Getting another P38A

[PaulP38a]

Must have been fate... here I was telling myself that after drowning my last P38A I should be looking at a 2nd hand L322 or RR Sport, and the very car that inspired me to keep spending lots of money on my old P38A becomes available to buy. So I am... and as soon as the money gets transferred to the seller I'm eager to get my grubby mits on it.

It may not be a 4.6 HSE like my old one, so it's missing a few of the creature comforts such as...
leather interior, wood/laminate on the door trims, steering wheel stereo controls, subwoofer, headlamp wipers and sunroof


...but this 1999 4.0 S does have other redeeming features such as:
2" lift plus EAS still working
Arnott Gen III air springs
custom Bilstein shocks
33" Maxxis tyres
4.10 Diff ratios
ARB air locker (rear)
swaybar quick disconnects
HRA low profile bullbarSo, my question to the forum is how to get the car from the Sunshine Coast (QLD) to Queanbeyan/Canberra (ACT) before Christmas. My options are:
fly up there myself and drive the 1300KM - bit awkward to get away for a day or two with lots of last minute project work at hand;
get a freight company to ship it down. Guess-timates around $600 from Brisbane to Sydney;
put trust in someone known to me or the seller to drive it for me and me to pay their return airfare;any other options?

and yes I promise to keep this one away from rivers, at least until I get a snorkel.

cheers
Paul.

[2door grover]

Fly up there on a fri or sat and drive back. will be the cheapest way. i have done that with a few cars now. take a sleeping bag with you and sleep in the back. will make you want to get home ;) Will get to see how the car goes and get use to it before you home.

[ScottW]

It cost me $500 to get my P38 delivered to my door (out in the hills) on the Gold Coast from Sydney in August, so I'd expect it to be similar or less if you pick it up from the depo yourself. I can't remember the shipping company they used though.

[mike 90 RR]

You & Ron (p38rover) must have the same bug :thumbsup:

Congrats on the new ride

[sniegy]

Thats not the one that is black by chance & owned by Hardy himself was it..:D:D:D
I had been looking at that for ages & something just kept on saying wait..

Please do tell how it all goes. It looked very good.
Dont mean to be rude but could i ask how much u paid...?

I had my eye on a Classic RR 95 soft dash, but was sold(albeit the add is still on carpoint/carsales etc).
So it starts again.
I will keep scouring the net..
Congrats & hope all goes well.;)

[PaulP38a]

Thats not the one that is black by chance & owned by Hardy himself was it..:D:D:D
I had been looking at that for ages & something just kept on saying wait..

Please do tell how it all goes. It looked very good.
Dont mean to be rude but could i ask how much u paid...?

Dark Blue actually. Don't want to say how much yet until he's got the rest of the cash and the deal is done. Don't want to to jinx myself before I collect it ;)

Thanks for the good wishes.
cheers
Paul.

[sniegy]

No problems Paul,
Enjoythe beast u lucky bloke.

Dont forget to post pics, that thing has awesome articulation.

All the best:)

[Remy]

Hi Paul,

Looks a beast i had been watching that for a while as well. Well done!
P.S i didn't need the mounting brackets for the guard as mine were already there in case you need them back.

Cheers,
Remy

[PaulP38a]

Hi Paul,

Looks a beast i had been watching that for a while as well. Well done!
P.S i didn't need the mounting brackets for the guard as mine were already there in case you need them back.

Cheers,
Remy

Thanks Remy, I'll keep that in mind. Glad you got your gear sorted out. Still waiting to see the pics of the dog guard in place. I'm curious to find out if it is strong enough to mount a second fire extinguisher (first is by the driver's foot).
cheers, Paul.

[andrew e]

(first is by the driver's foot).



you need your scuba gear to get to that one dont you?

[Remy]

Thanks Remy, I'll keep that in mind. Glad you got your gear sorted out. Still waiting to see the pics of the dog guard in place. I'm curious to find out if it is strong enough to mount a second fire extinguisher (first is by the driver's foot).
cheers, Paul.

Hi Paul,
The guard is barely strong enough for that and the bottom isn't secured by anything so it would rattle and drive you mad!
I will PM you the pics soon.
Cheers,
Remy

[PaulP38a]

you need your scuba gear to get to that one dont you?

Everyone's a bl**dy comedian around here :D
Interesting point though - it would have got water affected as the water level inside the cabin was up to the bottoms of the front seats and the fire extinguisher was mounted on that flimsy plastic panel at the front of the driver's seat. I'll check it for rust next time I wander out to the garage.

[willem]

Everyone's a bl**dy comedian around here :D
Interesting point though - it would have got water affected as the water level inside the cabin was up to the bottoms of the front seats and the fire extinguisher was mounted on that flimsy plastic panel at the front of the driver's seat. I'll check it for rust next time I wander out to the garage.

Beauty, Paul. It seems to me that Hardy's truck is the ideal vehicle for the type of off-roading you do. I'm intrigued to have a look at it, if you have it by the time I get there.


Willem

[PaulP38a]

Beauty, Paul. It seems to me that Hardy's truck is the ideal vehicle for the type of off-roading you do. I'm intrigued to have a look at it, if you have it by the time I get there.


Willem

I hope I have it by then too. All going to plan, I will have it before Christmas. Please Santa...

Speaking of off-road (well sorta), the little Suzuki Sierra proved it's worth when it recovered 3 vehicles from a muddy car park in Canberra today. A Falcon, a Telstar and a 2WD Rodeo all bogged in the mud and going nowhere. So I dropped the tyre pressures a bit on the Zook, popped it in low range and towed each of them about 100m to firmer ground. Not a bad effort for a little car with a 1.3L motor and weighs less than a tonne.

[PaulP38a]

Flew up to Sunshine Coast on Saturday to collect my new toy. Hardy met me at the airport and kindly let me stay for the night.

Yes, I just got me Hardy's 99 4.0 Rangie - the one that used to be all over the Hard Range website. I'm a happy lad :)

We took the car for a spin offroad and boy was I impressed. Hardy took the somewhat modified 99 4.0 P38 down a track that I would have been wary of in my old HSE.

With the 2" lift, 4.1 diff ratios and 33" tyres (not to mention his driving skills) Hardy didn't even bother with low range or raising the EAS above "standard". It just ate it up, even driving up the side of a grassy embankment that I was sure we wouldn't make. He managed to get the car in to a hilly mound that demo'd the articulation of the front and rear. It was a big drop out of the passenger side for me. He then engaged the rear air locker to show me what it could do... just like a tractor.

Drove it back down to Queanbeyan/Canberra yesterday and today. The big tyres mean that the speedo is out by about 13-15% according to my GPS. Fuel consumption was better than expected, and I reckon the 1999 4.0 (Thor) motor has about the same useable power as my old 1995 4.6 (GEMS) motor.

Sure, it has a few war wounds and is not as pretty as a P38A HSE or L322 that doesn't leave the tarmac... but this is a car that I won't be afraid to take offroad and get dirty, scratched and maybe a bit wet (to a point).


My wish-list for add-on bits is:
a snorkel (obviously)
Faultmate diagnostic unit
side-steps/sliders
steering and diff protectors
EAS emergency kit (sold my old one dammit!)
2nd battery - probably in the spare wheel well
winch, maybe
and perhaps drop the tyres back to 31" Cooper ST's to improve on-road manners a bitcheers, Paul.

[mike 90 RR]

Sounds like a good ride you have there Paul ... I hope she serves you well :)

Have a look at fusion's thread on "building a snorkel for elmo" ... as it really looks a treat :)

[mike 90 RR]

Here it is

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/discovery/68414-making-elmo-snorkel.html

[PaulP38a]

Here it is

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/discovery/68414-making-elmo-snorkel.html

Cheers Mike - that is the best looking snorkel I've seen... ever.

[2door grover]

How do you find the air bags on the road?

I need to get a new set in my car and was looking at these. The extra lift off road would be good but the wife drives it most of the time and we have a new born so don't want to make it a harsh ride on the road.

[mike 90 RR]

[

Cheers Mike - that is the best looking snorkel I've seen... ever.


Thought you would like it .... makes the plastic ones look ... Mmm? ... plastic :p

Mike

:)

[PaulP38a]

How do you find the air bags on the road?

I need to get a new set in my car and was looking at these. The extra lift off road would be good but the wife drives it most of the time and we have a new born so don't want to make it a harsh ride on the road.

The Arnott Gen III's are a definate improvement over the standard bags, but you won't get much more travel unless you replace the shocks as well. The car sits flatter around corners on highway mode, and a bit better on standard mode. On my previous P38A, this improved a bit more when I changed over to Bilstein shocks. If you can stretch the finances a bit, get the bags and shocks at the same time to save $100+ in shipping from the US.

If you want to try before you buy, and are game to cross the border in to "struggletown", you can take my car for a run. PM me for contact details.

Cheers, Paul.