Time to bite the bullet

[atpick]

Is it possible to be relieved that your truck didn't sell? Well I am. Time to bite the bullet and starting restoring this bad boy. The great news for you guys? I don't have a friggin clue what I'm doing. Should be a great chance for you dudes to hopefully give me some advice and probably laugh at me as well. Luckily, there are some motorheads in my Squadron that are more than willing to help. First problem is I'm out the door next week for 2 months for some training at Little Rock, AFB. While I'm gone I'm going to have new suspension put in. I'm looking to get rid of the huge lift and make it more stock. Any recommendations? I was thinking of Bilstein shocks and Genuine Land Rover springs or a Terra Firma set....thoughts? After that I need to get rid of this death trap propane tank in the back. Any thoughts on the complexity of removing this entire LPG system. Will someone persuade me to keep it? Was wondering about the possibility of just removing the tank, which is quite simple, and never move the switch from normal gas mode. However, after suspension I was thinking of putting in an edelbrock carb and intake in which case the extra pieces which bolt onto the stock carb along with the evaporator etc. will need to be removed unless there is something that can bolt onto the edelbrock carb. The only thing really wrong with the truck is over the past couple of weeks it has started pulling to the left on hard acceleration and pulling to the right on strong deceleration....any thoughts on that...alignment, bushings? That's enough rambling for now.
Vehicle:
1984 Land Rover Defender 110 SW

Whats' Been done:
-New clutch, new water pump, new door tops, tranny rebuilt, lowered 3 inches, NATO wheels/new tires

To do:
Suspension/bushings
remove BBQ unit (LPG)
carb/intake
rewire lights (not currently working)

Cheers,
Andy

[Stormer]

Andy,

Best of luck with the restoration and training. You'll have a lot to enjoy when you return.

[hillstrubl]

honestly, even if you rarely use it. Keep the LPG...

[atpick]

OK, so far LPG=1.5, rip it out = 0....I'm only giving it a half a point.

[cgalpin]

I'd keep the LPG. I assume it's safe since they use them in the UK and they get all batty about lifts and such being unsafe.

I'd also do the suspension myself. Save some money and get to know your honey.

[evilfij]

Ditch the LPG. Seems like a waste of space and weight.

Genuine springs and bilsteins are my choice.

[Lucasd2002]

Off the top of my head, I would:
-dump the LPG (free up the extra space/weight) [*edit: dammit Ron, you're inside my brain!]
-remove all diamond plate
-lose the rack
-paint the roof white (if it already isn't - I can't see your pictures b/c photobucket is blocked at work)
-paint the flares flat black
-replace the springs/shock with old man emu
-replace the wheels with OEM steel wheels
-rewire anything you can if the wires look original or tired
-convert to LHD
-think about a diesel conversion

[o2batsea]

Put a small block in there.

[EWR]

Put a small block in there.


FYI: this is a Land Rover forum, I'm sure if you do a search on google, or whatever search engine you prefer, you can find the "Bitchin Camaro" forum somewhere.....:rolleyes

[Ren Ching]

LOL...it will be a fun game to take bets on how long any particular thread can go on before Bill chime in and suggests the use of some american v8, and the LT95 to r380 adapter :)

Bill, just because you have a barn full of extra V8s doesn't mean everyone else does. Not to mention your only working truck is the one with the british engine in it. :) Even you wanted to do a 300tdi until you gave up and decided to use the leftover lumps from your abandoned jetboat project.

FWIW you guys take Bill too seriously...he's a good egg with big dreams, and a long time friend. Personally, I value my time spent IN my vehicles more than my time spent UNDER them. I've done quite a few long term rebuilds and projects but somewhere along the line I realized I was better off getting something that already worked. I guess if I had a ton of space then there would be more room in my life for project vehicles.

I know of a number of folks in the LR scene with driveways occupied by projects that will never work, that show up to LR events in their daily driver cars just to park in the field and socialize. Fine if that is your thing but why waste irreplaceable years of your life pretending you are going to build or fix something when you can now get a perfectly good, running and stopping Defender for fairly short money, and then modify it as you go and have fun at the same time. I guess it depends on what you want. If you have to have the drivetrain from a potato chip truck and 40" tires, then I guess that route is not really available to you, so be it.

Life is too short.





FYI: this is a Land Rover forum, I'm sure if you do a search on google, or whatever search engine you prefer, you can find the "Bitchin Camaro" forum somewhere.....:rolleyes

[seaswood]

I am 4+ years with maybe some good experience finding out what I could not see when I bought a truck with lots of work to do.
I will get it done eventually, probably should of bought a working rig.
I bought a project.
Good Luck.

[mgreenspan]

I'd get a 4.2 or 4.6 and an auto box and switch from carb'd to EFI. Keep the old V8 and lpg on a pallet in storage and just move around with it(they will move it for you, I've had plenty of car parts moved as household goods, just make it easy for them). You can always re-install it if gas prices skyrocket and LPG becomes common in the States or you can hock in on the corner to the local alternative fuel nutter.

Try to do as much as you can on base, it'll save you the torture and headaches you get from working on the truck in your driveway. But these trucks are easy to work on. Found these youtubes today... proof it's that easy(when there's no rust or loctite all over the place).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEzRPXZt-uk&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFCCIlZ_3uk

[cgalpin]

Wow, those time lapse videos are impressive!

[atpick]

Thanks for all the inputs so far. I think I have decided to keep the LPG for now. I don't really have the time or money for an engine swap at the moment. Any other votes on suspension, I'm ordering this week. Seems most favor OME.

[seaswood]

Thanks for all the inputs so far. I think I have decided to keep the LPG for now. I don't really have the time or money for an engine swap at the moment. Any other votes on suspension, I'm ordering this week. Seems most favor OME.
The suspension bits you can do just be sure to get good advice, I nearly got ahead of my self one day.
Fortunately the nut was frozen or the truck could of dropped. Heck all the nuts were frozen:angry I actually reused springs not sure where I wanted the height, but if you have figured that out all the betta.

[albrechtmj]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEzRPXZt-uk&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFCCIlZ_3uk

Nice!

Andy- Good luck with the build!

[atpick]

Ok, finally got my new shocks and springs in. Went with genuine springs and bilstein HD shocks. Have just a few weeks to get them installed. Gonna put them on with some help at the hobby shop on base. Are there any other parts I need or should this pretty much be a bolt off/on deal? I also bought some poly bushing for the front and back just in case but it looks like the shocks came with new bushings. Just want some advice to make sure I have everything I need.

[bjf]

What are bilstein HD shocks?

[ArmyRover]

If you decide to ditch the LPG set up let me know I would be interested in it.

[leastonce]

<sarcasm>

With the steady decline in gas prices, having an option to fill up with a cheaper fuel and extend the range of your truck seems pointless!

</sarcasm>

[atpick]

What are bilstein HD shocks?

Sorry, meant Genuine HD springs/bilstein shocks....tough crowd in here

[bjf]

No offense. I was actually curious. I have seen a couple different model shocks pop up made by bilsteins.

[jaygoss]

If you have any rust on the underside of your 110 start hit the fasteners with PB Blaster a few times over the next few weeks while you wait to have time to replace the suspension- it'll cut down on the time it takes to swap the suspension when you finally have a day set aside to do it.

[atpick]

After 3 months gone from home training and buzzing houses in PA in the Mighty Herk, I came back to the project. With no time to do it myself due to more time away from home on the horizon, I took it to a local shop. I chose the shop due to what was sitting in their lot. See picture below, what the hell happened to that 90?? Stretched? Anyways, new Bilstein HD shocks, Genuine Land Rover HD springs, and new poly bushings installed. What a difference it made. Its like a completely different truck. Had the tendency before to pull right or left when accelerating or decelerating. Not anymore, runs straight down the road and drives like a dream. Was cruising at 65 on my way to work today! What a difference a good suspension makes. Pictures attached. And a picture from some flying in PA just because its cool. Next on the horizon--Fix a tiny pinhole leak in the radiator, wiring for the roof lights, new brakes possibly, and hopefully some new wheels, hoping for some Boost wheels. Cheers!
42016

42017

42018

42019

42020

[atpick]

and the flying....

[sonoronos]

Nice stretch! I would have done the rears less and the front a lot more, but that's me.

[o2batsea]

Looks like a S3 body that someone put on a (unknown make) pickup truck chassis. Rather drastic arch trimming. I would like to have that clamshell rear door set up.

[cwilder]

cool flying pictures. How did you take that pic?

[atpick]

The boom operator took it from the tanker. That was another crew testing out the first in-flight refueling.

[Stormer]

Any update on the truck? You been flying or driving?

[Baldewin]

Dave, these are some good words of advice. :thumbs
LOL...it will be a fun game to take bets on how long any particular thread can go on before Bill chime in and suggests the use of some american v8, and the LT95 to r380 adapter :)

Bill, just because you have a barn full of extra V8s doesn't mean everyone else does. Not to mention your only working truck is the one with the british engine in it. :) Even you wanted to do a 300tdi until you gave up and decided to use the leftover lumps from your abandoned jetboat project.

FWIW you guys take Bill too seriously...he's a good egg with big dreams, and a long time friend. Personally, I value my time spent IN my vehicles more than my time spent UNDER them. I've done quite a few long term rebuilds and projects but somewhere along the line I realized I was better off getting something that already worked. I guess if I had a ton of space then there would be more room in my life for project vehicles.

I know of a number of folks in the LR scene with driveways occupied by projects that will never work, that show up to LR events in their daily driver cars just to park in the field and socialize. Fine if that is your thing but why waste irreplaceable years of your life pretending you are going to build or fix something when you can now get a perfectly good, running and stopping Defender for fairly short money, and then modify it as you go and have fun at the same time. I guess it depends on what you want. If you have to have the drivetrain from a potato chip truck and 40" tires, then I guess that route is not really available to you, so be it.

Life is too short.

[o2batsea]

With what will probably be my last ever vehicle rebuild I have come back to the fold and have an all-Rover resto-mod going on. So, y'all can say what you want about me.

[atpick]

Any update on the truck? You been flying or driving?

JP,
Been flying a lot with a little leave mixed in. Have been driving the truck a lot though, about 600 miles in the past few months which is a lot for me! Trying to decide what to do next with it. Sure do wish the heater was working, been some New Mexico morning drives, guess that will be my next project!