LRCC

My name is Jan, and I have a 109 SW from 1973, currently fitted with a six cylinder Volvo/VW diesel engine. I have had her for some three years, and done some work on her, but mostly collected parts while I have been building a new house.

She is named (Long Tall) Sally, and has had numerous owners before I got hold of her, from our neighbor, a farmer. She will be turned into a camper, Dormobile style.

I have gotten hold of a Dormobile roof, and most of the needed part to make the roof work.

The Dormobile roof has been vandalized by a previous owner; he has cut a hole and removed the part where the roof vent should have been. This means that I shall have to make this part of the roof myself, to be able to have a hatch that can be closed and “leak free”. JKHackney has kindly taken measures on his roof, and made a drawing for me to copy. It will be a challenge, but these small challenges are one of the reasons that I have old Landrover’s.

I shall also make the interior myself, but I will have ordinary Defender seats, not the Dormobile seats. I will therefore only have to make the wardrobe and the kitchen unit. I will most probably make these from plywood and epoxy as that will be light and strong. I have built a boat using this method, and it can take lots of punishment.

This is all for now, I will keep you posted as to the progress, but it will most probably be a slow project.

Best regards Jan

Hello and welcome.
Sound a bit like what i am trying to do but the 109 is now in kit form.

Hi Jan, and welcome

There's another member on here with that engine in his 109 - it used to be mine (see sig line below).

Yours is the first we've heard of with the same engine - what do you thik of it?

I'm sure Neil (muckitup) will be along to ask the same question as it's his vehicle now, and he's converting it to a camper as well.

Good luck with your conversion. If you have any pictures to share, we'd love to see them

Cheers,
Robin.

Hi Jan and welcome to the club I am Neil (Muckitup) the owner of the other land rover like yours her name is Deysie Steptoe and born in 1966 (Series 2A) but only had 4 owners including Robin (RMS) and myself. At the moment she is being restored at a garage in Yorkshire and we are going to see her tomorrow, they are fitting a galvanized chassis, new gear box, clutch, new wheels/tyres, new electrics, 3 new doors, new floor and repairing the bulkhead then being resprayed the the original colour Bronze green and limestone then she will come home and I will fit the interior myself including new leather front seats, fold out bed, cupboards, cooker and fridge which I intend doing in the 1960's style, already got most of the parts but like you it will be a long term project as I have only the weekends to do the work. I havent got a dormabile roof so its just a normal long wheel base type roof I did get offered one but it is a long way to collect it and I just dont have the time and not too sure how much work will be needed to restore it. She has a VW/Volvo 6 cylinder diesel engine I think this is the same as yours, havent run it yet but hoping all will be OK. Will keep you informed as to progress as we seem to be the only 2 members with this type of engine Good Luck with yours
All the Best Neil

Hello Neil

I have just driven Sally from the farm where I bought her, so I don’t have a lot of experience. But the pull of the engine was very good, and the smooth running that only a six cylinder can have, was great.

Sally is at present black, but she has been grey, blue and yellow, I have previously had a black car; never again, she will be resprayed mid grey with white roof. I will only have the roof bunks, as I don’t think that I will have a lot of family joining me on trips. The boys are grown an on their way out, I guess my daughter can come along, my better half prefers hotels, since she spent most of her youth camping with her parents.

The chassis has been fixed, all doors are OK, the brakes all has to be repaired, and I believe that I will go for disk brakes at the front. I haven’t decided if I should have two or four seats, I also have the rear seats from a defender, I’m just not sure. The electrics is a mess, so it needs to be fixed, I might go for a complete new loom from Autosparks, since I had a good experience with them on my 88.

I have managed to get hold of both front wings and the front panel of a series 2, so she will be rebuilt as a series 2 at the front, just because I like the look of the lights close together.

I have collected parts for at least three years, so I have managed to get hold of most of the stuff I think I will need (and a lot more) as bargains, or used from other Landrover nuts.

All the time and money I put into her, I will never be able to recover it at a sale, so I just think I will have to keep her.

Wishing you all the best.
Jan