Two Door Restore 1978

[westy1]

Howdy,Here's my 1978 two door,looks great from a distance,huh.

[westy1]

Had a cursory look over the masai red 1978 and searched for all the things where classics tend to go,missed a few, but saw enough to ascertain the bones in general were all good and would make a good project car,so off we go.

The Good:chassis just light surface rust,firewall excellent.

The Bad: A and B pillars lower section,sills look like someone shotgunned them but can sort both.

The Ugly:Bulkhead.Inner wings shot ,Footwells .Note the 40 year old wing bolt,hangin in there.

[westy1]

Pulled the engine to fix the rear main seal and sump leaking volumes onto the garage floor,so out she came.

[westy1]

The rear sliding windows were shot,nothing holding the glass up .
Sundry broken body parts and rusted areas.
Massive poorly done bog repairs on bonnet,side panels and doors.

[westy1]

Time for hammers ,new metal and a new colour,Audi ibis white,a clean solid white.

[westy1]

Drove 300 miles to pick up a 3.9 disco 1 engine for a potential csk facelift.

Sat on this idea for a bit,then decided i liked the original look better,but would rebuild the engine from scratch and make the call whether to use the 3.9 vs the original 3.5 when the bodywork was complete.

As visible in the pics,this engine had very few if any oil changes,and leaking headgaskets.

Time for a strip and a bath,a nice chemical bath.
Had done top end on engines previously but never a full rebuild,really enjoyed it,and learnt heaps,nice sense of achievement with every small step.

[westy1]

Nice and clean near new 3.9.
One bore had a slight lip from water sitting for a few years,didn't rebore them but got them honed,crank was in tolerance,with new cam,lifters,heads shaved .10.
All shiny ,Wanted to bring it in as a coffee table but was informed by wife that there would be no favours given in the foreseeable future;)

[discojools]

Looks fab... yours was the same colour as mine was and is! Mines an 82. Have done upholstery now just waiting for carpets. Then she's finished part for a few little details.

[westy1]

Wow,Disco,That looks sweet:)

Made the call to go with the 3.9.I know efi,so wanted a slightly more refined serp belt efi engine in there,as had it ready and the 3.5 needed a strip down.

Body work all done,time to put it all back together.

My panelbeater couldn't get hold of me on a friday arvo,and thought he's use a bit of artistic licence and bling the wheels and bumpers gloss black.
He thought the aluminium colour looked naff,haha.
I burst his bubble a bit when i told him they had to be original;)

[westy1]

Sand grit everywhere.
2k epoxy coated ,love it.
Lining up and securing panels is a time consuming skill i've decided.

[westy1]

Took a moment to change out the Transfer case intermediate gearing to the longer legged .996 cogs to give the old girl longer legs on the highway.

Spent a month between work and rugrat,putting the ancillaries back together.
Had some quality marital time putting the engine back in,with my diminutive wife being dragged across the garage floor trying to hold the engine and hoist off the firewall,yelling"I can't hold it,i can't hold it" haha,quite funny.

[westy1]

The 3.9 only has a sole oil port for the engine oil pressure light on the dash on later models.
Bought an adapter from the UK from a rover v8 performance shop online to feed the three gauges using it on the two door.
Oil pressure/oil temp/oil pressure light.
They are all different threads and finding the adpters meant a trip to an engineering shop.The adapter had two holes,so tapped a third in the side to fit the three.

Took a week to sand and repair rust in the tailgate,came out good,with new track and used a later model rubber seal which is wider than the original and stops carbon monoxide inhalation a bit better.

This is where i'm at currently,working on the wings install,and may need some help with piggy backing the efi loom onto the existing wiring setup.Electricity not my forte'.
You've got to love a car that has two fuses for the entire vehicle .
Note the gas filler on the right rear quarter panel,from long range tank setup a previous owner had setup,all plumbing still there with tank switch under pax seat.Kept it to preserve the history.

Put the rear quarter panels/bumper/lights/decals and the euro number plate back on the rear,looks ok. Liking the stark white with the black contrast.

Found a great crc product also that restores black plastic.Will post what it is when in country.
This combined with a youtube video i stumbled on showed how to restore certain types of plastic trim using a heat gun,yep,sounds crazy but worked a treat on the side mirrors(Caution needed here)

[Meccles]

Looks great. Lucky we didn't build them alongside each other cause we might have easily mixed up the parts :D Lots of familiar photos particularly of cancer. I am trying to decide what wheels to use. I have a set of rostyles, and also a set of 80's 3 spoke alloys. Both sets need re doing. The rostyles are more original but I like the alloys a bit more myself. Thoughts? Great work again.

[rar110]

A lot of work, time and hard earned gone into that project. It looks great. Well done.

[westy1]

Cheers Guys,Yep,It's very time consuming,but as you know,very satisfying.

Meccles,Great to see your progress pics,outstanding effort and superb result.

Have you considered the csk rims for your two door? Hard to find these days and probably the last thing you'd need to clog the garage is a third set of rims,but they do look good on the csk two door.
I flipped a bit on that one also,as have both sets here,for now staying with the rostyles,as liking the old school look,cheers Westy

[Sam Ball]

Looks fantastic Westy what percent would you say you've outsourced, and how much yourself - have been watching yours and meccles with awe - but know my limitations.....

[westy1]

It's 25% experts : panel beater,painter.
75% me for the rest so far

[Meccles]

Mine is more 40% experts 60% me. Panel/paint/gearbox the experts. Rest me though will get some help with wiring - I'll run it but get sparky to do connections/testing.

[westy1]

With the sparky piggybacking the efi engine into 40 year old lucas wiring,that'll take it to 35% I'd say.
Engine and Trans all me this time,first time doing the full monty ,so hope she starts,bit anxious about that one!considering all the moving bits i've changed,will let you know.

I wish i had got the panel beater to help put more panels back on as it's witchcraft...

I should imagine every classic owner would be able to find their own vehicle in a blind lineup,knowing their own gaps and quirks of their own rangie.
Kind of like a unique fingerprint,certainly not clones,haha..

[Meccles]

:D:D Well said! For sure you could pick your own! Good luck with electrics and same when I first fire up my beast. There will be drinks on hand for either commiserations or congratulations! :p

[Davo]

Do either of you have to break in a new cam?

[Meccles]

Yes I do. Done it before. Once started will be running it at around 2250rpm for half and hour. Used Crane Cam lube on all lifters/rockers/pushrods. Also got the Penrite 10W-40 Engine break in oil in it. Which gets changed after 500kms.
So pretty critical to ensure that all hoses/fittings/etc tight and leak free so I don't have to stop/start.

[Davo]

I only mentioned it because when I did it, I thought it would be as described: just run at whatever revs for the given time and that's it. What actually happened was that the engine started getting too hot, so I had to let cool it down, top up the coolant, (I used distilled water at first, as it's supposed to be less likely to leak as coolant will with new gaskets), and then start it up again. I had to do this two or three times. Which was a bit nerve-wracking when I had replaced pretty much everything that moved.

[Meccles]

:D Understood. Actually it is best to vary the speed between 2-3000 rpm, slowly up/down, as lifts/cam rely on splash lubrication. First time I did it years ago power steering fluid was leaking everywhere, so had to shut it all down. Trick is to have everything primed, ready, so they start up quick. And agree re coolant first time is with water. And use of high zinc oil (not a synthetic) is really important for this. This time I am not even going to have power steering belt in place, until after engine has been run up for a bit.

[Davo]

I was just surprised at how difficult it was, not having read a thing about having to stop and start the process.

[westy1]

Ditto,Meccles covered it nicely :)

My panelbeater lost my keys,so spent the day installing new igntion steering lock/key barrel and door locks,what a nightmare that is.
By design there is very limited access to the door locks with the window frame in,so much skin lost.

ps:big ups to famous four in the uk,got here in 4 days,freight is killer.

Here's the technique:Lie on garage floor,place torch in mouth,place blob of bluetac on screwdriver,guide holding clip on end to slip under key barrel blind.Fail epicly,small curse,repeat 20 times,larger curse,succeed,ask for assistance to get off the concrete floor...

Pictures show new ignition installed ,and flash new lucas right stalk,plus placed front grills on to test placement for holes and riveted guides.

[Meccles]

:D Looking very sharp, I'm impressed with how tidy your steering column is. I use Andy at Famous Four a lot too, they have been excellent. One tip, years ago my original indicator switch stopped working. When I put a new one on, and tested it, you could see that there is a slight bit of give in unit when you operate it, particularly right hand indicator, that actually stresses one of main wires coming off the switch. This was what had broken on mine. So, I just soldered in a short 2" extension. It never failed. The actual loom as provided was too short. Something to check:)

[FisherX]

Looking sweet Westy.

I can appreciate all the time you spend on the little things that only you will know about :D. I've noticed a lot of your detail work e.g. the painting of the horns to name just one.

Looking at UK prices you'll have a pretty valuable rig in the end. Keep the post coming I look every day for updates.

[westy1]

Cheers Meccles ,Yes the flex duly noted,and as a result the highbeam connector had broken,so good call.

That door lock clip is another story,rare as.. i scoured ebay,and spotted what looked exactly the same.
Triumph TR7 Dolomite Sprint Clip f?r Schloss 723290 (http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/261801416552?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT)
Funny what bits were shared around back in the day,haha.


https://www.aulro.com/afvb/
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/

[Meccles]

Understood about the door lock. How the hell they fitted them on production line has me beat. Sweet got two new Dolomite Sprint "new" old stock from Germany on their way. For $3 each- bargain! :D Good find!:clap2:

[discojools]

Ditto,Meccles covered it nicely :)

My panelbeater lost my keys,so spent the day installing new igntion steering lock/key barrel and door locks,what a nightmare that is.
By design there is very limited access to the door locks with the window frame in,so much skin lost.

ps:big ups to famous four in the uk,got here in 4 days,freight is killer.

Here's the technique:Lie on garage floor,place torch in mouth,place blob of bluetac on screwdriver,guide holding clip on end to slip under key barrel blind.Fail epicly,small curse,repeat 20 times,larger curse,succeed,ask for assistance to get off the concrete floor...

Pictures show new ignition installed ,and flash new lucas right stalk,plus placed front grills on to test placement for holes and riveted guides.

Westy1,

I swapped around my window frames from one 2 door to another so could get the best ones in the Red RRC. Also to do Bailey channels ( Available from Scotts Rubber) it's quite easy easy to remove the window frames if that would make it easier to do locks. I seem to remember I had to drill a hole on the inner door skin to get at one of the frame bolts. There's another bolt near the quarter light frame that I couldn't get back in as the nut is not captive . Doesn't seem to matter.
Famous Four have been very good for me apart from the expensive freight. I have bought a lot of stuff off them.

[westy1]

Cheers disco,yes couldn't be bothered to do it the correct way after putting the Windows back,so it serves me right for the anguish,haha, it doesn't really alter restricted access to getting the locking clip in there.

[GFB1]

Nice one Westy!

[westy1]

The search for the long since extinct palamino vinyl was starting to resemble the search for the loch ness monster..

Swatch colours online are not a good way to colour match,so some visits around led to a few disappointing miles,until today where a close by upholstery manufacturer had what looked like a good candidate,Eldorado Biscuit.

A quick visit confirmed a 95% match,sweeet.so close it's scary when held up against the cubby box and rubber door holds.
No pic of that sorry, but here's the swatch match on the computer screen which looks ok,but near perfect in reality.(palamino left/eldorado right)

3 sq/m for door panels/pillar trim etc.

The company is called furtex,,local here,but could send easily if nothing found locally your way.

Auto Retrim - Automotive - NEVIS Inspirations (Vinyl) - FURTEX TEXTILES - Furtex (http://www.furtex.co.nz/shop/FURTEX+TEXTILES/NEVIS+Inspirations+%28Vinyl%29/Automotive/Auto+Retrim.html)

[350RRC]

Westy1,

I swapped around my window frames from one 2 door to another so could get the best ones in the Red RRC. Also to do Bailey channels ( Available from Scotts Rubber) .............

Measure the frames from the bottom of the door x2 and across the top and make sure Scott's are going to send you THAT length. Ain't cheap, get what you need.

that is all, DL

[discojools]

Measure the frames from the bottom of the door x2 and across the top and make sure Scott's are going to send you THAT length. Ain't cheap, get what you need.

that is all, DL

Yeah I've done the Baily channels but there was a bit of a cock up with them. When I installed the ones that Scotts had vsupplied I found that the channels were too small and almost impossible for the windows to be wound up and down. I took them back to Scotts and he insisted that they were the correct ones. He did however supply me with some bigger ones and they work perfectly but he said he had never come across this problem before. So there is a little bit of confusion!

[Sam Ball]

Hi Westy, the black lettering badges you used where did you get those and are they self adhesive or push in?
Thanks
Sam

[westy1]

Gidday Sam,The lettering is from 'Powerful UK',they have a store on ebay.
.
They are the original pin type for pre 80 models with the raised lettering.
The aftermarket letters generally have thicker pins to fit where the inserts have disappeared due age,brittle plastic or fallen out.
I got a set of the lettering from another source on ebay,and they aren't as good quality,soft plastic,and the feet break off!
The inserts for the original thin pin letters are available at famous four in the uk.
https://www.famousfour.co.uk/new_parts/ff_part?part=18168
The ones from powerful are superb quality plastic,nicely matched to original.

[westy1]

The beauty about the efi loom is that it remains totally separate from the rest of the wiring,as such can be put in at anytime.

The auto electrician tidied up loose ends,hoop connectors to the alternator and wired the ignition amp to the coil,fuel pump,etc.

I labeled the wires to connect the loom to the car,but got one wire colour wrong.
My donor loom was a mystery and assumed it was a Range Rover classic but turned out to be an early discovery 1 loom.

I have always thought wiring diagrams were the devils work ,so never attacked too much myself,but got the Haynes out,after a proper look the haze cleared and could work it out,should have done it years ago......

As Land Rover was prone to do,they changed a couple of the colours over the years,so I had a fan timer wire trying to power the ignition line,winner!!
The sparky only went with what I had labeled so my bad,peeled the sheathing back and found my error so re soldered the correct one on and the ignition powered up the ecu,happy day:)

The low pressure supply pump clicks away,and the high pressure Bosch pump in the surge tank pressurizes the system for 4 secs,then shuts down,small dance of joy.

Now it's time to finish connecting hoses and filling up all the fluids,getting there.
My lesson for the week is grabbing wiring colours from the Internet,where all efi v8 looms are not coloured the same.
If nothing else I've learnt to read a wiring diagram this week.

[DoubleChevron]

The beauty about the efi loom is that it remains totally separate from the rest of the wiring,as such can be put in at anytime.

The auto electrician tidied up loose ends,hoop connectors to the alternator and wired the ignition amp to the coil,fuel pump,etc.

I labeled the wires to connect the loom to the car,but got one wire colour wrong.
My donor loom was a mystery and assumed it was a Range Rover classic but turned out to be an early discovery 1 loom.

I have always thought wiring diagrams were the devils work ,so never attacked too much myself,but got the Haynes out,after a proper look the haze cleared and could work it out,should have done it years ago......

As Land Rover was prone to do,they changed a couple of the colours over the years,so I had a fan timer wire trying to power the ignition line,winner!!
The sparky only went with what I had labeled so my bad,peeled the sheathing back and found my error so re soldered the correct one on and the ignition powered up the ecu,happy day:)

The low pressure supply pump clicks away,and the high pressure Bosch pump in the surge tank pressurizes the system for 4 secs,then shuts down,small dance of joy.

Now it's time to finish connecting hoses and filling up all the fluids,getting there.
My lesson for the week is grabbing wiring colours from the Internet,where all efi v8 looms are not coloured the same.
If nothing else I've learnt to read a wiring diagram this week.

Well done!!! Wouldn't it be nice if they did the same thing with the latest V8's and diesel engined cars so we could readily transplant them into the older cars.

Shane L.

[westy1]

Prepped for first engine start last night,all ancillaries checked and levels topped up.Lucas sae 30 break in oil filled,took 7.5 litres from dry.

Being a 3.9 with crank driven oil pump,i didn't have the luxury of priming the oil system via the distributor drive,so had packed the oil pump cogs with vaseline,but in the interim, the crank has been turned a bit,and the vaseline was evident downstream in the pressure ports noted when connecting oil cooler pipes and sensors,so a bit freaked that it had all been pushed through..

Turned the engine over,which meant the starter was engaging,phew:)and tried to prime the oil system for 5 secs to get the oil light to go out.Did this twice,being fully aware that the only lube these metal surfaces had was some red machine lube on the cam/lifters and everything else a light coating of 3 in 1..

The oil light stayed on!the port to the sensor had quite a bit of vas in the line,so stauched up and decided that this was likely needing to pushed through to get proper pressure and grinding away on the starter was not going to do it..

Light touchpaper and stand well clear!!,bit of anxiety here knowing that every single metal part in that engine had been put together by a first time amateur..

Reconnected the +ve from the ignition amp to coil,
Two secs of turn,then light off:)the oil light went out in two secs.
The engine throttle linkage was set to give it a fast idle(2000rpm for cam breakin),and away she went,much smoke and noise as the tappets pumped up,and the paint on the headers smouldered,hahaha it runs beautifully,shock and awe.

20 mins later shutdown after varying smoothly between 2000-2500 rpm ,set timing and CO idle .
As a note the water temp got quite hot on the gauge,likely air trapped during the break in.I could see a glow from the headers too,slightly scary!
I do understand that a new build like this will run hot with lots of new metal close tolerances.
I did stop the engine and topped up the fluids after the reservoir looked close to flowing over with the cap off after a few mins,then back straight up to 2500rpm to continue the break in.

Too busy for little dance ,although the garage was resembling a smoke filled nightclub,the zooming around checking of noises,coolant,exhaust,leaks etc that follows a first rebuild start could be a dance move,any suggestions'manic maccarena?

[mudmouse]

Well done mate!!

:banana:

[discojools]

Very exciting West1!

[Meccles]

Great stuff mate nothing quite that first start up! Particularly if nothing too drastic goes wrong:D

[westy1]

Gidday Meccles,cheers,How's your mint two door progressing?
I had one issue only realised today.
I attached a fuel pressure gauge to the rail,this will stay there permanently,to check how the two pumps are performing.

I noticed that the fuel pressure dropped to 23 psi during the run,and couldn't recall at that time whether this was normal having never seen whats normal at rpm on a gauge previously.
It makes sense now as the old original lift pump picked that time to pack a sad.
On the second start i thought i didn't hear it clacking away,this may explain why the engine got hot so quick,and the exhausts rather warm.

The efi pump was having to pull fuel through a prefilter,the dead lift pump and then deliver it through an efi filter ,hence the drop in pressure at the rail.
My hope is that no heat damage has been incurred here,will install a new lift pump tomorrow and check it out.
That fuel pressure at medium rpm should have been up at 30 plus?,so surprised she ran so well considering efi likes high pressure.

[Meccles]

Gidday Meccles,cheers,How's your mint two door progressing?
I had one issue only realised today.
I attached a fuel pressure gauge to the rail,this will stay there permanently,to check how the two pumps are performing.

I noticed that the fuel pressure dropped to 23 psi during the run,and couldn't recall at that time whether this was normal having never seen whats normal at rpm on a gauge previously.
It makes sense now as the old original lift pump picked that time to pack a sad.
On the second start i thought i didn't hear it clacking away,this may explain why the engine got hot so quick,and the exhausts rather warm.

The efi pump was having to pull fuel through a prefilter,the dead lift pump and then deliver it through an efi filter ,hence the drop in pressure at the rail.
My hope is that no heat damage has been incurred here,will install a new lift pump tomorrow and check it out.
That fuel pressure at medium rpm should have been up at 30 plus?,so surprised she ran so well considering efi likes high pressure.

My 2door is coming on it will be back around 19th Oct more photos then. Only problem I have is the paint job is so bloody good it has set a very high standard that I now have to follow:o. Re running hot I can't quite see why fuel pressure would do this? But I am running a carby so only have a Low pressure pump and am not too familiar with EFI set ups. I reckon I am 4-6 months away from start up primarily cause all wiring /brakes and some interior need doing. Little things like a steering column, pedal box etc.:D

[westy1]

Good to hear the paints mint:)no bush bashing for that baby..
Looks like I've got a small head gasket leak,combination of things lined up.
The coolant had an air block
Viscous cooling fan(not the coupling,my bad)turns out to be stuffed,freewheeling.
Low pressure pump failed so was not getting Full mix for cooling potentially.

Might not have turned her off in time with all this going on.
Bit of steam after warmed up.

Likely could live with it for now,but will do a leak down test anyway.
Compressions are all even tho,but that a broad test for gaping holes;)

I can hear a hiss from what sounds like #8 after shutdown,guessing she's sucking in a small amount of coolant and the coolant level is dropping very slightly after a hot run.

Not too concerned,just a pain really,Want it to be right so hopefully only one bank and can knock that off in an arvo,and will see what's up:)

[Meccles]

It's the car Parks that are the worry:mad:those shopping trolleys are lethal! Understood about the head gasket not sure what set up your radiator is but I always used to run them with plug on TOP left of radiator removed after coolant change. Then you can see when thermostat opens up and add coolant as it drops. I never ran it as pressurized system until 100% sure it was full no air locks. A head gasket isn't end of the world but a pain nonetheless. Not as bad as getting say a rear main oil leak at start up:o

[superquag]

So, you are one of the lucky 1% of folk who DON'T have a locked up Viscious Coupling...:D

Make the most of it, as you can have an 'All Wheel Drive' car around town, with what is essentially an 'open' - or Hi-4WD (Unlocked) centre-diff. IMHO, it's the constant, partial coupling of the VC which loads the Output shaft splines...and wears them out.

Wish mine had failed. .. 'unlocked'.. . :(

The Lady Sarah, '95 Vague SE with working air suspension, BW transfer case/ RWD only, and a sunroof that leaks.
Now a Front lawn Sculpture.:eek:

[westy1]

Haha,so true on both counts,
I had hole open,and it rose up when warm,then spilled a bit,topped it up,and carried on,might not have been air locked after that but could have been a factor.that viscous fan,not the coupling sorry is definitely stuffed tho.

I had hoped that some of the existing ancillary equipment that came with the engine had a 50/50 chance of being usable,else where do you stop,haha..

Pushed on getting the right side wing panels all done,looks good.
Re hung the right front door,man they are heavy!!and shimmed so it's fairly lined up with the guards and panels and closes nicely.

Changed the oil in transfer and gearbox.good old castrol gtx 20/50.
Someone had hypoid 90 and something else in there,horrible green slime!

Been up and down the drive and gear change is much better.

Bled all the brakes.
Hint here,no need to remove the rear wheels solely the front two,as there are three nipples on each side up front,and can't get to them wheel on.

Tried to bleed the power steering three times,no joy so far,once again using the pump that was with the engine,so it may be stuffed.
The fluid won't drop from reservoir hardly,turn full L/R release bleed on sterring box till fluid seeps,retighten repeat many times,no joy.any tricks here?

[Meccles]

Sorry can't offer much wrt the power steering I've only ever filled turned wheel full left then right a few times while running. It is not a pressured return so would've thought it didn't need any special bleeding. But could be wrong. Bee Utey might be able to help:)

[westy1]

Turns out the power steering pump was dead,installed a new ZF pump and instant light assisted steering,nice..

This was the only thing holding back from a test drive,so in the pouring rain,no wipers,no deck panel,and missing a headlamp,fired off down the road,quiet back road.

Still has the high zinc oil in there,and needed to put some load on to bed things in.

Profoundly powerful,compared to the 3.5,instant smooth pickup and torque,the clutch and gearbox seems smoother with the correct oil in there,and brakes all good.
The higher geared drive cogs in the transfer box are evident .

There's no back seat in ,and without all the weighty added extras present in the later models,the power to weight ratio of the 3.9 is awesome,kicks off the line nicely.
Even better,is after changing every seal,not a single leak anywhere,thats got to be a range rover first,likely temporary but good to see:)

The combo of the gruntier slightly more refined 3.9 with the lighter genesis two door body makes the vehicle sing.
If CSK was able to match up this combo back in 1978,this thing would have been a weapon for its day.!!:)

[westy1]

Anyone intending to efi their early range rover may be interested in this.

This car is running a surge tank setup to house the efi high pressure pump.
I installed a fuel pressure gauge at the fuel rail to monitor performance.
After some warm idling,the lift pump died?

I replaced it and it did the same thing,so had an overpressure issue somewhere.

I had setup the system following the below diagram setup, but something was not quite right here.

It became clear that the pressure pump was over riding the lift pump so it would sit there and grind away without flow and get hot ,boom.

Likely flowing back up the return line also,evident in the drop in pressure evident on the guage with the engine running.
pre start 36psi dropping to 23psi after 10 mins at idle.

The two door range rover has a small air line to vent pressure/overflow from the carbs,so this became my return to tank,(without tapping a new spigot into fuel tank) definitely some back pressure their also,so the combo was straining the system.

The fix,as i saw it,was to install check valves , 1 post lift pump ,and 1 in the return line to stop overpressure back up to the fuel lines.

Cut out the original plastic return line as far as the tank join,and replaced with 8mm fuel line to reduce resistance a bit.

This has worked .and pressures stay up past 30 psi running which ran well in the test drive,had to think about that one a bit:)

[Meccles]

Mate looking good and congrats to you![emoji106]

[westy1]

I am having the carpets made,and they sell dynamat,having built my own house it looked remarkably similar to window flashing material,and at the price they charge i'm assuming there is some marketing hype for what essentially is the same stuff:)

Nevertheless bought 6 sheets and went to work,this was enough to do the lower firewall and front footwells and centre pedestal.
I have to admit this does work,it's already quieter,and with a woven underlay then carpet,it should be comfortably subdued.

The gaping holes thru the floor for gearlever,transfer lever and hand brake are massive,and the heat rising thru blown in by the fan over the engine is an instant heatwave,alright currently but not in feb..

I will use some thick sound deadening foam,cut it out to shape and ados it under the portals with grooves for lever movement etc.will see how long it holds on in the heat:)

Will try and source some cheaper product for the remainder of the vehicle,the dynamat is butyl where as the house stuff seems to be asphalt based.

Lots of small jobs been going on.,tuned engine on rovergauge,set base idle.
Front air dam vents with support frame (Hint:Make sure these are fitted prior to installing the decker panel,no access afterwards,ask me how i know..)
Lining up panel gaps
510 ohm resistor to tell the ecu it's a manual.
Front grills/headlamp surrounds installed,these new wings came without mount spacers so had to be riveted in the right place to mount the grill and surrounds.

Been for a few short drives which are fun testing runs ,and got it starting first time,idling and without a road speed sensor,coping nicely without hesitation coming off drive to idle.

The water temp gauge reads wrong,so playing with a few to make it read in range,recall engine is efi 3.9 feeding 40 year old gauge.
The correct sensor for the 3.9 is green top.(1/8-27 NPT),which was on the engine,this makes gauge read just under redline.
The black top barely moves out of cold range.
I gather the correct resistance is from a white top from a rare early mpi disco.
Got one more to try then off to wrecker.

The Range rover is driving well,and gunning it around reminds me of the next big job,replacing 40 year old bushes and maybe the steering box,anything over 80 kph is slightly scary around the corners currently,,yee haa

[superquag]

Very Impressed with your dedication... or is it 'Obsession' ? :twisted:

Looking superb,and I'd endorse your choice of wheels.. Alloys would look totally out of place, as would 'Road-Roller' - width tyres.
The Rangie is a Classic (pun intended) 'tall' looking car, and putting 265 / w i d e fat rubber only makes them look.... ordinary, IMHO:eek:

[Davo]

Dynamat with Dynaliner on top really keeps out the heat. It's expensive, but you're paying for a product that actually works, which includes the adhesive. I used some cheaper stuff and it's not as thick, or as sticky. I suppose I should start a thread on my rebuild from a couple of years ago when I did all this.

[westy1]

Restoration Complete :)Well sort of,most of the major stuff anyway.
This last while has been spent on the interior fitout,the fun stuff..

Spent some time getting all the electrics working,and stalks and the original accessory light stalk now turns on the fog/driving lights,,love this stock feature.

Fitted a black faced 52 mm tacho to replace the oil temp gauge,as wasn't very accurate or useful with the sensor picking up oil temp just after the sump and pump anyway.
I wanted to avoid those top mounted tach pods,as always look a bit tacked on,tach tacked;);)

Fitted the new carpets,still retain that loose slightly unfitted quality the originals had,and that makes three layers above metal.

Amazing how each layer to soundproof quitened the cab.
I dont hear the fuel pumps,but still retain the exhaust burble when gunned.Very pleasant environment,no rattles either,mind you there's not a lot in there to rattle,,love that also..

The colour of vinyl turned out great,and a 1 inch test swatch for the headliner turned out sweet,just luck,so palamino,some new, some original old all around.

Can't take the credit for the upholstery,and had three new backing boards made up,as the 38 year old ply deteriorates and warps a fair bit.
Did cutout the speaker holes and fitted all the panel pins,tried three variants to get some the right size that worked.

The cubby box is an original,$50 tucked away way down south the guy had in a shed for years,smells like camphor wood? or maybe thats old school mothballs...
The top lid alone was recovered and matches the rest surprisingly ok.

Final step today was to rivet the Vin Plate back in place,been waiting over 10 months to do that,so nice moment:)

[Grumbles]

That is one impressive effort. You are now the possessor of a new 1978 Range Rover in 2016. It looks absolutely fantastic.:BigThumb:

[Gordie]

Looks great! Well done!

[grey_ghost]

Looks fantastic - great job.. !!!:D

[Meccles]

Outstanding! You have set the bar very high:D Mine will be different but I hope of same quality.

[rar110]

Wow. Well done.

[DoubleChevron]

it's a shame this is in NZ ... I'd love to see it someday. I much prefer the earlier interior and bodywork :)

seeya,
shane L.

[westy1]

Many thanks for the encouraging words all:)
Went and got a warrant and renewed the reg yesterday,must admit was a bit nervous sitting there at the testing station as they did a fairly full on inspection all over her.
Happily passed with only comment a couple of pinholes in left lower sill,phew!!
Glueing the errant rear demister tabs on today,using a permatex product from supercheap,will let you know if it holds;)
All trailing arm bushes and steering stuff next.

[russellrovers]

Many thanks for the encouraging words all:)
Went and got a warrant and renewed the reg yesterday,must admit was a bit nervous sitting there at the testing station as they did a fairly full on inspection all over her.
Happily passed with only comment a couple of pinholes in left lower sill,phew!!
Glueing the errant rear demister tabs on today,using a permatex product from supercheap,will let you know if it holds;)
All trailing arm bushes and steering stuff next.hi great job i had a mike hall conversion to a bob tail 1974 i miss it terrible well done

[Meccles]

Great work Westy! Mind I noticed that your tacho only goes to 4 grand:o I bet you end up hitting the limiter at some stage :D

[westy1]

Meccles,,so true,already tested its limit briefly,still running her in so trying not to max the needle;)
Looking forward to seeing some updates from yours,engine close if not in?
Cheers all,appreciate it.

[Meccles]

Westy yeah engine is in that is in my last set of photos. I actually supplied chassis back to paint shop as fully rolling, engine/gearbox/driveshafts/fuel tank all in place. They fitted body to chassis like that. To make sure I didn't scratch anything too much! Currently back at work (to pay for the thing). It is going back to Paint shop early Dec they missed a few bits that they will rectify. So mid Dec should have it back. But it will take time as all new wiring going in HVAC etc. :(

[Meccles]

Hey Westy just spotted you have exactly same front sway bar (aftermarket) that I have. I fitted mine in oh 92 I think. Made a big difference. And yes it is in on now😀👍

[westy1]

Gidday Meccles,Nice spotting and good choice,,yours must be due some update pics and progress report,can't wait to see her done..
Got to agree,big change in steering feel with the koni damper on,previous,the worn out oem gave no feel and scarily detached.
About to install dampers koni dampers front and rear,fully adjustable,but saying that have never had them off the softest setting,tried a notch up and too harsh for a classic.They aren't cheap but worth it.

[superquag]

Speaking of your Restoration, if you keep it long enough you might find it worth more than you think...
Father-in-Law brought this cutting over today... Last comment in the text is interesting.

"This Range Rover almost single-handedly created today's booming market in 4x4s"\

[westy1]

Nice clip,Thanks for that,will save that for the future.
I've been watching the uk market for two doors some time now and we may end up exporting cars to them it this keeps up.

As someone pointed out,over there the range rovers dissolve with all the salt on the roads,whereas over here we just wear them out;)


Feel kinda weird about all this,as in a way,it's been great to seagull out parts from people who have new old stock,used but now obselete gems.
It's part of the adventure when maintaining and restoring old cars i suppose.
This was easy and great fun when no one wanted them,but now with renewed interest,rare bits are turning into dinosaur eggs,or more like faberge' eggs;)

[Phil257]

Hi Guys,

I've been watching this thread for a while now, following Westy1's and Meccles builds with interest. Great work guys.

The clip about the 73 has motivated me to put up a couple of pics of my 2 door restoration. I posted some pics a few years ago in a thread called "two door owners represent", so there might be some more there.

After about 15 years of on and off work my 73 suffix B is almost complete.

I just need to finish polishing, seatbelts and wheels.

Anyway, here's a few pics.



Cheers,

Phil

[westy1]

Stunning job Phil,another white two door represent:)
Love the early suffix white rear quarter panels colour coded,looks mint.

[westy1]

Here's a bit of an update on the two door
Racked up many miles and currently using the rangie as the daily drive most days.Get withdrawl symptoms if i don't get to drive it for a week..

Bought a vacuum gauge,what a great piece of kit,can diagnose all kinds of engine issues and yes i know, mechanics have been using them for decades,i'm just catching up;)

Instaling a road speed sensor to improve the idle coming off load.Without it the ecu has to do all the work.

[Davo]

Hmmm. Britpart. Check cable crimps!

[trumpycam]

Sorry to go back a bit, but some time ago I also bought some Bailey channel from Scotts and had same problem as Discojools, that windows were near impossible to go up or down, ended up wrecking one window winder. He said they were right and I gave up. Got tired it so have now bought 1 set from famous 4 to see how they go. Do you remember what size the alternative Scotts one's are?
Thanks Joe

[Davo]

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/classic-range-rover/237744-rrc-door-rubbers-wa-2.html#post2556564

There the part numbers for what you need. It's the same stuff these dopey businesses sell, but without the customer abuse.

[discojools]

Joe,
yes you are right, the bloke at Scotts rubber insists that the ones he supplies are the correct ones. I think I still have a bit of the larger ones left so will try and measure for you. Famous Four have been excellent but shipping is espensive but very fast, much faster than Auspost.
i wills need another set for my other two door so,will,probably get them from Famous Four. Let me know how yours are.
Julian

[trumpycam]

Thanks, Sort of glad I was not alone, disappointing as his stuff is not cheap, to go backwards, my R/R does not have aircon so need windows to work! Will post when I get parts, needed other stuff as well as channel. I am also very impressed with Famous 4 faster usually than buying local and waiting for delivery. Should have bought 2 sets but did not want to get caught again, and need lots of other stuff later on anyway.
Joe (p.s need help on springs check out other post) Thanks

[Davo]

And too often buying from the UK is faster when the Australian shop you used has to order something for you from Britain and just made you wait around for it instead of telling you!

[Angelou]

i have a 2 door waiting for a rebuild, that is a great inspiration[smilebigeye]

[trumpycam]

Fitted Famous Four Bailey channel today, window works fine now, snug but can go up as well as down easily! Need to order second set for Pass side. Unfortunately will need to order some other stuff to justify postage cost, bugger.....
Joe