Well I guess you've already worked out where I am again.
I'm at Creative Conversions.
And the reason why I'm here is because about a week ago, I dropped off a brand new 79 dual
cab Landcruiser, and it's now sitting on the hoist over there.
And I'm going to go and have a chat to Len from Creative Conversions.
And he's going to tell us what little scheme he's come up with for the new 79.
Let's go and check it out.
How we going, mate?
How are ya?
How you going?
Good, good.
That's the go.
How's it all going?
So about a week ago I dropped it off.
How far advanced are we?
Mate, we're just about to cut the chassis in half and get ready for the stretch section
we're going to put in there.
We'll get those wheels back sitting in the right spot to take those loads that you're
going to be dealing with when you go away.
All right, well let's get a closer look at it, aye?
As you can see, we've got a few cuts going on here.
We've got a drive shaft ready to come out.
That's out now.
Obviously you've got to take the drive shaft out.
Why are we taking the drive shaft out?
Well, we're going to be extending it, so we need to get that out.
Get it lengthened, rebalanced, and ready to go back in.
Because it's going to be longer, isn't it?
It's got to be longer.
300mm.
So we've got to get that all sent off, get it all done, ready to go.
So we're putting 300 in the chassis.
300.
Move those wheels apart 300mm.
Or that back wheel under the tray further.
Okay, so we've done that with Simon's truck in the past.
We did.
And from what I heart from Simon, it was absolutely awesome.
It completely changes the dynamics of his truck.
Yeah, it does.
It does change the truck a lot.
Everyone that we've done one for has been very happy with it all, so it does change
the whole dynamics of the truck.
All right, there you go, so 300 is going in the chassis.
Obviously if you extend it, you've gotta put a drive shaft in there.
So let's get a closer look for the final stages of basically taking a 79 and chopping it.
You literally chop it in half and pull it apart.
It's a scary thought when this truck has zero kilometres and is brand spanking new.
All right, mate.
Let's have a crack at her.
This is it.
This is the part where you pull it apart.
Well there we go.
Pulled her apart.
Brand new 79 Landcruiser, basically chopped, pulled apart.
All the other things have obviously come apart as well.
He's taken fuel lines.
He's taken the wiring.
All that stuff's already pre-done.
He's done that last night.
And then now, all it is now is a matter of getting 300 mm of chassis, which they make
up, and whacking it in the middle.
All right, so it's been about 3 or 4 hours now, and Len gave me a call and said, 'It's
done.' So let's check it out.
So she's all done.
Yep, all back together.
300 mm in the chassis.
Just got drive shaft, handbrake cable to go, a bit of wiring, and she's ready to go the
next stage.
So basically you put the 300 in so how do you do the driveshaft?
We take it out.
300mm extension in the shaft.
A whole new tube is put in.
Rebalance, aligned, back in again.
So bolt straight in.
We don't need to put a centre bearing in this one.
So pretty straight up.
So realistically, you could say that this is stronger than standard.
Absolutely.
Definitely.
It's definitely stronger than standard, mate.
All right, no dramas.
Well, there you go, guys.
She's pretty much done.
And that's exactly what it is, like Len said, you put 300 in the chassis.
And then you've got to do things like drive shaft, wiring, fuel lines, handbrake cable,
and that's it.
I reckon, and Len reckons, it's stronger than standard.
Simon's had his truck done, and he's punished the crap out of it.
It makes for a whole new truck.
It balances it out heaps better.
It's not so tippy and wants to wheel stand in the front.
So the 300 in the chassis makes for a better truck.
Now we've got a few more things to do, we've got to start putting tyres, rims, long-range tank.
We've got to put frontal protection, roof racks, suspension, all those things are still
to come.
So stick around and we'll see how this build goes.