Indeed, that’s an '86 W460, ex-army convertible, flip-down windshield and all, a long standing bucket list item for me. Who would have guessed you could be so uncomfortable and so happy all at once?
I hear that those land rovers are quite good off-roaders. Around here they are strictly in the domain of special interests, mostly because ex-army g wagons can be had ridiculously cheaply (3-10k usd), and they will tend to your offroad needs with a bored air of German competence.
i always thot i’d want the mercedes but my first car was a series 3 / 88 (short wheel base) and now 40+ yrs. later i have 2 and a ton of parts and options so why change? I took mine from the house here at around 3750 ft. up to well over 6,000 ft. today. the brush tore two mirrors off but i made it to within 300 yards of the summit, stopped by two trees (no chain saw) but i didn’t think i’d ever get that far. i had been there in the mid 60’s and now that old mine road is very narrow with near vertical drop offs but with narrow tires and slow going i chugged up there.
well congrats hogsnort, i remember a 2a 109 in casper wyoming i should of made a effort to procure. I think if i ever see one i can get i hope it’s a diesel with the tropical roof … and overdrive, … and extra fuel tanks and the other 100 options!
It was re-engineered with a Holden (GM) 186cu inch 6 cylinder petrol engine. It had the Fairey overdrive and the brakes were at the telegraph office but it did stop at gas stations. I was on OPEC’s Christmas card list.
A 186 in a Landy, almost made them into a decent vehicle but you also need to add a PBR VH44 inline booster ( wow amazed I remembered that…) just incase the gas station was on a downhill slope…
Goddamn I envy your freedom 
to do so. In this particular socialist utopia 
offroading of any kind is strictly prohibited, even driving on bad roads, unless you can document that you’re engaged in forestry or agriculture. The off-road clubs get their kicks in legal gray areas such as gravel pits and ski resorts, but that doesn’t tickle my adventurous fancy.
There’s always the option of heading up a logging trail and claiming confusion by gps if it ends in trouble, but that’s slightly risky. There’s no way I can push the envelope without better self recovery options, which brings me to a question:
Clearly a hydraulic winch is the way to go, since there’s no provision for unimog style driveline PTO winches, and I don’t want any more belts on there. There’s a version of the OM617 that I plan to use which has a PTO point on the back of the cam for an AC compressor. How much torque would y’all be comfortable taking off a camshaft, given fully geared timing and old school Mercedes reputation for bombproof reliability?
I’m out here by the hells canyon of snake river. the forest service is not ever around and old mine road I was on is best suited for a motor cycle. very tippy, rocky, narrow, slow, steep and the brush takes the paint.
I needed to get a day away from the ranch though.
I have a few rigs with pto winches around here, I use them stretching fence wire and such. The biggest advantage is control of the line, if you want a quarter inch in or out you can do it. With other means it is a different story. in your case I would avoid the idea of using the cam shaft. yes, we’ve been around engines that no doubt a cam would drive a winch on our vehicle but the risk is huge and if you’re a 15 mile walk in …?
My next non pto winch will be a electric unless i all ready have hydraulic, I don’t see a lot wrong with them and battery recovery is reasonably quick unless you use it for other things than getting out of a fix.
my biggest dislike on the electric drive is lack of control on releasing cable tension but I understand there are brakes and such now days. believe me, i’ve been in some places where a broke line or no brake could send you a half mile down the cliff!
Land rover has a capstan winch that is pretty common, you’ve prob seen them? adapting a drive on the front crank shaft is a pretty doable option? i guess, with a clutch, you could use a pto winch there … that’d work but the clutch would take some thinking.
look at all that shiny new stuff !!! that looks like the kind of stuff that fits, snaps together, the kind of thing i get to deal with very seldom.
what were those engines in the prev. photo?
Why oh why did someone use tape instead of heat shrink on those lugs?
Also, kind of curious about what looks like #10 machine screw size holes in the lugs. It doesn’t look like you can get much clamping force over the area of the lug. It’s an invitation for poor contact and corrosion.
Because they are temporary cables until the company that will redo all the cables in the engine room arrive. The terminals for the battery have 3/8” stud for positive and 5/16” for negative. Everything is as it should be. I must ask Steamer do you go to sea because you critique everything about your friends and family and they can’t stand having you around??? 
Detroit
I no longer sail as crew, I have a company that manufactures and installs a marine electrical system that is built and installed in excess of the highest owner, class, and flag standards.
I just call it as I see it.
“Highest owner, class and flag standards? Hmm well you didn’t seem to know 3/8” and 5/16” holes are the standard size for that application. Guess the end users don’t catch the details and you are good at talking and sounding like you know what you are doing but actually don’t 
People like you are what make the industry toxic and why many people leave despite the good pay!
What standard is this? I haven’t seen any standard that specifies a 5/16" hole.
in the words from several European Megayacht builders to clients on standards:
“sorry we dont build down to class”
10 bazillion pleasure boats world wide have that standard.
That group has been our customer base for 10 years, if we didn’t build “up” to and beyond their standards we wouldn’t be around and our business wouldn’t be growing.
