G-force`s Expedition G-wagon.

[G-force]

So . . . . .

I have been into these german wagons for a few years now, and learned to apreciate these beauties as the fine vehicles they are. The one in this build up is the third, and the best of the ones i have had.

The beast is a 1987 G300 with the turbo charged OM 617 A. The car was in good shape, when i bought her, only minor issues as broken five speed manual gearboks, two flat tires, and an engine with a rather strange sound.

Bought it from a company for measly 750.- US dollars:victory:, put it on a trailer, and brought her home. Then i did`nt even know it was a turbo!:Wow1:

Olmost no rust, and the rest of the drivetrain seem solid.

This beauty is going on different family trips in the future. Plans are 33 inch tires, roofrack, 40 mm spring lift, Ramsey RE8000 winch, leather seats, tinted windows, IC, plastic fueltank, auxilary lights and a load of different dodads. Hopefully in the end, it will turn out as a potent explorer.

I`ll keep you updated.

 

[G-force]

Ohh, and i olmost forgot.

It is an 1987 460, but she has an olmost complete 1995 facelift, with the lamps, grill and bumpers, front and rear.

Cool?:bike_rider:

 

[toyota_jon]

very cool find! wish we could get those here in the U.S. for that!

 

[Scott Brady]

Thanks for posting. The same color as ours.

I like the pin front bumper.

 

[G-force]

So you dont have these 463 bumpers with the pin?

To bad i have to cut it then, to integrate the roller fairlead. I want the roller totally flush in the bumper. Then use some C-clips on the back of the numberplate, to click it onto the rollers. Hopefully it will look nice, and keep some mud and dirt out of the winch.

 

[G-force]

Got the 33 inch tires mounted this evening.

Man!! Are tires important for all over looks and stance!!

A lot of the different things to mount on the beast, comes from a donor vehicle. This means that i not only have to mount the different bits and pices, but olso dismount everything from my old, rusty wagon.

The "old" wagon is in good technical shape, but the rust has taken a hold of her. Way too much to repair, for me. Rather novice to welding, and to get somebody else to do it, is way out of budget. So when this baby reveiled herself, there was no doubt.:elkgrin:

Have the whole day tomorrow, to enjoy my new baby, and get her into shape.

 

[Scott Brady]

So you dont have these 463 bumpers with the pin?

I do not, though I like them.

Mine is a Europa 463 with the winch mount and grill guard. Interestingly, the grill guard can by positioned horizontally to carry game after the hunt :elkgrin:

 

[G-force]

Regarding "bringing home the game"

It is actually an original feature on the brush guard.:elkgrin::elkgrin:

Diggin`it.

 

[Gurkha]

Love the idea of the grill guard.

 

[toyota_jon]

Interestingly, the grill guard can by positioned horizontally to carry game after the hunt :elkgrin:

thats awesome!:coffeedrink:

 

[G-force]

Swapped out the manual gearbox today. The old gearbox was i great shape, so the only thing to do, was to roll up the sleves, and get to it:elkgrin:

After about 7 hours, the wagon was on its wheels again. Decided it was easier to lift out the engine with the gearbox, due to workspace issues under the wagon. Managed to bleed the lockers and clutch, and did an oil change on the diffs, while i had her up in the air.

The swap was well worth it. All the noise was gone, and the gearchange went smoothly.

Now, only the rest is left to do:sombrero:

 

[Justin_Sherfy]

Would you all who have G-wagons rate the reliabilty better than a Land Cruiser?

 

[G-force]

Decide to give you bunch a few pics from last weekend. We had our annual G-wagon meeting of the year. Spent some time chatiing about our and others wagons, but mostly spent some time in the mud and the forrest!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YmGqso_n9g

And check out the Wagon of a friend of mine

http://rides.webshots.com/video/3049158010098636288mbxSGS

http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2466402650098636288cydyNn

Just compare the hight to the one next to it. Running 38 inch tires on stock axles, and the engine is an OM617 wit turbo, slightly tuned to about 150 hp.

http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2423547420098636288xKYFCn

A picture of most of the bunch. We were about 30 wagons all in all. Mine is on the fra left, with the spare on the rack.

I love these cars!!

 

[Funrover]

Man wish we could get those older G's here for that price, they really are great 4x4's

 

[4Rescue]

First off: GREAT G-Wagen mate. I really love these trucks and it's espescialy neat to see them built up because there are so few of them. Love the vids/pics too, seems we never can get enough of those now can we

I got lucky the other day and in my limited state of mobility (wearing a soft collar and in alot of pain...) got to go for a ride in a real bonified G-Wagen. An older, utilitarian version with the checkered cloth seats to boot!!!!!!! I loved it, the front seating position reminded me of our old 92 Trooper (seriously) in the way you sat up-right w/your feet going down to the pedals. The interior seemed cavernous and absolutely perfect for an Expo-Rig (DUh I think that's been said more tehn a few times here on the board ) The HVAC controls were very well laid out on a nice simple center stack and the lockers engaged with great precission. I also really LOVE the checkered cloth interior of the G I got to peruse... Almost reminded me of one of my old 78 Rabbits with Euro GTI seats... Very cool. Plus that interior is so much different (read: BETTER) then the G-Wagens we here in N.America usualy see. I loved the push-pull actuators for the Lockers and how smooth and well greased they felt. Truely a beauty. I then got down and crawled around on a creeper underneath the thing. First thing I got jealous over was the plugs in the floor-boards and the thick Vinyl floor-mats above them. Then that big solid front axle kept me drooling :drool: seriously that's one nice piece of equipment althought I am personaly a fan of drop out 3rds ala Toyota/Ford 9" axles...
It rode stiff, but not harsh. Really, I can now fully appreciate what everyone's been buzzing about on the board here regarding wheel travel. If the G has one weak spot it's a very prominant lack of wheel travel. I can't really talk with my 4Runner not really having much more up front. But the G just feels like it's stiff and the wheels aren't moving much no matter what you throw at it. To make it even more interesting, The lockers make the lack of wheel travel a neart non-issue so I frankly think that people just haven't adressed this much with these trucks. What I mean is while it would be nice to have the truck sit more level and keep it's tires on the ground, it just never stoped going even when it had 2 wheels in the air...

The G is DEFINATLY VERY BEEFY in terms of build strength and chasis strength. However I really can't agree with Ghurka though who claims that they're SO SO SO much bigger and stronger then a 70 Series Cruiser. The frame rails may have been larger section's but both are fully boxed and the difference is fairly negligable. IMO, if anything the G-wagen and the 70-Series cruiser are built VERY simmilar, that is they're both built with the intentionn of being capable and reliable in severe off-road conditions. Really, IMO one's not better then the other they're litteraly the same concept of a truck built by 2 different companies so yeah they're going to be different. I think we can all agree that they're both amazing trucks no matter how you stack it.

Anyway, G-Force thanks for sharing your wonderfull rig with us, the more I see and get to experience of these trucks the more I grow to LOVE them. I ws already on board just because I like Boxy utillitarian trucks like the G-Wagens, 55 and 70-Series Cruisers, Series Rovers and the like.

Cheers

Dave