Thread: Plugger and The Camel

ahhh.... the good ol' days of cutting and shutting a chassis... i remember them fondly, when i was working on Frank the series 3. Best bit is you feel like you've achieved something after a hard days work!

Keep up the work and pics... keeps me entertained! and reminiscing

Hi Guys n Girls,

Ben - Thanks for the kind words. Not so sure about the relay box - apparently there is a big spring inside that makes disassembly/reassembly very difficult. Might need some advice on this. Does much go wrong with them? I just wanted every mechanical item on my sons Rover in tip top condition!

Debruiser - thanks also for the kind. Glad this build is taking you back.....

Update:
On the Saturday, a week after we bought Camel home, we dropped into a place called British Offroad at Chevallum on the Sunshine Coast. Really nice bunch of blokes and all are Land/Range Rover nutz!! They have a stack of cars they are wrecking and they also stock new/replacement pars. That is going to come in handy.

During the course of the discussion we mentioned that Pluggers Camel did not come with a roof, only the rear wall. What we were chasing was a hardtop roof to turn him into a shorty wagon (you guys know what I'm talking about - sorry about the wrong nomenclature!!).... British Offroad mentioned that they are like rocking horse poop, very rare and if you did come across one it would be worth anywhere from $800-1000 in good nick. They didnt have one and they gave us the name of a wrecker in Gympie who also didnt have one. Dismayed, we drove wondering where the hell we were going to get a hardtop for Plugger.

That Sunday night, after scanning Gumtree online (in the bath, with the Tab!) I noticed an ad for Series land Rover parts. The ad read "Series II/IIA parts for sale, fenders, windscreen and roof...". I messaged the seller and low and behold, the roof was in fact a complete hardtop - Saints be praised!! I told him I would buy it sight unseen (ballsy) and would pickup tomorrow. The young guy said he had school tomorrow and would not be home until 3.30pm. Desperate not to miss out I told him I could be there at 6.30am and he agreed.

As the story goes he was building up a Series IIA SWB too but halfway through the project, after a year of collecting bits, he and his dad decided that the chassis was too far gone to continue with the restoration. Sad! But at least some of the bits would go into Camel. I parted with $150 and got the hardtop, windscreen assembly, a better bonnet than Camels existing one, and a LH Guard (the RHS one was toast). I was ecstatic with the buy!!






I must say it is in great condition (sans the glass) and a really, really good buy!! The LR Gods must be smiling on us...

Today, Plugger and I cleaned everything and humped it down to the bottom shed, the workshop, for storage. Threat of inclement weather has warranted the move and it also means we get two parking bays back. Here is a shot of all the parts prior to storage. You can see the 2nd green bonnet that was purchased with the hardtop as opposed to the mustard one that came with Camel. The chassis is yet to come down. The guards, tray, seatbox etc was stored up in the loft, while all the mechanical parts and chassis was stored at the back of the shop - where we can access them more easily. Here is a shot of most of the bits pressure washed prior to storage - we have some spare bits like the S1/S2 grill with lights etc which we would like to pass onto someone else to help with their restoration when Camel is all finished:



Contd.....

Contd...

I have now had a more detailed investigation of the chassis. Some issues to note:
>The rear crossmember is rotten on the drivers side - definite replacement
>The drivers side outrigger is toast - definite replacement
>The drivers side fuel tank bracket is also toast - another replcement
>The chassis number is missing - presumably plated over and/or removed. Luckily it is stamped on the compliance plate!
>The ghetto permanent towbar will be replaced with a HD item with a removable tongue ala Hayman Reese etc

Enjoy the Pics:










That's it for now, more through the week.

Cheers,
Tricky

Hi Tricky,

I might be on the wrong page here... But in your last post you mention that the chassis number is missing and I noticed a picture of a front dumb iron?

The chassis number should be stamped on the LHS rear spring hanger..

I would recommend stamping the chassis there - it will probably make registration easier....

Cheers,
GG

Hey GG,

Rear you say?? I looked up on the interweb and it said the front RHS spring hanger, or just above. Maybe I got that wrong!

Thanks, I will have a look tomorrow....

Cheers,
Tricky

UK Home market ones were on the RH front - Australian built ones on the spring hanger at the back of the LH rear spring.

John

Thanks John and GG for their input!

I went and checked in that location this morning - LHS rear spring hanger - no number!! Either the number has been stamped into the steel so lightly that my wire-brushing (by hand) and some superficial corrosion has removed it, or it was never there in the first place...!!



Thoughts?

Cheers,
Tricky

Try a bit lower on the actual spring hanger just above the bush i think.

Cheers Rod

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