Unimog Club UK

Phil,

Thanks for your explanation, I tried it and unfortunately now I am locked out of even 1st & 2nd. That leads me to believe that it’s the plate you and Brian talk about. However, since I am such a wimp, I will leave that until the howling wind and slush storm clear up. I will be very careful about leveling the gear box.

A large part of the issue is that the truck has been heavily modified by an eccentric previous owner. Brian was right, the diff-lock is now air actuated. The air receiver is an old fire extinguisher that seems to be quite a bit smaller than the original. The hydraulic pump is directly driven off the Nisan diesel engine and from what I can see there are 3 reservoirs. The plumbing is a pile of spaghetti run through the cab and chassis so I don’t know, maybe there’s a reason for this. (pic attached)

I really don’t know where it came from originally but a scratch test shows the lowest paint coat to be green suggesting that it was in somebodies army. The guy I bought it from had it for a year and the guy he bought it from got it in ’85.

Casto, the wooden blocks in the picture were put in there when I tried first towing on the trailer. It bounced and rolled so much I drove blocks in between the axles and chassis then strapped them together. It rode pretty nice then. Coming back over the mountains in the blizzard could have proved to be a problem otherwise.

I’ve downloaded a bunch of pictures, manuals and anything else I can find to see if I can figure out what is original and what clever modifications were made. Brian was right, it is a long wheelbase, I didn’t realize the difference between long and short wheelbase is only 40cm.

I can’t complain, it is what it is and I got it cheap (by Norwegian standards).  Things like the electrics will probably just ripped out and started again new. All the brakes will be done as Brian says. For now I think that the only things I think I will have to find a good source for are springs. Just judging by the way it bounced and swayed on the trailer, I think they’re due for replacement.

There’s quite a bit of panel replacement required and I will reinforce the cut-outs on the chassis cross member, but welding isn’t an issue. Fortunately I’ve got lots of degreaser so should be able to find out what hydraulics are leaking. There’s too much oil everywhere to even bother looking yet. There’s 6 months to fabricate a front snowplough and add a winch so that shouldn’t be a problem. You’re supposed to find hobbies when you’re retired.

I also thought I’d attach a picture of my “other tractor”, a 1968 Agria Drabant. A belt tractor with a one tonne winch. People forget that Norway was a very poor country before the oil. Back then you had to be able to make do. This thing has nothing electric on it with a hand-draulic starter. It’s 14 hp but it replaced 14 actual horses. 

Thanks for the help.

Cheers,

Tom