Thread: Stuee's 101 Rebuild

Thanks for the tips Ron. I'm leaning towards re-wring from scratch, but I have been thinking about using parts of the original wiring loom as some of its still in great condition and seems like the factory has used some reasonable gauge wire. I'm most likely going to put in modern relays and a flasher unit etc unless I can be convinced otherwise, but I'd still like all the electrics to have the same functionality as if it came from factory, just newer, more reliable components.

I'll have plenty of time to sift through the photos in you album and save the useful ones while I'm working over the weekend. Cheers

With the assistance of a couple of mates (Steve and Rick) today I got the motor and gearbox fitted into the chassis today.

Said mates. One supervising and the other using the hammer drill:


Lifted the gearbox up and figured it wasn't going in from the front:


A little out of the square thinking (or would you call it common sense) suggests we move the chassis out the car port and turn it sideways on the grass - credit to mates who suggested the obvious:


Cleaning the mating face - also note the ratchet strap holding the gearbox up while we wait for the motor to be put in:


The arse end of the motor:


Moving motor into position:


Motor and gearbox in. I forgot to take a photo earlier so just got this one a few minutes ago:


Next week I will be degreasing the motor and gearbox and giving it all a good scrub, along with the oil cooler and radiator. Will look to getting it all plumbed up and seeing if I can start the motor prior to moving onto the cab.

Just a small update to the build. I have dropped the fuel tank off at a Natrad shop to have the rust holes patched up and also put the radiator in for a recon. Have also just placed an order for a Pertronix Electronic ignition from this lot:
PerTronix Ignitors for Lucas Distributors

Have seen this mob recommended on a few different forums and they are by far the cheapest about. Local retailer wanted around $230, this will be delivered to my door for $115. Placed the order last night and have a confirmation email that it is in stock and will be in the post today!!

Will now look at getting a set of bosch leads as I've had a good run with these and I'll be trying the original rotor and dizzy cap to start with and to be honest haven't checked out the condition of the spark plugs so maybe a new set of those too. Will also use the stock coil for now but this may get upgraded by the time the beast hits the road.

I have pertronix on my 101.
I would check if the rotor and dist cap is easily advailable before ordering the ignitor unit.
There is alot of lucas dist which fit the 101 and some are easier to get bits for than others.
Check to see if your vac advance is working too before ordering.
The wiring on my 101 is a mixture of standard wiring and add on stuff.
It has been converted to 12 volt, but still using 2 batteries which are switchable independant.
The whole set up is a pain as it is not one or the other and wiring faults are a nightmare to trace.
I would
1/ use standard wiring and do just minor mods where required so the the whole system can be fault found.
2/ whole new system which is well laid out and simple to follow.
A half and half set up means alot of joints between the new and old wiring and big problems down the track.

Another thing to think about if using modern relays and wiring.
my 101 has the mistake of mounting some of them in the fan tunnel or just behind the grill.
The weather and the amount of water the 101 can swallow down the fan tunnel is supprizing which plays havoc with electricals.
You must keep in mind the 101 doesnt have a nice long warm bonnet like a normal landy.
Cooee a former 101 owner and restorer did a lot of the wiring and fit up of compenents in a way that he could easily remove the front of the cabin (nose cone) in one piece which made access very easy.

Originally Posted by 101 Ron

I have pertronix on my 101.
I would check if the rotor and dist cap is easily advailable before ordering the ignitor unit.
There is alot of lucas dist which fit the 101 and some are easier to get bits for than others.
Check to see if your vac advance is working too before ordering.
The wiring on my 101 is a mixture of standard wiring and add on stuff.

I believe mine was a 12V model but not much of the original loom still exists anyway. Where feasible I will be keeping wiring layouts the same as the wiring diagram, only add in modern relays and blade fuses, as well as scrapping the suppressors.

Its interesting what you say about the volume of water coming through the nose, this is not something I would have picked so will be sure to waterproof electrics in this area. I also like the idea of mass connectors to allow the nose cone to be pulled off in one piece easily, should not be hard to do and will less work in the future.

In regards to the dizzy I have checked I have the standard Lucas 35d8 12V dizzy so am reasonably confident I have the right model ordered, have also checked the vacuum advance as this is an item that went on my disco not long ago (was surprised considering the cars age). The only thing I can't really be sure of with the dizzy at this stage is the mechanical advance but I am sure I will find out soon enough.

Gday Stuee

Shes coming along nicely. if you want to see where any bits go that your not sure of let me know and i can bring mine around for you to have a look at. keep up the good work.

Cheers Gaz

Shut-down at work finished 2 days earlier than expected so I have the weekend to kick back and relax, as well as play with the 101.

During the week I received some nutserts in the mail from ebay, the smallest amount I could find was a pack of 50 but I think I will be able to find uses for them elsewhere. These were to replace the oil cooler nutserts that melted out during galvanising, and where the front cross-member was repaired I had to drill 2 new holes and install them.

I used Blknight.aus (Dave's) guide on how to insert nutserts without the tool http://www.aulro.com/afvb/projects-t...tool-pics.html and have to say it worked a treat. Very helpful guide and I was impressed with how easy it was.

On with the pics...

Oil Cooler installed:



Nutsert Tool


Freshly cleaned and painted radiator bracket mounted:



Reconditioned radiator mounted in place:



This arvo I will take a drive down to the local auto stores and start seeing if I can find suitable top and bottom radiator hoses - anyone have any suggestions on what might fit, I need to have a search around here first. Also going to order a Tefba style coolant filter both both filtering purposes and a nice high point to fill and bleed from. If I get around to it I'll try and clean up the fuel tank carrier and fuel tank ready for paint.