I am in the fortunate position to own a tax exempt LWT or air portable Landrover, my father bought it some years ago in fact when I was aged only 7 he bought it to replace the LWB Landrover when it’s chassis fell apart in dramatic style the day we were to go on the annual holiday.
My father kept the LWT for many years and every year he had 2 weeks off at Christmas one week for happy Christmas stuff and the other to strip and rebuild the engine and running gear, about 4 years ago he and I had a huge argument about something silly and we stopped talking for nearly a year and out of the blue my father called me to ask if I still wanted the LWT because this was his way of saying sorry and he knew I always coveted it of course I said yes.
So 3 years ago I caught a train from Llandrindod Wells (where I lived at the time) caught a taxi from Stoke-On-Trent station and arrived to be told I had to replace some parts and MOT it before I could take it home, he paid for all the parts that needed to be replaced and even covered the expense of the MOT it passed first time mainly because 2yrs prior he had done a full rebuild with a replacement heavy duty galvanised chassis and of course replaced all parts that were needed.
I drove the Landrover like a loon and added parts, removed parts, bent some parts and changed it from LHD to RHD I also replaced the standard original engine with a much more suitable 3.5 V8 (it didn’t really need it apart from the fact I wanted more torque and speed).
Once all these modifications and others were done including snorkel, stainless custom exhaust, roll bar, diff guards, side fuel filler and huge tyres and many others I ‘off-roaded’ and went green-laning until it pretty much broke every mechanical part it had, I then decided I needed a better suited vehicle for my needs and built a 100 inch hybrid which had all the ‘normal modifications, I used it extensively and until I had a couple of heart attacks, blood clot and pneumonia (incidentally I have pneumonia right now again) with almost 12 months in and out of hospital I used it just about every day (I need a starter and MOT so not been out in it for a year).
Now to present day I cannot work because I have to use morphine 4 times a day and many other medications to keep me walking and talking, I have always been self employed since I became disabled with ‘spontaneous compartment syndrome’ which saw the removal of all of the muscle in the anterior compartment of my right leg and I have no feeling in my leg or use of said right foot though I am in constant pain with my leg because of the massive nerve damage I suffered.( I was already disabled before I had all the other stuff happen am I the luckiest guy in the world?)
I have a few things in the pipe-line such as money lending (I sell loans) to people but that’s more about making pocket money not a way of earning a living so you could say I am a scrounging person of questionable parentage or could say I am permanently disabled and unable to work and am simply getting out of the state what I have paid already, I dislike being in this position and would dearly love to work but like I said because of my medication nobody will employ me and being self employed is too difficult in the short term.(sorry to ramble I felt the need to justify myself)
So anyway I have loads of time to myself and needed something to fill that time and Landrovers to me are not just a joy they have been a way of life for my whole life (I am now 36) so I have decided to rebuild the LWT my father gave me, it’s really battered up so needs LOTS of work to get it back to something like normal.
I guess by now if you have read this far you are wondering why I wrote this post, essentially do I rebuild it back to a fully standard LWT or a modified LWT with or without a camouflage paint job?
Do I then keep it to pass onto one of my daughters or give it back to my father?
It makes little difference which I do I just want some input is all, thanks for any and all help.
Oh and does anyone have a set of the little bumperettes that fit on the top of a LWT bumper going cheap or free or indeed any other parts?
I appreciate this is a HUGE thread and that I have told you a life story and you may be bored by now so maybe a joke will aid your boredom.
Two men decide to go sailing one afternoon and got lost. After twenty hours with nothing to eat or drink one of them spots a lamp floating past the boat, he picks it up and it’s a bit grubby so he gives it a bit of a rub to clean it and whilst he is doing it a HUGE puff of smoke comes out and a genie appears.
The genie notices the poor condition of the two men and grants them one wish between them. (Bit of a crap genie with only one wish between two men but that’s opinion based)
Anyway after a lot of arguing over who gets the wish, one of them blurts out, “I wish the ocean was made of beer!â€Â
And magically the ocean turns to beer.
Infuriated the other man screams “YOU IDIOT! NOW WE HAVE TO PEE IN THE DAMN BOAT!â€Â
