Re: [lro] Shipfitters' disease

From: Mark Pilkington (mark@skywagons.com)
Date: Fri Nov 22 2002 - 14:08:22 EST

  • Next message: Frank Elson: "Re: [lro] Shipfitters' disease"

    Ah yes, I have always resisted the temptation and fixed the basics and just got
    by. I made them shiney and my brother made them run, but not on the same
    vehicle. I got this far in life like that. BUT this 67 Series IIa that I have
    has been different. I bought it needing cosmetic restoration and have done a lot
    more. I even wax it! Wax, on a Land Rover, am I bloody mad! Well it gets worse.
    I have the nice shiney running Land Rover that some of you have seen and that
    has been in LROI but it is still not right. She still jumps out of 2nd and 3rd
    after a tranny rebuild. It is booked in with Timm Cooper mid December 2002 to
    get thousands of dollars of work done to it. Chevy tranny, stronger rear axle
    with LSD Diff. Defender dual circuit brakes with front discs, new wide bigger
    aluminium radiator. Engine repositioned as it is a 350 V8 and is not where Timm
    wants it. Redesigned tunnel on the floor between the seats to accommodate the
    new tranny. The chassis will be rebuilt where the previous owner cut it to
    allow the exhaust to pass on one side, new ramshorn manifolds etc etc. The
    whole front is coming off. It is a lot of work and Timm and Matthew and BCB
    will have her for a month. When I get her back, though she will be excellent
    and unbreakable and fast and will be able to stop on a dime etc etc etc
    aaarrrrgggghhhhhh! STOP ME................
        I know exactly how much I will have spent on her too. About $18,000 in
    total from first sight to the day I collect her from BCB. I think that she is
    worth that though. If Cornflake can get $40,000 for one, and Heavily modified
    Jeeps and FJ40's command into the $20,000's she must be worth that. If so, then
    my ONLY consolation is that I can sell her in years to come and get the money
    back. It is "invested" not "spent" if you see what I mean.
        I have shipfitters, but no time or equipment for heavy work. I tinker and
    curse but leave the big stuff to the pro's but it still is a disease.
    Kind regards.
    Mark Pilkington

    Rich Williams wrote:

    > When I bought my 109 a few years ago the "test drive" when like this:
    >
    > Turn the key, started after a few tries, took some effort to get it into
    > gear, drove it straight onto a road, came to a 4-way intersection and sailed
    > right through wide-eyed while wildly pumping the brakes and looking for
    > crumple zones on wheels that I might hit.
    >
    > This whole episode took less than 5 minutes and I was hooked even though I
    > knew the engine was questionable, the gearbox was really questionable and
    > the hydraulics were really, really, questionable. I was in love. I
    > negotiated the price down to roughly a bit more than half of the asking
    > price, towed it home and tried to sort some of this out then had big fuel
    > supply problems and found that the wiring needed to be at least thoroughly
    > sorted if not gutted and replaced. Closer examination revealed that this
    > truck had been in a flood and although there was no rust or rot it was full
    > of silt (though the interior had been hosed out so it was kinda clean
    > inside), and there was excessive mold and mildew.
    >
    > What to do...by this time I had subbed to this list and received tons of
    > wisdom from most of you. But did I listen....of course not. Being an
    > obsessive-compulsive doesn't help either.
    >
    > All I really wanted to do though was to get the truck running and clean it
    > up a bit. Really, that's it, nothing more - just some simple repairs and
    > tidy the truck up a bit. Make it serviceable and reasonably dependable for
    > daily driving. Had some minor success, drove it a bit, but the list of
    > "have-to's" grew exponentially.
    >
    > So one day I took a break from mechanical projects and began doing a little
    > body work, trying to salvage the driver's front fender which was smashed in.
    > Boy that wing sure came off easily..........uh oh!
    >
    > Before I knew it I was sandblasting the frame and rebuilding EVERYTHING.
    >
    > Have I spent too much money? Probably, but I don't really know because I
    > can't count that high. Would I do things differently "next time" (insert
    > evil grin here)? Yea, probably would. But through it all I am learning a
    > lot, making some great friends, and having a blast. And when I am finished,
    > I'll have a great truck, an epic tale of injuries, mistakes,
    > re-re-re-repairs, and lasting memories.
    >
    > Unfortunately though, once infected with shipfitters your body's immune
    > system doesn't produce antibodies to stave of a second infection, in fact, I
    > fear once you survive your first infection, you are more susceptible to
    > later bouts of the disease.
    >
    > So those of you who haven't come down with the disease, take it from me and
    > everyone else who has echoed this sentiment - shipfitters IS a slippery
    > slope. Look at lrx.com and see the number of rigs being sold mid-resto.
    > Why? Maybe they ran out of patience, money, positive attitude or maybe
    > SWMBO threatened (or filed for) divorce. I am sure more than one guy out
    > there lost his wife/girlfriend to his Series project(s).
    >
    > Anyway - be warned - and have fun.
    >
    > Rich
    >
    > ----- Original Message -----
    > From: <andylit@directvinternet.com>
    > To: <lro@koan.team.net>
    > Sent: Friday, November 22, 2002 9:26 AM
    > Subject: RE: [lro] Shipfitters' disease
    >
    > >
    > > Rick Grant <rickgrant@telus.net> wrote:
    > >
    > > >However, and it is a big however, I live in terror of Shipfitters
    > > >Disease. I can well remember when Adrian Redmond (I wish he'd return to
    > > >this list) started some innocuous little project and ended up with a
    > > >rebuilt motor, a refurbished frame, and a tickety-boo body.
    > >
    > > >I am afraid, very afraid, that if I pull the head to do the valves,
    > > >although they are showing no signs of problems, I will end up delving
    > deep
    > > >into the engine and god knows what else.
    > >
    > > It's too late. The thought is the deed.
    > >
    > > I just got nailed on my '59 Mercedes. The window rubber is getting old.
    > > Kind of drafty, but no really noticable until it started getting cold out.
    > >
    > > I told myself that I would JUST replace the rubberthis winter.
    > > Yeah....right.
    > >
    > > As of today, the car is slated for a full engine rebuild, bead blasting
    > and
    > > paint, re-stiching and dye job on the leather, new headliner, etc.
    > >
    > > I swear, all I really want to do is the window rubber.
    > >
    > > Vehicle "maintenance" is a metaphysical thing. It just "is".
    > >
    > > Andy Litkowiak
    > > 109 Series IIa Diesel Pickup in pieces (it was an oil change, I swear it)
    > > Rover P4 100 Lurking in the barn, bleating for a frame off.
    > >
    > > --------------------------------------------------------------------
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    > > http://mail2web.com/ .
    > > _______________________________________________
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