Slunnie's Landy IIa build up.

[Slunnie]

Now the front axle is out I could pull down the leaf packs. Interestingly the passengers side pack had an extra leaf over the driver side. Must have been a dodgy repair from the dark ages.

The centre bolts removed and the inner spring clamps undone to remove all but the 4 full load leafs in the pack. The PS pack took a little more time to remove the extra leaf.

And reassembly using some new bolts with 4 full length leaves per pack. Despite the weight of the engine, I used 4 leafs/pack again on the front as I did on the rear as the shorter spring length will hopefully maintain a matched level of stiffness. Ride heights and ramp travel will verify this later.
The axle went back in and significantly the spring perches on the axle lined up nicely with the Landies springs. This makes life easy and fitting of the axle pretty quick. A quick check of ride heights brings the front to a level that is 2" over the rear, and a lift of 4" all up. This is a bit higher than what I was after reducing this is something to think about. The springs are very soft after jumping on them.

[Slunnie]

Some better pics of the IIa's new stance.Initially I thought the back had come up by 2" and the front by 4", but it seems the guards are not the same front / back and my measurements are out. When the wheels are compared to the sills it looks like the ride height is level, though not with the top of the guards. Maybe I should trim the rear guards to match???

and the spring over.

The DS spring plate still needs the long U-bolt attached. The plate needs to be redrilled for this as the perch is not manufactures at 90 degrees to the axle housings, and so the holes are offset, especially in relation to the spring pack bolt. Again the spring plates have been swapped and its looking like the factory shocks will work with this setup. Again the angle of the shock will be at about 45 degrees giving extra travel but less effectiveness. The steering damper will bolt straight into the standard Hilux position, and the steering is still to be connected.

[Slunnie]

Oh well, the old girls been a bit neglected lately, but shes been sharpened up a bit with some 38.5x15x15" Ground Hawgs today. The guards will require a trim to prevent some tyre rubbing.

[Slunnie]

Well the old girls had a bit of a transformation since the last update. She sports a Rover V8, LT95 transmission, 4.88 Hilux axles, the firewall was "opened up" to fit the motor through, the steering is X-over with IIa steering relay and Hilux modified X-over links on the axle, though the Rover relay is to be replaced with a LC60 steering box shortly. 4Runner brake master cylinder is about to be bolted in. The body has had the rusty firewall replaced and is now converted into a ute, using the roof and rear bulkhead from an ex military truck. The rear bulkhead had to be significantly modified (with an angle grinder and new mounts) to suit the SWB chassis.

[Winaje]

Simon, you need to reset the photos so that they load... so we can see the changes made.

[Slunnie]

:lol: Sorry.

OK the old girls hit puberty. She came with a Datsun ED30 Diesel and 5 speed, and a salisbury rear in a SWB wagon body with tropical roof or whatever they're called and dual fuel tanks.

Now she sports a replaement and restored firewall thats been opened up a little, a Stage 1 V8 with LT95 gearbox and transfer. This has been mounted as far back as it would go. The axles are sprung over hilux units with a X-over steering setup from the original relay. The body has been rebuilt into a ute using the roof, rear glass and rear bulkhead from a military LWB ute with a few mods to make it fit the SWB chassis. Springs have been reduced to soften them up. It also now coloured Marine Blue or ocean blue from Whitemans Rust guard. Clutch connection from Series 2a MC and LT95 slave via some lines that 4WD's made up for me.

To come, to run:
Hilux Master cylinder is about to go in, mounted on a series 3 pedal assembly. The plan is to run Hilux hard brake lines also. LC60 Steering box will also go in shortly with a Disco steering wheel assembly, and hopefully I can run this using a Rover PAS pump hybrid. This steering conversion will make room to mount in the radiator behind the recessed front facia, the facia which I want to keep for that stock effect. The Stage 1 front output flange is to be changed over to a sandard unit and a Discovery rear propshaft will fit to the front diff. Rear diff to be pushed back 300mm, linked and coiled to run a factory LR front tailshaft and bring the wheelbase out to 100". Tray/Roll bar to be made, handbrake connected and wire it up.

[Sniegy]

G'day Slunnie
MMmm..i remeber the words cheap build up with limited funds being mentioned at one stage..obviously that was thrown out the window   ..Any reason u went to ute body instead of leaving it a SWB  :? .The color is not bad (sort of).
I also like the comment to leave it factory behind the front grille as if , when u see this thing coming down the street 8ft off the ground i gather people are going torealise its a little different dont u :twisted:  :twisted:
I love a good read..keep up the mods Simon love it.

[Slunnie]

:lol: I know what you're saying Sneigy!  :oops:

I did the accounts on it the other day, and surprisingly so far the bills have come to a touch over $2k including paints, bolts etc so it hasn't been too bad. That also includes the purchase of the Landy, the axles, the V8, LT95, wheels and tyres!  The main reason for turning it into a ute, is because the SWB platform is just too short for climbing, and to move the axle back 12" would look a bit funny with the shorty wagon body. At 88" standard it would no doubt spend most of its time standing on the back wheels or washing the front out while climbing. The other thing I've since found is that after putting the new motor and gearbox in, which is a hell of a lot longer than what came out, that the rear tailshaft would be about 30cm long and working the unis at about 45 degrees. The t/f output is almost level with the rear bulkhead!

LOL! Yeah, it'll look different, but it will still be the LR shape on the body.  I wonder how much the guards will need to be cut?  :lol:

[Slunnie]

Oh well, she's still coming along.

[Sniegy]

Slunnie,
I know someone who makes cheap rope ladders..
I could ask for a meter or two... :twisted:  :twisted:


Whats that know 6, 8 or 10ft off the ground..hehehe

[Slunnie]

:lol: I may need it. I've got the engine and gearbox set low in the chassis to try and keep the CofG down a bit, but on 31's its still about 470mm off the ground under the belly, and I think about 230mm I think it is under the diffs. It'll be scary when the 38's go back on it. I though long and hard about swaping to wider LC60 axles, but I may need to get some offset rims for a bit more stability.  :oops:

[Sniegy]

Slunnie,
will the Nissan g/box & t/box be up for pulling the 38's.
From memory its not? a turbo'd engine. :?

[Slunnie]

Sneigy, the old donks been flicked now. It had some low down grunt that diesel but was very smoky and hard to start. I've replaced it with a Rover 3.5V8 and 4-speed manual. That should have enough mumbo to push the 38's, and it also is currently running 4.88 diffs as opposed to the factory 3.54's which with the ratios in the LT95 gearbox/transfer should be fine. I hope.

[Sniegy]

Sorry Simon,
I did read that last week or so, just went straight to page 2 & forgot, i presume its a carby 3.5..
Do u plan on doing any work to the heads, exhaust etc or just fit for now & play later..

[Slunnie]

No, thats cool Pete,

I think at this stage I'd like to get the old girl up and running and to sort any problems with it first. My aim is to try and have it at a running/driving stage by the end of the year. There are still a few major mods that have to be done to achieve this though. Once its up and running I may look at changing it over to gas, but that'll be about it. I am a rev head at heart, but dont really want to get into engine work with it. Later on I'd love to build something with a bit of grunt, but not for this one.