I want to be a mechanic

[PeterLC]

Hi there,
I'm not entirely new to this forum, I posted some replies, but I forgot to introduce myself. Not so polite, so let me put this straight.
I bought a '95 80 series three years ago. It has the 24V engine and a 24V starter. I love the way is starts in a fraction of a second. The car is the professional version, meaning not the luxury version, and hence it has three diff locks. That sounded fine to me as I planned some driving in Africa and as I had lived there for some time an A/C didn't seem to be mandatory. Reliability and repairability seem most important.
However it didn't take long before we started feeling the need for mods. New and larger tyres and rims with more offset, a tropicalised roof, a nice word for painted in "super white", a Waeco fridge, drawers and compartments in the rear to keep stuff from moving around.
Soon after that the battle against rust started, a home made corrector for the speedo as added, central door locks were added as my arms turned out to be too short to unlock the passenger door from in the driver's seat, the cruise control from my wife's Porsche was installed and I gave in, the A/C of my daughters S40 was swapped in.
I started 4x4 in the 1980s in Lubumbashi. The only thing I could afford back then were some Willys parts that ended up being a Jeep. I learned a lot about simple mechanics and offroading back then. Unfortunately I haven't had the opportunity to practice a lot since.
The Landcruiser took us to Poland, the Pyrenees twice for a coast to coast, Tuscany and Tunisia. There are no concrete plans for the next trip, I just hope it'll involve enough off road.
Some things need improving on the car. In Tunisia I got stuck in the sand driving forward and backward. The former due to driver's error I guess but the latter due to the small angle of attack at the rear. I don't like suspension lift but if its needed... An additional fuel tank would be nice, 800km range is somewhat on the low side.
Well anyway, I'm looking forward to participating on this forum.

Peter.

 

[karl webster]

Nice Intro Peter.

welcome to the forum

 

[clivehorridge]

Ditto the intro, welcome aboard Peter

Usually a suspension lift is only needed to accommodate bigger tyres, or if the terrain you like needs lots of flex and ground clearance issues like rocks etc.

Your biggest problem in the sand will likely be the tyre type / tread pattern, and not airing down to something crazy like 0.5 Bar.

 

[Shayne]

Hey Peter nice intro , i want to be a mechanic to but i'm sincerely hoping my 80 convinces me i don't need to be one

 

[PeterLC]

Well Clive, every now and then the cruiser kisses the track with the spare or the re

 

[PeterLC]

ar bumper although the terrain doesn't look too bumpy. I would read that as it beig too low in the rear. Could the rear springs be tired ?

 

[StarCruiser]

Welcome Peter,

Usually if people want to be mechanics they go for the ‘full immersion’ course and buy a Land Rover. Clearly you’ve decided to take it steady.

Good to have you aboard.

Rich

 

[clivehorridge]

It’s more than likely that the springs are tired, the first job I did on mine was to replace them, so I decided on a 110mm lift from the onset and bought new updated springs and shocks to suit.

 

[Firewout]

Welcome Peter,
Another member from Belgium joining the club!
What region do you live?

 

[PeterLC]

My cruiser seems to come from the planet Tatooine but I'm from Glabbeek (Tienen-Diest-area). What about you ?

 

[PeterLC]

Usually if people want to be mechanics they go for the ‘full immersion’ course and buy a Land Rover. Clearly you’ve decided to take it steady.

Well Rich I learned this lesson already a few years ago. My brother in law ran a LandRover garage for some years in Kinshasa. When his company switched to Landcruiser he had to lay off most of the local mechanics.

 

[Firewout]

My cruiser seems to come from the planet Tatooine but I'm from Glabbeek (Tienen-Diest-area). What about you ?

Hi Peter
I'm from Ekeren, north of Antwerp.

 

[StarCruiser]

Well Rich I learned this lesson already a few years ago. My brother in law ran a LandRover garage for some years in Kinshasa. When his company switched to Landcruiser he had to lay off most of the local mechanics.

I have heard similar tales.