LRPV 178-204

[Tommy]

Hello Everyone

Thought you may be interested in seeing some photos of my latest acquisition and restoration of LRPV Mk3 178-204.

204 was sold at disposal auction January 1991. Note rare Thomas winch setup. Unfortunately, this was removed sometime after disposal.



178-204 can be seen here awaiting disposal late 1990. 204 is the second LRPV from the left.



Photo of 204 in private hands just after auction. It still retains original camouflage. Note 'in service' dents to guard and rear corner in this photo (and one above).



The next lot of photos show 204 as it is today. Vehicle is currently licenced and operational. I have refurbished, primed and painted this Land Rover in authentic colours and pattern to represent the vehicle when it last served with the SASR. I have also added the PSP mats to front holders and kitted it out with correct radio and other gear. I have kept all the 'in service' dents as I feel that they are part of the character of the vehicle. The LRPVs were not treated well by the SASR and were subject to much denting and scratching from the extreme environments that they were used in. I spent much time 'aging' the vehicle so that it did not appear factory new and false looking.



178-204.



Photos of LRPVs Mk2 174-323 and 178-204 together for the first time. You will notice how 204 appears bigger than 323. This is due to the larger bolt on parts and the stronger (and higher) spring settings.

[Diana Alan]

Welcome back Tommy! 

Nice to see them together.  About the winch, I know it wouldn't be quite original, but the Thomas PTO were common fittings for civilian SIII and SIIa, so perhaps you can find one off one of those abd retrofit it onto the LRPV?.

[FFRMAN]

Hi Tommy.

Great to see some updates from you . Looking forward to more great investigation work from you.

My gun buggy is coming along. I should post up some pics

Regards
Scott

[Mick]

G'day Tommy,

Mick from Box Hill here, great to see some Series 2A posts 

Cheers,

Mick

[pop058]

Welcome back Tommy ( ).  Top pics and definitely agree with keeping the character marks/patina.

[Barefoot dave]

G' day Tommy.
Great to see you back mate!
Love your work with the LRPV.
Very tidy.
BDave

[Carzee]

Hi Stuart, great to see your LRPV passion as strong as ever and great to have you here again.

[John H]

Stuart,I am (and others no doubt)curious as to how you "aged" the paint work.

[Tommy]

Sorry for the late reply but thanks for the compliments everyone 

I accidentally deleted the aged post. My 'cut and paste' editing techniques need refining. Sorry about that

A while ago someone on this forum posted up the photo shown below. Interestingly, the fellow in the photo is sitting in none other than 178-204. Apart from the fact that the LRPV is a Mk3, you can identify 204 by the black spray paint at the top of the side brush deflection guard. If you compare this paint with the first photo in this thread you will notice that they are one and the same.

[2short]

Awesome work, awesome collection.

[Tommy]

Victorian REMLR member Mike K came west last week on holidays so I took him down to have a look at the LRPV collection. Gave him the keys to 178-204 and off he went.

On the original video, all that can be heard is the annoying sound of squeaking brakes so I put some 'Down on the Farm' music to the clip instead.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cllVbG-bsZA

[jcm68]

Hi

great looking truck

John

[mike_k]

Thanks for your great hospitality Tommy, it was great to put a face to the name on the net, and terrific to have a look at your LRPV collection.

As for that video,  , I got to drive a bit of history there, (and it drove very well too) and I was very impressed with the way you managed to hold the camera and play the harmonica at the same time...........