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23rd November 2018, 10:15 PM
You may have seen my initial thread about this in the Introductions Section.
I've procrastinated about making this post for long enough, so here we go. I apologise for all the words but there are some pretty pictures at the end. [tonguewink]
A few months ago I this interesting looking IIA languishing at a friend's place in Country NSW and decided the old girl was too good to leave there.
As part of a deal I acquired the old Rover in question (I built him a new shed to house his off-grid solar system and I too the 109 as part payment for materials).
I've since spent a weekend with him pulling decades of accumulated random rubbish out of it (his dad - the previous owner was a crazy hoarder) and I'm surprised by the overall condition.
The chassis is solid (I couldn't find any soft spots in the usual locations) and the body is remarkably straight given the age and the use I know it got as a bush rally photographer's vehicle.
The history I have been able to ascertain from the VIN No. and family stories so far is this:
Originally assembled in the UK for the domestic market and at some point made its way to South Africa (may have been delivered new or made its way over later).
At some point it acquired a Fairey Overdrive, Dualmatic Freewheel Hubs, a bull bar and brush bars welded to the reinforced front outriggers and interestingly water tanks in the front wings. Supposedly one of these has a heater hose line running through it to heat the water.
In the 80's it was shipped to Darwin where my friend's father bought it and gave it to his 17 year old son to drive home to Canberra.
He recalls the drive fondly, cruising at around 50mph and spending more time on the dirt beside the highway than on the blacktop due to the bar tread tyres' tendency to wander and the ride being more comfortable on the softer stuff.
Originally fitted with the 2.6L Six from factory, sometime (we believe in the 90's) it acquired a Holden 186 Red Motor and the original engine's whereabouts are unknown although we do have the engine number.
During it's time here, the old girl also acquired a pair of reasonably made swing down roof storage boxes and a matching radio console which still hold the 80's vintage AM/FM Radio and CB (both of which still work).
So we cleaned all the rubbish out and threw in a fresh battery just on the off chance it would start (he estimated it hadn't moved under its own power for around 15 years).
With a little fresh fuel poured down the throat of the carbie it fired almost first try, causing a cloud of bright orange smoke (we decided was rust out the exhaust) to blow past the pair of us. It was quite surreal.
A split hose leaked fuel that smelt like turpentine so we used the electric fuel pump to drain around 20 litres of nasty brown fuel out of the tank, replace the line and fitted a new filter
Once we got fresh fuel through the system it ran well and once warm idled happily. We were both amazed it was so easy!
Now for the bad stuff:
Both the brake and clutch master cylinders have failed, giving no resistance on either pedal. I'm going to replace both masters and all slave cylinders and probably throw in fresh flexible lines while I'm at it.
I've got a vacuum bleeder so I should be able to do the twin slaves in the front brakes without removing the hubs (hopefully).
The cooling system doesn't work properly as it's not circulating so I'm suspecting water pump on the Holden motor and probably at least a partially blocked radiator.
My plan is to replace the pump, fit a new radiator (possibly a high efficiency alloy unit), thermostat and hoses and give the block a thorough flush.
While I'm at it I will probably fit new thermo fans to keep the old girl cool.
At this stage I think apart from a few seals and a good service and maybe a fresh set of rubber that's all i should hopefully need to be able to get the old girl on the road.
Here are the photos I promised. Let me know what you guys think.
I've procrastinated about making this post for long enough, so here we go. I apologise for all the words but there are some pretty pictures at the end. [tonguewink]
A few months ago I this interesting looking IIA languishing at a friend's place in Country NSW and decided the old girl was too good to leave there.
As part of a deal I acquired the old Rover in question (I built him a new shed to house his off-grid solar system and I too the 109 as part payment for materials).
I've since spent a weekend with him pulling decades of accumulated random rubbish out of it (his dad - the previous owner was a crazy hoarder) and I'm surprised by the overall condition.
The chassis is solid (I couldn't find any soft spots in the usual locations) and the body is remarkably straight given the age and the use I know it got as a bush rally photographer's vehicle.
The history I have been able to ascertain from the VIN No. and family stories so far is this:
Originally assembled in the UK for the domestic market and at some point made its way to South Africa (may have been delivered new or made its way over later).
At some point it acquired a Fairey Overdrive, Dualmatic Freewheel Hubs, a bull bar and brush bars welded to the reinforced front outriggers and interestingly water tanks in the front wings. Supposedly one of these has a heater hose line running through it to heat the water.
In the 80's it was shipped to Darwin where my friend's father bought it and gave it to his 17 year old son to drive home to Canberra.
He recalls the drive fondly, cruising at around 50mph and spending more time on the dirt beside the highway than on the blacktop due to the bar tread tyres' tendency to wander and the ride being more comfortable on the softer stuff.
Originally fitted with the 2.6L Six from factory, sometime (we believe in the 90's) it acquired a Holden 186 Red Motor and the original engine's whereabouts are unknown although we do have the engine number.
During it's time here, the old girl also acquired a pair of reasonably made swing down roof storage boxes and a matching radio console which still hold the 80's vintage AM/FM Radio and CB (both of which still work).
So we cleaned all the rubbish out and threw in a fresh battery just on the off chance it would start (he estimated it hadn't moved under its own power for around 15 years).
With a little fresh fuel poured down the throat of the carbie it fired almost first try, causing a cloud of bright orange smoke (we decided was rust out the exhaust) to blow past the pair of us. It was quite surreal.
A split hose leaked fuel that smelt like turpentine so we used the electric fuel pump to drain around 20 litres of nasty brown fuel out of the tank, replace the line and fitted a new filter
Once we got fresh fuel through the system it ran well and once warm idled happily. We were both amazed it was so easy!
Now for the bad stuff:
Both the brake and clutch master cylinders have failed, giving no resistance on either pedal. I'm going to replace both masters and all slave cylinders and probably throw in fresh flexible lines while I'm at it.
I've got a vacuum bleeder so I should be able to do the twin slaves in the front brakes without removing the hubs (hopefully).
The cooling system doesn't work properly as it's not circulating so I'm suspecting water pump on the Holden motor and probably at least a partially blocked radiator.
My plan is to replace the pump, fit a new radiator (possibly a high efficiency alloy unit), thermostat and hoses and give the block a thorough flush.
While I'm at it I will probably fit new thermo fans to keep the old girl cool.
At this stage I think apart from a few seals and a good service and maybe a fresh set of rubber that's all i should hopefully need to be able to get the old girl on the road.
Here are the photos I promised. Let me know what you guys think.