preparing my 110 camel for around the world

[the rover shop]

I am not sure how i can repost my thread to here from another site, so I hope its not against the rules but..
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/70583-Prepping-a-camel-trophy-defender-110-for-around-the-world

[Jackie Treehorn]

I considered buying that exact truck last year. Unmistakable. Same UK registration.

Did you buy that from Matt M in the UK, or from the eBay ad towards the end of summer 2011?
I found him to be a bit evasive about some questions about the provenance and later found that the body was swapped. Since I was importing, that was the straw that broke the camel's back (no pun intended) because I didn't want any hassles from customs.

It was nice to see that somebody had the balls to import it! (not suggesting it wasn't a legit 25-yo import, just that Matt couldn't provide any real documentaion on the body swap).

In any event, you've got your work cut out for you! That will be a pretty sweet truck when you're finished although, I was told it was a camel trophy body on a non-camel frame.
What did your due diligence/investigation of the provenance reveal?

I was definately considering doing a full big-dollar restoration if it were a 100% camel truck. Sadly, the only thing "Camel" that would probably remain would be the dash board and cage. We did the numbers and saw nearly everything getting replaced.

I may have some additional information if you're interested, PM me.

Good luck with the restoration, people will definately be envious when you're done!

[texrover]

So your the guy with the cajones? :)

I looked at that one long and hard.

If you haven't already check with the camel club in the UK several of there guys corresponded with me and had already viewed the truck. They might help with camel parts.

And I'd go full unabashed unashamed camel on the resto- good luck!

[the rover shop]

Yeah, I bought it off the guy who imported it from Matt.. there is some confusion with the whole timeline thing but i think I have sorted it out.. I have been over this vehicle quite extensively (too extensively) or is that expensively..LOL..and if the frame was swapped they did a bang up job on it...the rear crossmember has a special bracket welded into it on the inside for the fitment of the internal roll cage as well as a couple other camel specific pieces.. and to swap the frame of an 89 camel with a same age frame etc doesn't add up.. I didn't buy it with the intent of restoring it or keeping it preserved but I bought it to do exactly what I am doing with it...yes I am trying to preserve it for the long haul but i intend to use it not abuse it and I should be able to have her for a long time to come..I could go into it more in depth but I feel a public forum may not be the best place to do it...maybe thats my paranoid big brother its a conspiracy side kicking in...LOL..

[Jackie Treehorn]

Yeah, I bought it off the guy who imported it from Matt.. there is some confusion with the whole timeline thing but i think I have sorted it out.. I have been over this vehicle quite extensively (too extensively) or is that expensively..LOL..and if the frame was swapped they did a bang up job on it...the rear crossmember has a special bracket welded into it on the inside for the fitment of the internal roll cage as well as a couple other camel specific pieces.. and to swap the frame of an 89 camel with a same age frame etc doesn't add up.. I didn't buy it with the intent of restoring it or keeping it preserved but I bought it to do exactly what I am doing with it...yes I am trying to preserve it for the long haul but i intend to use it not abuse it and I should be able to have her for a long time to come..I could go into it more in depth but I feel a public forum may not be the best place to do it...maybe thats my paranoid big brother its a conspiracy side kicking in...LOL..


Yep, what what I remember hearing the frame wasn't so bad. If you're doing any significant restoration (whether full frame off or not) I'd budget for a new bulkhead.

I wouldn't worry too much about US Customs coming knocking at your door. Long as you have your import paperwork and once you get it registered. I was mostly concerned because I wasn't satisfied with the seller's response or documentation to the frame VIN and b/h VIN.

Are you sticking with the Camel theme, esentially doing a Camel "clone"?

[the rover shop]

Verdict is still out about the frame not being original..(unless you know something i don't) I am waiting for the information to come back from my sources and i have been in touch with Andrew at Nene overland where a bunch of work was done.. as mentioned before if i was doing a frame swap I am not sure I would go to the extent of welding in new support pieces to the inside of the rear cross member for the internal roll cage to mount on... I found the frame number under tons of paint etc and have deciphered it as being correct for what it is supposed to be... just a matter of putting together a timeline.. At the very least being that the majority of it is original camel I will be redoing it as such... If you have an original camel and replace the frame does that make it just a clone now..??? Wouldn't it need to have the original tyres, plaques, decals, paint etc to make it "original".... but in answer to your question....even if it is not the original frame I will be doing it as what it is...an original camel trophy 110 that has had the frame changed.. (now where is that little smiley blowing a raspberry when you need it..???)

------ Follow up post added January 16th, 2012 08:12 PM ------

When I get her back to Australia I will be doing a frame off on her and still using her for what she was designed for...adventuring...

[Jackie Treehorn]

Good to hear that Nene did most of the work. Nene and Foleys earn their premium prices over the rest of the butcher shops in the UK from everything I've seen and heard. That would explain the solid welding and fabrication work.

I shouldn't go around suggesting that it's not original Camel. That's your truck now and something for you to investigate (or not) and I'm just going off of a hazy memory from nearly a year ago. I think what I remember him saying is that it was a '89 CTT body installed on a '84 or '85 frame and running gear. What is it titled as/ or have you gotten to that step yet?

No matter really, I'd be stoked to drive that around when it's restored regardless of the precise provenance.
In fact, given the work and abuse the real Camel trucks experienced it wouldn't surprise me to learn that the frame VIN and bulkhead VIN was a factory performed or Land Rover Special Vehicle rebuild - who knows. All I know is that Matt in the UK had a shady reputation and he didn't provide me with enough documentation.

I think regardless of the semantics, it's a cool truck and I wish you the best of luck restoring it and using it as it was intended!

[the rover shop]

That was pretty much the story I got as well..it was an 88 amazon truck and it had a frame replacement with an ex-mod frame of 85 vintage..Its registered as an 85 and thats what the vin plate comes up as, actually decodes as a 1985 basic soft top, pickup or hardtop van with a 2.5 4 cyl diesel lt77 left hand drive...I scraped off layers of paint and crap on the frame rail and got the frame number off it and it all corresponds with what it is...defender 110 standard 5 dr station wagon 4 cyl turbo diesel (not TDI) lt77 right hand drive... I have looked hard at this car to try to figure its pedigree... the front fender stickers are very aged and its hard to duplicate patina like this...the turbo decal on the back is original but the tdi decal on the front wing is newer...it has superwinch decals on fenders and a husky superwinch manual was found in the battery compartment.. On the roof it has 4 holes in a square pattern and another one that looks like an aerial hole...when I got it you could definitely see the six feet marks from the original brownchurch heavy duty rack... there are a couple of VERY faded rear camel stickers in what appears to be German and another very old sticker residue that says bitte ein bit... the rear roof vents are correct for the year and initially I was thrown off by the ribbed roof but I met another camel owner whos is 100% genuine and his is an 89-90 and has a ribbed roof as well..he also has the holes in the roof and his was a support or scout car...I think that is what mine was.. also the original switch plate in the centre dash is all wired correctly and it has the wiring harnesses coming out the roof with the correct period connectors and the right amount of wires and most actually work from the switches.. the tax discs in the window correspond to the existing reg number but they are easy to place on the window in the stick on holder...the window galss is corect for an 89 as it has the secursiv glass and not the trplex... the interior roll cage is definitely camel trophy and installed correctly...the front external roll cage bars have the correct holes in the down tubes where the original rack had extra supports.., I scraped the black paint off the wheels and they were sandglow underneath, originally I believe the snorkel would have gone through the hood as it is a right hand drive but mine had it through the left fender.. the hood was not the original one (I believe, but it may have been different for a scout truck) as it didn't have the spare wheel mounting points on it, I am changing the hood as I want to carry a spare wheel there coz it looks tough.. and I think I will have the hose going through the hood , but I need to do a bit more research first... the existing snorkel tube on it was not the original one as it was some pice of galvanised pipe from home depot or similar... but the hose had the corrrect joiner sleeve for where it went through the hod/fender...it was a 2 piece snorkel hose originally..I thought about having some of the soil samples from in the frame areas sent off for analysing but I think that may be overkill..so much for my brief quick reply...LOL...

[california]

Dude. Definitely do the soil samples!

[belgian]

The moment you figure out which team drove this Camel, you should definitely try to get in touch with the drivers. Thats what I did when I was thinking about buying my Camel trophy. But I knew from the stickers that it was a German team. After getting in touch and exchanging pictures we were able to identify dents that they added during the event and that they had on their pictures. It was a fun process and it definitely convinced me to buy the Camel.

Hopefully this works for you!

[the rover shop]

More stuff added to the build thread...if you can't see pics let me know..

[the rover shop]

and the build continues... if you can't see pics I can send you a password for your viewing/drooling pleasure...LOL..

[ssbartley1]

Damn...a lot of time (and money) going into bringing that CT truck back to live. Great job!!

[the rover shop]

Steve...you have no idea just how expensive in time and money...and i don't wanna either..LOL..

[the rover shop]

rear winch bumper setup installed...well sorta...LOL...
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/70583-Prepping-a-camel-trophy-defender-110-for-around-the-world

[revtor]

aww maaaaan, I wanna see the pics! post 'em here, or please send me a password to check out your work!

thanks
~Steve

[rijosho]

his password is BDSM

[the rover shop]

You should just join...its free and it is an awesome site... but if you don't want to join one of the best sites out there for people who actually do some serious travelling instead of talkng about it...(unlike Joshy boy..LOL..) you can sign on uncer 110 camel trophy and password is camilla...

------ Follow up post added April 26th, 2012 09:57 AM ------

his password is BDSM

And josh...that's your secret entry code..I told you not to share it with anyone else...that password will unlock many interesting "doors" for you big boy..:eek: