Another Quick Update
Another long-distance review of the situation has revealed exciting things going on.
First off, the Phantom has a heart (without a heartbeat)! The 1HZ engine has been mounted onto brand new foundations, and the gear has been mated to it. During this process, because of the massive increase in ride height, some of the underpinnings of the vehicle require some adjustment. The fuel tank has to be slightly 'squished" at one end. This is to allow for the gear and shafts to be properly mounted and connected, and to allow for a smooth, levelled drivetrain.
Over the next couple of days, the radiator (from a Series 70 vehicle, to match the engine), the airflow, the exhaust etc, will be fitted, so as to give us an idea of a close-to-accurate kerb weight.
The next step to follow, will be measurements for the shocks. From "normal" static position, we'll jack up the vehicle until about the time each of the four wheels individually "lift off" the ground. This would give us a fair idea of how much travel needs to be catered for in the shocks. It should, theoretically, allow us to choose shocks which will cater for optimum articulation, and will also help us in determining the exact points for anchoring the shocks to the frame. Offhand, I'm interested in ride-adjustable Rancho RS9000XL shocks, at this point in time. These are remote enabled, and allow you to adjust the ride quality over many different types of settings...from very soft to almost rock hard. These are very interesting high tech shocks. I'll be talking more about them, and the steering stabilizer options, in the next post. However, whether or not we actually INSTALL this hardware, is another matter...which I'll be doing only after extensive input from our expert on the subject, Talat Bhai.
I'm a happy camper!