PDA

View Full Version : 2a FFT ARN 114 032



jillr
19th June 2019, 05:13 PM
Hi there,
I'm the proud owner of a Series 2a FFT rescued from a paddock near Dunns Swamp recently.
Looking at the compliance plates and then cross checking with REMLR, it appears to be ARN 114 032. It coughed a bit and is not seized, but will need quite a bit of work.
I have started vacuuming a lot of grot off it so I can see what is there.
Next task will be to change the oil (there's not much in it!) and the water (nothing there either!) and other fluids as I get there.
Also going through the REMLR details to fill in the blanks.
Many thanks to Hugh for finding it, Michael, Michael and Brendan (you know who you are!) for enormous assistance in getting it into our shed.
Some pictures of when we picked it up in the field, and in the shed (pic 33). The white Disco is a fabulous tow truck, and the hire trailer was surprisingly good.

- Jill

Johnno_p
20th June 2019, 06:50 PM
Nice [emoji106]
Looks to be in fairly good shape [emoji108]

jillr
26th June 2019, 02:00 PM
So, on Monday I got out the shop-vac and finished cleaning in and out. Lots of flaking paint came off, removed lots of misc. grot. In the engine bay were lots of "concrete" wasps nests. These were mainly on the right hand (drivers') side, probably because the left hand side smells of petrol. Since it's under cover now, some of the lichen is lifting off the bodywork. I can now see where the steering goes as the wasp nests are gone. Persistent little blighters!
The paint colour was originally bronze-olive, probably lead based. The other coats are possibly acrylic. The previous owner said he used spray pack for the light green.

jillr
3rd July 2019, 04:35 PM
Eventually I managed to read the engine number, which took the combine effort of a bright sunny day, the right glasses, a chair out of the shearing shed, some clean-up paper and a bright torch. 90245841C. Was expecting 25248945H. The engine was painted dark blue under the grime, so presumably at some stage of its history it was swapped out. I wonder whether the odometer was reset (about 75000 miles - probably not) or whether the run time was reset? The hours meter looks like it's out of something else, since it's written in both German and English.
Also I love the typo on the dymo label (painted over) that at first glance looks like "lighter", but has been punched "ligher". That might be how you pronounce it :)

JDNSW
4th July 2019, 06:43 AM
1. I doubt the hour meter is a military fitting, although it could be. And even if it is military, it is clearly not original - something else was in that hole originally.

2. My ex-army 2a came with a newly reconditioned engine - painted dark blue.

3. The 75,000 may be original, but don't forget that it goes back to zero at 100,000, so it is quite possible that it has done a lot more. It has probably been in civilian hands for thirty years or so, as well as twenty or more years in the army.

UncleHo
5th July 2019, 07:00 AM
G'day Jillr
A very nice and complete looking vehicle,it's original colour would have been "deep bronze olive" enamel, which would have been over painted with "lustreless olive drab" also an enamel (this is still available from "wattyl paints" from their "structual" range, it is a full flat paint and is quite hard to keep clean,as I have a 1968 2a GS with it on,it shows every hand print and bug kill on it,and to wash off you have to use petrol[bigsad] not good for the skin,gives you skin cancers, I would suggest you repaint in Deep Bronze Green gloss,original an a lot easier to maintain.

PS. I have just acquired a tired 1990 "Perentie" which I will be returning to original

cheers

UncleHo
30th July 2019, 11:42 AM
G'day jillr

That looks like a very original vehicle yes,the original colour would have Deep Bronze Green. being an early military rego number,later vehicles post 1967 were painted "Lusterless Olive Drab,(very hard to keep looking nice & clean,the gloss Deep Bronze Green much easier.)
if you are going to fully restore it you can then make it & yourself known to your local RSL and possibly offer it for use at ANZAC day and Vietnam vets day parades.

cheers

The cigarette lighter was installed by a smoker,like I was[bawl] until 2000 took a heart attack to stop me[bighmmm]

jillr
30th July 2019, 09:36 PM
G'day jillr

That looks like a very original vehicle yes,the original colour would have Deep Bronze Green. being an early military rego number,later vehicles post 1967 were painted "Lusterless Olive Drab,(very hard to keep looking nice & clean,the gloss Deep Bronze Green much easier.)
if you are going to fully restore it you can then make it & yourself known to your local RSL and possibly offer it for use at ANZAC day and Vietnam vets day parades.

cheers

The cigarette lighter was installed by a smoker,like I was[bawl] until 2000 took a heart attack to stop me[bighmmm]

Yes, the aim is to get it going, get it on historic plates and "parade" it occasionally. So far I've got a copy of the workshop manual and enough parts to perform an oil change. Learning as I go! I'm keen to get the engine going first, bit by bit, then logically I suppose the brakes. Of course I need a battery. We tested it first with another one, but at least it cranks over OK. The seats are completely stuffed but that would be expected. I'm curious about the position of the original tools as there are plenty of holes on the bonnet but also some wingnuts between the driver and passenger which look as though they were to hold something down.
The driver side door needs attention. I noticed the top sill was loose when I climbed out, so I'll need to fix that up. There is a nice gap between the custom aluminium hood and the top of the door, presumably to let the hot air out :)
Found the holes where the antenna connections went in the tub and near the left hand fender. I'm curious about a pocket on the left hand side of the engine bay, between the fender and the bonnet (inside). There are two earth straps, one each side, apparently unused, which presumably grounded some gear which may have been fitted when it was in service.
Yes it would be nice to have it available for special days when restored, as you suggest. The nearest RSL would be Kandos.

Cheers,

Jill

jillr
5th September 2019, 10:45 PM
A couple of weeks ago I drained the sump of oil. There was a nice stream of black Landy blood. This has been transferred to the container labelled "Used tractor oil and Landy Blood".
Left it dripping for a while and cleaned up here and there.
Today I had a look at the sump pan bolts to see what size they were. They are pretty easy to move, although everything has a thick cake of oil and dirt.
I think it needs a pressure wash before I undo the sump pan. Nevertheless I put some degreaser on the bolt flange area to loosen things up.
While lying comfortably underneath contemplating the odd way they did the wiring, a big wind came up and it occurred to me that I should keep things covered.
So the sump drain plug is back in temporarily.
I'm surprised the oil filter uses a different spanner size. Maybe I should not be surprised! Something between two spanner sizes, might be a different range.
I had a good giggle over the odd square cut nuts underneath the cabin. Presumably not original... looked like something from a Meccano set.
Also why did they run the fuel line through the same area as the electricals? I would have thought that was asking for trouble.

Meanwhile every time I moved around under the Landy, the resident Willie Wagtail got upset. I hope it's not thinking of building a nest in it! I've parked it between the trusses of the machinery shed so hopefully there is nothing that looks like a perch above it.

JDNSW
6th September 2019, 08:50 AM
Your Landrover is bolted together mainly with UNF bolts and nuts, but you still have some BSF, Whitworth and BA threads and hexagon sizes. Main spanners needed are inch ("AF") and Whitworth. Metric spanners are only useful for sizes that coincide with AF or Whitworth (e.g. 11mm=7/16"=1/4"BSF=3/16"BSW).

The square nuts you spotted are, I assume, the ones at the front edge of the flat floor - these are supposed to be captive and inside steel boxes spotwelded to the firewall.

Best source for AF and BSW/BSF spanners is op shops and garage sales, sometimes markets. You can get good spanners for next to nothing.

jillr
26th September 2019, 01:12 PM
So the sump is drained, the sump bolts are off but the pan is still sitting there smiling. I've run a sharp edge around the groove between the bottom of the block and the sump pan, and have left it for a while... will check again on the weekend. I've put a bottle jack and a piece of wood there in case it comes down suddenly while I'm not looking. Folks tell me that it might have a cork gasket!

While underneath, I'm impressed with the amount of effort gone to earth every part. There are earth braids going everywhere, including to the sump pan.
I guess this is for radio silence, which is good as I intend to get a a suitable HF set for it some time ( de VK2DLY ).

There is a bracket welded to the exhaust extractor which goes under one of the sump bolts. Presumably that was to stop the extractor vibrating off, but it's a nuisance.

jillr
9th October 2019, 11:27 PM
Well one thing led to another. A bracket which had been welded onto the exhaust pipe was holding it under the sump and was just in the way. Rather than cutting it off, I chose to unbolt the exhaust pipe and hold it to one side with some effort and baling twine. That freed the bottom of the sump pan (which is still stuck on the gasket). I'll have to replace the two nuts and spring washers as they are in a parlous state, which is not surprising.

jillr
31st October 2019, 10:56 PM
At the last club meeting, one person suggested that to get the sump pan off, you need to whack it with a bit of 4x2 quickly but don't let the vehicle see you coming :) which gave me an idea.
Since tapping with a rubber mallet was not getting anywhere due to lack of swing space, I managed to get a piece of pallet timber behind the front wheel and onto the front side of the sump pan. A few careful poundings with the mallet and then the joyous sound of the sump coming free. Very pleased!
The old gasket is cork! So probably original. One could see where it had baked on, leaked through etc.
Looking up at the engine looks nice and clean-ish apart from the oil being black. A few little bits of rubbish on the oil pump screen but nothing major.
I've temporarily covered the base of the engine with a polythene bag to keep the dust out (it's in an open-sided shed).
Setting the sump pan up on the rear cargo door (very handy height) the base was full of tar and some grit. Soaked up most of that on paper towel and have wrapped the pan in another bag to clean next trip.
Next task will be to get the rest of the gasket off the base of the block. Might need some steel wool.

JDNSW
1st November 2019, 05:10 AM
Next task will be to get the rest of the gasket off the base of the block. Might need some steel wool.

Scraper, you don't want bits of steel wool in the oil system.

jillr
8th July 2020, 09:54 PM
Been a while - been a damned funny year actually. Well after the dust storms, fires within 6 km and then torrential rain, now a great pestilence going around... back to the vehicle. I'm sure it's smiling at me.
The sump pan cleaned up nicely, the cork is gone. A new gasket is in and hopefully seals.
Exhaust manifold is back on.
A redback has taken up residence outside near the left front wheel and some daddy long legs have put delicate curtains across the windscreen. Actually I don't mind the daddy long legs because they keep most other things out.
A couple of gorgeous books in hand now: LR series 2a workshop manual and owners manuals (thanks Roger!). Rivetting reading.
In between fleece preparation (in the shearing shed) and some weeding, I will have a look at the oil filter.

jillr
31st December 2020, 11:59 PM
Last day of 2020 I replaced the oil filter, the o-ring for same and filled up with some new oil. Getting there was a bit of fun.

The nut on the back of the filter canister is 5/8", and I thought I could be smart and guide the inevitable dribble into an oil pan using a bit of poly bag. As others have commented, it's a silly design and there is no way really to avoid spilling oil onto the front drive shaft. Also, I didn't expect the canister to be spring loaded but there you are.
After a bit of a clean up, I tried to get the seal off the back of the canister, but the nut seems to be welded or similar to the bolt shaft. The other end has a small detente preventing the spring assembly from coming out. So I'm hoping that the old small rubber seal will still work as I am perplexed as to how to get to it. Another post mentioned to use more force, but did not say which end to force.

The o-ring was entertaining to get out. I ended up going into the wool shed and got one of those wool pack fastener clips, which worked a lot better at catching the old ring without damage to the housing. A bit more cleaning round the o-ring channel, in with the new o-ring and then the canister with the new filter. Tighten up and hope it's tight enough.

Another wonder is the small oil inlet filler point, accessed by me climbing up the bull bar and sitting on the radiator (yes, I know I'm short!). I've put 5L in and will put the rest in soon but want to look at the seals etc. I see the oil inlet ventilation hose which I think goes back to the carby is missing bits, probably a one-way valve.

- Jill

jillr
16th July 2022, 09:40 PM
Oh the joys of the land. Fires then floods then rats up to autumn at least. The little B* climb up the windscreen and squeeeeeze between that and the home-made cab just to get to the unused pack of rat bait. I keep one bait in the engine bay to remind me to check on them. Interestingly they have never got into the tub where there is another tell-tale bait.

Took notes on the radiator hoses. I think my best bet would be to get those on-line. The hose clamps look OK. The radiator itself has some material blocking up some holes. Looks like putty or chewing gum. I'm thinking of getting it serviced at Bathurst rather than Sydney Metro. The thought being there are probably more people in Bathurst that know how to repair ancient radiators.
There was not much gunge in the radiator fluid, just a bit of rust after I drained both lines (radiator and block). The block tap took a lot of finding due to my long sight. The manual drawing was similar but I found the best way to find the tap was to just feel for it. The phone camera was better than my eyesight, too :)

These couple of months have been incredibly wet and then cold, hard to work on the vehicle under those conditions. Not to mention the difficulties of getting here and there with bridges going out! I have not liked night driving under these conditions, as I want to be able to see where the pot holes are and the roads are not under water!