Thread: Vera - our 1970 exMilitary LR 2a - work in progress :-)

One of the Military elements i was most excited about was the Blackout lights - which I will test out one night - the system worked perfectly.

Apprently with the rear light, the diff was paited while, and this allowed a following vehicle to see the vehicle in front.

If I can find a picture or see what that would look like it is one of my plans to paint the diff as it should be :-)

So with the current fuel issues I need to get those fixed so the vehicle will run for more than 10 minutes - I've been caught out twice when I thought it was fixed.

So far:

replace Fuel Pump, fuel filter, cleaned needle and seat, cleaned fuel lines from fuel filter all the way to carby.

I have remove the pass side fuel tank and it had around 3-4mm of hard old fuel - like heavy paint - cleaning that out and will then clean all fuel lines from that tank, through the tank selector to the fule filter.

Hoping that will make it reliable enough for the road worthy there and back (about 8 klm each way).

I have a rebuild kit coming for a Zenith carb I have as a spare - not sure if it is the original or one of the copies - not sure if it was replaced because it was worn out or warped.

Not sure if the Stromberg that is on the car was original or if it was even on of the models fitted to the Aussie Military models.

It could probably do with a good clean out and a kit through it as well and if they both work I have an onboard changeover spare in case of any issues :-)

The car has had service through it's life.

The last service with a documented mechanic was Sept 2022.

Over the years - radiator has been recored, exhaust, gearbox had a new shaft, brakes, wheel bearings, valve seats, electrics for the motor - dsti etc.

And that's about it.

A backyard mechanic friend of the owner did the servicing work undocumented from 2022 til this year.

So I will be doing - oils - engine/gearbox/transfer case/diffs.

There is a noise which is probably a work throwout bearing in the clutch - when the noice is there light pressur eon the clutch stops it so I will be changing that and checking the clutch in the near future.

Not sure what state the front steering and the suspension is in - a road worthy check will help there - it felt o.k, on the road - max speed was approx 80klm and it was even able to be driven in a comfy one handed way at that speed so good signs for steering geometry and condition.

The rear tyres are worn so I think that will get a X on the roadworthy - will see what options I can do about that.

I do have 2 x spare bar treads so that should work but I do want a set of on road wheels to preserve the bar treads for display and military parades etc.

Apart from that atnthis stage, giving her a clean up and tidy up under the bonnet is the only main things that look like they need doing :-)

I saw this Amazing Trailer on FB market place - built out of old Land Rover bits and pieces and owned by a guy who was one of the original Land Rover club members in Victoria.

It has 4 good tyres with hit so maybe 2 of those can help with my road worthy check.

I used it last weekend to do a number of pickups and drop offs and it is gunna look awesome behind Vera when the two are hooked up :-)

Originally Posted by fightingtiger

Apprently with the rear light, the diff was painted while, and this allowed a following vehicle to see the vehicle in front.

There is a picture in my IIa GS thread.
2a GS Refurb ARN 178-334

I stripped the axle housing but made a note of how it was painted.

The white paint on the outside edges of the bumper and the 'scone cutters' (bumpers) at the rear I believe means it went to Vietnam.
If you go to the REMLR site you can find the ARN (Army Registration Number) then start looking for your vehicle in period photos.

Colin

Next job was a fuel sender we pulled out of the pass side tank - very rusty and stuck.

After an overnight soak in vinegar, some great scraping work from my Wife to clean it up I pulled it to bits to see how it works.

A bit of CRC and some focused vinegar bicarb combo on the inside saw the shaft come out :-)

Will do some pickies but we should have done before and after.

WIll test it but the fine wire looks o.k. and some electical contact cleaner has brought it up a treat :-)

Let's see if it works :-)

Thanks for the thread.

The Stromberg is definitely not original. The original is certainly a Zenith. This carburetter can be troublesome, usually due to sealing between the upper body and the main body.

This depends on both the top of the main body being flat (this is usually OK), and the top section being flat. This top section tends to warp, but can be lapped flat on a sheet of plate glass with wet and dry paper.

It also depends on the emulsion block (attached to the upper part) pressing against the O-ring seal in the venturi. This correct pressure, as well as being affected by any warping of the top section, can be affected by the gasket between the two body parts. I fairly recently solved a long term issue with mine - the gasket was too thick. With four screws clamping the top down and over a large sealing surface with widely spaced screws, compared to a small area with two closely spaced screws under the emulsion block, the gasket compressed more under the emulsion block, resulting in a poor seal on the O-ring.

The solution was to replace the gasket with a genuine one, much thinner, but also harder. (The thick gasket was original fitment on a generally very satisfactory Chinese replica carburettor.)

The clutch throwout bearing is inside the gearbox, and it seems unlikely that this is the source of the noise you note.

I strongly advise you to get, if you have not already got, a factory workshop manual. These can be got on a CD from the AULRO shop (top line of this page below logo). These manuals show detailed pictures including cross sections, enabling you to understand how things work, before you start working. Note though that they do not include the army special bits, and because they cover about twenty years of production, with progressive improvements, the pictures can be for a different vintage, although for significant differences the text will make these differences clear.

I look forward to updates on this thread.

Originally Posted by JDNSW

Thanks for the thread.

The Stromberg is definitely not original. The original is certainly a Zenith. This carburetter can be troublesome, usually due to sealing between the upper body and the main body.

This depends on both the top of the main body being flat (this is usually OK), and the top section being flat. This top section tends to warp, but can be lapped flat on a sheet of plate glass with wet and dry paper.

It also depends on the emulsion block (attached to the upper part) pressing against the O-ring seal in the venturi. This correct pressure, as well as being affected by any warping of the top section, can be affected by the gasket between the two body parts. I fairly recently solved a long term issue with mine - the gasket was too thick. With four screws clamping the top down and over a large sealing surface with widely spaced screws, compared to a small area with two closely spaced screws under the emulsion block, the gasket compressed more under the emulsion block, resulting in a poor seal on the O-ring.

The solution was to replace the gasket with a genuine one, much thinner, but also harder. (The thick gasket was original fitment on a generally very satisfactory Chinese replica carburettor.)

The clutch throwout bearing is inside the gearbox, and it seems unlikely that this is the source of the noise you note.

I strongly advise you to get, if you have not already got, a factory workshop manual. These can be got on a CD from the AULRO shop (top line of this page below logo). These manuals show detailed pictures including cross sections, enabling you to understand how things work, before you start working. Note though that they do not include the army special bits, and because they cover about twenty years of production, with progressive improvements, the pictures can be for a different vintage, although for significant differences the text will make these differences clear.

I look forward to updates on this thread.

Thanks John - I really appreciate the info.

We did buy both the Workshop manual and the Operations manual - found them new on Amazon. I also have the "Green Bible" which is our dirty working manual - found that online in a Salvos of all places :-)

I have a full rebuild kit for the Zenith I have - that will be one Easter project. I will test it when I finish it and am happy with it and I will make sure I note all your key suggestions so thank you.

While the stromberg is working I am o.k. with it as a backup if I can get the Zenith going well. It doesnt look that difficult to rebuild - I cut my teech as a 20 year old on my 1971 Alfa Berlina which had 2 x DCOE Webers so if I can rebuild then this thing should be piece of **** looking at the diags :-)


Really happy about your view on the noise it does stop with slight pressure on the pedal and thinking about it - it doesnt just make noise at idle - so maybe something loose/vibrating - a crawl underneath when it is runnign should get me closer to that one :-)

I love that the Milkitary is much taller - plenty of room to scoot around under it on my garage creeper :-)

Thanks again and many more updates to come :-)