Ian Hort's Perentie 6x6
Perentie 6x6.
Ian Hort came across the car on ebay whilst researching building a 6x6 around march 2006. it was up at £2500 including the shipping, about the price of a 6x6 chassis, but it had the gear box, Cab and what he was led to believe a complete running gear. The seller described it as a good project and listed about 5 or so items needed to complete the vehicle, these were as follows:
Defender seat box
Donor bulkhead to get heater dash etc. from
Seats
3.9 litre Isuzu engine
Defender front wings.
Ian thought this would save him a lot of hassle rigging a 6x6 drive system and the like. The ebay listing did state that the vehicle was 20cm wider than a standard Defender, but this didn't sound too much of an issue. The biggest problem he could see was that the seller was in Australia, however he was prepared to ship the vehicle. Ian bought the car and transferred the money. Not surprisingly, It was a month before it turned up in Portsmouth. The machine cleared customs after they had put a further £2000 tax on it.
Ian bought the items in the list from the Malvern Land Rover show, apart from the engine. This proved to be problematic in getting hold of as although they are common in Australia as a Land Rover standard engine, the only thing it was used for in this country was as a lorry engine. Much research led him to Steve Parker, who went over the options and found him the engine.
Due to work commitments, the project couldn't begin until September 2006.
Upon commencing the build, however, he experienced several problems:
The suspension was useless, the half shafts were missing and vehicle specific, every axle needed overhauling and all parts replaced, the doors were made of more filler than metal, the cab
appeared to have been rolled as the door apertures were bent out of shape, and the engine didn't fit the gearbox!
The latter was easily fixed by Steve, who got hold of an adapter plate, which, if the bell housing was changed, would fit. Ian found a company willing the do the tooling to make the halfshafts, as this proved to be cheaper than buying parts from Australia and having them shipped. They were made of race grade material as well so should last longer. New Series doors were bought (an option on the original according to the sales brochure), the cab was straightened and a roll over bar will be fitted later for extra strength.
This machine, once completed, will be used as an overland vehicle.
Perentie 6x6 suspension.
Perentie 6x6 suspension.
Perentie 6x6 chassis.
Perentie 6x6 transfer box.
Perentie 6x6 gear/transfer box top view.
Ian's research shows that this car was decommissioned after a fire in the back end. He believes this vehicle is the first privately owned Perentie in the UK, although one did get imported for some shows in the mid - 1990s before being shipped back.
Although the Perentie LRPV's are about due to be cast from service with the Australian military, the Perentie 6x6's have had their life extended somewhat, as they have all just been rebuilt by defence contractor Tenix.
There's been no update for a while, so I don't know how Ian's getting on. If you can help, please do so. You can contact us at admin@lr-mad.co.uk.
