In the beginning there was the 80" soon followed by the 86 and 107. Over time these became the 88 and 109 that most Folks think of when they think Series Land Rover. With the change from leaf springs to coil the trucks grew to 94" and 110". After some time we also have the extremely long 127". Most people know these as the Defender 90, 110, & 130. Two other very popular coil sprung Rovers are the Discovery and the Range Rover Classic. The RRC was introduced way back in 1970 (same year as my Series) and had a WB of 100". The Disco was built on the same frame. I guess I can't forget about the 101" Forward Control.
No what is very common on the other side of the pond is to take a Series body and plop it down on a RRC 100" rolling chassis. To be honest this probably would have been the easiest path for me to follow. I have coiler axles and all the suspension parts. A sound RRC or Disco frame would be pretty easy and cost effective to find. But when it came right down to it, I just didn't want coils. It's very silly I know, but to me Series = Leafs, period.
One of the things I am attempting to do with this build is to keep the truck as Series looking as possible. Other than it being a little longer, from the outside its going to look like a Series Iia, split windscreen, two part doors, sliding windows, recessed radiator, galvanized body caps, and leafs. Even on the inside I am trying. I will have stock floor boards and transmission tunnel. Yes there is a Disco auto trans shifter there, instead of the Series stick. But it looks good. Defender seats, Series III dash, Defender handbrake, RRC steering column. OK so maybe it will be too plush and cozy on the inside 😀.
The other thing, with the recessed grill, I am pushing the engine back as much as possible to fit the radiator, oil cooler, and trans cooler. Plus the auto box and NP241 (even with the SYE kit) is still longer than the manual 4speed and Dana18 in the current 88. I need to move back my axle so everything fits.
So the 100" idea was still my starting point. I only needed 12" in the tub. This gives me more room for a rear seat, and the room required for the drive train. So that is how I started, by creating a tub that was just 12" longer than an 88". I stretched an 88" frame 12"' basically adding some metal between the seat and the axles. Simple. But as I looked at the rear suspension, I realized I could move the leafs back more and reduce the amount of overhang. By moving the rear mount back to the underside of the rear crossmember I have reduced the overhang as much is possible with leafs. This ended up being 5". So my body is only a foot longer overall, but the WB ended up at 105".
Now the other thing I did was to totally rebuild the front end, and I have installed the longer rear springs up front. Yes this decreased the approach angle a bit, but I feel the increase in suspension travel is worth it.
So there you have it, the reason the new Rover will be a 105"
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