Project Rhodi

[Rhodi]

Hi All, herewith my next project, a rebuild of a Series 2. Purchased on eBay and shipped up from NSW to Brisbane. The vehicle is an ex-army Command Reconnaissance 88" vehicle. Not in too bad a condition since it is 53 years old, with the panels relatively straight. Have been flip flopping from restoring to rebuilding and have decided on a combination. Will replace the items that are always problematic with aftermarket ones. Anyhow look forward to sharing the good and the bad and getting some good ideas from my fellow members.

[chazza]

Nice one Rhodi!

Lots of advice and technical specs on the REMLR website, as well as here Registry of Ex Military Land Rovers - Index (http://remlr.com/forum/index.php)

Cheers Charlie

[Rhodi]

Thanks Charlie, will check them out.

[Rhodi]

Well all, with a bit of time on my hands i have started to dismantle, off come the doors, windscreen, bonnet and side wings .... :D

[Landy Smurf]

definitely a good starting point, i think it will come up trumps

[gunguy]

will be watching closely Rhondi, looking at doing up a 2A myself, and being a Landy virgin will need all the help and tips i can get

[Rhodi]

Hey Gunguy, more than happy to share knowledge and assist where i can :)

[russellrovers]

Hi All, herewith my next project, a rebuild of a Series 2. Purchased on eBay and shipped up from NSW to Brisbane. The vehicle is an ex-army Command Reconnaissance 88" vehicle. Not in too bad a condition since it is 53 years old, with the panels relatively straight. Have been flip flopping from restoring to rebuilding and have decided on a combination. Will replace the items that are always problematic with aftermarket ones. Anyhow look forward to sharing the good and the bad and getting some good ideas from my fellow members.
hi i have 2 700 16 tryes bar treads if needed jim

[Rhodi]

Thanks Jim, noted.

[Rhodi]

And a few more hours and this is where i am at......:D

Surprisingly everything came off nicely, no hacking, cutting or sawing required. I think those challenges are being reserved for the chassis.

[Rhodi]

This is where it becomes interesting. As a one man band pulling apart the mechano set is easy enough, it's the weighty aspects that become a challenge for an individual.......... :spudniklifter: Who needs a home gym when you've got a Landy to work on

[Rhodi]

And the closing of this chapter as we get to the bare essentials.... :MileStone:

[Rhodi]

Hi all, well i cracked on with inspecting the chassis and preparing it. It never ceases to amaze me what some bush mechanics try to get away with........:censored: As you can see i took a chisel and hammer and prodded the usual suspect areas for rust and holes and behold........ :eek: look what i came across! The previous owner had done a half hearted repair job of the left rear/tail cross member which incidentally had rusted all the way to the rear left spring hanger. To fill the hole he had taken a good sized socket and welded it in place and then placed a whole lot of body filler on top of that.:banana:
Anyway always up for a challenge

[Rhodi]

Interested in hearing what the experts have to say for the number stamped on the rear right spring hanger support ~ 360

[Rhodi]

Hi All, well i have completed the assessment of the rear cross member and it is not worth salvaging. I have already ordered a new part that will hopefully arrive this week.... :cool:

[Rhodi]

Boy does time fly! :zzz::zzz:

Will be providing an update soon!

[ezyrama]

Boy does time fly! :zzz::zzz:

Will be providing an update soon!

Hope so, I cant hold my breathe much longer :p

[Rhodi]

Well the cross member arrived and i set about looking at the best approach to measuring the cutback along the chassis rails.

[Rhodi]

Once measured, ensuring enough overlap for a strong joint i proceeded to cut the back end off. I decided to also put in some puddle welds just to add to the strength of the joint. I then used the rear tub as a jig to set the right height and length of the required overlap. :D

[Rhodi]

And the puddle weld and new section welded in. In welding the rear unit in i ensured that the weld along the corners penetrated down to the old section.

[Rhodi]

On completing the rebuild of the chassis and bringing it back to bare metal i did consider getting the chassis galvanised. That would have been the best approach to ensure longevity but finding a reputable company with a big enough bath to dip the chassis into, in one go, without warping the chassis seemed to be not only difficult but too risky. Hence decided the best next approach was to paint it with either POR15 or Rust Bullet with chassis gloss black as the final coat to keep it looking original. Rust Bullet was chosen!

[Rhodi]

To finish off the chassis with the external looking damn fine, the next job was to put preventative measures in place for the internal chassis rails while we had the chassis uncluttered. This allowed me to flip the chassis over to access the drain holes and to also angle the chassis to ensure good coverage was gained. Several applications of Lanolin was squirted into the rails to ensure good coverage. When i cut off the backend i was pleasantly surprised with the good condition inside the rails after more than 57 years! One of the preventative measures that i took was when i welded the new rear member into place i looked at the old one to identify the vulnerable areas where the rust started. Then proceeded to drill drain holes in the corners where water and mud collects prior to painting.

[Rhodi]

With the chassis in a completed state i ordered a new wiring harness for the Series 2 with a slight tweak. The classic harness was ordered from Autosparks in the UK keeping to the original spec's i.e. braided cloth with 2 additions, wiring for an alternator thus changing the polarity and a tow bar harness. I left the original in place so that i could use it to feed the new one through the chassis rail.

[Rhodi]

The great thing about rebuilding Series from the ground up are all the pressies that one gets through the post........:thumbsup: Well the next parcel arrived which contained the leaf spring shackle assembly components. Some of the wrappings looked like it dated back to the 60's and 70's! As i mentioned in my original post, although i wanted to keep Rhodi standard i was willing to make tweaks to improve some aspects hence the original leaf springs are gone and parabolic ones will go in.

[Rhodi]

The axles will be the biggest change that i will make to the vehicle, away from the OEM build. I want to beef up the drive train which means changing the internals which is great because from the outside it still looks stock standard! :D

So my intention is to change out the diff centre, with something a bit more robust like an Ashcroft airlocker, which means changing the half shafts to a 24 spline from the stock 10.

[Rhodi]

Diff centres have always intrigued me and although i have rebuilt a number of gearboxes for series and discos i have never tried to rebuild a diff. Hence thought i would give it ago after getting a number of quotes which averaged out at $600 just for labour. As you can see in the pic the thrust washer has had it so time to pull it apart. Before stripping anything off i measured the backlash and ensured all identifying marks for reassembly on the bearing caps were in place.

[Rhodi]

Stripping is always entertaining as you just don't know what challenges are going to be thrown your way. Everything seemed to come away relatively easily but in removing the pinion bearing outer races i have pulverised the shims which i will not be able to reuse. :(

[TeamFA]

Hey Rhodi.... are you from Rhodi? If so, which part, and when last there?

[Rhodi]

Hey TeamFA, yip originally from there, went back in 2007. Originally left in 2000 after our farm was taken. From Umvukwes in the old language or Mvurwi in the new.

[Rhodi]

Moving along i prepped the diff housing with the same product, rust bullet, and then proceeded to drill and tap the hole for the air feed for the locker.