land rover thing project

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auld duffer

auld duffer

Well-Known Member
Posts
577
Location
scotland
After completion of the 109 ( not to camper spec but back on the road ) its time for a break and a new not so full on project.. more a fun thing to while away the drudgery and have a bit of a laugh at the same time .

So follow along if you wish , to the land rover thing project , try to maintain a sense of adventure and sense of humour , this isn't going to be for dyed in the wool land rover folk, just a carry on with a few odd ball parts and a half cocked idea ..

So here is the base of it all,,, its still a Rover and its on some land so technically its a land rover . :)
Its a mid 50s P4 Rover plan is to carry out a body swap using the P4 running gear and chassis and cladding it in the most basic set of series Land rover panels to make a lowered land rover thing to have a bit of fun in .. I've scored a rough bulkhead , a decent pair of doors a pair of front wings and a deluxe bonnet and a a pair of 109 lower sides for the pick up bed .. Plan is not to spend much money and try to get this up and driving for under £2000.. and if all goes well have it done so it can be on the road during the summer .. ( No guarantees on that time frame )

here is the base vehicle , complete with V5C for £300 and just 5 miles up the road from me .

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I think I'd go the other way, P4 body on series(or defender) chassis/running gear :D

Actually if you get a complete series you could do both :cool:
 
Well thats the project base littering the drive now so have to break it down, scrap it quick and retain the parts needed , sill collect some of the main landrover parts next week and hopefully hang things in place to get some idea of whats needed to nail it all together .
 
Done a quick measure up earlier , I lifted some dimensions from the internet and came up with a wheelbase of 114 inches , but measuring this it seems to be much closer to 109 , possibly looked up the wrong model ? 109 series 3 rear tub will extend beyond the P4 rearmost X member by a few inches but thats fine, The DVLA regs allow bolt on extensions to the outer perimeter of the chassis so body supports will be easy enough to fabricate and bolt on ( or weld if im feeling rebellious )

Length of the front wings on the P4 is 49 inches while the Land rover series are roughly 46 however the rover wing are longer from the front edge of the wheel arch so the extra length isnt a big deal at this stage ..

So far from the limited measurements Ive lifted, the chassis and body should be a close match .

rear axle width on the rover is much the same as the landy .. Im gutted that the rover only has 15inch wheels as I have a set of like new 650 16s .. that would be good enough to use on this project :( will have a look at the earlier P4s to see if they have 16s ..

Chassis looks really solid , some minor rust out on the front left outrigger outer edge ,, the chassis is pretty much the same outline as the landrover .

Once ive collected the front end panels and the rear bed sides I will hang them around the chassis, see where they lay and take it from there ..

Im short of an engine , just plan to keep it simple and use a Landy 2 1/4 petrol as thats pretty much what they used in the Rover 80 anyways .. will also have to scare up a P4 OD gearbox ..
 
got the front sheet metal off, interior stripped and the wiring out didnt keep any crap, infact didnt keep very much at all, Gone are the days I would waste time pulling hinges and crap, only to ditch them later on in another garage clear out .. I was ruthless, sold the bench seat for half what I paid for the car , and should get £60 from the scrappy for the rest, and maybee a wee bit extra of stuff I might just ram in there to get rid.. :) Rough balance will be around £120 into it .. Tis is like the old days when projects were affordable :)

Decided to keep the heater and heater blower so they are now off as well.

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advertised for engine options and had offers of several makes .. GMC big block V6 and auto , Volvo B20 and the fav so far, a 3.5 Rover V8 and LT 77 5 speed .. Im aware that the Rover V8 can be a tight fit in P4 but fitting the Landy body might open things out a wee bit and allow for some options in the final engine position.. If I plump for the Rover V8 and it doesn't work out then I might , just might , fit it in the land rover .. who knows :)
 
Pulled the trigger on the Rover V8 and LT77.
Engine comes fitted with Offenhauser inlet and Edelbrock 500 carb plus a shorty header set up. LT 77 has been fitted with sherpa shifter to move the gearstick forward and the fella mentioned it a short shift pattern which is apparently a good option .. Im not fussy, I was just looking for a decent engine and gearbox . No idea if the combination will work but its worth a shot for the price..

Plan to deposit the body at the scrapyard on Monday and get the chassis in the shed for a good clean-up, much the same as the Landrover, it wont be going for blasting as its really not a rusty chassis at all ..

Sold a set of axle bells for an early ford and scored enough from those to pay for the P4 .. Just got to raise the doe for the engine and box from selling some more early Ford old junk from the stock pile :)

Im not confident on the engine fit given what I saw on my budies effort to fit a rover V8 in the chassis , but he was using the original OD and limited by the confines of the P4 bulkhead ..hopefully I will have a bit more wiggle room. I cant find any info on fitting the V8 to a P4 chassis although I am aware that a few have been converted ..

Any leads to info would be welcome .
 
Well thats the body dropped at the scrappy, received a massive £56 .. got the chassis back and gave it a good scrape, power wash and wire brushing . come up good, no repairs needed none ever been carried out .. V5C also arrived in my name .

looks like its got new brake pipes and a full stainless exhaust system fitted .. Had a look at the price of parts to service the running gear and all works out not to bad for a safe working vehicle. all the brakes and shox for a tad under £300 I cant find any play in the steering so going to grease things up and run with what's there to keep things within budget .

Rain stopped play late afternoon so I nipped along to see the fella that had a pair of body sides for me .. Loaded them up not paying much attention but on unloading them it turns out they are series 1 .. bugger ..

If any one out there has a rough pair of 109 series 3 body sides I would be delighted to hear from you . :) beat up , dinged and even split .. I don't need the floor parts in between

If the worst comes to the worst I will have a short bed rear and a couple of spare doors to extend it lol.. would be a shame to butcher a decent swb tub though ..

No pics today but hopefully the sun will shine on Tuesday and I will snap a couple of the freshly laundered chassis :)
 
well no sunshine today so braved the elements and snapped some chassis pics .. for a 60 year old chassis its pretty decent .. temporary springs look a bit hard ..

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Straight through the Heart .. that's why they had big steering wheels, to spread the load :) Doesn't half make you a careful driver .. chances are being impaled on the Colum will save you being thrown from the vehicle as there are no seatbelts either. Real men in those days , none of them poncey air bags or any of that stuff :)
 
Pulled more stuff off the chassis and set to with a twist knot wire brush of death in the grinder ... Took the rust out right to clean metal , had it pretty much done in a couple of hours off and on effort. Rain stopped play but for the best part its in wishy washy red oxide primer just to fend off the worst of the elements and make it much much more pleasant to work on .. Hoping to make some arrangement tonight to strip the short wheel base land rover for its front end parts, doors, and tattered bulkhead .. will see how things work out .. but I think the fella is going away for the weekend so he may not be to keen to let me loose on the strip down when no one is around .. will see how it goes :) We know each other well enough and he is way out in the sticks but might not be keen to have someone there while he isnt ..

Making progress never the less, every little helps ..
 
worsest ( spell check that one google) bit on the chassis was the driver side front jacking point , not a big repair, its bolted on so its been removed and thrown in the bin, leaving a relatively minor repair ..
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