| Was 1983 Z28 | 01-24-2011 01:25 PM |
Quote:
Originally Posted by GabAlmighty
(Post 7277462)
Holy shit, that is a wicked machine. Got anymore info on it, build thread? Besides the ridiculous hp rating:P
| It's a '73 Land Rover Series III 88" station wagon on a military chassis. That's an old picture though; it's no longer green. I rebuilt everything and stuck it on a new galvanized military chassis. The motor is a 2.25L four cylinder with a 2.5L cam in it and an 8.5:1 compression ratio and balanced and blueprinted internals; more to minimize vibration than anything else. The transmission and transfer case were rebuilt with new bearings, syncros and seals, and I also ordered a Fairey overdrive and subsequently rebuilt it as well. All steel-to-aluminum joins have been rubber isolated or replaced with aluminum pieces wherever possible to avoid galvanic corrosion, all fasteners are stainless where possible, and I parkerized all the unique steel pieces that can't be bought. The firewall was torn down and all rusting sections cut away and replaced before dipping in epoxy coating and painting. The entire front end is new, with the exception of the differential itself. All running gear is coated in POR-15 under gloss black. The suspension now has a two inch lift with parabolic springs, and it has Interco TrXus tires; six in total (four rolling, hood-mounted spare, interior-mounted spare). All the galvanized trim was stripped and redone, and the bodywork was taken to bare Birmabright (the alloy Land Rover made the body from) and primed and painted with minimal bodywork and no bondo.
It still looks like an old truck thanks to the fair share of dings and dents it now has (the bondo was a quarter inch think in places under the brushed-on latex paint), but it's stupidly solid throughout and I enjoy its simplicity. It's slow as hell and its loud enough inside that I'm going to install a British army headset communications system... but it's tough as nails, ready for another 600,000+ kilometres, and goes a goodly distance on the 200 litres of gas that it can carry. Of course, after pumping that much into it, it sort of feels like you're driving a bomb. The only other things I plan to add is a combination of limited slip and locking differentials, stronger axles, disc brakes, and a megasquirt EFI setup.
But as it is, it's easy to drive around Vancouver, since it's basically got the footprint of a new Mini with better sight lines. Makes parking and merging a breeze, and the seven passenger or 3/4 ton cargo capacity is nice... but as practical as it is, I always look forward to summer... http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3048/...736e6d4b_o.jpg
Here's the start of a build thread that I need to update in a big friggin' way: http://bb.bc4x4.com/showthread.php?1...ght=Land+rover | 