bill van snorkle

Never store your list in a plastic bucket and leave it outdoors , at least not here in Melbourne as the UV rays destroy the bucket within weeks ! Now I can't remember how many things on the list i managed to tick off , and will have to compile a new one ! Hmmm, I've hear'd the Darien Gap can be a challenging adventure

Thanks for the reply Nigel. ARB locker failures are fairly common here in OZ and obviously in the UK too, yet the Yanks seem to be quite enthusiastic for them, aside from their 9" Ford versions. i wonder if ARB manufacture their lockers for the US market from higher quality materials and with better workmanship?

I don't think box sections formed from 4 thin plates welded on all corners over the entire length have got a hope in hell of ending up square, straight and consistent. Surely there were better and cheaper ways of making chassis in 1948, even allowing for Rover's claim that there was no money available for press dies and other tooling.

Great write up MN. Not that I'd personally want to run a locker made by the Australian Ripoff Bureau, but is the new end cap of steel or cast iron ?

LandRover chassis build tolerances are notoriously slack. Never assume symmetry from side to side or consistency from one vehicle to another.

In that case, consider yourselves unliked Lol.

I see the 'Like This' feature still doesn't work properly. I've been absent from this forum for going on 3 months, tried to 'like' a couple of posts in recent days but a notification pops up to tell me I have exceeded my allotted allowance of likes for the remainder of my life or some such thing ! WTF ? Anyway everyone who has posted on this thread in recent days, consider yourself 'liked' Lol.

I assume both the Escort /110 and the Morris Minor /RRC were on shortened chassis, Nigel, Frimodt ? In other photos of the Red Bull Sugga I found, It still doesn't look quite properly proportioned Fridge. Maybe it's the wheels ?

The Sugga over here, not far from me, is much better looking in the flesh ! Something seems wrong about the proportions on the one Fridge has put up. The flattened front guard tops are practical, but I wouldn't cut that deeply into the Vauxhalls guards as I want to leave room for unrestricted wheel articulation. I am presently playing with the ARB Rangey bullbar. it doesn't really match the lines of the Vaux, and protrudes too far forward for a good approach angle. I can re drill the mounting holes to bring it about 4.5 " closer to the wheels. I have posted a couple of pics on my FBook page . A mate of mine used to make the Chrysler Hemi adaptors. They were brutal on Series gearboxes though, but a New Process 435 truck gearbox could be relatively easily adapted to the transfer case, and a Dodge truck bell housing enabled it to bolt straight up to the Hemi .

I sold all the Vauxhall mechanicals for almost as much as I paid for the car, and I found the RangeRover abandoned in a forest. Out of pocket expenses to date are mainly consumables,Welding/grinding/ cutting etc, and the engineers fee for first inspection, interview etc . A slightly smaller Sugga type vehicle,using common mechanical components is basically what I am aiming for.

Maximum power for a 2.25 diesel from memory is developed at 4000 rpm. Final drive gearing is about 17 mph per 1000 rpm, so 55 tp 60 should be achievable .

Widening out the front end as opposed to cutting the wings and fitting rubber extensions, was necessary, not just to cover the wheels, but more importantly to provide sufficient space under that sculptured bonnet for a radiator with enough capacity to keep the Rover V8 cool . As it is I could only just squeeze in a Series 2 4 cylinder rad , but with an 8 blade fan and suitable shroud, it should be adequate for the type of uses this vehicle may see . If I do actually complete the project, I may look into fitting a 300 TDi diesel later on, in which case the rad should be more than adequate and there is plenty of room beside the rad for a shorter but wider intercooler.

Can't you just bolt on the hardtop side panels from a Series 2 or 3 SWB ? I think they are the correct length and same fitment .

There is AFAIK only one Sugga here in Australia, and about 20 years ago i was prepared to put myself in hock for 25 grand to buy it at auction, but it didn't meet the reserve. I secretly lusted for something similar ever since. The good thing about these old vauxhalls, at least for my purpose, is that they are not considered to be a desirable classic car here in Aus, so reasonable examples can be bought for a fraction of the price that people are asking for their contemporary Holden equivelants .

it was difficult enough to do the rear guards as it was, because they bolt to the shell on 4 different planes. With body work and compound curves, I definitely know my limitations .Anyway, a Volvo Sugga has flat surfaces on basically a similar style of shell, and that to me is part of their appeal. I would actually like a few more flat surfaces, particularly around the front wings, because there is nowhere to put tools on them when working under the bonnet, as spanners keep sliding off onto the floor. Vauxhall bodies in Australia, like quite a few other British and American/Canadian marques were built by Holden Body Works, although when I look at the complexity of the Velox shell and panels, I think that would be near impossible without installing some very expensive press tooling for what was a relatively tiny market. They were probably CKD, welded up from pressings supplied from the UK. An interesting aside is that Vauxhall built all the engines for Holden cars right up to 1963, as GMHolden didn't have a foundry before then .it was common for early Holdens when built for touring car racing to be fitted with superior Vauxhall forged steel crankshafts, which were interchangeable with the carp Holden spec cast iron cranks.Most of the other internal mechanical componentry appear identical to early Holdens too, although complete assemblies are not interchangeable .