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

Reinstalled the fuel tank as I got excited after getting Regie back onto his wheels and getting the cooling system sorted.

Threw in 10 litres of dino juice and ran the engine. I then noticed a wet spot on the concrete under the tank. Dang it, the tank had a leak. Thought it might have been around the fuel filler. Was going to apply JB Weld fuel tank repair but noticed that it wasn't weeping at that spot, but some where between the laminated floor of the tank.

Much peering inside the tank through the sender unit hole and I couldn't see any signs of a hole. So, I pulled the tank out and wondered what to do. The tank is in excellent condition, so I didn't want to go to the exoense or hassle of finding a replacement.

The double skin made repairing the tank way above my engineering skills.

My friend told me of his success using a POR 15 sealing kit. Bought one on Ebay and put it through the tank. A bit of a process, but not too difficult.

Anyhow, I was really impressed how the inside of the tank came up. I reinstalled the tank and the hardware. Another job done.

I tried to remove the door hinges and some of the mounting screws spun as the captive nut had come away from their little fitting. Hacksawed the offending bolts and replaced the captive nuts and screws.

Contemplated fitting different top hinges that are pre-drilled for a mirror. Realised that the holes are incorrectly spaced for Defender mirrors so I reattached the original hinges.

I'll likely drill the original hinges and attach after market Defender mirrors.

Installed a new aftermarket rear view mirror.

Installed a new aftermarket brake light switch.

Lowered the windscreen and cleaned out the channel between the screen and the dash. No rust, but a lot of dirt removed. Found 2c as well. Haven't seen one of those for a while.

A few more ticks on the too do list.

I had a Fairey overdive on the shelf looking for a home, so I decided to clean it up and install it.

It took me a while to make up my mind to install it, but in the end I thought 'what the hell' and fitted it.

After cleaning and a careful inspection, the overdrive and components where found to be in excellent condition.

Bolted straight up and thankfully, the lever bracket that mounts to the rear of the gearbox housing has a mounting point for a 6 cylinder Land Rover. This is necessary as the fitment of the 6 pushes the gearbox back compared to the 4 cyl version.

The overdrive looks really good installed and with the extra lever, it really adds a steam punk vibe to the cab. I now have 5 levers - gear lever, overdrive, high/neutral/ low range lever, 4WD lever and handbrake.

I ordered a new lever knob online and may source another gearbox cover so I don;t have to modify the original.

Another milestone achieved and getting closer to fthe finish line. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now.

I reattached the repaired spare wheel carrier to the repaired bonnet. I didn't paint the carrier as I'm going for the patina look. I'll leave the rivets raw too.

I used 4.8mm x 12mm rivets that I bought from Ebay. Was around $20 for 500, so well pleased with that. The rivets came in handy for the repairs to the tray.

In the tray, I replaced missing or broken rivets, reattached the alloy strips that line the tray floor and reattached shelf of the tool box inside the rear guard to the outer panel, fixed tool box hinges etc etc.

A little gentle taps with a rubber mallet and the bows to the tool box lids where mostly flattened. The close nicely now and look much better.

Lot's of little jobs done. Another step closer to getting Regie back on the road.

Still have to lift the tray and do some clean up on the rear chassis - i.e. clean and paint where necessary, but nothing major and certainly no rust repairs.

I forgot to mention that I bought a couple of Series 3 88's from a friend who is downsizing.

Stripped one down to assess what's required for a full rebuild. Will start another post over in the Series 3 zone.

I won't get into the 88 until next year as I intend to finish Regie first. I'm hoping to have Regie registered by Anzac day, 2022.

The 88 will be restored back to standard, but not so sure on colour just yet.

A pressure wash and I threw some rust converter around and the chassis is mercifully in great condition. Some work on the rear cross member is required though.

I see a mig welder in my future.

Well done - you have been busy. Great progress. [thumbsupbig]

Quote:

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Originally Posted by grey_ghost

Well done - you have been busy. Great progress. [thumbsupbig]

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Thanks Grey Ghost. Lots of other little jobs done. I'll post a lot more shortly on progress to date as parts arrive and I can finish some 1/2 finished tasks.

I'm really looking forward to driving Regie around the back roads near my home. [smilebigeye]

Fit the driver's side guard. Closeup of the auction sticker - still attached.

A new Lucas starter installed - didn't really need to though

Wiring in engine bay tidied up and some heat shrink thrown around

New aftermarket alternator fitted as the original was making some weird noises. I was thinking of rebuilding it, but the cost for a new 80 amp unit was too enticing. It was advertised as a straight swap, but my lower mounting bracket was a touch too short. An alternator bracket off a Holden 202 in my parts car fit perfectly.

Carburetor removed for a rebuild. Will do a post on this later when it's finished.

Engine cleaned - this looks much better in real life.

Replaced the heater hoses and the heater 'valve' thingee with one from my parts car as the original was seized solid. The short 90 degree hose is from a commodore hose cut down, courtesy of ratting through a parts store hose collection to find a match. Heater lever and cable free'd up so they work perfectly now. Sorta hoping I never get caught out where I need the heater, but thought I might as well fix it. Flushed the core and no leaks detected. Fan is now working too on 2 speeds.

Got the front lights working. Replaced side lights with NOS Lucas units (2 lenses and 1 entire unit) and near new indicator lenses. Looks spiffy now.

I have the dash out as I'm repairing the guages. Will do a post on that one once the new gaskets/ seals arrive.

Also, I drove Regie around our block to test brakes, clutch, gearbox, transfer case etc etc and he performed flawlessly. My son loves the sound of the 6. It was super sketchy as I was sitting on the fuel tank, with no floor or doors...

I have rebuilt carby's before, but found it a little hit and miss, so decided to send this one off for expert attention. Nigel did a great job and used the carby kit I purchased at the start of the project.

The inlet pipe and carby was media blasted and parts replated.

The old diaphragm was torn.

I've included a few before and after shots.

Carby has been refitted and looks a treat.

From a parts car, I had a damaged front panel that sits behind the front bumper, below the grill that was beyond economic repair.

So, I decided to use it to make some patch panels for the tray.

From a earlier post, I'd knocked 2 the 'stab' holes in the tray side back into shape. My cunning plan is to use the patches to cover this damage, and glue / rivet them on.

One of the existing rivets in the tray will be used, so it should marry in quite well with nicely spaced rivets around each patch panel.

I cut the aluminum with a multi compound blade on my angle grinder. Worked really well. Then dressed the edges and made the radius / rounded corners with a file.

Coated the patches with etch primer, and will repaint in drab green when my new mini spray gun arrives, along with a stack of other bits and pieces.

Spent a few hours sorting the dash out on Sunday.

I purchased an instrument gauge o'ring kit off ebay and disassembled both gauges to clean the faces, test the temperature and fuel gauges and repaint the metal ring that holds the glass to the gauge.

Turned out better than I expected and surprisingly, not that hard to disassemble and complete. Looks wayyy better than when I started. Won't win any awards, but I'm wrapped with the results.

Replaced the bulbs with fancy LED ones, that light up the gauges nicely.

Repaired the odd frayed wire behind the dash, cleaned the earth connections, reconnected the wires to the dash accessory plug, which had been cut to provide power to a 2-way radio.

I also replaced the indicator stalk with a NOS Lucas unit as the old one was faulty and the dash light switch with one from my parts car.

I now have all dash lights working, including the map light, wipers, windscreen washer, heater fan, horn, headlights (high and low) and side lights and even the light in the oil temperature gauge.

Indicators are still proving elusive, but I'll figure that one out when I get the tray reattached and start on repairing the black out lights.

I've included a photo of the dash when I first picked Regie up. Didn't take any good one's of the dash before I started the dash work as I couldn't find my camera.