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Clearly not a Defender but is the 6x6 original?


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As it now looks like I will be spending the second half of the year in the US again I have been looking for a car as I can't spend another 6 months in a Buick, found this ebay linky anyone know if it is a LR original or a bodge? before I start to look into it further.

Cheers, Jason.

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Definitely not, that's home made. The back axles are very close, probably separate drives going by the extra levers in the cab.

There were approved 6x6 conversions like Sandringham and Townley. That definitely isn't one though.

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If its been engineered properly and fully legal does it matter who made it as the only good one with proper suspension and strong mechanicals is the perentie anyway. As for the wheelbase, between the major converters it varied between 35" and 40" rear wheel centres(as far as I can remember

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If its been engineered properly and fully legal does it matter who made it as the only good one with proper suspension and strong mechanicals is the perentie anyway. As for the wheelbase, between the major converters it varied between 35" and 40" rear wheel centres(as far as I can remember

My thinking behind it being original is I will not be able to view it myself so will have to buy it blind ish, I will get a friend to take a look but he is a petrol head but no Land Rover man, the Landy is in Virginia so I will have to get it registered in California and just wanted to avoid any issues as they are fairly keen with car rules around the anti smog rules etc which I think this will get around as it is a pre 75 and a soft top will be nice in the valley!!

Jason.

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If your mate is a petrol head then he can check if it looks like it's been done properly, so at least you'll know it's safe.

As for who did the work and what parts they used I guess your problem comes if you bust anything. The limited amount of clearence around the back wheels compared to a LR product of the period makes me think it's home brewed too.

What engine is in it? if it's the 2 1/4 then it might be a bit slow with three axles and 6 of those big wheels.

One of my issues with 6x6 conversions is how the torque is split between axles, without clever diffs it's not possible to split the torque to 3rds, of course if it's a 6x2 with 2 lots of difflocks then not such a problem.

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There are no clever diffs between the 2nd and 3rd axles like a double drive truck rear end with cross locks, so on a landrover (series) its 6x2(mid driven) 6x4(mid frt) or 6x6.

If its a home brew 6x6 using double trans boxes or a secondary splitter like using a np205 yank transcase the odds for spares are more in your favour as there is no spares for the reynolds etc.

Just my pennys worth based on building, converting and collecting 6x6 landrovers

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Its a home built , started as a 88" by the look of it , so would not have had V8 from scratch.

Things to be worried about is suspension not having any load transfer equaliserlinks especially in view of close proximity of rear axles. Also problems with drive to 3rd axle. I did have chance to examine a succesful solution back inabout 1972 which used swb and lwb springs on rear which ends overlapped between axles 2 AND 3 with a compensation linkage, the 3rd axle was driven over the top of the 2nd axle with a bearingcarrier on axle 2 . HTSH

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That looks like a landy built by a chap down under, goes by the name of bill, who also made his own portal axles, a member on here as well.

There was also another similar creation made in the uk which featured in a build on the old 4x4 magazine, as i recall his name was bill as well! the middle pair where just trailer suspension units!

To be honest i doubt the middle axle is driven its to close to the gearbox, we need pics of the underside!

G

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Cheers guys,

As most have agreed it is not an original I think I will give it a miss, I fancied something different and given that I could use my generous hire car allowance to fund it was worth a look, As I will be out there on my own I think I may get a D90 soft top unless I can find a 110!!! or maybe a big old Cadillac!!

Jason.

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I would have thought a D90 soft top would be hard to find over there....or a least very expensive...

How about a big old school muscle car? Mustang, camero, Plymouth etc :ph34r:

Ross,

D90 NAS seem to be the most common although I am a 110 convert and have been for many years, and did swear I would never own a 90 again..... All defenders are expensive over there $15,000 plus (so expensive relative to both UK prices and us car prices) but I figure using the expense system and my overseas allowance like an MP I could fund both the duck house and buying/running something a bit fun. Muscle cars are fun but I also need it to be reliable and although a defender is not always the latter at least I know my way around one and should be able to fix most things and can ship the parts in if needed. I am only there for six months this time but will have to take a view of selling it at the end or stick it in storage for next time I am over there, clearly it is not worth bringing it back to the UK given the price difference etc but will need to take a view of how much time I am going to spend over there in the next few years.

Jason.

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Oh and Mrs S has just pointed to me!!! out we already have 3 Land Rovers and a "bloody big trailer" what would we need or do with another one.....wink.gif

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