RattlesnakeBob

A couple of mates of mine did this back around 1990 with RangeRover chassis based AWDC Safari racers.. RR gearbox and transfer box and axles all tied up to a very tuned Alpha Romeo engine...... . the idea behind it all was you could have high performance / horsepower / torque without having a massive (usually V8) engine... It was all because the way the AWDC was in those days meant if you had a V8 , you automatically got put in the top class of vehicle so you were at a a disadvantage against fellas that could afford to throw thousands of pounds at their truck...sticking with a much smaller capacity engine meant you competed in the lower 'easier' class of vehicle.....but you could still end up with a motor maybe putting out something like 200+ hp :-D Back in those days there were quite a few companies offering mating plates/conversion kits to fit just about any engine you could want to try with a Landrover or RangeRover gearbox.... Mind you .......some went even further.....the most exotic truck around at that time that I can recall was powered by a Jensen Interceptor 7.2 Litre motor running through a Thwaites Alldrive dumper gearbox into a pair of axles off a 4x4 Telehandler ....:cool2: PS: just realised the original poster of that thread on Difflock is from the Forest of Dean!........ingenious lot down here see!

Looks a grand day out.....really like the little car done up as Sussex Home Guard.... I often wonder when you see pictures such as these.. ..how many 'saved' Jeeps might you reckon are in the UK/Europe nowadays?...I know there's Jeeps and 'proper WW2' Jeeps but...if you left out the Hotchkiss 'pretend' Jeeps.....there's gotta be a few thousand that can be considered 'genuine' WW2??? so ...they're not really that rare are they?....(so we can expect the price to drop accordingly I'd love to add ! hahahah!)

showing ignorance but if you don't ask ....you don't get told etc.. i presume the weldmesh / chicken run style frames are to hopefully detonate anti tank /hand held rocket type weapons before they strike the main Armour?....how effective is it ?

the front plate of the hull on the second and third ones in the row is too steep for a Sherman too isn't it?..and the front sprocket configuration is all wrong on the rest of them too ..def Sherman-ish looking turrets though...so I'm gonna go with the idea they're some manner of film prop mock ups ????.....

smart or what !? very nice

and I thought the AWDC had 'extreme' trials.......

.....Agree totally........ A wise old fella that had worked in the woods and on the land i general said to me many years ago ........ ." don't pay too much attention to someone that says they've never got their vehicle stuck off road......it just means they haven't tried to do very much with it rather than they're actually any good at driving it ".... A gadget that made me smile when it started appearing on 4 wheel drives especially Japanese ones was the 'inclinometer'.. apparently (if you listened to those in the know) ....it was a device to stop you tipping the truck over..... .......like...yeah :cool2:

heheh.........don't altogether agree though .... ... I found Suzuki SJs and the earlier model , the LJ 80 to be cracking little vehicles and almost bombproof off road..... ..the falling over thing I don't agree with at all as absolutely any 4x4 can be tipped over ... I reckon the problem was more to do with younger (perhaps) and /or inexperienced drivers expecting them to corner like a little normal road going car would .......... Incidentally I read somewhere a few years ago that there was a concerning number of accidents with Defender / 90 coil springers being tipped over when they first came into Military service as they didn't 'behave' as ordinary leaf sprung Landrovers did especially when cornering?. ....anyone ex services got any knowledge/recollection of this maybe?? I've felt for many years that 4 Wheel drives in general often carry the brunt of a lot of misconceptions and I think they (and Landrovers) come in for a lot of flak that is not due or fair... ..How many of you have heard something like "Oh it's got a difflock...that means it's unstoppable doesn't it?".....or..... ....."go up a mountain won't they?" etc etc ........ I've lost count of the number of times I've tried (usually unsuccessfully) to explain that a difflock in an older Range Rover merely locks the centre diff and not the cross axle ones and thereby actually turns the drive train into exactly what the Series Landrovers have..... .....and don't even start on trying to explain (especially to someone that already knows everything about 4 wheel drives and off roading:cool2: ) about ' transmission lock up/twist' due to having the truck in full time 4 wheel drive on the road........ Recently I took a Series Landrover for an MOT at a garage (that shall remain nameless) and the admittedly young tester fella said " I can't put it on the rolling brake tester cos it's a 4 wheel drive and it'll wreck it" :-D

...Uuuummm....we've been through this particular aspect of 'dressing up' a number of times on here .....and it's best to say......most of agree to differ...greatly.:cool2:...on our opinion of it ....

crikey.......:shocked: ....it must have been one of the pre-production prototypes models then because as far as I know?...... Landrover never sold them officially.........and there were only a few ??? only 1 or possibly 2 I think???...made with the wheel in the centre...... .......and if you still had it??? Well it'd be 'name yer price time' in some sorta order cos as far as I know, there's no known survivor?

yep hear you there... I had a mate that had a modern RangeRover about 3 years ago......it was barely a year old when he bought it..think it was a 4.6 HSE??........and it was truly dreadful . ..Horrendous gearbox and transfer box problems and when they were managing to hang together ?......the constant velocity joints flew apart for fun and then the central viscous diff would join in as well... after numerous visits back to the RR Dealer where it had come from, they more or less accused him of abusing it and said it was the way he was driving....as he did road miles only and at a sensible speed on a journey of no more than 60 miles or so a day in total you may understand he was a bit peeved.........they finally refused to repair the vehicle anymore and becuase they also refused to offer him anything like a sensible price against something else he was forced to go to an Audi dealer who gave him a fair exchange against a car...... a bad one??????? or would that be a common enough experience with the latest RangeRovers?..... In defence I'd have to say I once had a 1975 2 door and also a 1989 4 door Vogue.... both with V8s in and they were both awesome (as was the fuel bill ! :cool2:)

:Dnot the very 'best thing about them' but......... very true !....hahahahaha I've honestly lost track of the number I have bought off folk over the years that have suffered the fate of "yeah mate I've had it about X number of years.....I bought it to restore and took it to bits but never got round to doing it "

oooooh..............can of worms officially open I reckons..:-D... ....My opinion is I don't personally want to dress up as anything but that's just me ...I don't even enjoy ordinary 'fancy dress' parties , I always feel far more 'daft' than 'hey I'm joining in' .....but as I said ....that's my personal feelings......but.If I was to do it I would think you should be as spot on as you can be...in dress and conduct..:-|.. I do however feel that we could be only a short step away from maybe saying "if you don't do it 100% right then you're not allowed to do it all"..... ....and if we say that to uniforms ...should we not also start saying that about vehicles??? ...in which case we ....and the entire hobby is proper knackered....... Incidentally I cannot fathom for the life of me why a fella born and bred (presumably) somewhere in the UK would wish to march about as a US serviceman..(or any other Nationality)...if you're British ...portray a British unit of some sorts.... but that's also another can of worms probably best left unopened :-\

..Just a little something to discuss amongst ourselves ..no agenda...just interested !.:-) Whilst at a local Vintage Show t'other day I had my old Series 2 on display along with a maybe a couple of dozen or so other Landrovers of all distinctions......everything from an absolutely incredibly rebuilt early 80" done up as a RAC truck to a modern 110" all fitted up for serious off roading.....everything was represented... Now... as usually happens at such shows , folk wander by and stop to chat and usually end up giving their opinion on what they're stood in front of......and as usual some did this 'politely' ....and some maybe not ....:cool2:.. I was intrigued at the variety of such opinions and wondered what everyone on here thinks? ........(I'm guessing probably 99% of you have some experience , one way or another with Landrovers???) One fella firmly declared the Series 2a to be "the worst Landrover ever built"...another claimed the 80" was a "waste of time, bloody awful".........the next thought Series 3s should never have been built and one just more or less mocked everything Landrover had ever built ! :cry:....... My thinking is this...... ......the Landrover is a very good vehicle..........:-D ....very dependant on being driven and maintained well (as is just about any vehicle I guess).... ....Yes LR sat on it's laurels for far too long and should have brought out a completely new model when they brought out the Series 3 but... not because it is an 'awful vehicle'......simply because 'the game' was moving rapidly by then and they should have seen the Japanese competition for what it was....(IMHO far better build quality and reliability and generally much more 'modern' designs and prices)... ....However...... it is given that LR was part of British Leyland at that point and was struggling to control quality and also struggling with a meagre budget for development ...(we won't go into mis-management at this point :-\).... so..perhaps the Series 3 was understandable? ...(lets be honest here though....a syncro gearbox , a plastic dashboard and slightly better seats does not a new vehicle make !) So rather than ask "Which was the best Landrover?" ...... .......lets hear your opinions on which was the worst .....but you have to justify it properly , not just say "ooooh it was c**p" etc !!:-) PS: I also acknowledge the possibility that you may at some point in your life have owned or used one that could be described as 'an absolute dog'......but ......please consider whether this was as a result of being 'a terrible vehicle in the first place'... or...... moreas a result of some very hard abuse and use ..........

hahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah

you can't beat a nice piece of hickory mate..........

Understand you totally mate....I guess none of us and often not even those trained medically and/or psychologically to do so , can ever fully understand how individual humans cope with such events....as you quite rightly say, many thousands of fella's appear to be well able to cope with whatever they saw or experienced and to then carry on in post war years often becoming very successful business men or family men or whatever.. and some don't cope so well at all...and there's no telling how or why the cards are dealt . As part of my 'job' I often get to play/entertain in Old Folks Homes and as the years slip by us I am very often amazed when chatting to the folk I meet in such places...... ......this snowy haired gentle old fella was a Bomb Aimer and flew throughout the war.....and this one that was singing along through my little show was on North Atlantic Convoys....this old lady was a nurse in a field hospital in Italy.....and this one worked in a Bomb Factory for 5 years........the stories keep coming and I am always absolutely humbled by what they did and yet to look at them now you'd never think they 'd had a minutes trouble in their lives .....but you know they certainly did. As a postscript.....the old chap that lived next door to me for many years was a fine example.. ...He'd worked for the The Crown Estates before the war and the Forestry Commision afterwards.....it wasn't until the last few years I found out he was ex RAf and had flown Bristol Beaufighter night fighters...I gave him a print of one in a frame for Xmas one year and took it round to him.....he unwrapped it and gazed at it for a while with a hint of a smile on his face ....I said " a Beaufighter Albert.....I was told you flew them ?" He settled the picture on the sideboard and simply said "yes..... but that was an awful long time ago Bob....shall we have a cup of tea?" Amazing people.

Apologies to the mods if this is in the wrong place.... ........halfway through a catalogue I've been sent I spotted this item....... a 1942 International McCormack tractor ex US Airforce (apparently restored but looks like a while back and in need of a bit of further TLC) any interest to anyone out there?.............there's also a few others in the list too of WW2 era......... http://www.hjpugh.com/tractorsales/290912.pdf

Fond memories of 2 that have long gone.... .Woods Army and Navy Stores in Westgate Street Gloucester (not 'the famous army and navy stores ) ...a fantastic old shop ....closed by the middle 1980s.... ...but the best was one local to me in the Forest of Dean.... ..Jackies Roberts's dump...!! This old fella was a proper old fashioned dealer who would buy and sell absolutely anything and had his premises in a disused colliery baths just down the road from where I grew up.. .....Combat trousers at £1.00 a pair........Officers Jackets (various Regiments complete with tassles and braids and shiny buttons etc) about £2.00.....standard black boots £1.50 a pair.....kharki tank suits £2.00 (good to use as overalls for work)....you name it ........it was in Jackies Roberts 'Dump'...........

yeah I see that point with something that might actually 'deteriorate' Tony but...... ........at one sale I bought a pallet of pick axe heads and handles....all of them wrapped in that greasy brown paper.....all absolutely immaculate.... I only bought one pallet because I wasn't that sure I could shift anymore but there were actually many more available.....I paid £12.00 plus VAT for my pallet and was offered any or all of the rest of the lots at the same price by the auctioneer but turned them down........ .......Now my point is this........a pick axe hasn't changed to my knowledge in the last 100 years.....these were of the same design as seen in WW1 photos.....the same as in WW2 photos ....and exactly the same as you might see boys using in Afghanistan right now...........so........why did the MoD keep buying so many ? It wasn't as though the handles were rotten or woodwormed...the heads were all shiny black and greasy so..no deterioration there either..........so why had they kept on buying obviously hundreds of thousands of pick axe sets that were never gonna be needed?....only to sell them off at a fraction of what they must have cost them in the first place?.....baffling to me mate :-|

Aw I don't want to get into criticising the folks that have to do the job but this has been going on forever mate.......Near to where I worked in the late 1970s was RAF Quedgeley ....it had never been a flying base , it was built and used for 'storage' of kit for all the armed services and on occasion I had reason to be in there..I have honestly never seen so many different items stacked up by the thousands in one place.......... Just to give you an idea of what I saw in there over the years........ Bedside Lamps / Coffee tables / Bedside cabinets / Beds / Axle Stands / Bicycles / Wheelbarrows / Sack Trolleys / Filing Cabinets / Sofas / Armchairs / Wardrobes / Toilet Rolls (millions not thousands of them !)....the list was endless. By the late 1980s the MoD was closing the place and held a number of sales to which I went as my business by then included buying and selling surplus gear of all descriptions......... all of the above plus thousands of other items were cleared at auction for ridiculously cheap prices..At one of the sales I bought a job lot of workshop lights which were all date stamped 1948.....brand spanking new and never been issued nor used.........I bought 10 of them for £28.00 for the lot and then found I had also in the same lot inadvertantly bought about 500 angle poise bedside lamps as well......... Just why was the MoD paying for the storage of this kind of item???? any clues?????. ....and keep in mind that the MoD had a good few dozen places the same as this , RAF Quedgeley wasn't the only one not by along way..... and yes I agree.............3 million does sound very cheap for HMS Ark Royal

mate .....the level/standard/quality ....call it what you want ....of your restoration is absolutely awesome and beyond any criticism whatsoever .......you are obviously a genius of detail and perfection......what a tank ! beautiful !.. just a shame I got no real reason to travel all the way over that side of the world but.......it'd be worth the ticket alone just to knock on your door one day and say "give us a go in yer tank mate !"

WOW!!! what a project ! great stuff , very much looking forward to seeing it happen :-)

It certainly was a cracking show !.:-D Hey sorry I didn't find you for that tea Pete!.....I wandered over a few times from the Landrover camp and chattered with Jerry and Billy........as you rightly said it was a really grand show and just the right size I reckons !.... I had to scoot off at 4.30 as I was working that night, so I shot off home , swapped trucks and went straight back out ...and then got cut off at Broadwell crossroads by a dirty great Yank truck towing an even bigger great big gun ! hahahah! See you around sooner or later I guess !

Please don't judge your Uncle too harshly... My dads eldest brother (now long gone) was in Burma during the War and my Dad remembered he came home a very changed man......for the rest of his life he never settled well into jobs nor homelife and was also in trouble frequently with the Police...One of the things he struggled with through the years was the way men such as him were expected to perhaps "get on with life and stop going on about the war..." ..I guess to be fair the entire country was fed up to the back teeth with war by then and wanted to just get on and put it all behind them...He was particularly riled by the fact that relatively few folk understood what the fighting and the conditions against the Japanese in Burma had been like compared perhaps to the experience of other lads that fought in Europe........ He passed away in the early 1970s and I clearly recall him being a broken man who looked far older than his years by the end.. I often wonder how many hundreds of thousands of men suffered as he did ....struggling for years to cope with 'ordinary everyday life' having been through things we can only now read about and try our best to imagine and understand........