Eagle Rediscovery

[nickyjuk]

A while ago I was looking for an Eagle RV shell as I had a notion that placing one on a Landrover Discovery 1 chassis would create a fantastic looking vehicle. My intention was to build a pickup, shortening the RV body to make a cab with a flatbed behind it on as a unaltered Discovery chassis. By retaining the Discovery chassis, engine, transmission, suspension etc. the final result would be a rebodied vehicle, not a freshly built kit car, so the dreaded IVA could be avoided!
Some amateur doodling in Photoshop created this image of what I was hoping to roughly achieve.

[nickyjuk]

[nickyjuk]

Jeep made a pickup version called the CJ8 which, although now quite rare, many will already be familiar with. This is roughly what I'm modeling my idea on, and while the CJ7's Renegade spec was perhaps the one to have, the CJ8's Scrambler spec, offering colour coded decals (and little other advantage over a standard CJ8), definitely looks like the coolest version. So henceforth this has become known as my Scrambler build.

[nickyjuk]

After missing out on a couple of RVs that came up for sale, I managed to bag one via eBay. Oddly, having admired the RV for some time, this is the first one I'd seen in the real world. I was struck by how well made it was, and with its big chunky tyres, how high it sat off the ground and how authentic it looked.
The RV had definitely been on the road at some point, with some mud thrown up on the underside and the telltale number plates holes that Peter said to look out for. It must have been well loved too, with fitted carpets, a simple but well made dashboard, and an oversized rollbar.
Unfortunately at some point, under I suspect a new owner, some rough and ready adaptions had been made, the bulkhead is peppered with holes where different steering columns and pedal boxes have been at different times. The current steering column was loose, and although the engine was complete, nothing was wired up.
The previous owner had acquired the roof separately and it wasn't fixed on, at sometime it looks like it may have been blown off it is broken across one side and has a large crack at the rear.
No matter, I'm still really pleased with my purchase.

[nickyjuk]

Now, the Web page is randomly rotating some of these pics.. but as I can't seem to get them the right way up I've decided to just go with it! 

[nickyjuk]

Now, my thoughts about building my scrambler went on hold as I tried to find out if I could find the original number plate and apply for a v5. I'd hoped its distinctive large rollbar, large bullbar bumper and the BF Goodrich decals pasted on its side might lead me to it, but sadly they couldn't.
I don't know how many RVs are still out there, but suspect the numbers have dwindled and I didn't want to take one off the road if it could easily be put back. Sadly it couldn't - well not without going down the IVA route.
So, my scrambler project was back on. Fortunately I've been able to sell a lot of the bits I no longer need to other Eagle enthusiasts who are using them to get their vehicles back into a roadworthy state, which is a good thing.

[nickyjuk]

The next, and most obvious thing that I needed was a Landrover Discovery! I was looking out for a 300tdi. Landrover enthusiasts will tell you that Discovery 1's have a fantastic chassis, and dreadful bodies - they rot like over ripe pears. The second generation Discovery flipped that completely over, and while the bodywork is solid, the chassis' rusts away like a 1970's Fiat.
A friend had exactly what I was looking for. A Discovery with all the running gear, a solid chassis, and bodywork so rotten it was hard to see what was still holding it together. He'd already stripped everything he needed, so for not a lot of pennies, he promptly delivered it before I could change my mind.

[nickyjuk]

More than just a little spit and polish needed.. 

[nickyjuk]

I guess it is important to say that wandering around the Internet has already revealed that there have already been a few Landrover Discovery conversions, so a body onto a Discovery chassis perhaps isn't an entirely daft idea. Measuring things up showed that it would just about work. The engine would fit in the engine bay, the radiator between the wings, and the gearbox and transfer box just about under the body.
Of the other conversions out there, one I stumbled by had overcome the difference in the wheel base by both shortening the chassis and also lengthening the doors. Another was less obvious to fathom out, but had been built with a shelf behind the Eagle tub to stretch it the length of the chassis. For me, this wasn't going to be a problem as shortening the body to a cab, I could then build the flat bed to whatever size I needed to cover the rear.
My Discovery had lost its key,and was stuck in gear, but with a little bit of tinkering the rust was cleared from the gear selector, and with a reluctance suited to it thinking it was going to the scrapyard, it spluttered into life.
In the space of an evening, with a little help, and after if got dark and cold, all of the wiring loom that was still attached to something was labelled up and stripped out.
A couple of weeks later, with darkness once again falling, the angle grinders were released.

[nickyjuk]

Some of it was cut off, a lot of it just fell off! 

[nickyjuk]

The skeleton and vital organs that were left didn't look too bad at all. Rusty, but solid, with the exception of a spot on each side between the rear shock absorber hanger and the spring seat, and where mud had been trapped in one of the fuel tank brackets. I wheeled it into the barn promptly; before the tyres could go flat again.

[nickyjuk]

[Peter]

That looks like a whole bunch of dirt to be removed and a lot of painting to be done as well as a complete overhaul. But very good progress, at least you have a decent place to store it as work continues.

[chrisbailey]

Looks solid but a daunting task of cleaning and painting.
Id pressure wash it first and see how much is dirt compared to rusty metal.
If your lazy like me, you could use electrolysis to remove the rust. Need a big tub though.

[nickyjuk]

Thanks Peter.
I've made more progress than this, but I'm far from finished! I'll keep updating the build, but will soon catch up with the progress I've made. It takes a lot of time, as I'm sure anyone else who has tried to build, or restore anything like this knows! The next step, cleaning off the muck and rust is a case in point.
I still have a few parts to gather, so while I'm thinking of it:

Does anyone of there have a pair of doors?! I know this has been asked before, and they're almost as rare as icebergs in the Sahara, but if anyone has, I'd love to find a pair.

Also, and again I know this has also been asked, but I haven't seen a definitive answer.. does anyone know which donor vehicle the front screen came from, or is it an Eagle original? Pedro (from this forum) has suggested it may be a landrover defender screen, but I'm not sure.

The rear screen in the 'factory' hardtop is also a mystery. The hardtop I have has lived a hard life. In not convinced its ever been fitted, but has taken many knocks along the way and I have neither glass nor fittings to offer any clues.

[nickyjuk]

On with the build.
With the body stripped from the chassis and running gear, the front end didn't look too bad. Originally I had hoped to give everything a quick cleanup and coat of paint, so I though I'd just sort out the rear end, just as far as the gearbox mounts - to smarten things up.
However, it soon became apparent that some of the components would need refreshing. Fortunately landrover bits are readily available and quite cheap. Unfortunately I soon discovered I needed a lot of them!
Scouring the rust away with an angle grinder and wire wheel took an age. Taking things apart helped (and rapidly added to my parts order). I figured that refreshing all the worn bits was worth it, and I started filing away the receipts without adding them up.

[nickyjuk]

[nickyjuk]

The cleaned up rear section, with new drop links, trailing arm bushes, anti roll bar bushes, brake disk protectors, shock mounts, A frame bushes A frame pivot, rebuilt brakes calipers with new stainless pots etc.
Two coats of Rustoleum certainly made it look like new, and the set of chunky wheels and tyres that I splashed out on made it look fantastic compared to what it had looked like before. The only thing now, was that the front looked awfully rusty in comparison..

[biggles1]

Looking forward to seeing this progress.
Good work.

John

[nickyjuk]

Chris, I missed your post. You are right about electrolysis, I'm a recent advocate for it and had the brake calipers happily fizzing away in a bucket of water and soda crystals. If I could have found a tub for the chassis, I'd have been tempted.. being flailed by disintegrating strands off the wire wheel makes an unpleasant job that little bit worse! Perhaps an argument could be made that it adds to the satisfaction; once it's painted up and looking pretty.

[nickyjuk]

On reflection, I don't know how I thought I'd get away with not refurbishing the front end of the chassis. I bought more wire wheels, another 2 1/2 litres of Rustoleum satin black paint and a lot more of those cheap Landrover parts I mentioned. There were so many cheap parts that I qualified for free postage on two separate orders.

[nickyjuk]

[nickyjuk]

Having looked backed through the few photographs I took, it both does, and doesn't surprise me, that it took me four weeks to strip the front end of the chassis down, paint it, refresh everything and then fix it all back together. Working on it has never become a chore, but the cleaning and painting engulfed a lot of evenings and weekends with a high quantity of tedium. Then there was also the replacement of all the rubber bushes, drop links, propshaft bearings and all those other worn out components that are so much easier to replace when it is just a rolling chassis with no awkward body in the way.
The landrover chassis is a very strong design, but it must be said that the Eagle chassis was a lot better made. The welds on the Eagle chassis were beautifully done, while some of the bracketing on the Discovery still had weld splatter around it which nobody had cleaned off.
Once cleaned and painted, the tedium is forgotten, as putting it back together with all the new parts is definitely the best bit. With the axles bolted back on, and the wheels attached with just a few nuts, it finally looked like I had something to build my Scrambler on. There was of course the question as to whether the body would fit..

[pedro]

Nice to see your making Good progress Nick. Its good to read your build diary here and hear how its coming along. I hope your body goes on smoothly, Its been done before, but must be a daunting task taking the angle grinder to that Nice tub. The V8 bodied one on Ebay before looked like it cut the whole inner front wings out. What size/diameter wheels will you use? Another benefit of your chassis is the extra wheel stud allowing bigger wheels than the cortina type axles. I'm still struggling to decide what size tyres to go for. I had a vitara many years ago with 265's on it, but was dangerous on the rain, so I'm thinking just a 215/235.

[Peter]

making a really nice job of that, and of course the list of parts is best left unread, Igave up onmy engine at 2K. But, you only have to do it once, unless you are like me and take 20 years to do it, in which case you have to do a lot all over again like the engine mounts.

[nickyjuk]

Hi Pedro, I hope you will soon be in a place to start on your build. You mentioned the wheels..
Well, I spent a bit of time thinking about this. Some people will immediately spot that it's a landrover chassis, but aside from a couple of parts which carry the Landrover logo that you'd really have to go looking for, there is very little that gives it away. I don't want people just thinking it's a kit car stuck on a Landrover. I'm not aiming for the show car finish of the beautiful green RV on YouTube, but I think a functional finish along the lines of an early Landrover or even Jeep (!) should be possible. That said, the original Discovery wheels are a dead giveaway. I managed to find some great steel wheels with chunky tyres from a Landrover 90 for not too much money. The wheels are nicely anonymous and the tyres are suitably chunky for a working jeep.
Bolted to the Discovery axles, they have also pushed it all up a bit higher than standard, probably a good couple of inches! I wasn't intending to build a monster truck, but the biggest challenge is trying to keep the height of the body down.. The RV's sill is of course quite high, and I don't want to be lowering rope ladders to get in and out.
Also, like you, I saw how they had cut the inner wings away on the V8 Discovery version that was for sale first on Facebook Marketplace, then on eBay. I don't understand why they did it! It looked like there was plenty of room around the engine and measuring the 300 tdi engine in my Discovery didn't show anything like that was necessary.
Peter, your comment on doing it once and doing it right is bang on, and an ethic I'm trying to work to! I'm not rushing to complete it for a deadline. I just keep filing the receipts in an envelope to look through some date far away in the future!

[nickyjuk]

265/75 R16

[pedro]

Hi Nick, I have made a start now, chassis,axle,front crossmember and associated parts have been sandblasted and looking like new, just doing the rustoleum thing now too hoping to give it another 40yr+ lifespan. I often wonder what model people will think out creations are as RV's are not too well known. I'm trying not to make mine look an obvious kit car too. I think your semi "monster" will look a good height, thats a nice set of tyres. I guess discovery side steps are plentiful and an easy attachment instead of rope ladders if you like that kind of look. I picked up a pair of 3" chrome ones from a Ram that will do for mine.

[nickyjuk]

I'm glad you're build has begun. I'd love to see some pictures if you start a thread on here!

[nickyjuk]

With my chassis painted up, the axles in place, and a handful of the nuts and bolts tightened, it was time to trial fit the body. At this stage, I was most interested in whether the engine would fit inside the engine bay.. roughly measuring it with lengths of bailing twine and half closed eyes suggested that it would. I didn't fit the suspension turrets on the front of the chassis as they would definitely get in the way of things.