to sort. i spaced or relocated teh brackets. although i know of no off the shelf ready to go from regular parts guys extended brake lines or abs extensions.
shocks, there is a big one. i put a set of front shocks on the rear and there is no good solution to the fronts. at least not bolt on from a regular parts guy.

then get it reliable, normal rover stuff, cooling system, eletrical, etc. fuse box is a real biggie, some sugest its a wear item, just replace with new every 5 yrs. there is an alum radiator from scotty in socal i believe. the heater core orings suck. some folks are using all alum audi heater cores. reliable also includes brakes, aside from a new accumulator i dont know what else you can do. X-brake maybe?

bumpers and sliders: there are a few out there but the cost is high because demand is low, and the demand is low because the cost is so high. this will change as we have seen with all rover off road parts. the trucks are getting cheaper and more people want parts. i think this truck lends itself to a more robust frame mount type slider much more easily than a disco. the front bumper is gonna be more of a compromise due to the lower mounting of the lower radiator. and the A/C components hang down and there is a front crossmember. but there has to be an attractive cheap(er) solution.

the BW xfer case. i dunno what you can do about that. chain drive is weaker than gear drive. VC is worse than diff lock.

these are just a few of my thoughts, disjointed and rambling. i will say that i had a similar vision, but money ran out before it was done and i have come to accept what others all along said, it is not the truck for that type of wheeling. i dont know if i will have enough money to make it perform like i would want it to. espcially when i can get a DII that will for similar or less money. but the more people that get into these trucks the easier it will be for me to have things available to reach my vision. so good on ya! i think we will see tons of these soon, as i doubt there is a higher depricating rover, save perhaps a freelander.
 
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KyleT

Well-known member
Mar 28, 2007
6,059
8
39
Fort Worth, TEXAS
what do you want for the 20's?

Justin, a big weak point IMO is the low radiator design. it lessens the potential approach angle.

I think the rear arms are great at flexing.

front, not so much and the bushing design stinks at the frame.

Not sure how to lock the BW, but you could disect one and see what it would take. I never noticed it not "locking" when I took ole blackie off road in CO.

A harness to move the BECU to the roof. that scared me on water crossings.

Keep EAS, it is an amazing system when working properly IMO.

oh and obligatory, its gonna fail.
 

Jake1996D1

Well-known member
Mar 28, 2011
3,363
1
West Des Moines IA
Not sure if you saw it in the land rover international mag handed out at ROTR but the gigglepin challenge truck has p38 radius arms with a johnny joint that sit under the frame. Obviously it's on a 90 trayback but would be interesting to see on a p38.

What lockers you planning on?

You got my interest I like to see what can be done with a p38, something different for sure..
 
KyleT said:
what do you want for the 20's?
.
Fair market value


KyleT said:
Not sure how to lock the BW, but you could disect one and see what it would take. I never noticed it not ".

I have one on the shop floor


KyleT said:
Justin, a big weak point IMO is the low radiator design. it lessens the potential approach angle.
Agreed Im thinking a RAD relocation kit
 

carlosz

Well-known member
Apr 20, 2004
581
0
Annandale,Va
ditch the tcase internal drive chain and replace with gear, this still allows for factory low hi select but would do away with weak link point of failure drive chain.
 

DougG

Well-known member
Oct 7, 2006
1,004
3
Cooperstown NY
Justin,

I off-roaded a P-38 for a few years, and the truck was incredibly capable. I kept the air suspension intact, and very well maintained, and it performed flawlessly. It can easily be tended to in the field with the right knowledge, but for complete peace of mind, a coil conversion is the smart thing to do. I had 16 " wheels with 32 inch Cooper Discoverer STT's and the only thing holding me back on some trails was me. Of course you can lift the hell out of it and put big tires on it, but I wasn't into that. I like my vehicles as stock as possible. The BeCM is definately an issue, and if you want to remove the lower front fairing, you expose the radiator.

I think the only thing missing for me was a good front bumper and a winch. If I had a winch, I would have felt a lot more confident, but the P-38 was impressive. Not exactly nimble however because of the weight.
 

Jake1996D1

Well-known member
Mar 28, 2011
3,363
1
West Des Moines IA
Locking t-case should be an interesting one.. I know the Callaway is geared differently. Sounds like you'll be calling the Ashcrofts for a chat on that one..
 

rover4x4

Well-known member
Apr 21, 2004
5,228
45
41
North Carolina, Raleigh
Im not up to date on the new stuff, but why couldnt you put an LT230 behind it? Wouldnt the P38 use the same computer as the DII?

The P38's do look really good but thats about it, the diffs are on the wrong side... Looking forward to this project.
 

Jake1996D1

Well-known member
Mar 28, 2011
3,363
1
West Des Moines IA
rover4x4 said:
Im not up to date on the new stuff, but why couldnt you put an LT230 behind it? Wouldnt the P38 use the same computer as the DII?

The P38's do look really good but thats about it, the diffs are on the wrong side... Looking forward to this project.

You answered your own question. Diffs on wrong side means t case to accommodate them.

Wonder if you could swap d2 axles under it and use an lt230 then.
 

David Despain

Well-known member
Feb 24, 2005
791
1
46
Salt Lick City Utah
a few more thoughts
spare tire: there isnt a place to put one. and because of the tailgate arangement a swing away gets in the way of opening either top or bottom tailgate piece. i have yet to see a swing away that looks good or proportional on a P38. that leaves the roof rack. just try to find one of those for less than a grand anywhere near you, they always seem to be for sale on the wrong coast.

wheels: this applies to DIIs as well. why are there no real aftermarket wheels that look good. basically all you have are the jeep cherokee looking procomps. i hate that wheel. why are there no 17" wheels. also i really like the look of the terrafirma Dakar wheel but its only in DI/rrc bolt pattern and only 16". i see now that TF offers a DII wheel but that must be pretty new.
i will have more thoughts in a while.
 

seventyfive

Well-known member
Jan 3, 2010
4,280
100
over there
Jake1996D1 said:
You answered your own question. Diffs on wrong side means t case to accommodate them.

Wonder if you could swap d2 axles under it and use an lt230 then.

jake,
d2 axles would be an obvious choice, until you figure a p38's frame is wider. the rear has a pan hard, which is better than a watts, but means you really need to modify the axles, then 'make' some radius arms, front and rear. keep in mind the arms would be tricky, because they would also need to correct pinion, wheel base, and bent to mate with the d2 axles.

if i were someone that was the north american seller for ashcroft, i would solicit them to come up with an adapter for an lt230, maybe a portal box to kick the driveshafts over. then have tom woods make some driveshafts that would be the proper length., and some mounts.
 

Jake1996D1

Well-known member
Mar 28, 2011
3,363
1
West Des Moines IA
seventyfive said:
jake,
d2 axles would be an obvious choice, until you figure a p38's frame is wider. the rear has a pan hard, which is better than a watts, but means you really need to modify the axles, then 'make' some radius arms, front and rear. keep in mind the arms would be tricky, because they would also need to correct pinion, wheel base, and bent to mate with the d2 axles.

if i were someone that was the north american seller for ashcroft, i would solicit them to come up with an adapter for an lt230, maybe a portal box to kick the driveshafts over. then have tom woods make some driveshafts that would be the proper length., and some mounts.


Yea I figured it wouldn't be easy.. Browsing Ashcrofts site I'm surprised they don't have anything. With that said hopefully Justin will push some people to produce more p38 accessories
 

mgreenspan

Well-known member
Feb 28, 2005
4,723
130
Briggs's Back Yard
I'm not surprised. People will never wheel them inmass quantities b/c every else in the world discos are pennies and defenders are only a couple grand so there is no point to wheel a p38 except to be different.
 

Jake1996D1

Well-known member
Mar 28, 2011
3,363
1
West Des Moines IA
mgreenspan said:
I'm not surprised. People will never wheel them inmass quantities b/c every else in the world discos are pennies and defenders are only a couple grand so there is no point to wheel a p38 except to be different.

That's why most people wheel rovers in the US. Well that and they are awesome.
 

hafaday

Well-known member
Oct 27, 2006
927
0
Richmond, VA.
Justin, you aren't not the only one who has wondered about this. I my self have thought about this for a few years now. You have it all right now, ie: the place to do it, the funds, the time and the truck.. unfortunately, i have none of the above. :p

Looking forward to it.