WIDEWOLF

New Member
Hi I'm new to this forum and the Landy world. After forced retirement due to Health issues I've decided to take on a Landy project.

I plan to purchase an ex Army defender Wolf Ambulance and convert it into a 6x6 off road camper.

What I'm looking for at the moment is suggested garages to
1) lengthen, galvernise and convert the chassis to 6x6.
2) lengthen the ambulance body
3) another advice on upgrades ie engine / gearbox that I can make to the Wolf.

All help greatfully received.
 
You're going to need pretty deep pockets, that's for starters. There's a thread on her which stars a 6wd Discovery which I'll try and find for you tomorrow - it's creator is doing a lot of other clever stuff on it, but you'll get to see how he's tackled it. It would be handy to know how much you're going to tackle yourself before anyone can offer suggestions, both design-wise and hands on spannering, welding etc..
 
There were some ex Aussie military 6x6s on eBay recently and I was surprised how cheap they were. Worth a look as a lot of the hard engineering is already sorted.
 
Yes, I'm the loony doing the 6x6 discovery, and boguing is absolutely right - deep pockets are an absolute must, that and dogged determination.

I am about to lift the body for the last time (hopefully) and treat the chassis, so I'm in the exact same dilemma as you.

I spoke to a couple of galvanising plants, who you would think would appreciate the business, but the overall impression I'm coming away with is the galvanisation is a great process for "new" steel, but not really the way to go for a used and modified chassis. There was science behind this, but I can't recall all the subtleties right now.

My next preferred solution was electro-phoretic plating as offered by SPL and others, but I have heard mixed reviews about this and it is scarily expensive.

The route I'm actually following now is bizarrely the cheapest option, which is chassis specific coatings from a company called BuzzWeld (www.buzzweld.com). I spoke at length to a guy called Craig who was very knowledgeable and helpful and recommended a combination of either FCP or RCP primer with a CIO top coat which will apparently stop any rust dead for many years to come. This combined with their CCI450 cavity wax will apparently ensure no rust on the inside of the chassis box sections either. Every review I've ever read of the buzzweld products speaks very highly, so this is the route I'm taking.

If I can help with any aspects of your 6x6 conversion, I'm happy to share my experiences such as they are. Drop me a PM and I'll give you my email and phone number if it will help

Thanks
 

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