CAL415s comp truck project.

[cal415]

So far its early days on this project, we are still collecting bits, but i thought i would share right from the start on this one. Its going to be a slow build, Both myself and Paul(paulio on here) are funding/building it, along with the help of Chris(lokka) and who ever else we can rope into helping us.

The goal will be hopefully one day being able to enter it into Tuff Truck, but for now we will be happy to get it to the point drivable before we make any set plans.

At the moment we have several RRCs, a few series and a collection of left over bits from my county to use, so for the vehicle we have the following plans:
Wheel base between 110-115in
Range Rover classic chassis
Defender/SIII body panels, Ute cab and cut down LWB body with a military style softtop
Stroked p76 motor, maybe put a turbo or 2 on it down the track.
LT95(we have stacks of them spare) or a GQ 5 speed which i have a spare off already too
Vovlo C303 portal axles(picked these up last weekend)
39s for now, but eventually 42-44in tyres


Anyway, heres what we picked up last weekend.
The vovlos, 5.99:1 ratio...
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/09/1278.jpg
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/09/1279.jpg
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/09/1279.jpg
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/09/1280.jpg
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/09/1281.jpg

Chris's new county(stretched to 135in wheel base) lucky we had this truck to collect all the gear, we fit 6 39s, 4 37s and a few spare rims on the tray!
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/09/1282.jpg
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/09/1283.jpg
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/09/1284.jpg
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/09/1285.jpg
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/09/1286.jpg
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/09/1287.jpg

Heres our collection of tyres, we also picked up 4 more 37s, BFG crawlers, compared to the MTR's they are bigger.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/09/1288.jpg
MTR vs BFG(both 37x12.5, the MTR is fairly well worn though)
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/09/1289.jpg
BFG vs Michelin
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/09/1290.jpg

The 39s up against paul zook, highly doubtful they would fit in any hurry :)
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/09/1291.jpg


There wont be alot of progress build wise until the county is out of the shed and driving again, but i will keep this thread up to date with the bits we aquire for the build.

[TJS-70Y]

Looking good mate. I passed on a set of Volvo's when I had my Rangie, went GQ's in the end. At the time I could have had them in and engineered for the same price as the nissans ended up costing me.
I'm very jealous. :D

Thomas

[cal415]

Yeh we thought long and hard about GQ's even started acquiring some bits to suit, but when these came up although they were more costly then GQ diffs we basically weighed the open GQ diffs vs portals, factory locked, strong internals due to portal reduction and the fact they came with 39s and 37s the price we payed was a bloody bargain!

Looking at the pics i again i can see why the guy at tyre power newcastle wasnt to happy when we pulled up with these to get him to strip the rims off, it was interesting watching them try to fit the 39s in to there bead breaking machine :)

[dullbird]

So Mick you planning on Tuff trucks next year?

[cal415]

Hmmm i can only wish.... with 6-7 months and all we have so far is diffs, probobly not :)

But 2012.... maybe ;)

[cal415]

Well we spent a little bit of time to play with the portals on the weekend, they were looking a bit sad so we thought we would make a start on cleaning them up, so paul and myself dragged the rear one down to the shed cleaned it up and gave it a nice fresh coat of paint.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/10/348.jpg
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2010/10/349.jpg

While we were taking off the old paint we found the original green color under the dodgy black paint, does anyone know where i can find some of this paint, its the same as the body color of a c303 military truck. Its a nice color.

I am also after an ex army 110 soft top, just the canvas that is, if anyone knows of any cheap let me know.

[Ace]

Sounds like a good project Mick, looking forward to seeing it develop.

How long has Lokka had the county? Looks like a top truck with the extended wheel base.

[cal415]

We are hoping to get the axles under a chassis pretty soon, trying to work out if we go with a 110 or rangie chassis, leaning more towards the rangie chassis for weight and the fact we have heaps sitting in the yard.

Chris got the county about 2-3 months ago i think, he hasnt had it long. Its a great truck and the tray on its very handy as you can see :)

[dullbird]

i would go the rangie chassis...i always thought 100inc was better on a comp vehicle

[jbell110]

Where did you pick up the 303's ? Always wanted a set of them...


Jeff

[cal415]

John(bushy65) had them under his bush rangie, ive been eyeing them off for a while, he went to different portals and i grabed them :)

Wheelbase is going to be somewhere around 105-108in i think front axle will go forward a smidge and the rear axle will go back a fair way, it will have a series/defender body regardless of chassis and body style should be.... interesting :)

[Psimpson7]

I would use the Defender chassis I think. They are far stronger than the RR one, so a better starting point, especially if you are going to adjust the wheelbase anyway. They will also have all the correct outriggers on for the firewall and so on.

Rgds
Pete

[paulio]

paint looks good :D Look alot happier than the first rusty pics
So what next you rekon.... 18in coilovers :D

[cal415]

Patience Paul, all in good time ;)

The next bit will be getting the brakes sorted out, i would like to convert to discs but its very costy! so it may remain drum brake for now, also need vovlo to rover stud adapters made up so we can bolt on rover rims.

[cal415]

Havnt done anything on this recently but last weekend i have to move the motor so thought i would check it out, it looks like i didnt do a very good job of sealing it up as its got some water in somehow which has left some marking on the bores, not sure if it will need new liners or if a hone would fix this.

Here is the motor on the shopping trolley base, it was a bitch to move by myself, hardest part was getting it on to the trolley.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/10/809.jpg

Pulled the top end off...
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/10/810.jpg

2 bores has some marking, this is the worst.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/10/811.jpg

[dobbo]

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/10/809.jpg



V8, lightweight body, 4 wheel steer, leaf springs. Just chuck a seat on that and your laughing.

No ideas.:D

[cal415]

shed a few kg from engine components and me and the navi could just cary it over the course..... just need to fit some harness's and a roll cage.

[bee utey]

P76 bores are pretty tough, a light hone should bring them up like new.:)

[jbell110]

Is this built yet ????


Jeff

[cal415]

No, no real progress except for this, i picked this ute up for some spare parts for my 130 and county a few months back, once i pinch the rear diff, some brake parts and sell the motor and box i will be swapping the portals under it

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2013/01/358.jpg

I am hoping to find somewhere who can do something similar to this following video for me, i have been speaking with the guy who did this one and he has told me where the machining to fit the hilux stud pattern and brakes was done. I am hoping that i can do similar but use rover stud pattern and a mix and match of brake parts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4H7SdnQhO8w

[pasi]

Yeh we thought long and hard about GQ's even started acquiring some bits to suit, but when these came up although they were more costly then GQ diffs we basically weighed the open GQ diffs vs portals, factory locked, strong internals due to portal reduction and the fact they came with 39s and 37s the price we payed was a bloody bargain!

Looking at the pics i again i can see why the guy at tyre power newcastle wasnt to happy when we pulled up with these to get him to strip the rims off, it was interesting watching them try to fit the 39s in to there bead breaking machine :)

hello cal415,

i found this older thread with some pictures of chris's 135 inch county. playing with the idea of body swaps myself, the chassis extension is bloody interesting. would you know if there's more info on this extension project on our forum and/or a way to contact chris?

thanks for your help,

pasi

[Vern]

Pm lokka on here, its his:)