Thread: Overlanding a P38

@finallyrangie: I will be installing a bypass kit indeed for the eas. I might also look in a better compressor since I would like to use just one for filling up tyres, blowing out air filters etc. Carrying a spare would also be high on my must have list As for the D1 bar, they are virtually non existent down here

@keithy P38: Thanks mate yes I do beleive they get a bad rep. I bought mine used with ~150K on the odo and I've pretty much used it as a daily driver and been mudding it (hard) every two weeks now just to get a feel for the car and if I can live with it. I have repaired almost all the bugs and fixed up all the lacking maintenance and thus far I have only had to replace a worn driveshaft, pretty sure I did not break that but must have gone without regreasing for far to long.

Regarding the winch bar, I know you ausies got the good stuff but shipping one to europe would probably prohibitly expensive. A terrafirma one would set me back around 1k euro's and it is just a winch bumper. I'm affraid that manually making one myself with everything I want would be half that price in materials. Labour I can do myself and I have a good powder coating company 10k's down the road.

The RAI is something I can pretty much build myself as well. A mate of mine can mandrel bend ss so that should be another weekend of playing around I will look into making the final diameter into something standard so that I can fit a safari or ram type end cap.

I would not have thought the standard shocks were up to the job? I read a lot about them but hardly ever that they are good or suffice... How did your modified (longer) shocks fare and what brand/type were they? Also, even when I try my hardest it seems I will be close to or exceeding the GVW of the car so higher duty shocks do seem like a good idea.

On punishing my P38 I would not dare However, overlanding is a choice one makes to get of the beaten track and avoid the tourist traps. When in the US for example I can see myself taking a trip across the moad and when in .au I'll most definatly want to take on the canning stock route. So mudding, rock climbing etc will be part of the trip and I think I can't go wrong upgrading diffs and axles in any case. I agree that standard parts do help when on the road but some compromises can be made once on the road. I may have to choose to replace a half shaft with a standard one for the time beeing until I can have a replacement shipped to wherever I am at that time. I am as flexible as my ranges flex

LPG is for cooking and diesel is for trucks just joking around... But seriously, LPG is not an option since that really is a fuel that you can find in just a few places around the world and woul take up space and weight that cannot be justified. In place of 65L of LPG I would cary that as extra petrol. It IS good to hear that you've never encountered any trouble with range though! I might reconsider my huge fuel plans.

@gusthedog: I agree with you on that. I've seen RRC's with such a setup but as mentioned above, if I do not need to I will not cary the extra fuel and weight. It is good to hear from other people that such a long range is less of an issue. I got to that conclusion because of some reports I read on overlanding blogs but I guess it's ok to settle for less. Also, when mudding in low range I get 82L / 100KM in the dash so I suppose that is what also pushed me into thinking in that direction.

I have just been looking up the 661's and, as usual, I can't them down here . I was not planning on breaking autobahn speed records, I have a different car for that (hint: see my username) Thus far I have seen two opinions on the diff ratio so I'll have to look into that some more and/or wait for some more input/experiences. I worry just a tad that 235 wide is just a bit narrow for the P38 but I'll test a set out.

What is a pom/pommie anyway? And yes. Clarkson drove a V8 up the altiplano but it was a carburated version. If I get around to it, I'll drive my P38 up there as well

@zzsteve: I plan on galvanising my chassis and repairing the bodywork where needed before I set of. However, the door sills on the D1's in my country are all rotten away almost without exception, where most of the P38's I see have hardly any rust problems. The fact that a lot of the panels are aluminium might help I don't know.I would have expected a lot more electrolysis to be honest but somehow the guys in solihull made it work!

@hammerH: as already touched on above, this is exactly what I am currently doing I drive and play with my range every day to see how it holds out. I have already done nearly all the neglected maintenance and fixed nearly all the defects. I own a second P38 4.6 HSE that came without engine and gearbox and I use that as a testbed and donor vehicle. This is a 1999 model and has the 4 wheel traction control and thus the 4 pin diff in the front that I might change out soon. I'll send the (working) BeCM to the UK to be reprogrammed and overhauled and carry it as a spare. The bodywork I'm going to use to fit up my snorkel, experiment with the rear layout, etc. etc. The chassis I will take out and modify, if I am still going to, for the arnott's and extended shocks. After a sandblasting and chemical cleaning it'll be galvanized and be ready for use on my daily driver.

I have been working on cars for nearly 20 years now and I am not as phased by the P38 anymore as I was when I started this adventure That might still change though!

Thank you all very much again for your input! Keep em coming!

-P

Nothing wrong with poking some fun

I do intend to know my xxxx, and perhaps over the coming time I will be cured from the P38 idea indeed. Thus far I've done 20.000km's since november. Most of that was highway and local use and I would guess about 20km's would have been offroading it, hard. Mostly mudding though.

Not much has broken though I did wear out the rear brake pads but I guess that is because of the traction control kicking in often when mudding.

Prelude - we thought we were a bit crazy. You are setting a new benchmark.

I will take that as a compliment, thank you

No pics yet, well I have some and even a few video's mudding it. End of this month I'm going on a trip to wales and snowdonia, I'll try to bring the gopro and see if I can get some decent footage.

Cheers!

-P