My First Land Rover

[61ron]

Now this may seem a little backwards… The intent was to document this process while it was taking place rather than retrospective but…. Better late than never. I want to start by thanking everyone on AULRO for your help. The archived posts and solutions to problems I encountered on this project were an absolute blessing and without them I would be far far worse off with less skin, more swearing and I am sure a lot more money spent.

I bought my first land rover about 18 months ago after deciding that I would love a fun project four wheel drive but didn’t really want to spend the money on a new one. I love their looks, history, and feel. I had very limited experience working on a friend’s truck, but they appeared simple enough for someone with limited mechanical experience. My intended plans for the car was to have a vehicle I could use for a bit of camping, cruising, Bunning’s trips and coffee shop runs. I had no intention of driving it daily and if it took a while to finish the build then that was fine also. I wanted a vehicle that ideally had original paint but good mechanicals. My eyes set about searching for a LWB 2a, I felt this would best suit my purpose.

Then I found it ….. Advertised as a 1962 2a ex military vehicle LWB. The car was quite complete however not completely together. The gentleman selling the vehicle stated it had been for sale for a while however was in storage most of its civilian life. The engine hadn’t started in many years, the chassis had a small amount of rust and the bulkhead was covered in a wood and vinyl dashboard (but underneath looked rust free). Overall it looked like an excellent base for my project vehicle. The Landy hadn’t driven in years but it seemed like it was worth the gamble so off I toddled with it on the back of the trailer.

[Landy Smurf]

looks good

[61ron]

After a bit of digging we found the ARN and a few further details about the car. It was in fact a 1961 series 2 109” GS. It still had original engine also and many of the military parts including brush bar and rear seats. At this point the vehicle also received its name Ron…. Dunno why that name, just seemed fitting.

The intention now that it was home was to start the strip down and begin the parts ordering, refurbishing, rebuilding process. The previous owner stated that his intention was to use the landy for fishing, but his wife refused to let him go in OD landy so made him paint the car red with house paint and a brush……….. I just couldn’t bring myself to leave it this colour. The intention was to never seek out a military land rover because I have always thought that there is a bit of an obligation that comes with owning or restoring one. However I loved this cars look and felt it suited my needs perfectly. Therefore one of the main changes planned was to repaint back to olive drab.

[61ron]

The strip down came relatively easy however I was fast running out of spaces to store body panels, engine components and miscellaneous nuts and bolts. A few things presented challenging… like removing a 109” tub by yourself. Overall the process ran relatively smoothly with minimal skin lost. Looking at the condition of various bits and pieces I decided that I would endeavour to complete the project, put the car back together without looking at the internals of the diffs, transfer case, gearbox or engine. A big call I know, but looking at the condition much of it was kept in I decided that once it was all back together, if something requires attention then I would deal with it then.

Gee this really was a dirty part of the process, spending days on end with the wire wheel on the grinder seeing what the chassis was really like. Overall I was pleased with only minimal rust repair needed. I also gained some much needed practice with my welding skills. With the chassis grinded, primed and painted I then concentrated my efforts on removing the diffs and leaf springs. This was the first job I truly hated!!!!!!!! DAYS spent on removing and replacing chassis and spring bushes (the swear jar was overflowing) finally after hours spent on this site I found a solution that worked for me and hopefully the job wont require attention for another 50 years !!!!!

[61ron]

a few more pics

[61ron]

and some more

[61ron]

yep..... more

[61ron]

The painting took place in a series of stages. As it all progressed, the more of the body I would paint. The final parts to paint were front guards, doors, wheels and a handful of other bits and bobs. I had run out of paint so I asked my brother to pick some more up. Unfortunately the shop gave him the wrong paint and silly me didn’t check the code……. I should also mention that I am colourblind…… Anyhow I proceeded to paint the remaining pieces thinking to myself, seems a little glossy… Oh well will probably go matt once it dries. I was excited to show my wife all my freshly painted bits once she got home from work. I remember her words very clearly. Looks good, but why did you paint it a different colour to the rest of your car” DOH!!!!!!!!!! I should probably add this isn’t the first time this sort of thing has happened. I once painted my dog kennel pink thinking It was grey and I once bought a large quantity of automotive vinyl thinking it was grey to find out it was green…. I no longer make colour decisions in my own hahaha

[61ron]

and a few more piccies

[61ron]

As time went on and the 65th anniversary cruise in Perth approached I felt like I had a good deadline to work towards. It was approximately 4 weeks away and a lot still needed to be completed………. So that probably wasn’t the right time to go for a 2-week surf trip up north with mates. But I did.


Right now only 2 weeks till the cruise. I had felt defeated and overwhelmed with full time work and a list of jobs to complete as long as my arm. I still couldn’t get my brakes to work no matter how many times I bled them and I still didn’t know if my transmission, transfer case or diffs had any major issues. Further to this I obviously needed to go through registration and with time running out I needed to pass first time!!!!! It was a big ask

[61ron]

With a few days to go before rego, I towed the car up to a friends workshop where countless hours ticked by, while little jobs were completed, door tops fitted, wiring completed, suspension components torqued, leaks fixed, floor secured, canvas applied steering adjusted, fixings fixed and brakes ….. none. I had read AULRO posts on how difficult they were to bleed, but this was ridiculous. I was convinced it was air in the mater cylinder so we got the car on an extreme angle to try and move any potential bubbles that were hiding. I tried pressure bleeding, still no success.

Finally the time had come for the registration check and I had no brakes!!!!! The car was running beautifully as this stage but not stopping at all. Anyhow I took the car to the mechanic performing the registration and explained the situation and said I would pay for labour if they could bleed the brakes for me. At the end of the day I got a very disappointing phone call saying they were unable to bleed the brakes and I was to pickup the car the next morning. I was feeling pretty deflated. The 65th cruise was Sunday morning at it was currently Friday when I went to retrieve my car. I chatted to the mechanic and he sensed my frustration. He then explained if I can get the brakes to work and bring the car back within 2 hours he would pass it for rego. I couldn’t believe it a 2nd chance to make the anniversary run…. Although cutting it pretty fine!!! I got the car back to my friend’s workshop and trawled the AULRO posts looking for ideas I hadn’t yet tried. I isolated the problem to the front dual wheel cylinders and after removing the drum and applying ratchet straps around the shoes pushing the pistons back as far as it would go, in conjunction with pressure bleeding at 15 PSI I finally had a pedal WOOOO HOOOOOOOO!!!!! I couldn’t believe it. I got the car round to the mechanic quick smart where he agreed to sign off the vehicle. It was now midday Friday and the paperwork was underway.

One more stage remained involving a 30km drive to the licensing centre where I knew I would be in for a queue at least an hour and a half long, also I was pretty sure they shut early on a Friday??????? Panic began to set in once more. As I waited for the paperwork to be approved (2 hours) and as the mechanic abused his staff for not being able to fix my brakes in 3 hours whilst I did it in an hour or so. Why is this taking so long I asked? Typically same old story “because its an old car”. In fairness the car had not been registered in over 30 years so I should have expected this part was going to take some time. Finally this was done!!! All that was left was a lengthy queue in the licensing centre and I was home free. Now I was starting to get very excited!!! At 4:00 pm on Friday afternoon it was finally registered. I don’t think I could cut it any finer!!! That’s it I can now make the 65th anniversary cruise.

[61ron]

The 65th anniversary cruise day had arrived and started spectacularly. I went in convoy with andy_d110 and we set off with an early start and a mountain of tools to fix anything that may arise during the day. However to my surprise the car performed flawlessly!!!!!! Cruised beautifully on the freeway at 90kph (with some more in it). I couldn’t wipe the smile from my face. The whole time driving, I knew that I was going to create some fantastic memories with my time in this vehicle. The day was amazing. I got to meet many new like-minded people and see some incredible cars, with incredible history to match.

I am actually not someone who loves working on cars non stop and to be honest the last 18 month has been difficult dedicating the time needed to continue moving forward on the project (often going months at a time without progress). But the idea of maintaining and servicing the car is more than enough to keep me interested. As previously stated this isn’t my daily driver therefore if any issues arise I don’t feel the pressure to work on it 24/7 to fix it, I like that. There are still many things I would like to do to the vehicle to (complete) it…. But all in good time.

[61ron]

My favourite thing to do in it so far is get as close to the coast as possible, reverse it up, crack a beer and watch the sunset with the wife and dog!!!!

[Landy Smurf]

that looks great you did a top job on it. Now sit back and enjoy :)

[Ozdunc]

Well done mate! That looks awesome!:BigThumb:

[Cannon]

Your triumph over your brakes has me all fired up again :)

Good job & enjoy :)

[garrywlh]

Fantastic story. Well done. You have inspired me to keep on keeping on. LOVE the shot of the silhouette of the dog looking at the waves. :)
Garry

[Cobber]

I had felt defeated and overwhelmed with full time work and a list of jobs to complete as long as my arm.I know the feeling well!! :eek:

It's come up a treat, well done :BigThumb: