Jeeze, I really don't know when all this hype is about...
Valdez is... a 66 109 plain - O regular, with series III wings, and the
breakfast is moved forward one inch to accomodate the radiator, so the hood
sits up too high. The tranny hump is a huge affair, the same height as the
seatbox, same width as the bulkhead center section, and was cobble together
in an hour using diamond plate aluminum and angle aluminum. It looks ugly,
and you can see the ground through the panel gaps. I have to redo it with a
couple of roadsigns. The frame is custom, so it has about 3" more ground
clearance than a regular rover, and the frame rails are basically rock
sliders. The underhood looks like I sprayed it in oil, as I was battling
major oil leakage a while back, and am waiting for warmer weather to clean
up the motor and paint it cat yellow, as well as tidy up all the wiring and
basically make the Ford engine look like it came from the factory. I am
actually going to wrap my wiring harnesses in hockey tape as it looks like
the braided stuff the factory used.
Most of the modifications are not apparent on the outside, unless you really
really look and notice the bumpers, frame rails, etc. It's just a regular
109 on the outside, with the paint peeling off of the roof. The interior is
a mess, loaded with all kinds of dirt and crud. Not a nice place.
If course, the new axles will make it look quite different on the outside,
and I am still debating whether I will do a spring over or leave the springs
as is. I might have to do a spring over, since the axles were destind to be
run under the spring, on the donor vehicle. This gives me monstrous lift,
which is NOT what I'm after. 2" higher would be about the limit, but I may
have to go higher if I can't get the axles to fit where I want them.
Many of the mods I have debated on the list, such as the axle swap, the
larger tires, the spring over, are at the "I have the parts accumulated, but
not the time" stage. But, hey, college exams are over in a week, and then I
demanded that my job leave me alone for a period of two weeks, for me to get
some work done to the beast. The axles will be first, as I need the higher
gears and would like the wider track and improved turning radius, as well as
the locking diffs, after that, I'll move on to beautification, and then to
the gizmo stage, as in roll bar, onboard air, spare carrier, hilift mounting
spot, roof rack...
It never ends. Still want a picture? It'll be obsolete in two months, as
I'll have a completely different animal. That goes Psssht.
J-L
______________________________________________________
Jean-Leon Morin
AKA "Dr. Detroit"
Valdez - 1966 IIA 109 freak
Slagmobile - 195? II parts bin
----- Original Message -----
From: David Pillekers <david.pillekers@oracle.com>
To: <lro@Land-Rover.Team.Net>
Sent: Friday, April 20, 2001 12:50 AM
Subject: LRO: Pictures of JL's vehicle
> Hello all,
>
> JL, if you want to email me a picture I can bung it in my ISP account
> and post the URL.
>
> I must admit I'm more than a little curious about how valdez looks...
>
> BTW, next time your going to make jokes about air brake noises and
> jeeps, can you post a spoilers. My coworkers think I'm losing it cos I'm
> laughing at my keyboard again.
>
> Reminds me of a defender I saw at one point. It was a 110 truck cab in
> the sorta offwhite grey colour. Back of it had a canvas cover. Had a
> modded v8 running 35 inch swampers and air lockers at both ends. This
> thing emerged, in no great hurry, from a mud pit, chugged along to some
> slightly dryer ground, and as she stoped the there was the woooshh of
> the air. The combined effect off the sounds and the look of the vehicle
> was impressive. Mind you, I'd just made it through the same pit with
> 235/85R16 MT's in a stock vehicle. But from a dramatic point of view it
> was an impressive entrance. :-)
>
> Regards,
>
> David. Melb, Australia - who really want a Garage again so he can re
> accumulate all the good toys
>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Fri Apr 20 2001 - 12:10:50 EDT