Ok, here's the story…
A year and a half ago my wife and I decided to take on Africa, but knew very little of the field of off-road adventurizing…the first thing we needed to attend to was a vehicle appropriate for the journey. My wife is a south African, and therefore was leaning towards defenders and the such, but they aren't really available in Oman, where we've been living for the last two years. Land Cruisers are king here, but mostly only 70 series pick-ups, which are decent – but the vinyl decal work they put on them at the factory make them officially lame [and weren't in our price range anyway]. However, the 40 series, when I was introduced seemed perfect…a little small, but with sufficient character…we found one through a friend and took it for a spin in the sand…just in time to hear the phone ring with what was to come…
The troopie at first sight was in a serious state of disrepair…and having only general knowledge of vehicular matters at the time, I figured it could be brought back to speed with the abundance of cheap labour floating around here fairly easy…I mean, it may not have had floors, but it did still in fact run…that's got to say something…the guy who owned it had said that he'd been the owner for the last 15 years, and had never had to [did] do any repairs…and it showed…
We finally agreed on an inflated price and I dropped it off to begin the frame and body work. Six months later they had replaced all the rusted and otherwise damaged body panels, and done a pretty decent job ensuring the frame was in good order and got the engine and windows and everything back in replacing a ton of stuff, that little did I know I would have to do again anyway…I got it back home and the work continued, one frickin bit at a time…and getting parts here is pretty limited to either OEM or Chinese duplicate…and not much aftermarket at all – thus, I had to order all the rubber bits from the states, CCOT, SOR and ebay…OME Heavy springs and shocks from ARB in Abu Dhabi shipped for me from Australia…and a whole bunch of stuff delivered to Canada where I knew I would be visiting in order to save on shipping and time…stuff like the fog lights, hub, center arm, drag link rebuild kits, front and rear 3.73 gears, an auzzie locker for the rear, pop out widows, the snorkel tip, an oil cooler, pertronix ignition stuff, EZ wiring harness, a battery isolator, winch solenoids, cable and fairlead, and a bunch of hardware for what I had planned for the interior…those were some heavy boxes…
So it was nice to get back with all the goodies – and I thought it would all come together rather quickly – which turned out not to be too true…however, the benefit was that I was able to do most of the work with the local guys, who, although had never received any formal training, had decades of experience, were extremely friendly and were super creative when it came to fixing things they didn't have tools for…it has been an interesting learning experience.
After replacing and rebuilding another engine, taking the gear and transfer cases apart [in the dirt even] and sourcing all OEM engine components, we put everything back together and everyone was fully happy with the build of the mechanics of it all.
Then it came to all the things that take serious time, like a week rewiring everything, with a great Pakistani electrician [in case you ever need one in Oman], while putting in a bunch of creative anti-theft hurdles…and the occasional wheel falling off at speed to remind you to check that the last guy torqued them on enough, a stone hitting your windshield to let you know the PO went with the cheaper non-laminated variety, and the fun of pick glass out of yourself, and the car for months and months afterward…the fun of finding replacement engine mounts that will accommodate a/c compressors, learning that incorrect rim backspacing can in fact lead to the rim wrecking your tie rods, finding and tracking down vibrations, wobbles, weird noises and smells…then of course, all the bits that even new car owners would STILL have to worry about…roof racks and boxes, brush guards, lights, alarms, extra petrol tanks [85L], *heated* water tanks [90L], exhaust mods, comfort issues, a bed, storage, fridges, fans, tunes, etc etc etc…
Anyway, to avoid this becoming a novel, just let me send out a huge thank you to all of you [you know who you are] who I have hassled and harassed over the last year with my questions and queries, it's nice to know that there are people out there with the knowledge and the time and care to share…so thank you very much, it would have been a significantly more difficult process without the help – now just cross your fingers that the ship I just put it on for South Africa isn't high-jacked by the Somali pirates………
If you have any questions about anything I have done, I will do my best to return the favour…after attending to literally everything that can come off, come on, is bolted to, welded onto, or in any way related to the car, I can safely say I have some understanding now of the whole process of rebuilding…
remember to check out
www.theplanetproject.biz for all info on how the beasty fares...if you become a member our updates will be emailed...
