Author Topic: Is there a place here for modified ex army Land Rovers?  (Read 94143 times)

Offline navigation

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Re: Is there a place here for modified ex army Land Rovers?
« Reply #60 on: January 31, 2013, 03:38:43 PM »
Hi navigation keep it coming, even though I am a purist I like your mods.

Many thanks.

Most people can't see the need for certain mods, and it takes a keen eye to be able to know what was modified and what was left standard.

There's usually always a reason behind each individual mod.

That rear step/bumper for instance, it obviously serves as something to stand upon, or sit upon, but will come into service more fully once the barn door goes on. While I do prefer the tailgate and hatch, I accept that a barn door will perhaps be a better solution in the long run.

Aside from that, it's a very heavy duty rear bumper, something the SIII's lacked unless fitted with bumperettes or jerrycan holders. SIII's being so flat across the back, and with just the towbar/ball fitted, are at risk when backing into some places and I don't wish to damage my vehicle for the lack of a reasonable bumper bar.

Bumperettes were an option, as were jerrycan holders, but with a missus and kids seeking safe footing when wishing to enter or exit the cargo area, it just didn't make sense to have less than a proper step fitted. Besides that, I'm also not as spry as I sometimes think I am, jumping in and out of the back isn't as easy as it once was...

If you look at how it's been mounted, you'll see that it's integral with the tow plate. Still to be fitted is the pintle hook/ball combination hitch, also black powdercoated. That will enable me to tow regular trailers as well as my No.5. I'm actually devising a tow plate which will be adjustable, so I can easily lower the tow hitch if ever I'm required to pull a regular height trailer.

The step/bumper also serves to protect the black powdercoated rear crossmember. I've only painted the step black for now, it's still to be powdercoated. The brush bar, heli lifts, tool holders and front bumper etc, in fact quite a few other bits, are also done in black powdercoat.

Offline navigation

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Re: Is there a place here for modified ex army Land Rovers?
« Reply #61 on: January 31, 2013, 04:09:07 PM »
Interior lighting is LED, as are the rear back up lamps.







Each are switched from the dash with their own LED equipped switch, covered by a chrome "rocket" type cover.

I actually made a mistake by putting in the LED equipped switches. After the vehicle went back on the road I then became aware of just how bright the LED switches were when engaged, and while it's not that big a deal, I will be changing a couple back over to a regular switch to make life a bit easier when driving. So far it's only the interior light LED switch that's bugging me, and while I rarely use the interior lights, when I do, the bright blue LED annoys me.




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Re: Is there a place here for modified ex army Land Rovers?
« Reply #62 on: January 31, 2013, 04:18:20 PM »
The rear PTO shaft hole seemed like a good place to hide the trailer plug.

When I installed the 20x circuit loom, I pulled the freshly shielded new loom through the chassis as it was when standard.

I added a waterproof enclosure up the back to house the distribution block.
« Last Edit: September 15, 2019, 07:59:17 AM by navigation »

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Re: Is there a place here for modified ex army Land Rovers?
« Reply #63 on: January 31, 2013, 04:34:01 PM »
After a few weeks on the road I grew tired of the wheelspin in 1st and 2nd gear.

I'm a firm believer in zero wheelspin. Lost traction is just wasted energy, so I had a Detroit Locker installed in the rear diff.

It's constant, so it now drags a wheel when turning. Not completely ideal judging by the sped up tyre wear, and the constant puzzled looks from persons who can see and hear it dragging a wheel when on a turn, but it did cure the wheelspin issue.

Then it started loosening and then snapping the drive flange bolts. Clearly they became the weak link after the Locker went in.

I overcame that by re-engineering the hubs and drive flanges to take M12 cap heads.





Looks like new wheelnuts (or wheelnut covers) are in order, and maybe some new paint here and there...one day...not now.

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Re: Is there a place here for modified ex army Land Rovers?
« Reply #64 on: January 31, 2013, 04:48:48 PM »
One thing I've noticed with the currently available Land Rover replacement parts, in particular the rubber bits, is that they all fail quickly.

The new rear mudflaps failed in just a few months. I chose the non branded style. They cost far more than I was happy to pay at the time, but I bit the bullet and got them as I did want proper ones. They had to "look" the part.

They were quite flexible/floppy when new, but hardened up pretty fast and then cracked.



The solution was to make a new set using old conveyor belt material, using the now useless ones as templates.

Sure, they're not the actual Land Rover ones now, but this time they'll endure.



Other new rubber parts which failed are the gearshift boot on the floor, and the handbrake boots (both of them)

Offline Carzee

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Re: Is there a place here for modified ex army Land Rovers?
« Reply #65 on: January 31, 2013, 05:54:33 PM »
Great mods, yes the asian wannabe rubber replica parts are nasty. The conveyor belt is the way to go for the mudflaps for sure.

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Re: Is there a place here for modified ex army Land Rovers?
« Reply #66 on: January 31, 2013, 06:44:26 PM »
Great mods, yes the asian wannabe rubber replica parts are nasty. The conveyor belt is the way to go for the mudflaps for sure.

I'm not sure where they were actually made, but I got them shipped from the UK. Nothing would surprise me though.

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Re: Is there a place here for modified ex army Land Rovers?
« Reply #67 on: January 31, 2013, 06:47:31 PM »
This is the most recent pic I have.

I think I've washed the SIII about 3x times in the last 18 odd months, and it's only had 1x coat of polish in all that time too, so the whole thing is looking a bit ordinary.
« Last Edit: September 15, 2019, 07:12:05 AM by navigation »

Offline Minikeg

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Re: Is there a place here for modified ex army Land Rovers?
« Reply #68 on: February 05, 2013, 12:05:43 AM »
Fantastic vehicle!

Love the cabin!
I'm not completely useless.. I'm missing some of the pieces
110-415 'Agro' 1959 88" CR              111-676 'Pickles II' 1959 88" CR
114-270 'Maya' 1967 109" GS/WS      113-368 'Castrol' 1964 88" GS
48-975 'Reptar' 1988 110" FFR           48-932 'Widget' 1988 110" GS

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Re: Is there a place here for modified ex army Land Rovers?
« Reply #69 on: February 05, 2013, 01:16:49 AM »
Fantastic vehicle!

Love the cabin!

Thank you Minikeg,

The cabin's not quite finished yet.

I've yet to complete the fabrication and installation of the overhead roof console. It's been custom made with aluminium and will be covered to some extent with the same grey roof lining carpet/material as used on the rest of the roof, and then fitted out with the extra guages for the fuel tanks, along with a few communications radios.

The audio system is also yet to be re-installed, and I'm sticking with the same unit I had in the vehicle previously, albeit with a new head unit. The new head unit will be mounted in a marine "pod" on top of the heater plenum. Great care will be taken to ensure all the wiring is hidden too, which was not the case with the last audio install. I paid $400 for it to be professionally done at the time, but the installers couldn't hide any of the wires due to the bare nature of the inside of an old army truck, so there were wires running all over the place and looking quite the eyesore.

The stereo certainly rocked, no problem there, and the 12 inch subwoofer more than did the trick, but now that I've lined everything with sound deadener and carpet, it should be much better and result in less vibration.

There are still myriad other little jobs to do, but as is the way with a hobby, the'll get done in fits and starts, as the urge develops.

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Re: Is there a place here for modified ex army Land Rovers?
« Reply #70 on: February 06, 2013, 12:36:37 AM »
Here's a picture of a close call I had a few months back, when I went to the local shopping mall.

I went up to the top deck of the carpark as per usual, and after backing into my favourite parking spot, looked up and saw a massive storm approaching. By my reckoning, it was going to hiss down rain in a few minutes and rather than run the gauntlet and get saturated upon my return, I opted to fire it back up and head down into the undercover parking area below.

I found a spot and backed in, then locked it up and walked away. Glancing back from about 20 metres away, I was alarmed to see what appeared to be the concrete from the ramp leading up to the top deck, almost in contact with my newly completed Safari/tropical roof.

The clearance between the roof and the concrete ramp appeared so close, that I just had to walk back for a closer look.

I was standing on the back step when I took this image, so I actually weighed the vehicle down when the image was captured.

I guestimate that the gap between the roof and the concrete would have been just enough to roll a cigarette through...  :o


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Re: Is there a place here for modified ex army Land Rovers?
« Reply #71 on: February 06, 2013, 03:03:26 PM »
Very lucky there...go buy a Tatts ticket and see if your luck is really at high tide. I think it just might be!

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Re: Is there a place here for modified ex army Land Rovers?
« Reply #72 on: February 08, 2013, 06:19:47 PM »
This is what the vehicle looked like directly after the rebuild.

It came up pretty good I think.

The picture was taken on Aug 28 2011, and it's been used as my primary vehicle ever since. As a consequence it's had scant further upgrades and has been let go to a fair degree, but it's not a huge job to get it shined back up to the level it was at in Aug 2011.

I didn't realise it was so long since it was fired up and put back on the road.
« Last Edit: September 15, 2019, 07:14:27 AM by navigation »

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Re: Is there a place here for modified ex army Land Rovers?
« Reply #73 on: February 08, 2013, 06:39:19 PM »
It's almost due for a complete freshen up underneath too.

I've got some of that tar paint for the underside of the tub and the rest will be redone in black.

Also going to fit new parabolics to the front to correct the slight "lean" it has, which appears to be stemming from the right hand front spring.

While I could have had the springs rebuilt and retensioned to suit, the lack of a serial number on that right hand front spring makes me think it's not even the same as the correct military springs as per standard.

The parabolics will also give me a 30-50mm lift at the front, which is what I want anyway, as moving the engine/gearbox forward by 100mm during the rebuild has thrown the weight forward and is affecting the height a little.

I've also lowered the engine in order to reduce the center of gravity. The engine no longer leans backwards by 7 degrees. It sits dead level now, zero degrees.

While I want the vehicle sitting/stanced correctly, the nose down at the front aspect is still kind of ok when I carry gear in the cargo area, as it limits the incidents of toolboxes etc, sliding backwards from the bulkhead and smashing into the tailgate. The fitment of carpet slows the toolbox etc down, but they still make their way backwards, perhaps due to my nailing the throttle all the time. Once I raise the front up a little, I might fabricate a "spreader bar" to go between the tubs to hold gear forward. Kind of like what they use in pantechs.

I don't nurse this vehicle, obviously. It's an ex army Land Rover for goodness sakes, and therefore it should go like a bat out of hell!

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Re: Is there a place here for modified ex army Land Rovers?
« Reply #74 on: February 08, 2013, 08:41:26 PM »
I just had to buy this hat badge...
« Last Edit: September 15, 2019, 07:55:42 AM by navigation »