Chenowth Desert Patrol/Light Strike Vehicle - Pics Added

[Lawdog734]

It's amazing sometimes how things have a habit of falling in your lap. In my case, usually those things are crap, but in this case I think I came out pretty good.

I've had plans over the previous six months or so of building a SEAL Desert Patrol Vehicle. Since Chenowth is out of business and there aren't exactly a glut of used chassis's out there, I decided the way to do it was via purchasing a Chenowth 4LWD setup and build it up accordingly. I've seen several for sale over the years and usually while they might be called a Desert Patrol Vehicle, in some cases even with a correct chassis, they aren't built to spec and that disappoints me. It's almost like getting an old military jeep, painting it a shoddy green color and putting street tires on it and passing it off as correct- if you're going to do it, then do it right. So that was my intention, build it as close to spec as possible.

So fast forward to several weeks ago - I put up a WTB post here and elsewhere looking for a 4LWD setup - complete or otherwise. A managed to pick up JUSSUMGUY's very nice platform he had for sale-it'll be here Monday. I'm really stoked - Richard has been a wealth of info and a pleasure to work with and as long as he says I'm not bugging him, I'm sure I'll be in touch some more. So that's vehicle #1.

Fast forward to yesterday, I call a friend of mine for work related business and tell him what my intentions are. He tells me that he has not just a Chenowth Desert Patrol vehicle behind his shop, but has a 6 man Chenowth Advanced Light Strike Vehicle as well. While they clearly have seen better days, he said I could have them if I came to drag them away. All parts are there and they haven't run in about 5 years, but they'll be worth having-he was literally going to drag them to the scrap yard. Some people collect military jeeps, I guess I'll have a couple of SEAL buggies. I've got some poor pics and plan on waiting on posting pics until I get them next week.

So, now that you've hung in long enough to read all of the above, I'll get to my question.

Does anybody have any information on these vehicles? It seems that all of the information is from 1 source that gets constantly regurgitated - 0-30mph in 4 seconds, 200hp VW engine, blah, blah, blah. I have never seen any specifics though. There's even less info on the 6-man vehicle, what the SEALs called their "squad" vehicle.

I've asked on the military forums, Google'd every possible combination I could think of and can't seem to find anything specific on either of them. I've got an email in to Lynn Chenowth at his current business and have had no response, so I ask you folks.

- Does anybody have any specifics on these?
- How many DPV's were made? Did they all have rotating gunner seats?
- How many of the 6 man vehicles were made - I heard as little as 12, but really don't know.
- What was done to the engines? Anything special?

Granted, I suppose I'll find out the answers to some of the questions soon enough, but I'd like to learn what I can now. If anybody knows anyone who worked on these at Chenowth and they're willing to talk, I'd love to know more.

Bill

[Getrdone]

Can't wait! We need some build thread starts. Too many people finishing stuff!

[seabeebuggy]

Awe come on. Where are the Pics? It isn't true with out pics..

[Marc]

We heard about these back when I was managing a VW shop in Seattle but never got around to going down to check them out in person. Those who did said that they were extremely heavy due to the armament & equipment they were laden with. One story I heard was that the old-guard tankers detested them since they were so fast & nimble - turrets couldn't swing fast enough to "hit" them in war games - and did all they could to get them removed from service.

http://www.lewis-mcchord.army.mil/ICorp ... story.html
"Throughout the 1980-1987 time period, the 9th Infantry Division evolved at Fort Lewis, Washington. At first, it was called a High Technology Light Division, and it was equipped with modified and armed dune buggies and many other items of innovative equipment. Later, the dune buggies were replaced with the High Mobility Multi-purpose Wheeled Vehicles, which carried tank-attack missiles. At about this time, the 9th Division's designation changed from light to motorized. The 9th Infantry Division (Motorized) was reduced by one brigade "slice" in the summer of 1988, and the civilian workforce was reduced by some 500 positions, both as economy measures. By 11 December 1991, inactivation of the 9th Division was complete."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9th_Infant ... _States%29 (scroll to bottom of article)

http://milmag.com/2009/01/the-military- ... ashington/
...I'm due to travel south from Seattle the first week of September, I'll have to stop by and see if there are any XR 311's on display...I'll pack my camera.
<update> I DID go by Fort Lewis but there was no way I could get on base since I had firearms in my vehicle - I suppose I could've rented a locker in town to stash them in but I didn't allow enough time in my travel schedule for that.

[TimS]

I saw this one a while back. I never even heard of a six seater.

http://www.shoptalkforums.com/viewtopic ... 8&t=135642

[TimS]

So fast forward to several weeks ago - I put up a WTB post here and elsewhere looking for a 4LWD setup - complete or otherwise. A managed to pick up JUSSUMGUY's very nice platform he had for sale-it'll be here Monday. I'm really stoked - Richard has been a wealth of info and a pleasure to work with and as long as he says I'm not bugging him, I'm sure I'll be in touch some more. So that's vehicle #1.

Wait! What? That's a sweet ride!! Congrats! Richard knows more than he lets on at first. He's been in possession of just about everything at some point.

[Lawdog734]

TimS - I know! I can't wait for it to get here and Richard is certainly very knowledgeable when it comes to this stuff and certainly the a Chenowths.

Don't worry everyone, pictures will surely follow, it'll just be several days before I can.

Here's a couple of pics of both the 3 seater and 6 seater in use.

[JUSSUMGUY]

I was waiting for the buggy to be picked up before I posted that I had sold it. Then this thread popped up. Well, it got picked up this morning. It's gone, on it's way to it's new home. I have very mixed emotions about it being gone. I have had it for a long time and have put many, many off road miles on it. I have some very good memories of trips and excursions that I have taken with my wife and new found friends on STF. It has been all over Wyoming, lots of mountain and desert riding in Utah, and Nevada, exploring and marking BOR courses, and pre-running the BOR courses. In all that time it has never let me down or left me stranded. I half heartedly put it up For Sale because I don't need 2 dedicated off road vehicles now that 560 is in the stable. I put an ad on the BOR website listing it for sale but didn't really push to get it sold as 560's remodel wasn't done. The Idaho trip was coming up and I needed something to take on the trip if the baja wasn't done. I figured I'd sell it in the spring. Then Bill got in touch with me and we struck a deal. I had a used unmounted body from the white one I parted that was included in the sale and i agreed to mount it for him. He didn't want the rear bypass shocks so I kept them and replaced them with a single Bilstein 6100 from the rear of 560.

Bill- I hope you enjoy the car as much as I have and welcome to the Dirt Pile. Looking forward to seeing updates.

I'll update 560's thread soon. Progress is being made.

[Lawdog734]

To say I feel like a kid in a candy store right now is an understatement. I managed to go from 0 to 3 buggies in about 2 weeks time. This should get real interesting....

[BAJA-IT]

Congrats on the purchase!

You have a real good platform to work with, will be great to see this car evolve into a DPV.

[Lawdog734]

Good news - everything arrived between yesterday and today. I've decided to start attacking the restoration of the DPV and ALSV before I consider modifying a perfectly good (and drivable) vehicle.







I've been hauling ass on the dirt roads around the house on the 4LWD and man is it a hoot! Richard set me up right and I suppose that his loss is my gain.

I started stripping down the DPV first. The chassis itself is actually in remarkably good shape. There is some oxidation of the powder coat and only a few areas with rust that will need to be addressed. Anything that was carbon steel was killed in the salty air from where they came from, so sheet metal, latticework and wheels will need to be replaced. From what I can see, it's got CNC disk brakes all around, CNC pedal assembly and the rest is really so-so. Nothing spectacular. I haven't even touched the engine yet, but I think I'll be yanking it out before I do anything to it.

Overall - this is turning out to be a fun project! I'll be sure to keep things updated as things progress along.

[TimS]

Those are iconic pieces of history right there in impressive shape!! Especially the six seater. Very impressive find. Take care of them

Some things I've always wondered... What tire sizes do they have front and back? I would very much appreciate it is you did a picture array of just about everything! It's amazing how little is on the net about these things.

[Lawdog734]

Tim-they're both sporting 31x10.5's all around on 15" wheels. The tires are Mickey Thompson Baja Belted HP's, which I can't seem to find on their website - I guess they've been discontinued?

[TimS]

Thanks! I researched that for about two weeks way back when. I foget why I needed to know, but my mind feels at ease now. Thanks.

Is that all fiberglass on the six seater?

[Lawdog734]

Regarding the bodies -it's all fiberglass on the DPV. The 6 seater (for some reason I feel like calling it the tactical school bus) has fiberglass front and rear hood/fenders. The side panels are aluminum.

The 6 seater, with the exception of the seats, is actually in really good shape. Once I get the DPV moving, it shouldn't take much to get it up and ready.

It seems like the info out there on these are really scarce, other than the same old regurgitated information lacking specifics. It's good to have the real thing in front of me finding out first hand what the specifics are.