Sandy's Little Brother

Well thats the plan … I’ll out this out there and see what comes of it.
So who is Sandy’s little brother …..
First off Sandy (BJ41) is finished and I have decided not to think about, more power, coil springs, sound proofing anymore. I met a Land Cruiser man last week end, this man has had and worked on Land Cruisers for as long as he could remember. He looked the BJ41 over top to buttom, stood back and said it was in his opinion one of the best if not the best BJ40 he has ever come across. Needless to say I was delighted and it was then that I decided that the BJ is correct as it is and enjoy it as it is. So no more work or modifications to Sandy !
But that leaves me with a small problem, what do I do now, because in my mind I have more Land Cruiser stuff to do. Interesting thing is I have always thought the 40 series body on an 80 series chassis would be pretty neat. The looks of a 40 with the world conquering running gear of an 80. As it turned out the Land Cruiser man I met on the weekend just happened to have a few 80′s lying around. I drove 4 of them and they all drove great. That kinda got my mind thinking about the 40/80 mongrel I have being thing about for the last 2 years.
So heres the big picture, get an 80, strip it down to the engine and rolling chassis, find a half decent pre 1980 40 series, splice the 80 series frame to be 40 series frame and plant the 40 series body on top.
Why .. well only thing that could be improved on the 40 is the wheel base (if you want endless driving). The 80 has the additional length, more modern engine and running rear. No big deal really .. well maybe not so simple. The 80 series is quite a bit longer than the 40. Suppose these are just minor details. So here’s a quick snapshot of an 80 chassis, with a 40 sitting on top

 Ok .. just so you all know this is copyright K .................... !

Adventure Overland Show – Stratford upon Avon

Thought I might do a quick note on the Adventure Overland Show. Didn’t know what to expect other than it was held in Stratford upon Avon. We got the ferry from Dublin Port to Holyhead and drove to 200 miles, with a small detour on the way to see a very special Land Cruiser mechanic (somewhere near Shrewsbury).
After an early start and the detour we got to Stratford it was late in the evening when we arrived, pitched the tents got something to eat and got ready for the BIG show.

 

Well I’m afraid the BIG show was not so big after all. There was plenty to see, but would be hard pushed to get two days out of it. Thankfully there were a few interesting people to spend the day talking to, West Coast 4×4, being one of them.
Plenty of Land Cruiser people around, and a few Land Cruisers in the camp site to poke around in.
For those that have between €250’000.00 to €500’000.00 you could pick up one of these beauts

The real bonus to the trip was the mechanic in the secret location near Shrewsbury, when stop by his workshop on the way back, 3 hours the first time round wasn’t enough. The guy Scott was pretty relaxed when it came to giving us keys to his Land Cruisers. We got to drive 4 of the trucks and could have spent all day there but we had a ferry to catch.
Overall it was a good weekend good fun with the lads, just a pity the show wasn’t bigger. We all came to the conclusion that we’ll be going to Germany next year. It’s the only place if its serious Overland Expo’s your looking for !