Thread: My Perentie Station-wagon conversion story

Gday All,

I have just finished my conversion from a GS to a 5-door and thought that there might be some interest in the lessons that I learnt on the way.

I will sort out a series of photos later.

The goals are worth discussing - clearly some of these vehicles should be preserved for heritage value, some might be modified for off-road performance or looks. My goal was a vehicle that I could use for towing a horse-float (replacing a series 3 Stage One), seat my kids (the horse riders) and not lose sympathy with the original vehicle.

Please note - I could have had an easier time if I had started with a County. I chose to pursue the ex-mil Landy because A. I had one B. I believed that the galvanised chassis and maintenance history might count for something C.I am stubborn and a bit doo-lally.

The first challenge was the "towing capacity". There has been a heap written here and on the Facebook page. I have been through a lot of detail with my engineer and can summarise the situation as follows.

1. Is the Perentie capable of towing more than the 1200kg that had been required by the military? An "equivalent"civilian Isuzu engined 110 can tow more than 3500kg with the same engine and brakes - so performance and "gradability" are likely to be much the same. The chassis is different behind the rear spring mount. Some would say reinforced. It is a question of an engineers opinion whether it is suitable (mine says yes). Note that there is no GCM for the vehicle. The most rigorous solution is to have an engineered mod plate stating a GCM (my plan).

2. What about a tow hitch? There was no designed-for-purpose hitch available. Modifying a hitch from another vehicle is not different in the eyes of the law from starting from scratch. My goal was a tow ball height that would suit a horse-float using a removable mount that would not interfere with low-intensity off roading. In conjuction with my engineer, we designed one to suit that utilises a Hayman TBM. The testing was finite element analysis and we made a prototype (which works well for my purpose). The hitches are for sale - Aaron@burnettconsulting.com.au.

3. I have fitted a remote located electric brake sender unit (same one that I used in the stage 1) and also have a breakaway battery monitor.

Next - I wanted the final result to look like an early 110 but also obviously a perentie. I liked the Limestone roof/ side panel above a solid colour combination. My favourite was Trident Green, second Masai Red. My boys all loved the later G4 "Tangier" Orange - so I went with that.

Given the fact that the GS front doors had sliding windows, I wanted to keep the theme. Proper 2-piece middle row doors are very rare but I had a selection of series ones to choose from and used series side panels too.

I liked the "Sally-man" lift-up tailgate. It has the larger glass area of a swing-out door but lifts like a cat-flap. The Salvation army solution was to use external hinges, but I modified some series hinges and made up other hardware to suit. That was fun but a lot of fiddly work.

The body donor was a 1986 County. This came with the tool stowage in the left rear quarter and seatbelt mountings- including those to suit rear load space seating. I modified the body to use the perentie external tool hatches and made up a right side tool stowage to suit. I had to deal with the fuel filler location and discovered that the seatbelt mounts weren't symmetrical. The engineer thought that original Land Rover mounts would make compliance with the ADRs easier (as my "mod" also involves increasing the occupant number from the GS 2. I wanted at least 5. The county had 9. 8 is the most that I could apply for in Tas without being subjected to a different rule)

I had wanted to keep the perentie fuel filler - It is a recognisable feature of the military version. I copied the filler location used on the 5-door perenties and dealt with the anatomy of the filler internals and tank. This was a big hassle (and not recommended unless you want the cosmetic appearance of the military filler location)

The GS tank is slightly too long at the upper rear corner and the filler entry needs to be lower and smaller in diameter to fit under the middle row floor and between the body mounting brackets. I had an example tank to examine and had help from another Aulro member. The military used a bolt-on reinforcing part to deal with a cut-away in the body mounting member, but "RAR-110" used a welded in piece of pipe, which looked a better job. I used square tube which I think was easier. There are a few little challenges with the breather system too.

for colour personally I like Masai Red with Limestone roof and wheels. But that's just me.

I like the Masai red, also Trident green. My sons chose the G4 Tangiers Orange and i must say it looks the goods - I'm glad i went that way!