“Probably the most intelligently-modified Stage One around”
The Stage One V8 was originally a stopgap to boost sales. Alisdair Cusick meets one expert who has taken his to the next level, thanks to 40 years of Land Rover experience
OF all factory-produced Land Rovers, the Stage One V8 was the first nod to where the Defender would not just appear, but end up in 2016. With a powerplant and transmission originating from the Range Rover, the Stage One was the first Land Rover to have permanent four-wheel drive and V8 power. On paper, it promised so much, but in reality, it fell a little short. The engine was detuned from the Range Rover’s 132bhp to a stingy 91bhp, and the LT95 gearbox, though bulletproof, had possibly the largest gate in automotive history. Its one saving grace was it wore the nicest front end of any Land Rover – an attractive metal mesh grille, level with the headlights rather than recessed as the Series models are.
Undoubtedly it made for a better Land Rover, but it wasn’t quite what it could have been. It perhaps wasn’t intended to be, for the Stage One was, in true Land Rover style, a hasty stopgap until Stage Two, the much needed coil-sprung Land Rovers (see panel on page 45).
The ‘what it could have been’ potential perhaps has taken longer to find a solution for. Forty years longer, if you go by the car on these pages, which is probably the neatest, intelligently-modified Stage One around, blending the best of Stage One and the later Defenders. It has a Rover V8 alright, but a 250bhp, 5.0-litre unit, turning a six-speed MT82 Getrag gearbox from a Puma Defender. Put simply, it is the greatest hits of the two models in one.
It is owned by JE Motors’ MD, Jonathan Douglas, built by himself and his team of specialists at the Coventry HQ. JE needs almost no introduction, for it isn’t just part of the Land Rover scene, its in the Green Oval history books thanks to its work with Land Rovers and the Rover V8 engine.
JE took the factory Rover V8 from 3.5 litres to 3.9, then later to 4.2 capacity, impressing Solihull so much, they bought the rights to use the 4.2 in the Range Rover LSE. Today, it has gone on to create 450bhp Super Defenders using JLR’S AJV8 units and suitably beefed-up drivelines. JE’S speciality though is its depth of engineering, blending everything together to produce a cohesive vehicle, evident in this Stage One. Jonathan fills me in on how it came about.
A local Land Rover specialist had gone into receivership, and there was an auction of cars they had lying around. “I bought this from there as a total wreck,” says Jonathan. “It was £200, but what I’d really acquired was a logbook and a body – or those bits that were good enough to use.”
A straight-up restoration wasn’t going to be for him, so other plans loomed. “Every time you drive a Defender, it is a bit of an event, and I suppose this just takes that one stage further. Because we’re JE we can put the modern gearbox in it. It’s got plenty of power, decent ’box and you can drive it in today’s traffic. Most of the time I can drive this like a modern car, yet I’m driving something that’s a bit weird and characterful,” says Jonathan.
A year-long project around spare workshop time, it started with a new galvanised chassis from Richards. Into that slid a 5.0-litre Je-built Rover V8. “We have to reline the 4.6 blocks anyway, so we reline them at 96mm, using our own pistons,” says Jonathan. With a standard crank, that then makes a 4.8 engine (actually 4.75 litres). “We regrind the cranks with smaller journals, giving 86.3mm stroke, making 4997cc capacity.” A pair of SU carbs meter fuel and air over standard Stage One Strombergs, partly because JE can tune SUS.
“We’ve had to do something clever with the jets and needles to get enough fuel in, which is difficult with the normal jet set-up,” says Jonathan. An air housing was fabricated to hold an ITG filter, allowing plenty of capacity for air supply. The intake is ducted down near the chassis rail, away from the heat-soaked radiator – a renovated standard Stage One item, sourced new-old stock from Germany. The standard radiator cowl put the fan in the wrong place, so a two-stage electronic fan is used, neatly fitted into the original cowl. To remove combustion gases, JE’S own cast big-bore manifolds feed a one-off Milltek exhaust. “Beautifully made, but nice and quiet,” says Jonathan.
Behind all that sits the LT230 transfer ’box and GT82 sixspeed gearbox from a Puma Defender, albeit fitted with a quick shift. Mating the driveline to engine are two adaptor plates. Firstly, a thick adaptor plate on the back of the engine, partly as the bell housing is small on the gearbox. An automatic flywheel is used on the engine, then another adaptor with a modified manual flywheel is used, which puts the clutch in the right place to operate with the standard clutch mechanism. With plenty of take-off spares around thanks to their automatic conversion work, Defender clutch and master cylinders were used. As the brake servo is larger than the Stage One part, the wing had to be cut to fit.
Underneath, the axles were reconditioned, the fronts fitted with a disc brake conversion, using the Stage One parts instead of a Defender axle swap. Parabolic springs replaced factory multi-leafs, with Old Man Emu dampers, but using 88-inch springs for the rear, to help give a softer, more stable ride on the 235/85 16 tyres.
Inside, JE trimmed a Series fibreglass roof in headlining material, filling in the radio hole, trimming Defender quarter-light panels to match. The dash uses electronic Smiths gauges for tacho and speedo, plus oil, water and fuel in the dash centre. JE’S own electronic handbrake is fitted, a
a popular Defender modification, operated by two push buttons on the Stage One. Outside, as much original bodywork was kept as possible, just carefully polished back. Due to the dreaded rot, a new bulkhead and new doors were used. LED lighting means you can see well in the dark, and a modified Safety Devices roll-hoop looks just right behind the cab.
JE’S in-house skills also shone on two other parts of the build. The custom tonneau cover, fitting around the two spare wheels and roll-hoop, is supported by two laser-cut and Tig-welded supports in aluminium. Its purpose is to allow rainwater to run off instead of puddle, but it doesn’t need to look this well put together. Elsewhere, JE 3D printed parts, like the door lock surrounds. They may appear minor, but without these minor parts – or a parts supply – 3D printing is the perfect solution.
The car has been on the road 12 months, but Jonathan only started using it in the spring this year. Now showing 6000 miles, he’s clearly been enjoying it. “I use it most days,” says Jonathan, who doesn’t just cross rush-hour Coventry in it. The photoshoot was delayed as he was on a 2150-mile trip to Europe in it, taking in Holland, Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland and back, through France. That sort of trip in a utility Land Rover can be torture, so I ask how the autoroutes and alpine passes went in the car. “It is nice to drive at about 65. It is okay at 75, and it will do 90mph, but the wind noise is dreadful. The mountain passes in the Alps were quite an upper body workout!” Jonathan jokes.
We all know the pain of V8 fuel consumption, so I ask how this fares, mindful of its commuting use. “I made a careful record – commuting across Coventry it does about 14, which is pretty terrible. On the [continental] trip, the overall average was 17.5, but the best tankful was 19.4mpg – a day when I did lots of motorway work at 70 mph. I thought that was quite good for a 5.0-litre V8.”
So what is it like on the road? As you may expect, brilliant. The engine is quiet, smooth and like a power switch. But power is only one half of an engine. Land Rovers are really all about torque, something JE knows very well. This unit has an endless supply, from almost tickover. Swift progress can be made short-shifting, like a diesel almost, barely passing 2500rpm. Encouraged by Jonathan I did press on, past 4000rpm, where its volume rises and speed piles on quite indecently. Only an awareness of the Series underpinnings will hold you back, for despite the driveline, it is still an old classic underneath.
“Driving it in the Alps was quite an upper body workout”
Because of the rich torque output, you can coast about in a relaxed fashion, then, when minded to, snick down a couple of cogs, work the top end of the rev range and roar on to the next apex. You’re always forced to concentrate, as there’s so much to manage, you have to be on top of all control inputs. But that engagement is what this car is all about. The modern gearbox integrates beautifully with the engine. Clutch action is relatively fast, and the quick shift makes for a neat, accurate change, in total contrast to the standard Stage One ’box, notable for possibly the largest H gate of a production car. Brake or turn, and the huge steering wheel brings the Stage One elements back at you, but the overall impression is it being easy to drive and absolutely brimming with character.
Is Jonathan happy with it? “If we were starting afresh, I’d probably just do a 4.8, as the 5.0 is a little superfluous,” he says. “We wanted something that was properly made, with some real character. These aren’t museum pieces, so you can have a bit of fun with the car, and achieve the level of modern driving you want to.”
The car is the perfect example of what marque-specialists like JE can do when given a Land Rover and a clear brief. It knows those elements that need a tweak, at just the right amount, in just the right way. Anything JE doesn’t know, it simply engineers a solution for.
“I’m trying to explain to someone just now actually that yes, you can go to five suppliers and buy individual things and put them together on the car,” says Jonathan. “The fact that my price is higher than those things added up is because we have the capability and expertise to get the whole thing working as a car. You find a bit of wiring that is wrong, so you fix that; all that comes in with a JE job. Someone can just sell you an engine, but does it all work nicely?” That depth of knowledge and marque expertise shines on this particular build. It is a whole, harmonious unit, not just a collection of parts casually assembled.
Despite my misgivings earlier, a standard Stage One is still a great vehicle. Jonathan’s is still a Stage One, but moved on to something between Series and Defender. His car works due to the input of four decades’ experience and another four decades of Defender development. We couldn’t have had this before, as Solihull wasn’t using the parts, and the Defender didn’t exist. Sure, we’ve had the 50th V8 and the 70th V8s, but the 50th had the wrong transfer box, to really ‘go’, and the 70th is prohibitively expensive. In contrast, Jonathan’s is the time-honoured modified Land Rover, mixing old and new, and put together with engineering know-how, and just a little bit of eccentricity. That’s a real Land Rover.