Project that hasnt been done before?

New to the forum, so here goes!

Throwing ideas around, what do we think?

Tried searching but there doesnt seem to be anything like this...ish.
Right i've got an old Series 3 Lightweight with a very rotten chassis and knackered suspension, the bulkhead isnt great either, but i think it's repairable!
Read a lot about cutting down RR and Disco chassis to 88" but SVA's, Q Plates and the potential for your project being scrap at the end of all your work doesnt seem worth it to me.
I'm thinking Disco running chassis (with V5) off a rusty body, with 200tdi and all of the necessary stuff to make it run - rad alternator etc etc, bolt the Lightweight front end on (wings, bulkhead, etc) after making various mods like the bulkhead outriggers, rear crossmember and so on. Then use maybe a 110 or 109 tub that's been cut down to whatever length needed to make it fit the 100" chassis... or even stretch the smaller tub?? Is it worth watching "A 4by4 is born" which involves cutting down a 110 tub?
Also, becuase the Lightweight is thinner than a Standard Series 3, will the tub be too wide?

Please don't send death threats to me P) for 'Destroying' a lightweight, seeings as it would give it a new lease of life... there's always another rotten Land Rover for a project.

Thanks in Advance for any feedback!
Hamish

Btw - Bought the lightweight off a friend of mine a few months ago for £175

a 200tdi into a mk1 sherpa van

Well you are destroying a lightweight. The chassis is gone, that means the ID is gone unless you rebuild on a new, unused, made to spec replacement chassis. All you are doing is bolting a few panels onto a different vehicle.

Why not just do it properly and remake the lightweight, retain its ID and keep another true Landy on the road.

Oh , and there is not 'always another rotten Land Rover for a project' as there are only a finite number of Lightweights and Series vehicles - they don't make them anymore! So each one gone is gone for ever :-(

J

i have actually done what you are saying about it was a challenge truck and the weight reduction was great untill i used the disco chassis then another done onto a def chass then the def chassis went so onto a series chass it went,

big bucks in it though but i will have to say if you use a rr/disco chass it will be a bit heavy the series chass worked best for me ex-army and coil conversion, if you want odd do what i did and then go for a 2.8 izuzu or even a m143 v8 lorry unit so good for wheelies, i couldnt get mine to mate the lr/rr box so used a lorry g.box as well :doh:

do it right like i did and it will be somthin to WXXK over really beautiful. good lick matey,

Thanks for your input guys.
Do you have any pictures of the finished machine or of the build?

Also can anyone shed any light on the tub width issues?

Much appreciated.

I'll give u £200 for the lightweight to save it being trashed...

If not, what's your address for the death threats and letter bombs?

Bump said:

I'll give u £200 for the lightweight to save it being trashed...

If not, what's your address for the death threats and letter bombs?

Click to expand...

123 Fake Street

And anyway... we'll be long out of oil before the last Lightweight dies.

i dont have any pics due to ritchie ****ing my workshop up after setting me and him and a can of petrol on fire sorry bud i will ask the ex and ritchie if they have any, but his fon went as well in that the ****, i know a guy but cant remember his name at lro show 2006ish who had a 110 chassis and light weight front to look like a 110 l,weight. these guys maybe able to help you as they will know of him im sure, if i find any pics of mine i will get them to you bud and thats a promise bud as she was half sexmatic maniac on the clay and dirt,

if you do the project what about a hicap lookalike but a light weight verson now that was one of my plans but looks like you will have a good deal on that one and plenty of buyers if you decide to sell it?

A 109 or 110 tub would be too wide for a lwt chassis and body as a lwt is 4" narrower. You could just fabricate a rear tub I suppose. It would probably be better to forget the whole coiler thing and use a 109" chassis with narrowed outriggers, and build something like a 109" lwt. Or you could just buy a Santana 109" Militar from Spain which is pretty much a 109" lwt anyway.
I would be susprised if you could make a lwt front end fit around a tdi in a disco chassis anyway, as obviously the lwt has a stepped back front like all proper Landrovers. You could also run into C&U problems due to the design of the front end. At minimum it would have to be a series 3 type front end as lamps in grille would not be legal on a disco-age vehicle.

yes, isee that is a good point, what your best off doing is a LWB chassis 2-2A maybe at a push 1972 s3 then go for the 110 hicap tub, i only say this as have you ever seen a lwt hicap now that would be one for the popcorn. if you keep the 109 axles then maybe a 2a front from a lwt, or even go coil? what you think? 22900013a.

I think coils are the work of the devil so forget that idea for a start.
The problem we keep coming back to is the lwt body, standard axles are too wide. It could be done with a hicap tub and I agree it would be different, but you would have to somehow fab up a rear bulkhead for the back of the cab. You would then have a very narrow cab with a wide rear tub on which might look odd.

good point, so what about if you cut the tub down the middle say an inch or two out then a series or defender tub bulkhead then join them back together and i say that due to the 110 i must admit though nice it didn't have rear splats on, and that did somehow look strange but light weight front axle then 109 rear to stabalise if i spelt that right? the back and providing the extra cornering and towing ability?

A standard series or 110 tub won't mate up to a lwt front end. Fab up a rear bulkhead and use a narrowed hicap tub.

once again thanks for the input guys.
I was thinking about a sort of lightweight hi-cap, however the wide tub might make it look a bit funny. Is it just the axles that are wider on a disco, or is the whole body wider?
Obviously the simples idea would just be to replace with a standard chassis, which might be the best idea... just expensive.