Ex. Army Series 3 GS 109 6 cyl 2.6ltr - Never Say Die

Finally got back into the shed after a couple of days doing other jobs.

Sorted some parts that I picked up yesterday, including a couple of sun visors.

Regie's sun visors were so damaged that even the mounting brackets had rusted through from sitting in the open.

Decided to see if the spares would clean up.

Pulled out the mounting rods to address the rust. A quick clean with the wire brush on the bench grinder cleaned up the metal nicely.

Painted the rods with some gal paint I had left over from our front gate build.

Washed the visors gently with soap and water.

Really pleased how the visors tuned out.

No pictures of the finished visors as I had put a second paint coat on the rods and I need to clean out and paint the sockets in the visors, that the rods slip into.

Spent a couple of hours packing parts away and cleaning the workshop.

Still waiting for a big shipment of parts and a few tools to arrive. Therefore, I'm doing jobs with what I have to hand.

I thought I'd do my shed time in the morning before the heat got too much.

The front driver's guard had copped a hit when the brush bar bent back into it. Time to see if I could beat the guard back into shape.

Never panel beated before, so I wasn't sure how it would turn out.

Thank goodness I had a small, rounded dolly and my ebay leather bag. I don't remember where the dolly came from - probably a 50c garage sale find, but it was the perfect profile to get into the front curve of the outer guard.

Anyhow, after a couple of hours of beating, the panel was back in shape. Also, knocked out a dent above the head light.

I wanted to repair the panel, rather than replace. I'd like to keep the original body panel finish for the 'patina' look, but repaint the chassis, running gear, inner guards and a few other parts in camo black.

Also removed what was left of the rusty sun visor brackets.

Pretty rapt with how the guard turned out. Gave it a wash and stored away for when I need to do paint prep on the underside and engine bay side.

Managed to get some shed time in, so I thought I'd attack the bonnet.

The bonnet had 4 dents, 1 on the leading edge, 1 behind each of the hinges and a big one where the bonnet support / stand bangs into the bonnet.

Also, the spare wheel carrier had a few dents in it, was missing rivets, and the wheel lock was bent over and ready to fall out.

Under the bonnet, the frame had bowed down and separated from the aluminum panel.

Drilled out the remaining rivets to remove the carrier. Managed to unscrew the bolts holding the lock bracket from the rivnuts.

Beat the carrier back into shape. Reused the original bolts and used large washers underneath + spring washers, nuts and locktite to reattach the lock bracket.

One of the bolts for the wheel bracket was rusted in. Tried heat to remove it, but it snapped off. Ended up drilling it out, then cleaning the threads with a tap. Fortunately I had a spare bolt in my recent haul of free parts.

Used the hammer and dolly to knock out the dent caused by the bonnet stand. Heat gun to heat the panel and then quench with a wet cloth (as per YouTube). Worked a treat to shrink the panel and take out the 'coke can' effect.

Used 4x1 hardwood and a hammer to repair the dents behind the hinges and to the leading edge.

Supported the bonnet upside down between two tyres and gingerly stood on the steel frame. No go at straightening it. So resorted to a big hammer and the 4x1. That worked really well in closing the gap between the frame and the aluminum panel.

Washed the bonnet and am ready to rivet the carrier back on when the rivets turn up in the post. A new rubber bonnet pad for the spare wheel should be in the same package. Will also replace the 2 earth straps as they are broken.

Decided to do a little work on the tailgate.

Regie's tail gate has had a hard life, with several dents, the seal breaking away from the bottom edge and 2 broken hinges.

Knocked out the dents around the tail gate perimeter with hammer and dolly. Easy peasy. Won't worry about the dent to the rib.

Removed the hinges and decided not to repair them. I have 2 spare, but on examination noticed that they had important differences.

Mainly, one of the replacements had a different offset for the hinge pin + additional holes. So, I grabbed another 2 from a future project car and they are a better matched set, with the same pin offset as the damaged original units.

Cleaned these up amongst a few other parts for painting.

Etch primed the parts, but am awaiting a spray gun so won't be putting the finishing coats of camo green on just yet.

Washed the tailgate and will source a tailgate seal kit and a plastic conduit for the rear number plate light.

Haven't been able to get in the shed for over a week, so was pleased that I could spend a few hours to remove the steering box.

I had been leaving the job until a 'puller' tuned up in the post.

Turns out that once I removed the lock tab retaining the nut for the steering drop arm, the nut was loose and the drop arm just slid off. Very glad I found that!

Removed the steering wheel, which will be replaced with a used spare in better condition. The original wheel suffered in the weather.

After removing various brackets, I was able to jiggle out the steering shaft and box without removing the brake booster.

Disassembled the box and was surprised to find that it wasn't a rusty mess inside, despite the milky oil residue.

A cursory examination of the parts reveals everything to be in pretty spiffy condition. The shaft looks like it's been 'cut and shut', but aren't sure if that's factory or a repair.

Will clean up the parts and check specs properly. I even managed to keep all the balls from the various races separated so I can reinstall them in their original position.

Used a scrap piece of plastic electrical conduit as a bore rod to clean inside the steering tube.

Didn't get a chance to do any work on Regie, but a box full of booty arrived today.

Probably over ordered on fasteners, but I'd rather have too many nuts, bolts, rivets and washers than spend hours driving around looking for them.

Took a while to arrive from the UK, but the supplier did warn that shipping has been slow due to Covid.

I can start reassembling some components soon.

I've been hammered with work at my new job, so I haven't had a chance to do any work on Regie.

Yesterday, I did a huge road trip to pick up a LR Series 3 109 that I bought a while ago. Left at 5am and drove to Nyngan, NSW. Got home just before 10pm.

The LR is Holden powered - 186 cu in.

I bought it from a lovely farming couple who used it as a tool truck on their farm. They bought it from Newcastle, so it's not a rust free central NSW vehicle.

There is a lot of rust in the bulkhead, and a little in the rear cross member and front dumb irons. It's very repairable though.

I was going to use it as a spares car, but on closer inspection - I think that would be a shame, as some one has put a lot of love into the car in the recent-ish past.

Before removing from the trailer I gave it a pressure wash which exposed a chassis and running gear in pretty nice condition. Clutch works, but no brakes (handbrake works though).

I replaced a fuse under the steering column and reset the distributor points and she fired up. Won't run for more than 10 seconds though as the fuel pump / carby needs some love.

Gas tank smells like varnish. Someone used a garden hose as a fuel line. Still has anti freeze in the radiator.

I gave the tappet cover a wipe and it's chrome under the muck.

The bull bar was sitting at a weird angle so I removed it.

All in all, not a bad old bus. Will park her up whilst I decide what to do with it. Probably get it running properly, fix the brakes and then drive it around our property.

So, finally got a chance to jump back into getting Regie back on the road.

A little while ago I got 4 new tyres and a stack of spares for free, so decided to get them fitted. That way I can get Regie back on his wheels and mobile again.

Cleaned up the rims with a wire brush on the angle grinder to remove paint and flaking rust.

Coated the wheels with some high quality metal primer that I saved from the bin. It was even green coloured - bonus.

Then brushed on the camo green enamel. I thinned the enamel a little so it flowed a tad better and left less brush marks. I would have sprayed the rims, but I haven't go any spray gear yet....

Had the tyres fitted with new tubes and they came up a treat.

I have received my last shipment of spares from overseas, so now, time to rebuild, paint and re-assemble.

Great to hear you’re back into Reggie - the wheels look great. I picked up an ex-Military S3 the same vintage and configuration as yours around the same time as you started your build thread, so have been watching with interest. I got mine running in early Jan after fixing a few issues with the carb and distributor. Have now started a full strip down and will remove the engine tomorrow...a bit of work on the chassis required so I’m in the process of getting it onto my rotisserie, and will refresh from the ground up as I reconstruct [emoji106]

Cheers,

Matt

Hey Matt, that's cool! A friend took me for a spin in his 101 inch Forward Control and his Willy's WW2 Jeep the other day which inspired me to make some time over Easter to do some work on Regie. I'm only doing a re-commission, so I can't wait to see your full resto.

I plan to do some work most nights so I can get her back on the road late this year. Still having trouble finding a good water pump which is a bit frustrating, but where there's a will, there's a way...