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Fred's Land Rover (Getting it together)
The Rebuild Continues. (section
2)
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Fred Dibnah (in Person)
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Meet Fred, If you don't Know him yet, I
think this picture says it all, Freds rather happy because we have just given
him back, his completed vehicle. now with V8 Torque and and new bodywork,
chassis and everything, (well almost.)
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These are the only good bits we could find on the whole vehicle, and quite
possibly the only major bits that are, original parts re-used on Fred's
Landy,.
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This infamous tailgate would have gone
again, but we opted to keep it for prosperity, (Sorry Fred.) the one we put on
was in better condition though so no harm done.
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| As you can imagine, after
all we have seen the project was getting a little beyond us, the Chassis had
rotted beyond repair and it was looking like Freds Landy was not going to make
it. |
Having been a faithful
admirer of "Aneka Rice's" hind quarters, I decided to try out her
tactics And phoned round for some assistance in the chassis department, and any
other are that would help. |
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So, we are guilty of sending out begging letters for
assistance
I cant say we had an amazing response, But after contacting about 30 4WD
companies, The response we did get, was not only well worth our efforts but far
more than we could have ever expected.
We had most of the project covered, as we had our own series 2 already
converted to V8 which was used to donate many of the body Interior &
transmission parts that you will see later on Freds (finished) Landy. We also had many Ex Mod (ministry
rebuilt) V8's, They are not street burning Boy Racer V8's but do have just what
is needed for some reliable V8 motoring for the next 20 years without no
worries.
We also had all the time needed for labor requirements and our series 2 donor
transmission that we thought was Ok (turned out to be less than perfect) but it
did have the V8 conversion adaptors and an overdrive.
The most crucial part though was the Chassis, there was no way the original
chassis was going to be viable to restore, and new ones where just so
expensive., Until that was, I got a unexpected call from John at Marsland
Chassis
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Well we got
the new Marsland chassis home, and its time to get it all dressed up, John at
Marsland was kind enough to clean out all the threaded holes in the chassis, so
we got straight in to bolting on new brake pipes and all other smaller parts,
(its amazing just how many parts there are?.
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Its now time
to wheel out the rolling Chassis, you can see that many part have now been
renewed and replaced. Petrol tank, all brakes and brake components, axles
wheels etc., It is at this stage that we really new the job would get finished/
and you can easily see why,
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Attention to detail is the key to the most enjoyable projects
and it sure gets the results
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| The "Rolling
Chassis" getting its first glimpse of daylight |
Adding all those small
Chassis parts take so much time and attention |
This Superb galvanized Steel Chassis was
kindly donated to us by John, The Proprietor of "Marsland Chassis",
The nicest of people to deal with in one of the nicest & most picturesque
parts of England (Cheshire), John like so many was very interested in what we
where doing and like ourselves had a deep admiration for Fred; and what he
stands for.
The quality of the chassis was, without doubt superb, all holes for fixings
where drilled in precisely the correct places, all mounting and suspension
points perfectly aligned, and all body panels and major components fitted as
though it where the original.
Like the engine we have built, I would expect this chassis to last for at least
the next 25 to 30 years.
A credit to you John, For your fine attention to detail and highest of
engineering standards, and I offer the uppermost appreciation for the
assistance you gave with this project.
Chris
Marsland Chassis are well worth a visit at
www.marsland-chassis.co.uk
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