Happyoldgit Posted October 24, 2005 Share Posted October 24, 2005 Well done that man I came this -||- close to buying a Champ from what looked like a bomb site car dealer in Luton in about 1976 but after much tough haggling could not get him to agree what I thought was a reasonable price ...I think it was only about £75 to start with. Much rust it had. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSN Posted October 27, 2005 Share Posted October 27, 2005 1 of my work colleagues has several as fancied a new challenge from his classic Jags. They are an amazing piece of engineering but that is half their problem as very complex and difficult to work on as they were designed to meet all the military specs (hence can go same speed backwards as forwards, fully sheathed electrics, fully waterproofed etc). They were exceedingly expensive because of this and they did have a design flaw with the rear diffs always failing. Rear diffs are one of the rare parts to find along with snorkels as already mentioned by someone else. There is also the holy grail which is a centre mounted winch which was trialed but no one seems to find any of the prototypes. There are some companies that make rear diffs using parts from a front and cobbling together. This does not seem to work very well it seems so be warned. In the end, the cheapness and ease of the Land Rover won through and the rest is history! Well thought I would pass on my bit of limited info. If you did want more info, my colleague is certainly thorough with his restorations and his research! Cheers for now. Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
honitonhobbit Posted October 28, 2005 Share Posted October 28, 2005 I met a bloke at the old Off Road and 4x4 Show at West Wycombe, who had a Candy Apple Red Champ with a mohair roof. He had had the vehicle professionally sprayed. It ran 7.50x16 SATs on Outlaw rims and was the dogs hairy danglers! My old man still rates them as being a superb bit of kit, they were issued with some during Korea. What broke them was a squaddy habit of banging them into reverse at 40mph! The engine is a work of shear genius and a thing of beauty. Mind you the vehicle development costs back in '47 were over 4 million! There is a bloke on the Mendips with one that has a 3.8 Perkins in it but that is an abomination in the eyes of god... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatboy Posted October 28, 2005 Author Share Posted October 28, 2005 My plan is to take my time and try to do it properly. I'm going to try and clear space in the garage so it can be in the second bay and leave the primary one with pit clear for maintaining the Landies... that should mean there is no pressure to get it rolling and "out". Saying that, I am not aiming for concours (Don't have the money or the ability to do that) I've bought the CD of manuals and subscribed to the Newsletter (which is very good for Champ events but light on Technical advice). I really appreciate the advice and support, for once I will also endevour to take more pictures and document the build a bit. Funnily, I like to refer to it as "The Champ", my daughter calls it "Brum".... (and even made up a numberplate with the help of her Mum!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted November 19, 2005 Share Posted November 19, 2005 Fatboy - just stumbled across this on eBlag, of any interest to you? http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Austin-Gipsy-fire-en...1QQcmdZViewItem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatboy Posted November 19, 2005 Author Share Posted November 19, 2005 Fatboy - just stumbled across this on eBlag, of any interest to you?http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Austin-Gipsy-fire-en...1QQcmdZViewItem Fridge, Thanks for the thought... not a lot in common with my Champ though! The other problem is that it is in Cornwall I am currently trying to sell stuff off to clear out the garage to make space for the Champ. However Rover products are playing up like they are in the huff ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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