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

  1. #1
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    Ex. Army Series 3 GS 109 6 cyl 2.6ltr - Never Say Die

    Hi,

    My first post.

    I woke up on Monday morning to my first day of holidays for the 2020 Christmas / NY period.

    What better way to start the day than to check Gumtree for a Series Land Rover.

    Up pops an ex Australian Army Series 3 GS 109. Hmmm, looks original, reasonably unaltered and mostly complete.

    Two phone calls later, offer accepted and I'm on a 750km road trip from Sydney to Wellington in the central west of NSW.

    Left home at 11.30am and arrived back 12 hours later with 'Regie,' a 1978 Series 3 in mostly original condition. It was a great drive even if it did rain the whole time. Spiffy cut lunch, dinner and snacks prepared at extreme short notice by my wife was extremely well received. My favourite tunes via Spotify made the trip fantastic, not to mention the lack of traffic.

    Here's his story so far. Regie was bought (probably from a disposal auction around 1990) by a Sydney based farmer who used to fly his plane from Sydney to his large farming property near Wellington, NSW. Regie was used to drive from the airstrip to the farm house.

    At some stage, Regie was acquired by another farmer in Wellington and may have even been put to work (most likely towing something). In time, he was parked in a paddock where he sat for around 15-20 years. Fortunately for Regie, Wellington is hot and dry, so Regie didn't rust (ok, a tiny tiny tiny tiny little bit). He did however lose his canvas top, 2 hoops, and pintle hook.

    And there he may have sat for ever, but the Land Rover gods smiled on Regie. Regie was spotted in the paddock by a truck driver delivering some hay. The farmer was persuaded to sell Regie to the truck driver. Regie then made his way to his new home at the driver's farm near Wellington.

    Unfortunately, Regie sat for another year because he had a crook water pump and his new owner had a stack of more important jobs to finish. And then his new owner decided to move interstate, so Regie had to go. An advert on Gumtree and hey presto, Regie is in the Hawkesbury on his way to being recommissioned.

    And that process has started. More to follow as I move through the partial-restoration process so Regie can again grace our roads.

    Thanks for reading and a very happy Christmas and merry New Year!

  2. #2
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    Day 1

    The adventure continues..

    Home from Wellington and time to do a quick assessment of Regie.

    A little farm battle damage to the odd panel, but nothing I can't deal with.

    All in all, very happy with the state of Regie's preservation in a dry climate.

    Dumb irons, bulkhead and rear cross member look solid.

    Original Olympic bar treads still holding air - but way past their prime.

    Regie safe and sound in his new home, waiting for a more complete assessment of parts needed.

    Next installment - pulling the rear Jerry can holders / brackets to see what lurks behind...
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  3. #3
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    Wow. Very good condition. :-)
    Our car: Fuji White MY13 D4 SDV6 SE 3.0 Litre, 8 spd auto.
    My car: Series 2a Workshop, 109 inch WB, ex mil., 1971. To be restored.
    Wife's car: Series 2a FFT, LWB, ex. mil., 1966. To be restored.

  4. #4
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    Front swivels dismantled

    So, I spent a couple of very enjoyable afternoons dismantling Regie's swivels, front drum brakes / hubs.

    Unbelievably I undid the counter sunk screws with a screw driver. I had the impact driver and drill on standby...

    Everything came apart very very easily. Lot's of muck though.

    Swivels are mint as are all of the expensive bits and bops. Axels and uni joints are perfect.

    Will replace seals and nylock nuts. Top swivel pin and bush needs to be replaced on one side, along with the bottom bearing and race from the same side - passenger that is.

    Brake shoes had a ton of meat on them, shame one side (drivers side) has seen oil. Will renew those as well.

    I never get tired of seeing 'Gt Britain' and 'Made in England' on Timken bearings - especially when they're pristine and can go back into service.

    All of the parts given a prelim clean and packed / stored out of the way.

    Swivel seals are original army as they still have green paint on them. They will be replaced, but it does indicate that the hubs have never been off. Perhaps.

    I think Regie fell into a vat of green paint. It's on everything - although the green paint is coming off as I clean and exposing black paint in great condition.

    Making up list for parts order. Not too over the top yet....

    Onto the next job
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  5. #5
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    Wow!!
    You have definitely found an exceptional vehicle
    Please keep up the reports and photos, they are great
    Phil B

    Custodian of:
    1974 S3 swb wagon (sold)
    1978 S3 swb canvas
    48 749 '88 4x4 Perentie
    1985 County with 4BD1T

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Phil B View Post
    Wow!!
    You have definitely found an exceptional vehicle
    Please keep up the reports and photos, they are great
    hi if you need parts scrapping the same model jim
    Russell Rovers
    Series I Parts Specialists
    russellrovers AT gmail.com
    Phone 0428732001

  7. #7
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    Took a look at the rear brakes

    My son who is helping with the project pulled the rear drums to take a gander at the brakes.

    Was pleasantly surprised at the great condition of everything inside. It all came apart surprisingly easy.

    Shoes are dry, but starting to get a little thin. Will replace them.

    Girling slave cylinders are in great nick, but I snapped off one of the bleed nipples. Grrr. May replace the cylinders as well, but tempted to fix and rebuild....

    Brake drums are mint and after removing the dried dirt, spiders webs and wasps nests, cleaned up nicely.

    Scored a spare rim as I only had the 4 wheels / tyres that Reggie was shod in. The spare rim is in great condition, with the same part number and 'ROK Australia' stamp. Looks identical to my other 4 so will blend in nicely once painted.

    I wire brushed the surface rust off the rim and gave it a spray of oil and packed away for another day. Not quite ready to strip all of the wheels and repaint.

    Still deciding what tyres I'm going to run. Had great experiences traversing Australia on Dunlop Road Grippers in my Hilux back in the day, so they're at the top of my list.

    Onwards and upwards.
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  8. #8
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    Time to check out the rear cross member

    Well, after lying in bed wondering if the dirt trapped behind the jerry can brackets was slowly eating my rear cross member, my curiosity got the better of me and I had to take a look.
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  9. #9
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    Tow bar from Mad Max

    Rust was minimal, with light pitting only behind the driver's side jerry can. The photo makes the pitting looks worse than reality - fortunately.

    A quick wire wheel and some rust converter to keep the steel stable until I prepare the chassis for painting.

    Time to remove the towbar fitted by a PO. Fortunately this is the only modification done to Regie.

    The tow bar was bolted on and welded to the original pintle bracket.

    Some delicate work with the 2mm cutting disk, a big hit with a sledgie and Mad Max's towbar joins my spare steel pile.

    The mounting plate was undamaged and with a little work to remove the weld, will be refitted to Regie.
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  10. #10
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    Jerry Can bracket / Holder removed

    So, moving along the rear cross member, I removed the passenger side jerry can holder and the Nato trailer plug.

    This side was in even better condition than the driver's side. A quick wire brush, more rust converter and the rear cross member is A-OK.

    Created a major dust storm when I blew out all of the dust and dirt from every nook and cranny I could reach in the rear cross member.

    A little damage to the underside of mid mounting bracket for the tub and the driver's side cross member will need to be pulled back 5mm. I'll address this damage when I remove the tub.

    Cleaned up the backing plates and coated with rust converter, ready for final clean up, preparation and painting.

    The NATO plug is a little damaged. Will probably source another in better condition.

    Straitened the rear mud flap brackets whilst I was there which ad been bent back under the cross member.
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