My Old Splity Utes

TheMiniMan · 2008-05-24T11:19:08+00:00

1962 model, ex-PMG splitty ute, I stuffed a 220Hp Leyland P76 alloy V8 up it`s bum (yeah it had a little bit of work done to it & was out to 4.7litres) & was able to carry almost anything, almost anywhere, it just happened to be a dam good beach buggy too :-) 68 front beam with 74model disc assys. i stuffed an IRS rear end into it & fitted up 11" rear vented disc brakes as well, twin fuel tanks, full roll cage right through from front tubes to rear tube, winch, etc etc etc those are 12Rs on the back & it normally ran 9.5Rs on the front,(had a flat front tyre that weekend tho so i swapped them over to the little ones) I had it for about 15 years all up & It was the best car i ever owned for offroad ability, It was even better than my Rivmaster off road frame buggy, mainly because the kombi actually turned corners,,, the buggy would rather wheel stand than turn :-) I know it looks daggy as,,, but there wasn`t much point making it look nice when it spent most of it`s time carrying race minis & 2nd hand shitty old minis & rubbish to the dump & scrap metal & stuff around & then hitting the beach for most of it`s life, it would have just been a waste of a good paint job. This is a pic of it`s "Sister", i built this one up from a 1965 model bare shell... It was a great little thing, stocko in nearly every way (except for a few little things here & there) fitted it with a mild dak dak 1600 donk & it was a dam good work horse too... We carried my rally Mini to Tasmania & back for the Targa Tasmania rally back in 2002, packed it with 1700kgs of stuff inside & ontop the poor old thing with the 2 of us (Robbo my navigator & me) the race mini on the back, another complete spare engine & gearbox assy, spare front & rear suspension assys, massive tool box, workshop sized floor jack, twin fuel tanks & another 2 jerry cans plus another 20litre drum of water, all out camping gear including a big motha esky, gas BBQ, cups bowls plates, cuttlery etc, sleeping gear & all out clothes for 2 weeks & then all the race spares & equipment, in car video camera, intercom, helmets etc, 2 spare Kombi wheels/tyres, 2 spare minirace whesls/tyres , etc etc etc , the list goes on & on... dam even the mini was packed pretty tight & it also had 2 oversize fuel tanks, & then of course the roof racks with the surfboard ontop ,,, oh & a full sized foam mattress with pillows & sleeping bags etc etc etc & this is the new version, again it`s another alloy V8 but this time it`s a Lexus quad cam 32v injected V8, not much difference in grunt between this one & the 62 V8 splitty tho, but that`s because this one is a little heavier than the splitty single cab very nice, very clean, very smooth & very quiet, it has a .74:1 Albins top gear with those 31.5" rear rubbers & 275Hp at the wheels makes for a very good top end speed,,, not much can keep up with it down the Hi-way :-) Gav & Paul (previous owners) are credited for all the work to get it to this stage, i`m just carrying on & finishing up a pile of loose & untidy ends with it to make it sweet all over. That is if i can get some time spare from changing gearboxes every month :-)

Yeah i have a spare 2L box here now, so i might gear kit that one with some Albins yummys & set up the air locker diff lock thingy in it for a while

But i`m still keen for a Syncro 4x4 type set up,,, Soooooo,,,,, does anyone know anyone one who would have a spare Syncro 4x4 gearbox laying around that i can "borrow" i don`t want to keep it, just borrow it to do a mock up & see if what i think can happen, can actually happen,,, Then i`ll give it straight back either way.

???????????????????????????????

anyone????????????????????????

I have avaliable to me a syncro front diff in good nick but i don`t really want to buy it unless i know for sure that i can do the conversion (without spending $4 million & 6 years worth of stuffing around)

so even an old case with some stuff hanging off it, any old buggered box will do,,, you know what i mean yeah????