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Thread: Ian's Flatfender

  1. #41
    Trip Coordinator/Association Delegate Dru's Avatar
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    Ian, keep it rolling bloke!

    It has been a pleasure meeting a real jeeper going hard in his classic out on the trails. Cant be too many 1960's vehicles happy to drive Cut Rock.

  2. #42
    Club Member Flatfender's Avatar
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    Dru, it's not so much the age of the vehicle but my age that limits where we go!

  3. #43
    Club Member Flatfender's Avatar
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    In 1999 I replaced my 30" Desert Duelers with a set of 33x12.5x15 BFG MT's and the next day took a trip to Winchbreak Hill. What I didn't know was that JAX's had put my new tyres on at 45 psi and I hadn't aired down. I found out the hard way that aggressive driving and hard tyre pressure does not work too well on steep rocks. With only a hand winch and no other vehicles it took us a few hours to get up the rocks and struggle home with a bent and battered Flatfender.
    So another couple of months work in my garage and out yet again with the spray gun. (Yes -It's a Jeep thing)
    Ian W.

    [IMG][/IMG]
    Last edited by Flatfender; 30-08-17 at 09:46 AM.

  4. #44
    Club Member Flatfender's Avatar
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    6 Months later - back at Winchbreak Hill again.

    Last edited by Flatfender; 29-08-17 at 08:18 PM.

  5. #45
    Club Member Flatfender's Avatar
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    Later in 1999 I decided that drum brakes in the Flatfender with a 4.7 litre V8 was a bit suicidal, so investigated fitting disc brakes. I ended up getting a kit from U.S.A. 4x4 in Mordialloc and fitting it together with a servo unit. Front brakes only but what a difference! It's the first time in 58 years of driving Jeeps that I could brake in a straight line.

    Ian W.
    Last edited by Flatfender; 20-09-17 at 11:59 AM.

  6. #46

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    Awesome thread, Ian. I love all those photos, especially the ones from the 60s. Thanks for sharing that stuff.

  7. #47
    Club Member Flatfender's Avatar
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    Since I have owned the Flatfender it has had a problem with overheating (sometimes boiling) especially on very hot days or on long steep uphill tracks. For a while I used Waterless Coolant from Liquid Intelligence. It has a boiling point of 190*C so completely cured the boiling problem but I was still concerned about frequently running in the red on the temperature gauge. I ended up buying a new Toyota FJ60 radiator and adapting it to fit. It was a lot wider at 610 mm and a very tight fit between the headlights. I had to trim off some of the flanges on it and mount the indicators further forward to squeeze it in.
    Fortunately it did the job and now even on the hottest days it never goes over the green on the gauge.

    Ian W.

  8. #48
    Club Member Flatfender's Avatar
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    I played about with the carburetor on my Flatfender Ford V8 trying to get it to work properly on steep inclines where it kept spluttering to a stop at crucial moments, but eventually decided that fuel injection was the way to go. So in 2000 I invested in a Holley throttle body fuel injection system from the USA. That was a big success but needed constant fiddling and adjustment to keep it in tune. I eventually swapped the ECU for a Microtech unit in 2005 and found it much better. Now I can control every setting from a laptop and once set it automatically adjusts to suit conditions. With an additional upgrade for timing control now it is even better.
    At least I don't have to worry about the engine spluttering to a stop on steep rocks anymore.
    Ian W.

  9. #49
    Club Member Flatfender's Avatar
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    By 2008 my old Ford 289 engine was getting a bit tired so I pulled it out and did a complete rebuild, including fitting a new camshaft to give better torque at low rpm. Now setting a little bit of hand throttle and with the super low crawler 1st gear/low ratio it gives a nice steady slow speed crawl with no feet on the pedals. Since then it's been running nicely and now has another 24,000 Km on the clock
    Ian W.







    [IMG][/IMG]

  10. #50
    Club Member Flatfender's Avatar
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    The Flatfender has had an increasing squeak/rattle/vibration over the last few months which turned out to be a severely worn double cardan drive shaft. I installed the last one in 2010 at a cost of $1,200.00 from Metropolitan. Wooders suggested contacting Tom Woods Custom Drive Shafts in Utah so I gave them a go and ended up with a replacement for $299.00 USD ex works. With shipping, handling and conversion rate that ended up as a total of $698.00 AUD in my hands. Sounds a lot better than $1,200.00 8 years ago.
    The moral of the story is "shop around" (or just ask Wooders)

    Ian W.

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