Author Topic: Is there a place here for modified ex army Land Rovers?  (Read 94146 times)

Offline Mick

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Re: Is there a place here for modified ex army Land Rovers?
« Reply #210 on: August 31, 2020, 06:35:23 PM »

Thats right, just like eating an elephant.

One mouthful at a time :)

Cheers,

Mick

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Re: Is there a place here for modified ex army Land Rovers?
« Reply #211 on: September 20, 2020, 07:29:09 AM »
Just a quick update.

The focus has now shifted to my spinal cord, or more correctly, the L4/5 L5/S1 area of my spine.

Back in  1994 I fell off a truck in Sydney and shattered all of the calcaneal beaks off my right foot. It was a very nasty injury. The knee was damaged along with the spine.

The spinal damage led to me becoming paraplegic and as I was being prepped for surgery they determined that they could reduce the swelling by floating me in a swimming pool for a few weeks/months.

That’s what they did, pick me up from the hospital I was in, take me by ambulance to another hospital nearby and put a life jacket on me, winch me up and lower me into the heated pool. They’d drop me there after breakfast, then pick me up and take me back to my hospital for lunch then drop me off again after lunch and come pick me up in the afternoon. I can’t remember if this happened on weekends or just through the week, it was all quite a blur. They had me on some pretty heavy drugs.

Roll forward to now and it appears a few things are going on with my health.

The most problematic is the pain in the feet and ankle and knee, burning like dipped in hot oil, simply excruciating.

I often start shaking in shock at the pain.

Well guess what?

It’s starting to look like the spinal cord injury is raising its ugly head.

It’s early days yet but starting today I’m on a severe diet in order to shed some weight as it appears to me that this nonsense with the excruciating pain only started after I gained all the weight.

They can sort out the other medical issues in their own time, but for now, I have to get cracking on losing the weight because I certainly don’t want to become paraplegic again.

Offline navigation

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Re: Is there a place here for modified ex army Land Rovers?
« Reply #212 on: October 03, 2020, 11:07:48 PM »
Hi everyone,

I trust you’re all fit and well.

Just a quick update for anyone curious about the health issues.

It appears I’m diabetic though the test results don’t support it.

The treatment for diabetes is kicking in and I’m more than pleased to report that the pain and chronic symptoms are abating.

The past week has been great and while the pain has been just there, still a heartbeat away from manifesting, I’ve been lucky enough to not have it raise its ugly head.

Phew, so while it’s early days still, just going a full week without mind blowing pain is reason for me to feel beyond happy.

Let’s see how the coming weeks go.

Yeah, pretty happy right now.

Finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel.

Offline STDDIVER

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Re: Is there a place here for modified ex army Land Rovers?
« Reply #213 on: October 06, 2020, 04:56:42 PM »
Great to hear!   Terrific news - Looking forwards to seeing the improvements continue.   It will be great to get behind the wheel or have something that shoots in your hand very soon too!  Great steps  --- ---

Looking forwards to lots more posts - Thanks mate, for sharing

Frank

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Re: Is there a place here for modified ex army Land Rovers?
« Reply #214 on: October 06, 2020, 09:02:14 PM »
Thanks Frank, I appreciate it.

Still early days but I’m bouncing along without any issues at the moment.

I want to use the 109 but a few weeks ago I inadvertently boxed it in at work by pulling an ex army tri axle tautliner apart for a complete suspension and brake rebuild and upon disassembly it was found to be fairly rooted.
It was sourced from the auctions and came direct from the army.
I have never seen such a flogged out piece of crap in all my days.
Can’t believe the army let it go so bad.
I’ve attached an image of one of the bolts which secures the z spring to the chassis. One more bump and it probably would have snapped and spat the axle out the side.

It’s going to take weeks to repair everything that’s wrong with it.

Still, making progress with it now that I’m feeling better.
« Last Edit: October 07, 2020, 05:57:20 AM by navigation »

Offline navigation

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Re: Is there a place here for modified ex army Land Rovers?
« Reply #215 on: October 07, 2020, 05:53:42 AM »
I still can’t believe how close this trailer came to having a critical moment.
« Last Edit: October 07, 2020, 05:56:04 AM by navigation »

Offline STDDIVER

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Re: Is there a place here for modified ex army Land Rovers?
« Reply #216 on: October 07, 2020, 07:38:01 PM »
 This shows quality and the right reasons to check things out properly!  This shows that buying at the auctions is a real leap of faith!  (And a good reminder too!)

 Cheers Bro

Frank


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Re: Is there a place here for modified ex army Land Rovers?
« Reply #217 on: October 07, 2020, 09:16:02 PM »
That bolt was the very first thing I found, hence the images, for I wanted to show my employer what the very first thing I touched alluded to.

After that I tore the entire suspension system out, axle by axle, after lifting the whole trailer off the ground and suspending it on suitable supports.

Just about every component was shagged.

One brake assembly had collapsed entirely and took a bit of work to get the drum off.

It needs new shims throughout the suspension.

It had no bushes whatsoever on a couple of axles.

The shocks are pretty much all cactus.

Anyways, the plan is to replace everything that can’t be refurbished and then when it finally hits the road it’ll be awesome and give a few years good service before needing anything.

Do it once and do it thoroughly I always say, and that way there shouldn’t be any surprises.

There’s nothing wrong with buying any item with the view to rebuilding it, that’s just the way small operations have to do it, but goodness me, you don’t buy anything sight unseen, as this was.

You send the monkey who’s going to be stooged into doing the rebuild along to inspect it before you buy it, that way the monkey can carry on and bleat and moan if it’s going to be too big a job.

Doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things because this monkey has a squeek and a sook then just shrugs it off and starts hooking in a bit at a time till it all gets done.

It’ll take time but there’s no great rush.

It’s already coming up nice.

I’m absolutely buggered if I know why the curtains are positively black and the only thing I can think of that might explain that element is they’re either coated in carbon black or the trailer has done lots of trips by rail behind a diesel locomotive.

I did find a chemical called “M-60” which is reacting with the tenacious black soot or whatever it is and is slowly eating through it but it’s hard yakka all the way.

I think I might claim this Tautliner for my own use once it’s done.

It’ll sit nice behind the Stralis I inherited when we purchased an Argosy and 45 ft flat top the other week.

Repairing trucks and trailers keeps me entertained.

Went to another doctor today and he’s blown away and how much I’ve improved over the last 2 weeks.

I’m hoping I keep improving and get back in shape.

Baby steps...

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Re: Is there a place here for modified ex army Land Rovers?
« Reply #218 on: December 02, 2020, 01:09:29 PM »
G’day everyone,
I hope you’re all fit and well.
Not much to report other than to say that my health is markedly improved after beginning a diabetes treatment regime which was suggested by a new doctor after anout 8 negative test resilts for diabetes.
The new doctor said bugger it, lets treat you for that and see what happens and about 3.5 weeks later the pain suddenly abated.
It’s still there but is being kept at bay.
Juggling dosages now to keep it that way.
I can report that life is seriously improved and that makes me happy.

The 109 got moved the other day so that I could mow the grass beneath it and I was going to drive it home but after shifting it I could smell petrol and discovered a major fuel leak between the electronic fuel pump and carburettor.
I replaced that entire section of fuel line the following morning then reparked it as it was just too hot to mess around with it further.
The plan is to give it some love over the Christmas break and then see what the new year brings.

The exhaust system completely collapsed in the VX SS so that was bodged up to give me time to find a suitable replacement and the new exhaust arrives in Brisbane from Perth today.
It’s a fully stainless system, extractors and all.
Hoping to fit that over the next couple of weeks, weather permitting.

It’s one thing after another with cars...

I can say this though, after being in so much pain for so long, it doesn’t take long to forget about it and start kicking forward with tentatively renewed vigour.

Offline Lionelgee

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Re: Is there a place here for modified ex army Land Rovers?
« Reply #219 on: December 02, 2020, 03:05:43 PM »
Hello Navigation,

It is really good to see you posting again and also great to read that your health is improving. Now you just need to watch out for the normal knock for everybody here of climbing humidity at this time of year in Queensland. The humidity in Bundaberg now is 61 percent and climbing steadily - with no prospect of rain. Oh Joy.

Kind regards
Lionel

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Re: Is there a place here for modified ex army Land Rovers?
« Reply #220 on: December 02, 2020, 08:45:57 PM »
Thanks Lionel.

Yes, the heat is certainly something, especially when you’re wearing mid weight coveralls every day.

Spoke to the doctor this afternoon and the plan is to just cruise along under the same dosages for a while just to see how things go.

I understand the keeping on keeping on thought as it takes a while for the body to react and change and thus patience is key.

I received the new replacement exhaust system from Perth today and all I can say about it is thus, I’m pretty darn impressed so far.


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Re: Is there a place here for modified ex army Land Rovers?
« Reply #221 on: December 09, 2020, 08:29:11 AM »
The new stainless exhaust system was installed into my VX SS on Saturday.
It took a bit longer than I expected, at about 8 hours start to finish.
The weather was insane at about 39 degrees.
Just have to turn a couple of the clamps around to give better ground clearance and that ought to be it.
Pretty happy with it although it’s significantly quieter than I thought it was going to be but hey, there’s nothing wrong with it being quiet.
The health remains stable apart from feeling seedy due to the medication.
Can’t wait for the Christmas break as I have plans to devote a few days to my vehicles.
« Last Edit: December 09, 2020, 08:32:27 AM by navigation »

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Re: Is there a place here for modified ex army Land Rovers?
« Reply #222 on: December 09, 2020, 08:33:59 AM »
Some images of the goings on.

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Re: Is there a place here for modified ex army Land Rovers?
« Reply #223 on: December 12, 2020, 03:04:58 PM »
Decided to take the 109 for a long overdue drive today and it provided to be too long overdue.
I noticed the thermo fan and water pump controller started tripping into safe mode and before I knew it the controller croaked completely.
A quick check revealed blown fuses aplenty and I have no clue what’s gone wrong.
I replaced the fuses and tried to set off again but the controller died again, and again.
Decided that it’s all too hard and rather than risk the engine, called for a tilt tray to come and recover it.
The digital controller got super hot too, so unsure what’s gone awry.
Perhaps one of the little bush rats that reside at the depot has had a nibble on the wiring under the bonnet or something though I can’t see evidence of that.
See what happens when you don’t use them?
They need to be used regularly or things corrode or otherwise fail.
Nevermind, it’s a wake up call alright.
I’m not that fussed.
It is what it is.
It was running great before the controller croaked too.
Ahh well, that’s today’s plans gone...

Offline STDDIVER

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Re: Is there a place here for modified ex army Land Rovers?
« Reply #224 on: December 12, 2020, 04:38:20 PM »
My 6by is being used for the RSL christmas BBQ and with all good vehicles, first parade - indicators decided not to work!   I hear your sentiments Nav!   It is what it is!