1965 Land-Rover Series 2a LWB 200tdi Pop Top Camper

[steifbear]

Long time lurker, first time poster here. 

Id like to introduce CliVE, my 1965 built Land-Rover. 
CliVE was my 21st birthday present, purchased sight unseen from Evilbay in 2009


This is how things looked after a galvanised chassis, bulkhead and front panel rebuild in 2011/2012 with lots of help from friends far and wide!



Fast forward a few years and we are now running a 200tdi with a 5 speed gearbox and a P4x4 giving a reliable 35mpg at motorway speeds




During the dreaded C19 lock down it became clear that my wife and I wanted to share our love of travel and adventure and
rather than selling CliVE we decided to convert him into a 2 and a half person camper due to the arrival of our little boy. 


Plans were drawn up, metal was aqquired and a lifting roof was fabricated and fitted on my drive at home. Best decision ever! 





Sorry for the length of the thread but I hope atleast someone found it interesting.

My wife and I are constantly trying to improve things and power steering is the next big improvement I’m gathering the bits to complete.

Pete-with-a-V

[HARDCORE]

This is extremely excellent

[andrewbaran]

Awesome! I had always toyed with the idea of doing this with an ex-military 110, but they are shorter in bed length than I hoped! An excellent one vehicle solution. Love the metal dash and old steering wheel of an S2, such a cool experience to drive.

[steifbear]

Last weekend happened to be our annual trip to Whitby for the Krampus run. Luckily my Wife and I both had booked the Friday off so we were able to take the rural route from Pickering to Grosmont via Egton.







Pete With-a-V

[redratbike]

great build

adapt to suit you guys and the bubba fantastic

sounds like it will keep evolving

any plans for something like a pull out /inflatable awning to enlarge the living area etc?? or would this hinder rather than help trips ??

[andyborris]

Great Landy and a camper too.

Always had a thing for 4x4 campers and yours looks like an excellent solution.

How did you do the TDI/5 speed conversion, running a V8 on a series gearbox and overdrive at the moment, but toying with the TDI thing, mainly because the V8 is so bl**dy unreliable!

[steifbear]

Not the best photo but we have a swing out awning that I made out of the left overs from the awning extension build. It can be seen stowed in a number of the photos I’ve already posted. I’ve tried to make thinks look like they are supposed to be there.



The engine change took place around 35k miles ago and has worked wonderfully (touch wood)




The engine is a 200tdi with a 300tdi turbo to make exhaust routing a little easier. It’s mounted 3 inches further forward than standard and 2 3/4 inches higher. This was done using modified engine mounts from a standard series engine shown below





Doing this means that the LT230 handbrake drum fits and can be removed if necessary. Although this itself has now been replaced with a more effective disc handbrake from Ashcroft engineering.


One other thing of note that’s been fitted is the engine block heater to improve wear, tear and mpg on my short 20mins commute to work in a morning.


Anymore and I’ll have to move this to a build thread not a showcase thread.

Pete With-a-V

[andyborris]

Dec 8, 2023 14:01:17 GMT steifbear said:

Anymore and I’ll have to move this to a build thread not a showcase thread.

Pete With-a-V

Yes please!

And I've read conflicting reports of the engine noise levels...what's your take on it, is it "pardon, speak up" or " that quiet part of the music is wonderful"?!

[landieles]

Love your pop top, is it something you built? Would love to know more please.

[datman]

v cool. i always fancied a Range Rover Carawagon

[steifbear]

Dec 10, 2023 12:27:47 GMT datman said:

v cool. i always fancied a Range Rover Carawagon

Unfortunately the most famous owner of one of these turned out to be a creepy nonce with a cigar! 

We are heading away in the Landrover to the far north of Scotland between Christmas and New Year and hopefully celebrating Hogmanay in Inverness.

Much more to come with with lots of improvements planned for next year including a complete redesign of the interior (that admittedly I haven’t shown in this post) and hopefully a refreshed set of sides for the canvas pop top.