Time for a Re-fit

[garrywlh]

yep, hand up over here!

:spudnikwaving:

[grey_ghost]

Mr Cotter - Mr Cotter!

Yep hands up here too... Happens nearly every single time I go out into the garage...

But I suppose that is the beauty of restoring a car - there always seems to be a million jobs to do.

I am praying to the car restoration gods that I will soon start completing all of these un-finished jobs, and that things will come rushing together...

:wasntme:

[Johnno1969]

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2013/10/358.jpg

[wally]

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2013/10/175.jpg

[dreamin']

I had everything ready to change my brake fluid. Just the brake fluid.

Five weeks later I have replaced two flexible hoses, master cylinder seals, pumped half a litre of escaped brake fluid out of the servo, ordered a new servo, thought I'd bleed the clutch hydraulics too, removed heater and put it away for clean-up, removed the floor, cleaned and painted it, fitted new clutch master and slave seals, new speedo cable (correctly routed so it doesn't pull out like the old one), then everything back together and several attempts at bleeding and adjusting brakes.

Success finally tonight, everything works and I know it's all done.

Looking forward to a long drive tomorrow.

[Johnno1969]

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2013/10/175.jpg

Looks like it's unanimous.

[Johnno1969]

Has Bruce got an 88 or a 109?

[bell1975]

Looks like it's unanimous.

Whatever the Boss says goes I think.

I wonder if the person creeping up behind him gave him a bear hug, tried to grope him or was crash tackled by security half a second after the shot was taken.

I hope it's a productive weeeknd for you John. Less trampoline and more banging the Landy with blocks of wood. I want to see a video of it driving down the street soon.

[Johnno1969]

As we speak, I am fiddling with the air cleaner mounting, making sure all the bits and pieces go where they should and there's nothing rubbing where it shouldn't.

I've put the overdrive in the too-hard basket for the moment.

[wally]

As we speak, I am fiddling with the air cleaner mounting, making sure all the bits and pieces go where they should and there's nothing rubbing where it shouldn't.

I've put the overdrive in the too-hard basket for the moment.

Probably time for a cuppa then.

[Johnno1969]

Managed to finish (well, pretty much finish) the bracket for the aircleaner. It was a bit fiddly to get right, but it looks like it will fit alright. Even though a number of things about the Landy are hardly original, I have been doing my best to "sort" it over the years to more standard specs, especially related to parts replacement. The 200Tdi aircleaner is hardly standard, but I have set it up so that the aircleaner to manifold hose is a standard 2.25 petrol aircleaner hose. A flexible hose part of the snorkel, when it is complete, will be a 2.25 diesel standard air hose, and of course the aircleaner element is standard 200Tdi - so that any replacement parts in the future are easy off-the-shelf jobs with associated part numbers. I don't mind a few things on the vehicle not being 1965 issue, but I want it all very straightforward.

Today I also replaced a few not-so-good studs and nuts on the swivel pin retainers and did a final torque and locked the tabs. Filled the front diff housing and swivel housings with new oil too. Steering is finished and ready to go (oh, except for a damper, but you get the point).

John

[JDNSW]

... (oh, except for a damper, but you get the point).

John

Steering damper was optional equipment on Series 1,2,2a and possibly 3. You can certainly live without one unless driving on very rough roads.

John

[Johnno1969]

Steering damper was optional equipment on Series 1,2,2a and possibly 3. You can certainly live without one unless driving on very rough roads.

John

Thanks John. Mine has had one since I bought it, so I will probably get around to finding a replacement damper somewhere along the line soon-ish.

[Johnno1969]

Luckily I do not have a schedule for this rebuild. If I did, it would make interesting reading in the annals of failure.

I was going to do the valve seals today, but of course I didn't. I decided that I didn't really like the ones I have, so there's another delay while I get some more.

At least I have the aircleaner mount and the steering gear from yesterday to give me some small sense of progress for the weekend.

[wally]

Luckily I do not have a schedule for this rebuild. If I did, it would make interesting reading in the annals of failure.

I was going to do the valve seals today, but of course I didn't. I decided that I didn't really like the ones I have, so there's another delay while I get some more.

At least I have the aircleaner mount and the steering gear from yesterday to give me some small sense of progress for the weekend.

It's time to admit defeat. Put it up for sale as an unfinished project. There must be someone out there who's prepared to give you a couple of hundred bucks for it.

[garrywlh]

John, I can only dream of the kinds of failure you have manfully achieved. I can only redouble my efforts and strive for the epic heights you have thus far heroically attained...

but, if it helps, I'll double whatever Wally is offering.

:)

[Johnno1969]

John, I can only dream of the kinds of failure you have manfully achieved. I can only redouble my efforts and strive for the epic heights you have thus far heroically attained...

but, if it helps, I'll double whatever Wally is offering.

:)

Wally has been in and out of clinics from here to Lourdes as his desperate family has sought a cure for the bitter and twisted jealousy which threatens to consume his very being. His words simply cannot be trusted. He can't bring himself to admit it, but he wants what I have. More to the point, he once had it in his shed but all he did was complain about it until it was too late and it was taken from him...

Thanks for your kind words, Garry. They are a salve in these dark and desperate times.

[Ozdunc]

Can you have epic heights of failure???

Surely it should be something like "the titanic depths of failure"

:whistling:

[Johnno1969]

Can you have epic heights of failure???

:whistling:

Yes, certainly. I have scaled them frequently. The view is incredible.

[wally]

Here's an interview that contains some sound advice on failure:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLBwoU4KhBE

You should welcome failure John. I just wonder whether you're taking the wrong approach to this.

[Johnno1969]

Speaking of failure, as the third anniversary of my "It'll all be over by Christmas" prognostication looms, it's time for an update.

Finally, after a hiatus of some weeks (never get a bleedy moment to work on the Landy) I got back into things today. I brought my brand new, you-beaut valve spring compressor into play and changed the valve seals on the motor. It was very easy with the nifty little tool.

With any given piston at Top Dead Centre, the valve can't drop down into the cylinder, so I set the motor at TDC, did numbers one and four, then marked and rotated the crank pulley 180 degrees and did two and three. It was just a matter of compressing the valve springs, removing the collets and springs, changing the seals and then refitting springs and collets.

I'll attach a photo of the valve spring compressor at work.

The alignments of the rocker arms on number one inlet and number four exhaust are still a concern. Though not all the rocker arms line up absolutely dead centre on the top of the valve stems, those two are noticeably out of alignment. Interestingly, when I took the rocker shaft and rockers away from the motor, I could detect no significant uneven wear on the rocker arm pads with my fingertips. All the same, I can't see why those two valves would "need" to align differently to the others and would not like to find it causing uneven wear in the valve guides. I am going to look at the whole assembly tomorrow to see if it has been reassembled in the past with rockers out of correct sequence.

If those two arms should be the way that they are, could somebody please let me know?

I'll attach a few photos here of the two rocker arms in situ, and the wear on the pads of the arms.

Cheers,

John

[Johnno1969]

By the way, when I bought some valve seals a few weeks ago, the supplier (as well as a few other online shops) pictured the exhaust valve seals as having a spring. I queried this in the technical forum, and received some good advice to the contrary, which also matches with what the Rover manual stipulates. All indicators point to: Springs in inlet seals only, exhaust seals rubber seal with no spring.

[Johnno1969]

Things are progressing. I have swapped over the two offending rocker arms and, hey presto, things line up again....

[JDNSW]

Things are progressing. I have swapped over the two offending rocker arms and, hey presto, things line up again....

I think you said that the engine had not been overhauled - but that does not mean the head has not been off and possibly the rocker gear disassembled to check the bushes (and the rockers mixed up). Worth noting that there are four different rockers, two of each. the wear marks on the rockers suggest that they have been like that for a long time!

John

[Johnno1969]

I think you said that the engine had not been overhauled - but that does not mean the head has not been off and possibly the rocker gear disassembled to check the bushes (and the rockers mixed up). Worth noting that there are four different rockers, two of each. the wear marks on the rockers suggest that they have been like that for a long time!

John

Yep, that's right John. When I did the rebuild on the engine in 2001, as there was no play in the rocker shaft and all was nice and tidy I put it all back on exactly the way it was beforehand. But there's no saying that somebody had not had a bit of a play with it all earlier. I really should have looked at it all more carefully. Motto: trust nobody, especially previous owners.

I've noted all the part numbers for the rockers in the order in which they "first" sat, and how I have them arranged now, for future reference.

Cheers,

John

[Johnno1969]

Here are a few photos of the rocker cover being cleaned up. Familiar domestic scenes for any Land Rover owner....

[JDNSW]

Yes, you are right to use the sink - do not use the dishwasher on aluminium parts, as the dishwasher detergent is very alkaline and will dull them.

John

[dreamin']

Congratulations on sorting out the rocker problem.

Where did you get the valve spring compressor? It looks a beaut.

Roger

[Johnno1969]

Congratulations on sorting out the rocker problem.

Where did you get the valve spring compressor? It looks a beaut.

Roger

Hey Roger,

I bought it at the local Town and Country tool supplier. The princely sum of $43.90 and it was mine. While I was using it, I was thinking "I have wasted $44 on some rubbish in my life, but this is not one of those times." It was really easy to use and a well-made bit of kit.

Cheers,

John

[dreamin']

Thanks John - sounds like you got lucky

Is there a brand name on it?

R

[Johnno1969]

I'm pretty sure it's from Toledo Tools.

[Johnno1969]

A good thing happened yesterday.

In between me running in and out of the house with an eye on the cricket, the Landy did something she hasn't done in ages: she moved under her own power. For the first time since October 2010.

The last hurdle which had stalled me for weeks (mainly because I never had time to deal with it) was the overdrive refusing to slot home. Yesterday I carefully took a little out of the inside diameter of the new bush in the overdrive input shaft and then hey, presto, in she went.

My brother and my sister in law happened to turn up for the big moment, which was fun (they even filmed it.... I may even post the epic fillum here sometime).

Anyway, out trundled the Landy from the shed. First impression is that the steering is lighter and sharper than before (which it should be). The rest will follow, I guess.

The engine settled after warming for a while; the knock which had bothered me and the blue smoke disappeared after a while, which was pleasing. She sounds and feels the way she always used to: that is to say, brilliant.

Here are a few photos of the vehicle standing proudly in the summer sunshine.

I'll also post some photos of the transmission, including the modified overdrive in place. Its sump capacity is up from the old 400ml and it now holds 2.25 litres (though I must confess that in my excitement I did overfill it slightly and will probably have to drain a little out under operating conditions).

I might even start the thread I have been meaning to do for ages on this overdrive, to save me filling this thread up - and it may be of some use to somebody on the technical forum.

Cheers,

John

[Johnno1969]

Here's the transmission with the overdrive in place.

[wally]

Oh, so you are persevering with it then. OK, I'll try to stay interested.

[Johnno1969]

Righto..... the annoying bit about this post is that I wrote one last night that the computer decided to make disappear for no good reason, so I have to try to remember it all over again...


Either side of Christmas I got a few days here and there for some time on the Landy. I’ve fitted the seat base and transmission tunnel and have been working on the floor panels too. I’ve lined all the various panels to deaden vibration before then adding the soundproofing. I’ll post some photos here of the soundproofing in place.


The driver’s seat is in (awaiting its tailored seat covers from Tanzania) and the passenger seat will go in soon too.



The bonnet and tailgate are off getting sandblasted (I have had enough wire brushing on some items...) and yesterday evening I got stuck into the roof to start cleaning it up.


I really don’t want to put paint on any of the galvanised steel, but in places where it is damaged and inviting rust I am prepping it with cold galv then dusting it with hammer finish, blending it into the rest of the capping/windscreen frame/whatever.



I have replaced a lot of nuts and bolts on the bodywork with stainless items. Even though it is nice retaining as much originality as possible, a lot of fixings were not original anyway and in some places I like the clean finish of the stainless steel.


The motor is running beautifully. It was a bit rattley at first when it came out of hibernation, but it has settled nicely and purrs like a 2.25 litre cat now.


Goodo.


John

[Johnno1969]

More photos

[Johnno1969]

...and....

[Johnno1969]

A little more progress today.

I installed one (yes, one - don't want to overdo things) shock absorber and got stuck into the interior matting. Very time-consuming making templates for the footwells.

Here's a photo of the passenger side. I'm very happy with the result.

Another photo of the tub. The Chequerplate pattern rubber looks pretty good.

Oh, and I also put more soundproofing into the floor on the passenger side and did some plumbing on the fuel tank fillers and overflow pipes.

John

[Johnno1969]

Today was one of those quiet sort of days on the build, but I got a little done nonetheless.

I started cleaning up the fuel/amp gauge cluster (had decided that it wasn't looking tidy enough any more) and gave the block and radiator a flush and some new coolant (and new radiator hoses...may as well have the old ones for spares, rather than the other way around).

I also enlarged the mounting holes on the new bottom section of the radiator panel (replaced the rusted double-skin section with some nice thick steel quite a while back) and cut rubber pads for buffering its mounting to the chassis.

So, that's it. Achieved three-fifths of the proverbial, but I'm getting there.

Oh - and I also picked up the bonnet and tailgate from the sandblaster's. They look terrific. The bloke undercoated them as well - which is pretty good, except that he also painted the galv section for the spare wheel mounting on the bonnet. Never mind, he did a great job on the rest of the panel and I hadn't even asked him to do it.

[Johnno1969]

Mostly spent today working on the instruments and gauges.

Cleaned up the amp/fuel gauge cluster. Had soaked it overnight in degreaser to loosen the gunk holding the glass in place. It came up pretty well, though not perfectly (just as well, really; if anything on the vehicle looked perfect the rest would disappoint it). I touched up the edge with a cable tie dipped in paint to re-blacken it. It came up too glossy, so I rubbed the whole shebang in fine dust when it dried to give it more of a satin sheen. As I said, not perfect, but....

I reinstalled the main gauges and the various toggle switches, as well as completing the dashboard wiring for various ancilliaries set to come along later (rear work light, interior light, stereo, driving lights, engine watchdog). Unfortunately, there was not quite enough time to finish the gauge for the left hand fuel tank. It's a bit of a home-made job. I've got a nice piece of perspex now for the binnacle (made from part of a thread tape holder) and hope to get that sorted next weekend. I think I bumped the needle on that gauge a while ago, so will have to recalibrate it.

I'll throw in a photo of the dash and instruments. Yes, I know that the white-faced temp gauge doesn't fit with the rest of it. It looks more out of place in the photo than it does when I look at it here. I'll think about changing it sometime. It may not even work any more....

Oh, and I put in the remaining front shock absorber. Then I went to install the rear ones to find that I have been sent the wrong ones.... they are at least four inches too short.

John

[Johnno1969]

More photos.

[Johnno1969]

Doesn't the "new" home-made fuel gauge look purty?

[harry]

it looks like it is saying e for enough, so you don't need to fill that tank....
looks good

[Johnno1969]

A bit of progress after a number of weeks with no chance to get anything done on the Landy:

In the last two weeks I decided that I really had to lose that white-faced temp gauge, so I bought another which matched the rest of the instruments. This afternoon I decided to fit it, as well as the Engine Watchdog.

I was going to fit the Watchdog up in a console at eye level (as it has a little less chance of getting wet there), but changed my mind today for several reasons:



I was unsure if the light in its display would be annoying at eye level whilst night driving.
The vehicle doesn't actually have a roof yet.

Reason number two was a real clincher.


Anyway, I forged ahead and, without going into the details of the annoying delay removing the 4WD selector rod temporarily (now, that would have been a little easier before I put the floor back in), by around teatime I had the whole instrument panel complete. Finally.


The Watchdog is a version with a sensor for both engine and transmission. When fitting it, I realised that there was nothing to discriminate the engine sensor and lead from those of the transmission. Identical.



As in all situations when thought is required, I made a pot of tea. It helped in more ways than one, as I rigged up some power to the Watchdog and then while the tea brewed I stuck one of the sensors underneath the teapot. That pretty quickly sorted out the which-was-which question. Note sensor under teapot in attached photo.


Back to work. I found what should be a good spot for the engine sensor at the front of the head (the mechanical gauge reads from the rear) and then opted to put the transmission sensor on one of the mounting studs for the overdrive (the overdrive always used to run extremely hot, and with its now vastly-increased oil capacity, it will be interesting to see the sort of temperature it generates).



It was a bit of a fiddle getting the final layout of wiring and capillary tubes (especially the excess stuff from the watchdog and the temp and oil pressure gauges) sorted behind the extra instrument panel, but it has all nestled in pretty well and is pretty tidy now. Sorry, no photo of that...


Anyway, here are a few photos of the day's work and the instrument panels. After running the vehicle for a while, it would seem that the Watchdog and the mechanical gauge give pretty close readings so far on the engine temperature.


Cheers,


John

[Johnno1969]

Here's the instrument layout and the Watchdog in its home in the dash (hopefully out of most of the weather).

[Johnno1969]

One last thing for this evening.

Here's a video of the Landy's first steps just before Christmas, after years of, well, not going anywhere. The diesel makes a horrible rattle in the video. Since then, a little running and a few tweaks have got it running very smoothly and as quietly as a 2.25D can.

My brother and my sister in law turned up just as I was about to hit the starter button; hence the home movie. My brother was on hand to congratulate me at the end of the voyage and offer technical advice like "That's your Land Rover, isn't it?" and "It's green".

[ezyrama]

QUIET 2.25 Diesel?, Bahahahahahaha :Rolling::Rolling::Rolling::Rolling:
Good to see it under it's own steam though, Congrats Johnno

[Johnno1969]

Thanks Ian. Yeah, good to see her trundling about - even if it is just around the yard.

I did say "as quietly as it can". It's all relative....

Mind you, it never used to intrude over the overdrive noise. If the overdrive rebuild has been in any way successful I may be able to hear other noises now (engine, tyres, wind, aeroplanes crashing nearby).

[Johnno1969]

Here's an interesting thing. I thought I'd pull out the roof panel and the tropical panel just now and have a bit of a play. I lay the tropical panel down in situ on the roof and - blow me down, but I noticed that the old roof panel had a few rather well-placed bogged-up holes in it. Upon closer inspection, I realised that all the holes are already there for mounting the tropical panel and that somewhere along the line somebody has filled them in. This roof was not on the vehicle when I bought it in 1991, so I can only assume that wherever it came from somebody once decided to ditch their tropical roof.

It certainly will make the tropical panel easier to fit it, that's for sure. It just needs a bit of fixing up here and there and for the rear portion (it came from a 109) to be carefully removed.

John


P.S. Though one thing intrigues me.... did - or did not - all tropical roof models also have Alpine Lights??

[JDNSW]

P.S. Though one thing intrigues me.... did - or did not - all tropical roof models also have Alpine Lights??

The tropical roof was an option on all hardtops, but the alpine windowws were only on station wagons. So the answer is no - but the tropical roof was standard on station wagons, and rare on other hardtops.

John

[Johnno1969]

The tropical roof was an option on all hardtops, but the alpine windowws were only on station wagons. So the answer is no - but the tropical roof was standard on station wagons, and rare on other hardtops.

John

Yeah I did wonder about that being the case. Thanks John - much appreciated.

Though I have been basically planning to use the tropical panel, I was not 100% decided. Finding that the roof (even if it is not originally from the car) used to have one makes me more decided to add it. I most likely will not put in any of the vents, but the panel alone should be good for keeping the roof skin cooler.

John

[wally]

A bit of progress after a number of weeks with no chance to get anything done on the Landy:

In the last two weeks I decided that I really had to lose that white-faced temp gauge, so I bought another which matched the rest of the instruments. This afternoon I decided to fit it, as well as the Engine Watchdog.

I was going to fit the Watchdog up in a console at eye level (as it has a little less chance of getting wet there), but changed my mind today for several reasons:



I was unsure if the light in its display would be annoying at eye level whilst night driving.
The vehicle doesn't actually have a roof yet.

Reason number two was a real clincher.


Anyway, I forged ahead and, without going into the details of the annoying delay removing the 4WD selector rod temporarily (now, that would have been a little easier before I put the floor back in), by around teatime I had the whole instrument panel complete. Finally.


The Watchdog is a version with a sensor for both engine and transmission. When fitting it, I realised that there was nothing to discriminate the engine sensor and lead from those of the transmission. Identical.



As in all situations when thought is required, I made a pot of tea. It helped in more ways than one, as I rigged up some power to the Watchdog and then while the tea brewed I stuck one of the sensors underneath the teapot. That pretty quickly sorted out the which-was-which question. Note sensor under teapot in attached photo.


Back to work. I found what should be a good spot for the engine sensor at the front of the head (the mechanical gauge reads from the rear) and then opted to put the transmission sensor on one of the mounting studs for the overdrive (the overdrive always used to run extremely hot, and with its now vastly-increased oil capacity, it will be interesting to see the sort of temperature it generates).



It was a bit of a fiddle getting the final layout of wiring and capillary tubes (especially the excess stuff from the watchdog and the temp and oil pressure gauges) sorted behind the extra instrument panel, but it has all nestled in pretty well and is pretty tidy now. Sorry, no photo of that...


Anyway, here are a few photos of the day's work and the instrument panels. After running the vehicle for a while, it would seem that the Watchdog and the mechanical gauge give pretty close readings so far on the engine temperature.


Cheers,


John

That's an excellent tip Johnno. Thanks for that. I've relocated my teapot from the kitchen to my toolbox and I threw out my test light and my multimeter.

72513

[Johnno1969]

Good point, really. I am staring to wonder why I've bought so many tools. Next time I'm in the Town and Country supplies I'm going to see if they have any of those adaptor kits for replacing a dial gauge with an 1865 Wedgwood Blue Jasperware tea set.

[Johnno1969]

Drizzly sort of day. Decided to clean up the wiper motors. One I have had in the car for decades, the other is one I found on a wreck in the local scrap metal yard a while back. The "new" one works too - which is a good start.

Anyway, out came the wire brushes and the motors tidied up pretty well. There was a lot of grime and gunge on both of them, particularly the "new" one. I had to solder one connection and that was pretty-much it. Good to go. The steel portions of the bodies have been given a coat of Penetrol to keep surface rust at bay and I will most likely leave them both with the finish visible in these photos (maybe a little more buffing first...).

Cheers,

John

[Johnno1969]

Found something in the back of the fridge a few days ago.

"What the hell is that?" I thought. "Gravy?"

[Johnno1969]

I looked a little closer.

Then I remembered.

The strip for the bonnet rest on the radiator panel arrived a while ago. Not canvas as expected. Nylon. Not a nice canvas-ey faun colour. White.

So I had a cup of tea and a think.

Then I put the strip into a mug and poured tea over it and left it in the fridge to mature.

Today I pulled it out, melted the block of ice which had formed around the strip and noted good progress on changing its colour.

I thought I'd dye it a little more, so bunged it in a pot on the stove with lots of tea leaves. Should come up alright....

[Johnno1969]

Also making some progress on the bonnet.

Tidying up a bit of damage here and there.

[Johnno1969]

Hey I wouldn't mind a quick straw poll on the best finish for old galv.

My plan has always been to get all the previous paint off the vehicle's cappings and windscreen frame; if any areas are damaged or have surface rust, the plan has been to dust them with a little hammer-finish, feathering the coverage into the undamaged and unpainted areas. I know that to just paint the lot with hammered finish gives a terrific look...but I don't want to find myself wishing "I wish I hadn't covered that with paint (again)" a few years down the track. Likewise, I don't want to end up with a finish which looks patchy and messy.

The attached photos are the windscreen frame. Most of it is bare galv, some areas have been hit with hammer finish.

I'd appreciate people's thoughts, as I am poised to put nice laminated glass into the windscreen frame and am pacing around thinking "To paint or not to paint...."

Thanks,

John

[grey_ghost]

Hi Mate,

Personally - I would strip the old paint off and re-paint the entire lot. If the paint fades over time, then you will notice the differences in colour. And you will be forever thinking "I shoulda"..

But that's just my opinion! :wasntme::angel:

[Johnno1969]

Cheers GG,

Hmmmm,good point. I've already stripped off the old paint. For the most part the galv looks fine - it's just a few damaged patches which precipitate this dilemma.

I won't be doing any work on the Landy for a week or two now. So I will have a few sleeps on it.

I guess it would look good all nice and evenly-coloured.........

John

[Orkney 90]

Just out of curiosity, is it possible to re-galvanise those parts? The finish would be correct and it would only need to be done once...should last almost forever after.

[JDNSW]

Yes, and that would be the preferred approach. Problem is likely to be finding someone to do it, but should still be possible in the major centres. (one near hewre closed a number of years ago).

John

[Johnno1969]

Yep, I definitely would prefer to re-galvanise. The thing is, however, that I really don't want to remove the capping from the vehicle as I doubt if I would ever re-attach it quite so well again.... and it is a whole lot more time and expense on a vehicle which will be gfar from perfect when it's finished anyway.

So I am still vacillating between the painting and not-painting options....

[Orkney 90]

Perhaps another option... many years ago I had some old zinc dipped parts that has begun to surface rust and discolour. I carefully polished off the surface rust with a non-silicone polish, back to shiny bare metal. Then I sprayed a light coat of automotive clear over the entire parts and to this day they are still looking good. The clear coat has stood up against the weather and still no surface rust. I'm amazed that it stuck so well to the bare metal. May or may not work in your case...

[Johnno1969]

Thanks Orkney,

I have thought about doing something like that too, though in some areas a clear finish, though preventing more rust, will not mask the damage. I'm going to think a little more about this. The vast majority of the galv bits and pieces don't need painting as they look fine... so I have to either match what I have as best as I can or paint the lot....

John

[Johnno1969]

Here's a little more progress. Making moves toward finally painting the front guards. The driver's side guard (or should I say "offside wing"?) has been a bit of a mess for ages around the area of the numberplate mounting and had numerous holes here and there which served little purpose. A bit of aluminium angle, some rivets and some bog and, hey presto, it's looking quite tidy (rivets strategically hidden beneath bog).

[Johnno1969]

Fitted the retaining brackets for the windscreen too.

Nice stainless steel bolts (threads smothered in zinc anti-seize paste).

John

[Ozdunc]

Lookin' right purty, Jonno.

Did you grind the rivets flat? Won't they just pop out? Or did you sikaflex the angle behind?

[Johnno1969]

The rivets were in areas where the, er, inconsistencies in the panel surface allowed me to bog over the top and create a smooth finish across the larger surface without grinding them back at all. It will not be easy to pick once it's all finished. No Sikaflex used - just rivets.

[Cobber]

I've got to say, seeing yours I'm getting rather excited about having my gauges back from the refurb guy and fitting them. Yours look lovely :BigThumb:

[450Dan]

Looking good indeed, I realise you have probably already mentioned earlier but what paint are you using as the finish looks nice and I am at the paint stage myself and if I'm honest rather clueless about what to use!

[Johnno1969]

I've got to say, seeing yours I'm getting rather excited about having my gauges back from the refurb guy and fitting them. Yours look lovely :BigThumb:

Thanks Cobber. Yeah, they have come up pretty well - even with all the fingerprints and smudges all over the dash. I look forward to the day when I wash and polish the lot when it's finished.

The other day I had a look at your thread on your IIA in "Members' Rides". I don't usually look at that particular forum and must admit to having not seen your vehicle there before. I will certainly follow its progress now. Looks great.

Cheers,

John

[Johnno1969]

Looking good indeed, I realise you have probably already mentioned earlier but what paint are you using as the finish looks nice and I am at the paint stage myself and if I'm honest rather clueless about what to use!

Thanks Dan. I'm using Protec 363 Automotive Enamel. I'm adding hardener to it, which seems to be increasing the gloss of its finish as well. It's not as hard as the original paint, unfortunately (the original Bronze Green I found under all the coats of re-paints seemed bulletproof), but overall seems pretty good.

[450Dan]

The original paint under the many layers on Bob is also pretty bulletproof, sadly each panel appears to be a different base colour, the bulkhead being a horrible cream, under an equally horrible pinky red.

The wisdom of some of the people who paint these colours is highly questionable.

[Johnno1969]

Yep. Each to their own, I guess - but somebody painted mine a lurid yellow with a white homemade hardtop before I bought it. It looked like a boiled lolly.

Your "horrible cream" may have been Limestone - which actually looks pretty good on a Landy. Originally, I planned to paint my Landy Limestone as I had always had a "safari" look in my mind's eye.

Along the way, I decided upon the original colour and I couldn't consider anything else now.

John

[Johnno1969]

Today was a good day for the morale of Team Extremely Long Land Rover Refurbishment Project (TELLRRP).

Got my (new) cheap compressor fixed up and working a treat (it broke last weekend), and got stuck back into the wings.

By day's end, we were seeing a few coats of Deep Bronze Green on the wings and tailgate - with a little leftover paint (it's got hardener in it) squirted at the under-bonnet to use it productively...

A few photos here of the wings at various stages, one of the support brackets getting cleaned up and the tailgate.

[Johnno1969]

P.S. I left that bit of damage to the tailgate un-repaired intentionally. That hole has always kinda been part of the Landy, if that makes any sense...

...and, yes, I know that the top of the LH wing looks a bit rough. Truth is that it looks worse in the photo with all the reflections around. On top of that, I have had enough of fighting its topography and have called a truce.

[Phil B]

Know the feeling about the top of the fender-truce is a good way of expressing it!
Great project and blog. Please keep it coming!
Phil

[Johnno1969]

Thanks Phil.

Yep the rolling hills and dales of that wing are my own fault for butchering it twenty-two years ago when fitting a Donaldson aircleaner (young and stupid; not for fitting a Donaldson, but for doing it the way that I did).

Hopefully I can make a bit more progress today and keep news dribbling in to this thread. The Landy turns fifty next year, and it would be good to be on the road by then.

Cheers,

John

[landypete]

G'Day John,

Looking good mate, going to be a ringer for "Vera", and I regret selling her every day! I'll have to pop round in the new Discovery and take a look...

Cheers,

Pete

[Johnno1969]

Well I always maintain that it's always a mistake to sell a Land Rover.

[Johnno1969]

But wait - there's more!

I finally got around to drilling the holes for the bumper bar bolts in the new chassis dumb-irons. Amazingly, I got it all right first time. I was expecting to stuff it up and end up filing holes larger to get things to fit.

In the photos, you will see the radical procedure of using a set of calipers to position the centres to be drilled - a bold move indeed with a Landy. Readers will be pleased to hear that when a good fit was made for the template bumper bar the holes were, fittingly, not evenly positioned in the dumb iron.

What the hell - it all lines up......

[Johnno1969]

...and when too much Deep Bronze Green is never enough:

Painted the bonnet and put a few more coats on the wings.

That's it for this weekend.

John

[garrywlh]

yes please; keep on 'dribbling', Johnno...

Thanks again for the invite. Looking forward to getting together sometime. Tried to phone you the other day. Will try again soon.

Garry

[Cobber]

You've got way more done this weekend than I did that's for sure :D

It's all looking good, well done :BigThumb:

[Cobber]

P.S. I left that bit of damage to the tailgate un-repaired intentionally. That hole has always kinda been part of the Landy, if that makes any sense...makes plenty of sense to me - I've based my whole project around that line of thinking. It would be a shame to hide it's past :cool:

[Johnno1969]

yes please; keep on 'dribbling', Johnno...

Thanks again for the invite. Looking forward to getting together sometime. Tried to phone you the other day. Will try again soon.

Garry

Hey Garry,

Yeah mate - drop in any time. I am sometimes out of phone range for a few days at a time, so maybe send a text and I'm more likely to get it.

Cheers,

John

[Johnno1969]

makes plenty of sense to me - I've based my whole project around that line of thinking. It would be a shame to hide it's past :cool:

Yep. That's dead right. Occasionally, there are some bits I tidy up for whatever reason - but some of the damage is part of the vehicle now. I'm particularly partial to the dent on the waistline of the right-hand wing just near the firewall.

I guess I did get a fair bit done this weekend, which goes a little way to making up for all those weekends when I manage to do three-fifths of ****-all.

Cheers,

John

[Johnno1969]

I began today optimistically planning (hoping/hallucinating) that I might just manage to have my last day of surface preparation and painting (Deep Bronze Green bodywork, anyway. I don't count the roof. That's the Limestone icing on the cake).

Of course, the gods of Series Land Rovers had other plans.

I've got these two beautiful doors. Fifty years old and only a little surface rust on some areas of the door tops and frames. Almost nothing. Trouble is, one door top just will not budge. It has been sitting in my house for about three years, getting regular squirts of WD40 onto the one seized bolt, waiting for the day when I would triumphantly whack it with a hammer and progress with stripping down the door.

Today was to have been that day.

I whacked, I belted, I hammered, I pounded and I struck. Nothing. I tried swearing. Still nothing.

I applied some heat. Nothing.

I applied more heat. Nada.

More. Nichts.

More. Hamna kitu.

Whack.

Belt!

Smack!

Pow!

(Full "Batman" treatment)

Still it did not budge.

So, I applied several more minutes of focused swearing and left the scene.

Went out to the shed, changed the valve stem seals (again). I seem to have been getting oil drawn down into number one pot, so I've forked out some cash for OE valve seals (much better quality than the previous aftermarket jobbies). Hopefully that sorts things.

Still, the door top awaits me in the carport. Mocking me.

John

[Johnno1969]

Promising developments this morning.

Ran the engine for a while. I can't remember if I mentioned it on this thread or not (possibly I was in denial), but it developed a bit of a rattle while I was running it a little while back. I was pretty sure it was related to oiling-up in number one pot, but obviously noises are a worry. Changing the valve stem oil seals (again) may have done the trick. Once it warmed up and stopped belching blue smoke, that rattle disappeared, so hopefully it's sorted. I would prefer not to find out it had broken an oil ring or something.

Righto, back to that door top.

Or maybe I will just muck around with the galv bits and some fittings.

Stupid door.

[wrinklearthur]

---- Righto, back to that door top.
Or maybe I will just muck around with the galv bits and some fittings.
Stupid door.

Because that bolt is boxed inside the frame the only way to work on it is to come in from the end.

1. Use a hammer onto a piece of copper or brass to tap the threaded end , the end of the thread must be protected while hitting it, with the nut level with the end of the thread.

2. That direction is only one way, so add a bar with a hole in it and tighten the nut down tight onto it and give the bar a couple of whacks in the direction the the nut is pulling.

3. Take the bar off and repeat 1. and then back to 2.

Keep doing this, it will break the bind eventually.

Plenty of diesel squirted along side the bolt while doing this wont hurt either.
.

[Johnno1969]

Thanks Arthur.

I used a bit of softwood to cushion the blows against the end of the bolt and the thread..... but (maybe because of the heat...actually I am sure it was the heat) the thread tightened significantly on the nut and, well, the thread is a bit, er, buggered now. It's a bit annoying, after spending so many months seeping WD40 into it. I would have preferred to soak it in diesel all that time, but don't have a vessel large enough to manoeuvre it into.

I have put it into the too-hard basket for the moment.

Cheers,

John

[Johnno1969]

Interesting. That "knock" is back. While the engine did certainly seem to be having an oiling problem with number one cylinder, I think I may be on the way to finding another underlying reason. I ran it this afternoon, and loosened the fuel line to number one injector: the knock stopped. I'm going to check out that injector when I get some more time to spend on the vehicle.

[wrinklearthur]

Thanks Arthur.

I used a bit of softwood to cushion the blows against the end of the bolt and the thread..... but (maybe because of the heat...actually I am sure it was the heat) the thread tightened significantly on the nut and, well, the thread is a bit, er, buggered now. It's a bit annoying, after spending so many months seeping WD40 into it. I would have preferred to soak it in diesel all that time, but don't have a vessel large enough to manoeuvre it into.

I have put it into the too-hard basket for the moment.

Hi John

Find yourself some hat felt, soak it in diesel then wrap around the protruding part and leave it for a while.

Just wet it occasionally to keep it moist and it will work through in time ------ I hope!
.

[Johnno1969]

Thanks Arthur - I'll do just that.

John

[Johnno1969]

Though it is becoming tempting to cut the blasted thing and drive it out, then weld a new bolt to the door top.....

[will d8r]

Can you split the nut and get rid of it that way
Cheers Will

[Johnno1969]

Thanks Will. Nope, unfortunately. The bolt itself is seized to the tube through which it attaches to the door bottom. Removing the nut's not the issue - the bolt is just very stubborn.

Cheers,

John

[Johnno1969]

Busy but slow day.

Picked up various fittings from the sandblaster man (took them there because I was sick of grinders and wire brushes). It seems that Sandblaster Man had the sandblaster turned up to eleven, because it ripped a lot of the surface away - which pretty-much finalised my to-paint-or-not-to-paint question.

Here are the bits before and after gold galv painting and finishing with hammer-finish.

John

[Johnno1969]

I also experimented with the injectors a bit and worked out that the ignition "knock" was definitely caused by the injector on number one. I'll take it back to the injector man who overhauled it.

[Johnno1969]

I'm making some new inner-guards for the vehicle. I was going to replace the ratty old ones anyway, then got to thinking how I could modify the new ones to improve them a bit. The idea is to stop stones chipping the paint on the steelwork of the footwells and also to block any mud or water that would usually get thrown up between the outrigger and the firewall and either lodge there or get in between the fuel tanks and the outrigger.

They are lovely 2.5mm aluminium. Here's the driver's side.

I'm not quite finished trimming it to make sure it fits neatly under the wing. It will have small nylon spacers between it and the footwell.

John

[Johnno1969]

Also painted the headlight bins and checked the driver's side one for fit. Should look good.

One thing I am enjoying these days, after years of mucking about using whatever grungy bolt I could mongrel into place wherever I needed it, is buying the right bit to do the right job - like these special bolts for the wing to pillar attachment.

It was quite exciting to see all those Deep Bronze Green bits joined together, even if temporarily. Shouldn't be too long now before the wings go on and stay on.

Johnno

[wrinklearthur]

I also experimented with the injectors a bit and worked out that the ignition "knock" was definitely caused by the injector on number one. I'll take it back to the injector man who overhauled it.
You should take all of them back, as they should be set to deliver a equal amount.
.

[Johnno1969]

Thanks Arthur. Good point.

The one that is not working properly is rather "wet" when I remove it from the engine. It appears to be spewing our great gushing torrents of diesel.

I'll take the lot in for a check.

Cheers,

John

[reachjatt]

I'm making some new inner-guards for the vehicle. I was going to replace the ratty old ones anyway, then got to thinking how I could modify the new ones to improve them a bit. The idea is to stop stones chipping the paint on the steelwork of the footwells and also to block any mud or water that would usually get thrown up between the outrigger and the firewall and either lodge there or get in between the fuel tanks and the outrigger.

They are lovely 2.5mm aluminium. Here's the driver's side.

I'm not quite finished trimming it to make sure it fits neatly under the wing. It will have small nylon spacers between it and the footwell.

John


Excellent work Johnno!! i have done all the disassembly on my landy.. And was also looking for aluminum inner-guards rather than steel ones.. Are youable to shed some light what mix of aluminum sheets (pure aluminum or mix of other metal) you are using and what nut bolts will you use to hold with fenders(not sure with chemistry and reaction of different metals)... Also what you used to make to those 90deg angle's on aluminum sheet..
Many Thanks
Nav

[Johnno1969]

Excellent work Johnno!! i have done all the disassembly on my landy.. And was also looking for aluminum inner-guards rather than steel ones.. Are youable to shed some light what mix of aluminum sheets (pure aluminum or mix of other metal) you are using and what nut bolts will you use to hold with fenders(not sure with chemistry and reaction of different metals)... Also what you used to make to those 90deg angle's on aluminum sheet..
Many Thanks
Nav

Hey Nav,

Well, first-off I'm not doing all the work myself (which explains the 90deg angles being so good!). I made up some templates for a local fellow who runs an aluminium welding shop and got him to make up the basic panels in the dimensions I wanted. Now I am trimming and re-shaping as required with the inner guards in place to make sure everything fits. It is a bit fiddly but I'll get there. They are going to have to be shaped in such a way that they can be removed and replaced once the wing/guard is in place, as the extended portion will limit access to the retaining bolts which attach the wing to the pillar on the firewall.

The passenger-side item will also have to be modified to accommodate the Tdi aircleaner's extended intake pipe, which runs back under the wing to a point where a snorkel will come up through the horizontal surface to attach to the windscreen frame (well, that's the plan anyway - it is going to be hard to force myself to cut a hole in the wing now it is painted and looks so good).

It's 2.5mm aluminium. Pure, as far as I know. Nuts and bolts are stainless steel with a nylon bush between the steel footwell and aluminium inner guard.

Cheers,

John

[Johnno1969]

Astonishingly, I didn't get as far today as I thought I would.

Be that as it may, here are a few photos to show the fruits of about eleven hours' work. It's a good thing that I am not charging myself for my time. Then again, I could rip myself off on an hourly rate and make a fortune...

I am close to putting all the bits of the tailgate together. The top galv capping was a little (lot) worse for wear. It's all tidy and square now and ready to go once I've fixed up (hidden) a few bits of damage and painted it.

The second photo is the side-on view of the lower part of the new inner guard. If you look closely you can see the nylon spacers between it and the footwell.

John

[Johnno1969]

Here are some photos of progress on the inner guard for the driver's side. This was a very slow job.... I don't know how many times I partially fitted it, made some marks, removed it, cut a little more, filed, fitted it again...

I ended up with quite an interesting cut to get it around the outrigger bolt head to attach tidily top and bottom to the footwell. The last photos, taken after the last time I removed it, also have the last bit of cutaway made and a tab turned up to enable the outer edge to be bolted to the bottom rearmost outer edge of the wing (where it would bolt to the sill panel if the Landy still had one).

I also parcelled up all four injectors (thanks Arthur) to take to the diesel mob tomorrow.

Now. Time for some sleep.

[reachjatt]

Thanks for the info john and good luck with rebuild .. like your approach i.e. choosing the best.

[Cobber]

It was quite exciting to see all those Deep Bronze Green bits joined together, even if temporarilyyep I can relate to that! :D it gives a big incentive to bolt it all back together :cool:

It's coming along nicely, well done :BigThumb:

[Johnno1969]

Here's the tailgate looking all pretty.

[Johnno1969]

Today I also...

....picked up the injectors from getting another clean-up and fitted them this evening....and.....

.....cold-galv painted the body capping and then finished it with hammer-finish.

Photos to come tomorrow.

[450Dan]

Looking damn good now, be back on the road soon! wish mine were coming along but have hit the roadblock known as a lack of free time, and the weather hasnt been particularly pleasant on my days off either. oh how i long for a carport/shed

[Johnno1969]

Thanks Dan. Yep, I know what you mean about the shed/carport. A good home for the vehicle makes big difference. I've got a carport and a shed of sorts, but it's not exactly a workshop and every day I have to haul tools in and out of the house and secure the Landy from the weather as best I can when I put it to bed. Getting a workbench a couple of months ago has made a huge difference. I even have a vice now! Goodness knows how I didn't make a complete mess of things and/or kill myself with some of the things I did (particularly with the grinder) before that.

Anyway, three days more of Easter left: I had better get cracking....

[Johnno1969]

Busy day...but now I'm sitting here writing I can't remember exactly what I did with it.

Oh yeah... finished painting the galv capping and fittings on the tub. Looks pretty good. I just hope the finish lasts.

I fitted the rear lights; they look pretty good. They're not wired up yet, but it certainly is nice to have them in place. I went to get some nice stainless steel self-tapping screws to fix them to the car, and reflected on how things have come along since I used to grub around for whatever grungy screw would roughly fit the job in hand.

I also spent ages in the afternoon/evening tidying-up wiring (again). This time I really meant it, though. I am at the stage when I'm pretty-much finalising how everything is going to be arranged for good(ish).

Oh, and I got the motor running nicely. Amazing what clean injectors can do.

Cheers,

John

[450Dan]

everything looks so clean on your land rover... i look at my mess and feel highly inadequate lol, oh well i shall have to use it as motivation to get my arse in gear

[Johnno1969]

everything looks so clean on your land rover... i look at my mess and feel highly inadequate lol, oh well i shall have to use it as motivation to get my arse in gear

Hang in there, Dan! It's a long road from mess to clean, and then the vehicle hits the road and gets messy again. I think it's called "The Circle of Life" - or something like that.

[Cobber]

It's looking good :BigThumb:
I know where you are coming from with the wiring, it's a right pain. I did have everything tagged but over time most of those came off, as did the re-tags ... so I'm still sorting mine out, but getting there slowly! :D

I've given mine one bath in the 14 months it's been off the road so I'm used to mine being dusty. it will be due again soon though :D

[Johnno1969]

Things are getting (more) interesting. In a good way. It is starting to look like a Land Rover.

I kind of threw myself at Easter.... running from one job on the Landy to another on the house and back to the Landy again. I actually made some progress too.

So, since Friday, in a nutshell, we have:



Injectors cleaned and re-calibrated. Engine running like it always used to.
Various small fuel or oil leaks at pipe unions fixed.
Galv capping all nicely painted (thanks for the tip, GG).
Wiring finally sorted and finalised (for now).
Headlights installed.
RH inner guard checked for fit under wing: looks good.
Seat back bulkhead re-riveted here and there, spare wheel attachment and strengthening rib re-installed.
Electric fan fitted in front of radiator.



It doesn't look like much, now that I've listed it. But it involved running hither and thither getting more nuts, bolts, washers, picking up injectors, measuring, cutting, hammering, bending, drilling, tightening, cleaning and painting, installing, bleeding, checking, replacing and checking again.

The right hand guard is (again) temporarily fixed to the vehicle while I try to get everything to line up alright. It almost looks like a motor car now.

The rubbers which lie between the headlight bins and the radiator panel are still pretty good (they're not from my car originally; they came with the "new" radiator panel). So, I gave them a scrub up, smothered them in Lanox and installed them.

It is really nice to be able to assemble things with nice new stainless steel nuts and bolts (with nickel anti-seize on the threads).

When I was installing the cross-bar I made to support the electric fan, I was lining it up to mark the bolt holes when my eye fell upon something that I had been using earlier in the day putting a post into the ground: so, unable to resist the pointless and deliciously absurd gesture - I used a spirit level to line up a part on a Series Land Rover....


Cheers,

John

P.S. Why is Easter only four days? Why not eight?

[Johnno1969]

More piccies (including the use of spirit level to attain NASA-like build quality).

Time for a quiet single malt.

John.

[Cobber]

Putting the grille panel back in is a good feeling! :D

[Johnno1969]

Some of you might remember the tales of bits of my Landy living here and there in my house. Lately the front guards/wings took up residence indoors again after being painted and, like the firewall a year or two ago, ended up sleeping at the end of the bed. I know it was soft of me, but if I didn't let them do it they'd just scratch at the door until I let them in. I decided that I had to wean them gradually and move them outside so here's the left hand guard in its little bed in the living room yesterday. Last night it had its first night outside.

[wrinklearthur]

Such a sheltered life your Land Rover parts have. Yes you must move them outside to harden up as life can be tough for them later on. :D
.

[Johnno1969]

You're right, Arthur. You know how it is.... one wants to prepare them for life's knocks ahead, but it is so easy to spoil them. I know it doesn't really do them any good, though: last night the door hinges started ripping up some cushions when I left them in the front room by themselves.

[Johnno1969]

Got a bit done yesterday and today. Got the RH wing on (I think permanently - or at least kind of permanently as far as this rebuild is concerned), then wired up the headlights and....

Then I proceeded to cut the LH inner guard along the same lines as I had done already for the RH one (it was good having the RH one as a template - more or less just cut a mirror image of it to get the LH one to fit nicely around the bulkhead bolt and various other things).

I started to have a crack at working out exactly how I was going to fit the exhaust fan on the LH side of the engine bay, then ended up getting stuck into it quite thoroughly. The result is that it is now mounted in its spot and wired up ready to go. It sucks up gallons of air from around the left hand side of the engine and shoots it out behind the LHF wheel. A bit of overkill, I suppose - but I have long been planning with a number of ideas to tinker with getting more air flowing into (and, probably more crucially, out of) the engine bay. I haven't finished making a fairing of sorts to protect the electric motor from road debris, but I'll do this soon.

With the wing and inner guard in place, I realised that I would definitely have to change the mounting for the aircleaner pretty substantially to make everything fit. This was not a surprise, as I had always rather suspected that in the final fitting things would have to be juggled around a little. I haven't finished the mounts for the air cleaner yet - but I can see where it has to lie now and will make mounts that will do the job, as well as a locking over-centre clip (or two).

Here are a few photos.

John

[Johnno1969]

More photos.

No weekend is ever long enough, but we're getting there.

[Johnno1969]

A few more.

[Ozdunc]

Blimey!!!
Go away for a few days, and come back to an almost built truck!

Jolly well done old boy :cool:

[Johnno1969]

Blimey!!!
Go away for a few days, and come back to an almost built truck!

Jolly well done old boy :cool:

Thanks mate.

Mind you, I can still see this taking a handful more months before it's all over.

John

[Cobber]

No weekend is ever long enough ...i often mumble something similar myself :D

The way I see it is that it doesn't really matter how slow the progress is, every little bit you do is one less thing to do later :BigThumb:

[450Dan]

Progress might be slow but the finished product will be worth the wait. Well that's what I keep telling myself after a day of seemingly no progress whatsoever!

[Johnno1969]

I only got to do some work on the vehicle after lunch today, but we're now most of the way to finishing the aircleaner brackets and cradle.

I marked and re-drilled for the new orientation of the cradle, bent and re-drilled various brackets to suit and then started work on the straps which will lock over the top of the aircleaner barrel to hold it snugly in place. It is one of those very time-consuming small jobs which don't look very obvious but are pretty important in the scheme of things.

Here are a few pics: firstly the cradle as it will now lie, prior to most of the day's work, and then a few photos of making up the locking straps. I've painted it since these photos were taken and I have some stainless steel over-centre clips to rivet to the straps tomorrow. Then I just have to finalise the lengths of the straps and hooks and Bob's my uncle.

Toodle pip,

John

[Johnno1969]

Here's the aircleaner finally, finally locked into position. I didn't get much time to tinker with the Landy today, so really only had time to finish the locking straps for the aircleaner. Better luck next weekend...

Anyway, I am really pleased with the result. The locking straps and the aircleaner barrel itself still need a little more paint as they are scuffed-up by cutting and filing, but it all looks pretty good. The aircleaner sits very snugly at a good angle for drainage out the dump valve, lies clear of the inner guard and the firewall/footwell and should clear the bonnet alright when it goes on.

That reminds me - has anybody ever tried to buy a dump valve for a 200Tdi aircleaner?? Fifty bucks for that piddly little bit of rubber! I keep baulking at buying one, in the hope that some cheap supplier turns up with one.

Cheerio,

John

[Johnno1969]

Didn't do an awful lot today, but a good thing happened.

For the first time since 2010, the Landy has a bonnet.

I cut the old under-bonnet insulation a little better than in times past, then skinned it with a more resistant top layer of metallic backing. It fits pretty neatly in place, being a nice tight fit with some magnets backing it against the steel frame here and there.

Here are a few photos.

[Johnno1969]

More piccies.

Luckily a mate dropped around today, and he was invaluable in lifting the bonnet on without scratching the crapper out of the driver's side wing - which made up for all the time I lost while we sat around talking rubbish and drinking tea.

[Johnno1969]

One thing I am enjoying on this rebuild is actually ordering correct parts for some jobs. It's not a restoration, but I want an "original" feel - as if I'd owned and cared for the Landy since 1965 (which takes some imagination, as it beat me into the world by four years) and gradually modified it here and there along the way. I guess basically I am trying to get rid of the multiple-owner feeling - all the various dodgy bits of engineering, the layers of paint, the rough bush-fixes and rough cuts and the random parts that bit by bit diminish the vehicle that rolled out the door of Pressed Metal Corp all those years ago.

The epic paragraph above is a way of saying "Check out the nice bonnet stay pin and retaining clip. It's amazing what one can find on the internet."

[Johnno1969]

Getting the indicators and parkers fitted.

Tidying up the wiring along the inner RH wing and out to the lights and indicators.

[Johnno1969]

Attaching the bonnet rest strip.

End of the day's work.

[ezyrama]

Hey Johnno

Wow, It's looking great. Will be interesting in to see how much noise that insulation attenuates. Ralph went for a long run on the weekend (about 230 miles) and my ears are still ringing this morning:p

Cheers Ian

[Johnno1969]

Thanks Ian,

Yep, she's coming along alright. It certainly will be interesting to see how well the insulation works. That stuff under the bonnet itself was basically there before and did absorb a bit of the engine's rattle. The really big thing will be to see if the insulation behind the engine, lining the firewall, and in the transmission tunnel and under the seat base does the job I want it to. It has to be an improvement on previous attempts, but I have no idea yet just how effective it might be. Stay tuned....

John

[Cobber]

That's a good amount of progress in not many days, well done. You must feel some degree of satisfaction knowing it's coming together and the bonnet is finally on :BigThumb:

Having just bolted my bonnet hinges on as well, tell me, where does one find a new bonnet stay pin and retaining clip for the stand thing? :confused:

I'll be interested to see how much difference the under bonnet dressing works for you as well. I've ummmed and aahhhed about doing something similar, but am content to leave it alone for the time being, instead focusing on keeping heat out of the cab! :D

[Johnno1969]

That's a good amount of progress in not many days, well done. You must feel some degree of satisfaction knowing it's coming together and the bonnet is finally on :BigThumb:

Having just bolted my bonnet hinges on as well, tell me, where does one find a new bonnet stay pin and retaining clip for the stand thing? :confused:

I'll be interested to see how much difference the under bonnet dressing works for you as well. I've ummmed and aahhhed about doing something similar, but am content to leave it alone for the time being, instead focusing on keeping heat out of the cab! :D

Thanks Cobber. I was actually hoping to get more done on the weekend (of course!), but yes it does seem to be coming together now. Nowadays I have a Land Rover out the back of the house with which I tinker on weekends. It used to be a pile of stuff which I was trying to turn back into a Land Rover.

I'll send you a PM on where I've been getting parts.

The underbonnet stuff did make a difference when the car was on the road before, so I'm happy to re-instal some. You're right: focusing on keeping heat out of the cab is more important (and I have spent a lot more time on that too). The stuff I've put on the firewall and transmission tunnel is the great white hope of the whole rebuild. I've insulated for both heat and noise. Fingers crossed.

Cheers,

John

[Ozdunc]

It's starting to come together. Does it drive yet?

My bonnet and bonnet stay are held on with split pins I didn't realise there was a nice neat option. Although your bonnet hinges are a different shape to mine, so maybe split pins were a later thing.

[Johnno1969]

It's starting to come together. Does it drive yet?

My bonnet and bonnet stay are held on with split pins I didn't realise there was a nice neat option. Although your bonnet hinges are a different shape to mine, so maybe split pins were a later thing.

It does drive, but only around my back yard at the moment. Once I have doors and plates and seatbelts in it/on it, I will venture further afield.

The driver's side bonnet hinge has an opening in it through which a lug or protuberance from the firewall pokes and holds it when the bonnet is closed, preventing any sideways movement . Interestingly, however, my original firewall didn't have this lug (the "new" firewall is, I think from a Series II from around 1961). I am not sure that I like this lug because it is easy to catch it, bend it and generally scratch things with it, and the bonnet striker will hold the bonnet place when it is fitted anyway. Also, the lug forces the bonnet off-centre towards the driver's side. I am not sure if I am going to keep it or get out Mr Grinder.

[Ozdunc]

Cheers

Got any photos of the luggy thing?

[Johnno1969]

Cheers

Got any photos of the luggy thing?

A luggy thing photograph will be forthcoming in the next handful of days.

[Cobber]

If the 'lug' is what I think it is, it (and rough handling probably) has also contributed to one of my hinges being bent as well. I heated it and made it as straight as I could but it's still a bit curved. Still, the bonnet latches in better than it did before :D

That means you have a little split pin through one of your hinges to stop it shifting left and right?

[Johnno1969]

If the 'lug' is what I think it is, it (and rough handling probably) has also contributed to one of my hinges being bent as well. I heated it and made it as straight as I could but it's still a bit curved. Still, the bonnet latches in better than it did before :D

That means you have a little split pin through one of your hinges to stop it shifting left and right?

There's a hole on the end of the driver's side hinge where I presume a split pin is meant to be located. This would prevent it sliding sideways while the bonnet is open, while the lug only slots into place and holds the bonnet as it closes. I will fit a split pin as described, but my question mark lies over whether I persevere with the lug. I have grown to dislike cutting-off original bits of Land Rover but the lug has already caught once and bent when the bonnet was closed after being inadvertently moved sideways whilst open (the split pin would prevent this, I guess). Either way, the issue for me is whether it is worth keeping, taking the risk of it catching and damaging things and the fact that it actually makes the bonnet shut off-centre.

[Cobber]

I don't quite understand how the bonnet shuts off centre, is something else slightly out of alignment :confused: But yes, the split pin in the hinge would help your cause. Make sure you are finished taking the bonnet off for a while though because you'll soon tire of replacing the pin! :D

[450Dan]

I'd get out the grinder personally, if the pin does the same job and the lug makes things sit wrong it sounds as if it needs relocating to the scrap pile!

[Johnno1969]

I don't quite understand how the bonnet shuts off centre, is something else slightly out of alignment :confused:

I'll post some photos on the weekend.

[JDNSW]

The pins for the bonnet stay had split pins and washers on Series 1 and 2 and 2a. The special deal is Series 3 or at least late 2a.

I have replaced the split pins on the bonnet stay and hinge with R-clips, makes getting on and off easier.

John

[Johnno1969]

Righto, here's the luggy thing.

I have scrutinised things intensely today and the verdict is "the luggy thing stays". It has the bonnet properly centred as far as the firewall is concerned: it's just the rest of the Land Rover that's crooked.

In truth I think that maybe the apparent lack of alignment at the front of the bonnet on the driver's side is due to twisting resulting from the bonnet stay being on that side and almost 50 years of it being lifted and lowered - usually with the spare wheel on the bonnet.

[Johnno1969]

The driver's side inner guard all fitted up. It needed a little more trimming today to make sure that it'll be easy to remove and replace whenever required, which is pretty much par for the course with fiddling to get these things to fit. I expect much the same with the passenger side one tomorrow.

The first photo shows the nice little nylon spacers glued in place which create space between the extended inner guard and the footwell. They're actually a Land Rover part I found online once; I can't even remember what vehicle they're designed for or what they're meant to do. They suit this purpose, anyway.

[reachjatt]

The driver's side inner guard

If you ever decide to make them commercially I'll surely have few orders for you.. Excellent job.. Well done.

Nav

[450Dan]

Don't suppose you have a pattern for that guard do you? And dimensions... I am thinking of knocking up something similar as the steel guards mine had are mostly dust on bob

[Johnno1969]

Don't suppose you have a pattern for that guard do you? And dimensions... I am thinking of knocking up something similar as the steel guards mine had are mostly dust on bob

I'll have to think about how I might manage that. I got these made by making some rough measurements and then a drawing incorporating the original dimensions with additions marked where I wanted them. I gave this (and the original items) to a bloke I know who plays with aluminium for a living and said "Can you make what's on the bit of paper?" That got me well started: the basic items already made, with nicely-turned edges and relatively thick aluminium.

Then it was just a matter of fitting, removing, trimming, fitting, removing, trimming etc etc to make things fit. The time-consuming bit was working our how to avoid the lower bulkhead bolt. I'm not sure my solution was the best, but it was the best with what I had on hand and it seems to work alright.

What I found yesterday was that, although the spacers are only about 3/8" at the bottom of the new inner guard, at the top I had to make an aluminium spacer about 2" thick for the fixing point on the underneath surface of the wing top. This was because it can't pivot slightly at the standard lower attachment point on the footwell, now being held straight by the extension below that point. The angle of the inner guard where it meets the wing top is different to original.

Righto, if you understood that last paragraph you're already on your way. I will see what I can do about making a drawing of the left hand item before I instal it. That should at least give basic dimensions and the shape of the area clearing the bulkhead bolt.

Cheers,

John

[Johnno1969]

Remember how I said that I was going to instal the LH inner guard today?

I lied.

I don't mean to keep telling lies, but whenever I say "This weekend I am going to finish (insert job on Land Rover here)" to myself or anybody else I always end up, er, not finishing it.

I did embark upon the whole inner-guard-fitting exercise, but it was a little slower than expected and I had a bit more trimming to do to make sure that it and the base upon which the exhaust fan sits to not run into each other in such a way as to make fitting the inner guard (after wing and everything else is in place first) difficult. That's pretty much sorted now, but as I went along a number of parallel jobs presented themselves, as usual:

I did a bit more work on the aircleaner cradle so that it would not be too difficult to remove the aircleaner for element changes (little bits and pieces have been catching on each other and I wasn't happy with that).

Then I gritted my teeth, got out the holesaw and prepared to wreak havoc upon the passenger side wing in preparation for fitting a snorkel. This was completed, thankfully, without an "Oh Jeeeeezuz ****in' Kerrrist!!!" moment as I seem to have put the hole in the right place first time and saved myself the trouble of more panel work and repainting on the wing.

John

[Cobber]

whenever I say "This weekend I am going to finish (insert job on Land Rover here)" to myself or anybody else I always end up, er, not finishing itthat sounds all too familiar! :D

As said above, you've done a sterling job with the inner guard :BigThumb:

[Johnno1969]

To paraphrase the great, great John Fogerty - look at what I just saw while lookin' out my back door.

[Johnno1969]

I got stuck into cleaning up the carport a bit today. It was getting a bit messy around the workbench, which is never good for progress on the Landy.

Once this was done, I decided that there was really no good reason not to put the glass into the windscreen frame. The results look pretty good. Then I got excited and, though I had been trying to discipline myself to instal the vents before the windscreen while access was easier, I could not help but to bung the windscreen on.

Over the past few years I have had occasional raids on Clark Rubber and stockpiled all sorts of rubber strips and bits of matting. A lot of the seals in the car will be proper Land Rover items (though do "proper seal" and "Land Rover" really make comfortable philosophical bedfellows?), but a lot will also be "good as" matches I've found here and there. The one between the windscreen frame and the bulkhead is terrific. I guess it may not be the right thing to do in every Landy rebuilder's mind, but I have smothered the mating surfaces of the windscreen surround, the bulkhead and the rubber itself in Lanox before putting the whole thing together. It was always one area where I got rust in the bulkhead, and I reckon it's worth a go.

Cheers,

John

[debruiser]

Looking awesome! Can't wait until my rig starts looking like a car again.

I'm sure you covered it in your thread, but was it difficult getting the windscreen glass out?

[Johnno1969]

I'm sure you covered it in your thread, but was it difficult getting the windscreen glass out?

I actually don't think I mentioned it before. One side (which had the original glass) was not difficult. The other (in which I had installed some replacement glass over ten years ago) was difficult. That was entirely my own fault, as I had stupidly got some type of silicone sealant all over everything, including between the retaining strips and the glass - which is where nothing should be applied. It meant that I ruined the strips in removing the mess. Luckily, I had a donor screen and used the strips from that yesterday.

This time around, I used the correct screen sealant between the glass and the frame, put in the strips and wiped off any excess with a rag soaked in turps. Very easy - and it will be easy to remove if required.

John

[debruiser]

Ahhh, cool. thanks. I was thinking I"d just mask up the screen to paint it - going to make it body coloured. But after seeing your results it looks so nice.... definitely a better job and maybe it's worth the extra effort.

[Johnno1969]

Ahhh, cool. thanks. I was thinking I"d just mask up the screen to paint it - going to make it body coloured. But after seeing your results it looks so nice.... definitely a better job and maybe it's worth the extra effort.


Like a lot of things, I guess it's each to their own. But Series vehicles definitely look better when the galv looks like galv. Also definitely worth the extra effort to strip stuff down as far as possible.

[debruiser]

I know what you are talking about with the Gal bits.... I"m just not sure yet, maybe I will keep it silver, maybe not....

[Johnno1969]

Go the galv!!

[chazza]

...but I have smothered the mating surfaces of the windscreen surround, the bulkhead and the rubber itself in Lanox ...It was always one area where I got rust in the bulkhead, and I reckon it's worth a go.

Cheers,

John

Your car is looking fantastic Johnno!

Do a trial with the Lanox on a rusty, and a bright piece of steel and put them outside to see how they fare. When I trialled it, it started rusting in 3 days!

The only one that worked with no significant deterioration in 12 months, was Penetrol,

Cheers Charlie

[Johnno1969]

Your car is looking fantastic Johnno!

Do a trial with the Lanox on a rusty, and a bright piece of steel and put them outside to see how they fare. When I trialled it, it started rusting in 3 days!

The only one that worked with no significant deterioration in 12 months, was Penetrol,

Cheers Charlie

Thanks Chazza.

Yes, I'm a fan of Penetrol too. For right or wrong, I have used it on all the steel surfaces on the vehicle (including spraying it around inside the bulkhead).

I have just tried the Lanox on the mating surfaces of the windscreen surround, rubber and bulkhead as it is over the top of good paintwork and hopefully will form a film that stops water entry between those different components. Maybe a good idea, maybe a bad idea - but all I know is that I'm happy to give it a trial.

Cheers,

John

[Cobber]

I know what you mean about whether or not to put the vents in first. I got new glass made (except the corners) because over the years the windows got scratched up. What decided it was that the glass people finished before I got around to doing the vents :D even so, it wasn't that difficult installing the vents with the glass in place :BigThumb:

I can relate to having a clean up too. Sometimes having a tidy up and re-evaluating where you're at with the Landy is just as satisfying as actually doing something with the car! :D

[Johnno1969]

I can relate to having a clean up too. Sometimes having a tidy up and re-evaluating where you're at with the Landy is just as satisfying as actually doing something with the car! :D

Absolutely!

[wally]

To paraphrase the great, great John Fogerty - look at what I just saw while lookin' out my back door.

Yeah, our Callistemons are flowering like crazy at the moment too.

[Johnno1969]

Botanical curiosities aside, I probably should post some more Land Rovery bits.

I have been tinkering with the list of fiddly jobs which have waited until now for some attention: tidying-up wiring, installing and wiring the horn and wipers.

The wipers look brilliant. The arms are used items, but in really good nick (thanks, Cannon) and I bought the blades from Tex Instruments in the UK. They are really good. They have a nice stainless steel finish with sprung blades which are an improvement on the original flat jobbies but still look the part.

[Johnno1969]

Cleaned up the door check rod retainer thingummyjigs too.

Then, despite the ever-present threat of inclement weather, I forged ahead and tackled the doors - the last big thing that needs Deep Bronze Greening.

They've come up alright. Hell, look at the reflection on the photo. In years past, my Landy's paintwork used to absorb light. Astronomists used to turn up wanting to study it.

[Johnno1969]

Some more photos of the Landy. The bumper is temporary - just for when it's first on the road, until the bullbar gets straightened.

[wally]

Cleaned up the door check rod retainer thingummyjigs too.

Then, despite the ever-present threat of inclement weather, I forged ahead and tackled the doors - the last big thing that needs Deep Bronze Greening.

They've come up alright. Hell, look at the reflection on the photo. In years past, my Landy's paintwork used to absorb light. Astronomists used to turn up wanting to study it.

It still absorbs light. It only reflects light in the deep bronze green part of the spectrum.

[Ozdunc]

Do you have a licence for those knees?

[harry]

it is a good thing that he is clothed too,,......

[Johnno1969]

It still absorbs light. It only reflects light in the deep bronze green part of the spectrum.

Yes yes yes yes yes. Pedant.

[Johnno1969]

Do you have a licence for those knees?

Yep, they're fully compliant. I've got all the paperwork.

[Johnno1969]

it is a good thing that he is clothed too,,......

Was I? Must have posted the wrong photo....

[Johnno1969]

I've been playing with the doors this weekend.

I fitted them, but I have decided that I don't like the finish on the paint. I rushed the prep last weekend and the surface was not as smooth as it should have been prior to top-coating.

I am going to take a little time and decide if I can live with it - or if I'll be getting out the emery paper.

John

[debruiser]

I've been playing with the doors this weekend.

I fitted them, but I have decided that I don't like the finish on the paint. I rushed the prep last weekend and the surface was not as smooth as it should have been prior to top-coating.

I am going to take a little time and decide if I can live with it - or if I'll be getting out the emery paper.

John

Wow, that is dedication. I would be 'stuff it, it'll do' :D although my purpose for fixing up a series is probably very different to yours....

[Johnno1969]

Thanks mate,

Yeah - maybe I am getting too pernickety, given that it's not actually a restoration and I've never been aiming for a perfect finish. The thing is that I don't mind some scuffs and scrapes and old dents as they are part of the Landy, but unevenly-removed old paint under the new stuff just grates on me because it says I was impatient and rushed things and is just the sort of scrappiness I was trying to avoid.

I'll think about it for a while, anyway. The doors look alright from most angles.....

Cheers,

John

[wally]

Thanks mate,

Yeah - maybe I am getting too pernickety, given that it's not actually a restoration and I've never been aiming for a perfect finish. The thing is that I don't mind some scuffs and scrapes and old dents as they are part of the Landy, but unevenly-removed old paint under the new stuff just grates on me because it says I was impatient and rushed things and is just the sort of scrappiness I was trying to avoid.

I'll think about it for a while, anyway. The doors look alright from most angles.....

Cheers,

John

Yes, and you've always been a perfectionist with that car. From the day you bought it. Why change now?

[Johnno1969]

Here are a few photos from a week or two ago: hinges going on, as well as making a seal and retaining ring for the overdrive selector.

I am leaving the stainless steel bolts unpainted. The captive nuts in the firewall were all intact when I got the firewall (which was certainly a good thing) and I have run the bolts through their threads several times, covered in anti-seize paste, before fitting them.

John

[450Dan]

Looks awesome coming together, have to say seeing other peoples progress motivates me to get on and do things to mine... keep up the good work!

actually, just a question quick, the nuts in the firewall for the door hinges - how does one get a spanner to them as i cant seem to find a hole anywhere and they are doing a nice job of spinning round in circles when i try to take them off without it.

~Dan

[JDNSW]

......
actually, just a question quick, the nuts in the firewall for the door hinges - how does one get a spanner to them as i cant seem to find a hole anywhere and they are doing a nice job of spinning round in circles when i try to take them off without it.

~Dan

You don't. They are 'captive' nuts. The square nuts are in pressed sheet metal holders that are clipped into the holes in the bulkhead*. The bottom ones you may have a chance of getting some sort of spanner on from the bottom, but the top ones you will almost certainly have to drill or grind off the heads, and you will be able to remove them with the hinge off.

John

* Late ones are slightly different - the nut is welded to a sheet steel holder, but doesn't really change the situation.

[debruiser]

I'll second JDNSW's reply, they are a pain when they rust up! I like the idea of antisieze, I think I'll take my hinges back off and do that!

Thanks John for the good tip and great photos!

[JDNSW]

I'll second JDNSW's reply, they are a pain when they rust up! I like the idea of antisieze, I think I'll take my hinges back off and do that!

Thanks John for the good tip and great photos!

Yes, very good tip - it is far better to avoid the problem than to deal with it! But that does not help Dan's immediate problem!

John

[debruiser]

Agreed! it doesn't help. My experience was that it wasn't completely rusted solid, I got a few turns THEN it froze solid, so I could get a hacksaw blade down between the hinge and the firewall, I cut the bolt in half. Drilling the head out of the bolt is probably easier.

[450Dan]

Hmm, sadly the bottom ones are the ones that are actually undoing though i have yet to take a hinge off fully so i may have to crack open the grinder, but once i have the old ones off, is there some way of getting new ones in? i assume there must be a hole hidden under the hinge itself? otherwise i may be reduced to a gibbering heap in a corner... probably swearing lol.

oh and i agree that anti-seize paste sounds a damn good tip, i shall have to get some as i don't plan on having this issue again in the future!

[Phil B]

Agree with the anti seize on the new screws
I had to use an impact driver to get them out
They can be a real PITA
Phil

[Johnno1969]

Hmm, sadly the bottom ones are the ones that are actually undoing though i have yet to take a hinge off fully so i may have to crack open the grinder, but once i have the old ones off, is there some way of getting new ones in? i assume there must be a hole hidden under the hinge itself? otherwise i may be reduced to a gibbering heap in a corner... probably swearing lol.

oh and i agree that anti-seize paste sounds a damn good tip, i shall have to get some as i don't plan on having this issue again in the future!

Get ready to do some gibbering, Dan. I might be missing something, but I am blowed if I can see how anybody could get new captive nuts in place without cutting into the bulkhead.

[Johnno1969]

Agree with the anti seize on the new screws
I had to use an impact driver to get them out
They can be a real PITA
Phil

Yeah, I have grown obsessed with nickel anti-seize paste. I should have bought shares in the stuff (and Penetrol) in 2010.

[Phil B]

Get ready to do some gibbering, Dan. I might be missing something, but I am blowed if I can see how anybody could get new captive nuts in place without cutting into the bulkhead.

You have to be in a very good mood, any frustration or tiredness at all when you do them will result in things being broken, tools thrown across the workshop and lots of blue air.:censored::censored:
I found that a pair of long nose pliers to clip them in and a small screwdriver or a loop of wire through the screw hole to stop them falling into the hole helped. RPITA job though.
Good luck!!

Phil.

[Johnno1969]

Not the great bounding leaps of progress which I was hoping for this weekend - but a little progress nonetheless.

I got the hand throttle (and the mounting plate on the bulkhead) installed, and sorted out the air vents. The air vent rubbers are some nice tubular rubber with sticky backing (I bought a handful of metres of it last weekend). I fitted them to the lids, rather than to the bulkhead, and they seem to fit pretty snugly when the vents are closed.


Cheers,

John

[Johnno1969]

Next stop was the tailgate and various bits of hardware around the rear of the chassis and tub, as well as the number plate lamp. The tailgate does not fit as well as I would like, as it has suffered a fair bit of distortion in the past. Hopefully I can get it sorted, but it is not possible to twist it the way I need to to recover the original fit without ruining a lot of paint and taking off the galv capping. I'll see how it goes when the roof and top tailgate are on.

[Cobber]

I never thought of fitting the vent rubbers to the flap itself but it's not a bad suggestion. My rubbers were very very tight, but I will concede the more I open and close the vents they are fitting and sealing better and better but what you have done is probably the way to go so long as they're lined up properly :BigThumb:

Where did you get the step things on the back, or were they already on there? I'm in two minds as to whether or not I fit them on mine but it's nice that the option is there - it beats climbing up on the tyre or slipping off the tow ball when climbing in the back :D

[Johnno1969]

I never thought of fitting the vent rubbers to the flap itself but it's not a bad suggestion. My rubbers were very very tight, but I will concede the more I open and close the vents they are fitting and sealing better and better but what you have done is probably the way to go so long as they're lined up properly :BigThumb:

Where did you get the step things on the back, or were they already on there? I'm in two minds as to whether or not I fit them on mine but it's nice that the option is there - it beats climbing up on the tyre or slipping off the tow ball when climbing in the back :D

Probably the main reasons I did it were to keep the bulkhead tidy and the thought that if I didn't have any rubbers resting in the channel that takes the vents when they are closed there would be nowhere there for moisture to lurk behind rubbers and promote rust.

Like you said, the ones on your vehicle should get better as they shape to accept the vents and seal a bit more. I lined mine up by marking what looked like the best alignment to match up with the bulkhead when they shut. I made sure that they are hollow, too, as it is an irregular fit anyway with a home-made solution; much more forgiving to gaps...

Yeah, the steps/handles (can't remember what they're actually called - it'll come to me a minute after I post this) have always been part of the vehicle. Very useful. I've got a plan to fix a high-lift jack on a plate mounted using the bolt-holes for the one on the passenger side and lying just above it.

I'm ditching the tow ball from my Landy. I never liked it, never used it and it was only useful for when I wanted to bash my knee into something and scream "F****************CCCCKKKK!!!!"

[wrinklearthur]

------- Yeah, the steps/handles (can't remember what they're actually called ) -----

I have heard of them being called 'Coolie grabs'.

[Cobber]

Probably the main reasons I did it were to keep the bulkhead tidy and the thought that if I didn't have any rubbers resting in the channel that takes the vents when they are closed there would be nowhere there for moisture to lurk behind rubbers and promote rust.Makes good sense ... makes me wonder if I should have done it your way haha only time will tell I guess! :BigThumb:


Yeah, the steps/handles ... I've got a plan to fix a high-lift jack on a plate mounted using the bolt-holes for the one on the passenger side and lying just above it.I'll be curious to see how this work out for you. I've been thinking of a way since the beginning of where I can mount a high lift jack, be it externally or in the tray somewhere. So long as it doesn't impede on anything or bang against the body this might be a winner? :BigThumb:


I'm ditching the tow ball from my Landy. I never liked it, never used it and it was only useful for when I wanted to bash my knee into something and scream "F****************CCCCKKKK!!!!"Oooh I know all about that! I nearly didn't put mine back on but once I started thinking about it I realised I used my 2a for towing all the time so on it went. Besides, it's going to have to pay for itself all over again so I'm fairly sure it will be on towing duties at some point ;)

[Johnno1969]

I'll be curious to see how this work out for you. I've been thinking of a way since the beginning of where I can mount a high lift jack, be it externally or in the tray somewhere. So long as it doesn't impede on anything or bang against the body this might be a winner? :BigThumb:



I've been meaning to do it for years. I picture the base plate resting on the horizontal plate that will be bolted to the rear chassis outrigger and a bolt through the rear of the cab and through one of the holes in the jack's vertical bar (with assorted fixings here and there).

I'll get around to it one of these days.

[Johnno1969]

A little more progress. Picked up the hardtop sides yesterday (had them sandblasted.....sick of wire-brushing and sanding around rivets) and did some work on them today, prepping them for painting.

No photos, but that's what today brought.

John

[Johnno1969]

P.S. Looked at driver's side door today and though "Yep, definitely have to sand and repaint it".

[Johnno1969]

P.P.S. Which means I'll be doing the same with the passenger-side door.

[Johnno1969]

The hardtop sides are coming along. They seem to have come up alright after a handful of coats of Limestone; hopefully there are no nasty surprises waiting when I have a close look at them when they're dry.

John

[Johnno1969]

Here are the inner seatbelt mounts, the fire extinguisher (I'm actually considering having two of them) and the passenger-side lower seatbelt mount.

[Johnno1969]

....and I'm still going to re-paint those bloody doors. They were really annoying me today.

[Johnno1969]

After several weeks of being unable to work on the Landy due to non-Land-Rover components of my life intruding, I got a bit more work done this weekend.

Actually, in the opposite of the usual situation, I got more done than I'd thought I'd would. Or, more to the point, after finding myself halfway through Saturday and not yet out working on the vehicle I lowered my expectations to almost nothing and by Sunday afternoon had exceeded them.

Yesterday afternoon I had a crack at separating the front and rear sections of the tropical roof panel (mine is from a 109). The 109's panel is simply a panel of the correct length for an 88 (though I think the vent placement may be different), with a few extra feet tacked on.

I broke the spot welds by driving a paint scraper between the two panels and whacking it with a hammer. Observant viewers will see that I suffered for my art (note blood spatters). Aluminium can be a little sharp.

[Johnno1969]

Also got the bullbar cleaned up and primed (I have had the bars set into a new bumper recently). Roof is in the background (etch-primed inside and out now).

[Cobber]

After several weeks of being unable to work on the Landy due to non-Land-Rover components of my life intruding...ive had to shuffle mine down the list of priorities lately too but reading about other people's makes me feel better! :D

[Johnno1969]

This wee project is inching forward.

I haven't had much time to work on it lately, but have been preparing the roof for painting and organising the seals for the hardtop sides.

I've beaded the seams in the roof with a polymer sealant. Today, I sanded the seams back, then got as far as the first topcoat on the external surface of the roof. It seems to be coming up alright.

I'm making the lower seals for the hardtop from lengths of rubber bought from Clark Rubber a while ago. They seem to be taking shape alright, but the first rainstorm will tell.

[Johnno1969]

Here's the roof, and a few photos of how things are starting to look.

[debruiser]

Looking good. I bet your starting to get excited about the completion date and getting to drive your beasty around!

[Johnno1969]

Yep - absolutely. It's pretty close now.

Mind you, I always seem to be able to find some-job-or-other to take longer over than I should, or leave unfinished....

[debruiser]

Yep - absolutely. It's pretty close now.

Mind you, I always seem to be able to find some-job-or-other to take longer over than I should, or leave unfinished....

Haha yea, theres always a job that you just don't want to have to do, so you avoid it for as long as possible; probably making it harder the longer you leave it! haha. That's me as well.

I've found that lately every time I go to do something theres always a problem with it, either I don't have the parts or something just doesn't work so I get stuck on it and I lose motivation to work on it.

[Johnno1969]

Yep. The thing is so often that a job is basically finished, but there's some part or other missing or I need to buy some tool or paint or whatever and can't get it until next week... and then the next weekend I am not working on the Landy, and then when I get back to it I realise that I forgot to buy what I needed anyway, then I have a cup of tea....

[Johnno1969]

I got a few more coats of Limestone onto the roof, then got stuck into the tropical roof panel.

Just shut up shop for the day... I had high hopes of getting the tropical panel painted today as well, but it has a fair bit to be done before I can take to it with the spray gun. All the rivets attaching the strengthening ribs to the panel were cream-crackered, so I knocked them all out before commencing the clean-up.

There's the usual crappy old paint and gunge on the tropical panel, so I have spent the afternoon cleaning it up, as well as prepping for the little bits of bog it's going to need here and there and straightening the edges with a small hammer and a block of wood for a dolly.

Until next time....

[Johnno1969]

Things are crawling ahead.

Today was the day for having a good tilt at the tropical panel.

It's funny how many jobs contain jobs within jobs within jobs, which seems to be why so many jobs take so, so very long...

I filled the hole in the panel where somebody appears to have affixed a bull-light in the past, then tackled refitting the strengthening ribs I removed last weekend to get rid of the corroded rivets.

Refitting these ribs took a long time....about four dozen rivets. Sounds simple and quick; looked simple and quick.... but it was all done with big, meaty, long rivets in a hand-riveter, with each rivet taking around four grabs of the riveter before it snapped. My hands are acheing.

I also added two extra lengths for strengthening in the rearmost portion (When I cut the panel down to fit my 88, I poached some strengthening angle from the disused portion). More riveting.

Then I flipped the panel over and got to sanding and preparing the upper surface. I used the finishing strip from the original trailing edge to make my cut-and-shut tropical roof look just like a shop-bought one.

That was it for the day. If the weather is alright, I am planning to get out the spraygun tomorrow.

John

[debruiser]

...Refitting these ribs took a long time....about four dozen rivets. Sounds simple and quick; looked simple and quick.... but it was all done with big, meaty, long rivets in a hand-riveter, with each rivet taking around four grabs of the riveter before it snapped. My hands are aching...



I went to super cheap and got myself a pneumatic pop riveter - it's a cheap piece of crap BUT it's great!! Makes popping 100's of rivets quick and easy, no more aching hands and feet :D I think it was about $125, well worth the investment I think.

Probably a bit late for this project though.... you've already done the tub. I re riveted my tub in a hour or 2 with it.

[Johnno1969]

I went to super cheap and got myself a pneumatic pop riveter - it's a cheap piece of crap BUT it's great!! Makes popping 100's of rivets quick and easy, no more aching hands and feet :D I think it was about $125, well worth the investment I think.

Probably a bit late for this project though.... you've already done the tub. I re riveted my tub in a hour or 2 with it.

Funny that you should mention that. At one point I did think about nicking up the road to see what was available. Then I thought "Nah. It's good exercise."

[Johnno1969]

Tropical roof: top-coated.

[debruiser]

You've probably already answered this but do you spray paint outside? or just take it out after your finished to let it bake in the sun?

How do you go with overspray and the neighbours? I always try to be careful about that sort of thing (I live in town, the neighbours downwind are quiet close and good neighbours) I wouldn't want to upset them too much.

[Johnno1969]

I usually spray paint in the carport, a matter of feet from my neighbours on the other side of the fence. They don't seem to mind. This project has been going on for years, and they've never said anything -apart from occasionally sticking a head up over the fence to have a yarn about how it's going.

So, hopefully nobody has been upset. I've said all the usual stuff about hope-this-is-not-bothering-anybody.

[Seriestwo]

When Painting I hang clear plastic under my brothers house and make an encapsulation (I am an asbestos removalist so making "bubbles" is my specialty). Once painting is complete I just leave it in there for a few days. I have been told to put some heat lamps in there but I haven't had any issues yet.

[Johnno1969]

Today saw the tropical roof panel put in place - and what a pleasing thing that was. It was helped by the fact that my hardtop (not originally from this vehicle) must have had a tropical panel to begin with, as all the correct holes were in all the right places.

Walking home from the local boaties' supplies last weekend, just as I had been thinking about rubber washers to seal between the panel spacers and the roof, I found some bicycle tyre tube discarded on the footpath. Today, out came the scissors and hey-presto: nice little seals.

Here are a few photos:

Tropical panel in place, waiting for its fixings.

The manna-from-heaven inner tube (also known as the "Hand of God Inner Tube").

Nice stainless steel fixings, spacers and groovy little rubber washers all lined up and ready to go.

Stainless bolt head in place. Nice and tidy.

When the rain finally forced me inside this afternoon, I assembled the tailgate top. Looks good, especially with its new handle. Yes, I know the hammer-finish on the galv needs retouching (actually it may be a stray bit of masking tape still left on it...).

John

[Johnno1969]

The weekend ended on a pretty high note.

On Sunday morning, I raised the hardtop roof up to the carport ceiling using a few ratchet straps, backed the Landy in under it and lowered it down. It looks rather nice in position. For the moment, it's only held by a few loose bolts; got to buy a few more this week.

[Johnno1969]

Nice new windscreen to roof seal & hardtop sides to roof seals (ex-UK).

It's starting to look the part.

A little more to do now, but we're nearly there.

Cheers,

John

[bell1975]

Nice new windscreen to roof seal & hardtop sides to roof seals (ex-UK).

It's starting to look the part.

A little more to do now, but we're nearly there.

Cheers,

John

Looking fantastic John.

I seem to recall asking this before but did you ever buy an el-cheapo (sand) blaster unit? I'm in the market for one...tax refund time!

You'll be able to affix that sticker I gave you a few years back soon too.

PS. I think I found your next restoration project the other day.

It was on the eastern side of the Bruce Hwy close to Mountain Road (Gundiah end IIRC). It's sitting in this paddock, looking like it's in need of your attention. If this link works it might be one of the objects in the paddock.

It's not Wally's place is it?

https://www.google.com.au/maps/place/Mountain+Rd,+Bauple+QLD+4650/@-25.8115335,152.5976936,371m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x6beb4c2a888eb21b:0xab517 649255be823

[Cannon]

Loving your little teaser shots.

I'm looking forward to a complete view shortly :)

[Johnno1969]

Loving your little teaser shots.

I'm looking forward to a complete view shortly :)

Hehehehe... yep, I thought I'd just keep it to little glimpses as it all comes together. We're pretty close to finished. Unfortunately, I just made an order of small bits and pieces (including the somehow-missing door strikers) from the UK and have just been told that they want to charge sixty quid for delivery. Until I get that sorted, there could be s small delay...

[Johnno1969]

Looking fantastic John.

I seem to recall asking this before but did you ever buy an el-cheapo (sand) blaster unit? I'm in the market for one...tax refund time!

You'll be able to affix that sticker I gave you a few years back soon too.

PS. I think I found your next restoration project the other day.

It was on the eastern side of the Bruce Hwy close to Mountain Road (Gundiah end IIRC). It's sitting in this paddock, looking like it's in need of your attention. If this link works it might be one of the objects in the paddock.

It's not Wally's place is it?


Hey mate,

I don't think I'll be taking on another project for a while. Nope, I don't know the Landy in the paddock you mention. The el-cheapo sandblaster I used was Wally's....which reminds me - I probably should give it back one day.

John

[Johnno1969]

Loving your little teaser shots.

I'm looking forward to a complete view shortly :)

P.S. The wipers look good, don't they??

[wrinklearthur]

Originally Posted by Cannon
I'm looking forward to a complete view shortly



P.S. The wipers look good, don't they??

The wipers are working then? :p

[Cannon]

P.S. The wipers look good, don't they??

Yes they do :cool:

[Johnno1969]

The wipers are working then? :p

But of course!

[wally]

Looking fantastic John.

I seem to recall asking this before but did you ever buy an el-cheapo (sand) blaster unit? I'm in the market for one...tax refund time!

You'll be able to affix that sticker I gave you a few years back soon too.

PS. I think I found your next restoration project the other day.

It was on the eastern side of the Bruce Hwy close to Mountain Road (Gundiah end IIRC). It's sitting in this paddock, looking like it's in need of your attention. If this link works it might be one of the objects in the paddock.

It's not Wally's place is it?

https://www.google.com.au/maps/place/Mountain+Rd,+Bauple+QLD+4650/@-25.8115335,152.5976936,371m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x6beb4c2a888eb21b:0xab517 649255be823

It's not my place but it's not far from me and I know the LR and the paddock in question. It's a blue 109 2A if I remember correctly. The owner is a Land Rover man through and through. As for my sandblaster, I figured when I gave it to John that it would be the last I'd see of it. He's kept very quiet about it.

[Johnno1969]

As for my sandblaster, I figured when I gave it to John that it would be the last I'd see of it. He's kept very quiet about it.

Sssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.................!!!!!

[Johnno1969]

I picked up some Bailey channel for the windows from Clarke Rubber yesterday. It'll do the job, matches the dimensions of the original and was much cheaper than ordering the "correct" part.

Today I cleaned up the door tops. I am very glad to have got that done as it was the last "dirty" job left to do in the whole rebuild. The tops are sitting in the carport now, slathered in Penetrol, and I will paint them tomorrow.

No photos, sorry, but I will hopefully take some tomorrow.

[Johnno1969]

Here are the door tops: painted.

This is the last bit of bodywork left for painting/finishing/installing. What a relief....

Quick glimpse of the inner rear cab thrown in.

Cheers,

John

[Chris66]

Is that limestone inside the cabin? Looks good.

[Johnno1969]

Yep. Limestone.

[wally]

Ooh.
I'm getting excited now.

[debruiser]

Wow.

Exciting times....

So Land Rover Limestone ay.... must remember that. You wouldn't happen to have the paint code handy?

[Johnno1969]

Ooh.
I'm getting excited now.

Get the billy on...

[Johnno1969]

Wow.

Exciting times....

So Land Rover Limestone ay.... must remember that. You wouldn't happen to have the paint code handy?


Rover no. RTC4044A; Dulux (DuCo) D38505

I seem to remember a bit of head-scratching and manual-checking when getting both the Limestone and Deep Bronze Green mixed, not so much because they didn't appear possible, but more because the year/vehicle descriptions seemed to vary in some catalogues. Either way, it wasn't difficult. Those codes are a good starting point (there's a thread here on the forum with paint codes).

[Ozdunc]

Johnno - the inside of your canopy looks totes amazeballs!!!

Excellent work.:thumbsup:

[Johnno1969]

Johnno - the inside of your canopy looks totes amazeballs!!!

Excellent work.:thumbsup:

Thanks mate. I just hope I can concentrate on the road ahead and not keep looking over my shoulder at it.

[wally]

Get the billy on...

Oh OK. Crikey.
Bring a bun loaf.