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Land Rover Wolf Build


sirhc

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It's been a while since I posted any photos of what I've been up to, and with so many messages going missing I thought I'd post something. My latest project has been to rebuild a Land Rover Wolf. Some of you may have seen it in LRM when it was a few weeks old, when I decided to take it on as a project this is what it looked like....

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The Wolf had been totally dissasembled, the chassis blasted and repainted. It just needed putting back together.............!

 

In mid November a truck load of parts arrived.

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The first job was to work out what was missing, so I laid it all out and went through the parts book. I ordered anything I thought I'd need to rebuild the axles, as a dissasembled Land Rover takes up a lot of space, and I wanted to get it on the wheels as soon as possible.

 

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Fitting the axles only took a few hours, with 3 of us doing it. I don't have any pictures of the job as we were all to busy pushing and shoving. The next big lump in the way was the engine, so I dropped that on the chassis too.

 

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Next I installed the fuel tank and pipes, wiring loom, rear bumper panel and body mountings.

 

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The bulkhead had been totally stripped too, so while it was in bits I tidied up any surface rust and then started putting it back together. Luckily it was in very good condition.

 

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The body and hardtop were put back on the chassis to save space, and the bulkhead fitted. It's starting to look a bit better...

 

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Once the bulkhead was bolted on, I started on the engine bay. I decided to change the cam belt, since it was easy to get at.

 

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It also needed a new radiator, so that was fitted next. In order to start the engine, I needed some batteries. These fit in the seatbox, so I painted that and fitted it.

With the batteries connected, the engine started and ran straight away. Next I needed some brakes, so I could see if it moved. I rebuilt all the brake calipers with new seals, pistons and pads. I put new front discs on too.

 

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With a few more bits bolted on temporarily, it started to look much better.

 

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That just about concludes issue 1. Since that last photo was taken I've replaced both the rear panels, fitted all the doors, bolted on the wings, wired up all the lights. I've also painted the top of the hard top and fitted that, along with the lining kit. The seats are in, as are the seat belts. A complete new exhaust has also been fitted. I've been trying to paint it the past few weekends, but the weather has been crap, so I decided to get it through an MOT and paint it as soon as it clears up a bit. It's currently a mix of 2 different greens, sand and grey primer, and looks like a patchwork quilt!

 

Chris

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Wolf is my dream car for a daily driver, currently I drive non-metallic grey 88 Range Rover which is ex-Swiss Goverment TV-licence inspectors vehicle(!). I like it, but I will later replace it with a Land Rover. Your Wolf is a very nice car, hope you enjoy it, it already looks very good even without the new paint! I'll be watching closely your progress with the project. Congrats!

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Quick update, I now have an MoT certificate! :D The tester was very impressed with the Wolf, he was expecting another rough old Land Rover as I didn't tell him what I'd done to it. He said it was awsome!

 

Chris

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  • 2 weeks later...

The weather was nice last weekend, so I got a chance to put some paint on the Wolf. Just fitted a new set of wheel arches on tonight, so I'm almost at the end of the jobs list. Just some number plates to buy and fit now really :)

 

Here are some photos...

 

Chris

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Edited by sirhc
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The original design was going to have a full width bonnet like the Range Rover. This was rejected by the MOD on the grounds without flat wings where would the guys rest tea mugs, binoculars maps etc?. The spare was moved from the bonnet as it was pushing the metal down onto the generator pulley. the resulting position led to a lot of wheels being ripped off as vehicles went through woods especially at night, so later ones had a stronger bonnet.

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Tony,

 

I've never heard of later ones having a stronger bonnet, and I've never seen a Wolf on the roads or in a photo with the wheel mounted on the bonnet, even though there is a mount there. The generator pulley isn't the tallest thing under the bonnet, so can't see why that would be a problem? I thought they moved it to the side to aid visibility from the windscreen and make the bonnet lighter to lift when you need to get under there.

 

Chris

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Tony,

 

I've never heard of later ones having a stronger bonnet, and I've never seen a Wolf on the roads or in a photo with the wheel mounted on the bonnet, even though there is a mount there. The generator pulley isn't the tallest thing under the bonnet, so can't see why that would be a problem? I thought they moved it to the side to aid visibility from the windscreen and make the bonnet lighter to lift when you need to get under there.

 

Chris

 

I thought it was removed from the bonnet because lifting with the wheel on there was to heavy for female squaddies (Health & Saftey). ????

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I wonder if originally it's placement was an attempt to keep an eye on the spare lest it get stolen, a easier thing to have happen unnoticed if stored in the rear of a vehicle. It would be an interesting test to have a number of drivers take a vehicle for a short drive then while they are away from the vehicle remove the spare and see how many notice its gone?? and at what point , approching the vehicle , seated inside or not until they are driving ?

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  • 1 year later...

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