New Series - RR Heavy

[Bowie69]

A mate had a Mk1 Mini Marcos, his dad bought it in the 60s, and started building it up, eventually he got bored and it sat in a barn for decades, and his son bought it off him about 15 years ago.... he never got round to finishing it either(!) and sold it on about 10 years ago to someone high up in the Marcos OC, I do wonder it if it is finally finished now

[Shackleton]

On 10/07/2017 at 0:16 PM, Bowie69 said:

A mate had a Mk1 Mini Marcos...  I do wonder it if it is finally finished now

Know anyone with the Marcos OC Mike?

[miketomcat]

Some but I'm more likely to know the car than the person. I've been on the mini marcos owners club committee for about 20 years but haven't been that active at events for about 10 years.

Mike

[Shackleton]

Hey Mike, I don't know how I ended up watching this but it's interesting and I thought you'd like to see it if you haven't already.

 

[Davo]

Episode 9

Considering your circumstances, Mr. Shackleton, that Range Rover fabrication and welding is really something else! 

[Shackleton]

 

Thanks for sharing Davo, I didn't want to be banging on about it. RE the fabrication I'm just trying to figure things out. 

Been thinking about the two door RR more and more lately. It'll be a while yet before I can drag it in and get started but the thought crossed my mind that I could convert it to auto now that I'm a bit older and like my comforts. It'll have to do very little work, just mow a field a couple of times a month [my D2 auto is currently serving that purpose] or tow a trailer. But then I'd be moving totally away from the beauty of the original RR. What do you think?

[Davo]

Come on, young man, self-promotion is what our brave new world is all about, isn't it?  But anyway, I only put up a link to your latest episode in this thread in case people haven't found it before or whatever the case may be. 

My Rangie was an automatic and I changed it to an LT95. This was because the manual is much simpler as the auto needs a kickdown linkage, oil cooler with associated lines, a complicated hi-lo and difflock linkage, an inhibitor switch, and a fair bit of real estate between the front seats for the shifter. Also, I had the TF727 and there was no lock-up for cruising. So for ease of long-term ownership and less to have to troubleshoot, I prefer the manual. And I like the way I'm using the same drivetrain as the original Range Rover, here in the 21st century. However, now I've got a ZF box and Borg Warner transfer sitting here and maybe . . . one day . . . if I could be bothered . . . 

So, aren't you going to drive the two-door from Ireland to Greece??? 

[Shackleton]

Oh yeah another trip beckons but a total restoration first. I sold my LT95 but I loved it, rock solid. I'm running a Defender R380, and to be honest it feels quite like the LT but with the extra ratio. I'd love to put an overdrive on it too. Maybe I'll go that way, it'll probably cost about the same as if I want auto.

[elbekko]

Another episode out

 

[Bowie69]

Yeah, really enjoyed this last one

[AV8R]

Hi George, I only discovered your video's through this thread this morning and I just seen Episode 5 (started at #1 of course) Guess that's the amount of interesting features and how they are presented. Thank you very much for your efforts.

Anyways, in Episode 6 at around 11 minutes you get your Italian lesson and talk about the Porsche Targa and she tells you targa is a plate, but it seems it doesn't make sense to either of you. I've read somewhere that the "Plate" refers to the roof panel of the 911. As this "Plate" is removable and makes the car special, the Porsche guys wanted to come up with a special name for it. Inspired by earlier Targa Florio wins it became  "Targa", for removable roof panel Porsches only.

Edited November 5, 2017 by AV8R
Typo

[Davo]

Thanks for bumping this thread up - I keep meaning to and forgetting! 

Hey George, I had a Cortina once . . . but it was an Aussie-spec model, so instead of that little British lawn mower motor, it had a straight-six 4.1 litre donk in it. "That's not an engine - this is an engine!" 

[Shackleton]

ha yeah I can se how the Cortina would be fun with even the 2.0 or 2.3L engines they were available with here. But honestly the 1.6 is fine for a runabout. It's still just about able for modern traffic. 

Been a while, the production has taken nearly all of my waking hours, I've been trying to chase up LR leads for stories and features and there should be stuff coming. Hopefully. Anyway the rear cross member has just gone into the Vogue so that a big step for me. Thanks for the backup gents!

 

[elbekko]

Good episode, loved the technical bit about fibreglass. Learned something new there

Edited December 3, 2017 by elbekko

[Davo]

Yes, same here. I've made a few surfboards and thought I knew something about it, but not that much it seems! 

George, it's great to see you got such a big job done on the Rangie. As a good friend of mine used to say, "If you think you can, or you think you can't, you're right!" 

[Shackleton]

On 05/11/2017 at 7:09 PM, AV8R said:

I've read somewhere that the "Plate" refers to the roof panel of the 911. As this "Plate" is removable and makes the car special, the Porsche guys wanted to come up with a special name for it. Inspired by earlier Targa Florio wins it became  "Targa", for removable roof panel Porsches only.

I wondered about that, thanks for the info. I thought it might be the lift out panel, or even those brushed stainless panels on the B pillar, that they were referring to.

On 04/12/2017 at 3:03 PM, Davo said:

 I've made a few surfboards and thought I knew something about it, but not that much it seems! 

I was exactly the same, had done quite a lot of epoxy work while at sea... different stuff granted but felt like I'd skipped a lot of stuff having worked on F/G with Bill.

Forgot to come back and post E.15 so here it is for anyone who missed it...

 

[Davo]

Just another bump; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjnJAR-MBiQ Seventeen episodes is a real achievement! Well done!

Ah, winter time . . . in Canada I had a shed that would flood when snow thawed, and then all the water would freeze, so then I'd have to work on a layer of ice, and then in spring I'd usually hack up the ice and put it in a wheelbarrow to dump outside . . . and now over here in summer we've had a couple of cyclones go past, so my open carport is soaked, and when it isn't pouring then the mossies come out, and the humidity is apparently at 1000%, and I seem to spend too much time scheming how to get all the coconuts down from the tree next door . . . man, if I lived in a moderate climate I wouldn't know what to do with myself! 

Anyway, I'm most interested in the construction of the Esprit. Of course there is plenty on the internet but would you like to cover it with your car as an example? Also, I understand what you said about those fluxcore welds on the Range Rover, but now that you've done so much of that type of welding I can see what you meant way back when you wrote about using it. It's what you had and you've done quite well with it. 

[KrisDR]

This is a very well made, pleasant to watch series. I'm so glad to have found it here by coincidence. Binge watched four episodes in a row while I really should be doing other stuff.

Keep this going and I wish you a lot of success. First thing I am going to do is linking it on a few other car sites .

The below pics are from a Classic Car Racing event at Spa Francorchamps in September 2011. Thought them to be a propos.

[Shackleton]

Ah but Davo if you lived in a moderate climate... you probably wouldn't live in a moderate climate. Did see an interesting bit of architecture in the states where one of the reasons they elevated the living space 10ft above ground level was to rise above the humidity and flies. 10ft being enough to achieve that was an eye opener to me. What do you mean about the Esprit? Getting in depth as much as I can is def a goal but the way you say it I feel like I might be missing something. I do have a lead on the original moulds for the body, so I tentatively want to travel to see those and get the story!

Hey Kris, thanks for the kind words and the photos, and most of all for the sharing - I rely on it, not being one for clickbait [oh and don't forget to click thumbs up on the episodes!]. That S1 Esprit is very purposeful looking! I once [as a teen] got a spin in a full rally prep'd Lotus Sunbeam too and it was fairly hair raising. What I'm really wondering though is if that's a JPS BBQ in the background

Lest we stray too far from LR content, I've just started building a sheet metal brake so I can fold my own rear floor sections in the first instance, but also my own sills when I start the 2 door resto asap.

[Davo]

Over in Queensland, yes, they raised the houses in some places but on this side of the country it was probably just too expensive! 

I looked up Esprit construction and was amazed. Can you imagine a factory making anything like that these days? Would it even pass the various crash tests? So, given what a mystery such a car is for many of us, I just thought you might like to cover what it's actually made of and how they put it together. It would also help to explain what you're doing with yours and how you're going about it. 

I'm definitely looking forward to when you start work on the 2-door! 

[Shackleton]

Aha I'm ahead of you Davo, I did a two part fibreglass repair 101 over the last couple of episodes and Bill who was our tutor did talk about how a car like the Esprit would have been put together. Another thing I'm pretty sure I mentioned is that Lotus cars of the mid '70's performed better in safety ratings than their steel bodied peers. Fibreglass has a great ability to soak up impact forces. I'm not sure if it made the cut in the end but Bill was also saying that the fibreglass in the cars today isn't nearly the thickness [you can read quality] of that used in my car.

Looking forward to the 2 door too, it's what the story is really all about. I went to move it for the unit owner the other day [its in storage about an hour away] and I started it for the first time in maybe three or four years. It's in a rough old state but it still gives me the feels.

[KrisDR]

Hey George, what kind of restoration level will you be aiming at with the 2 door for interior and body? I'm just about done stripping mine (89 V8 2 door RRC) and I'm still debating what to do with the body shell. Blasting or, less and less likely dipping. Do you have a start date in mind?

[Shackleton]

The 2 door will get the best that I can possibly muster, I want it to be both practical and beautiful. The Vogue isn't a restoration in my eyes. I'd love to predict a date but every time I've tried to in the past things have dragged on and on with the Vogue as if I had tempted fate. What I do know is my chassis will be dipped, and I say that knowing that that probably means taking it to the UK... but I can't see a better way of doing it. Blasting won't get inside the chassis and I'm fairly sure I want it galvanised. I use my LR's all year round and don't spare the horses so it needs to be bulletproof in a wet climate. 

[KrisDR]

How about the body? Separated and dipped too?

[Shackleton]

Yep if possible. I'll be taking the body to it's component parts, or as close to them as I can. I haven't looked into dipping options at all yet but last I checked the UK was the only option and it's crazy expensive. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. If there's a way of doing it myself I will.