Thread: My 1955 86" rebuild.

Managed to get a few items cleaned and grit blasted today, I did the 3 bolts that hold the rad/supp panel, all cleaned n painted etc, now fitted. I found the 6 new 2BA screws to hold the headlight buckets in place

they are now flat black, I thought I was going to be able to fit the headlight buckets, but on closer examination the back of the first bucket I picked up looked very ordinary, so I stripped the paint off and grit blasted it, etch primed ready for a coat of gloss black

also spent some time looking for the small cover plate for the Hi-range knob as the vehicle didn't come with one, also the small ferrule that the spring locates in, also grit blasted more 2 BA screws n washers for the spare tyre bonnet mounts, I bought 8 from Dunsfolds earlier in the week, still waiting for a new SU fuel pump coming from the UK as well, but I guess with all the Xmas mail it could take a little longer to get here, anyway that was my day, cheers Dennis
ps Gus107 arrived about 1440hrs, had a look at all my Land Rovers, we yakked on about them for a while, I asked had he had a run & drive of a gunbuggy, he had not, so without any further ado we untarped mine and went for a run, methinks he liked driving it, he does have a short video clip, he had no sooner left for Stockton when the Grand kids turned up x 2 they are here for the weekend, the parents will be in and out all the time, gimme patience as they are into everything and very inquisitive, will I be able to get anything done
and I must apologise to Gus107, we got on talking (as you do) I forgot to offer him a drink or anything, so Gus I'm sorry for that oversight mate, I hope I didn't offend you by that, anyway off to see the Xmas lights around the district as soon as it gets dark,,.

Well this morning I managed to find some items for this vehicle, as you know I didn't dismantle it in the first place, so I'm at a loss sometimes trying to work out what's with what etc. Today I concentrated on getting all the small items ready for the doors, i.e. nuts/bolts/washers etc, I was missing quite a few of the bolts that hold the hinges to the bottom half of the door frame.
A quick check around the usual suppliers no-one had exactly what I was looking for, and the closest bolt supplier was 34k's away and around (approx) 1hr 15mins return depending how many customers in the shop, so I decided to make do with what I had in stock. 1/4"UNF x 1" were turned down to 3/4" in length, set up in the lathe as such (a simple turning job)

and within a minute or so they looked like this with the tit about to be removed, a quick wipe with a file and now you have a 1/4"UNF x 3/4" long

next task after making 8 of those was to locate the appropriate size washers and square section spring washers, an easy task when you have a bucket load of s/hand stock.
Luckily for me I had the 4 nut plates (captive nuts etc), but as you would expect some of the bolts had frozen in place,

and not wanting to twist the captive nut out and destroy the item altogether, I sought the assistance of some Map gas/ heat. Setting up a 1/4"W (5/16"BS) spanner in the vice,

holding the plate with pliers apply some heat, a quick squirt of wd40, and always remember to tighten the bolt first just a little then back it off, 99% it works n works well, another squirt both sides of the bolt working it back n forth, I soon had them all out, without any breakages.
All nuts & bolts were treated to a run over with a tap and die to clean up the threads, then through the grit blasting process, they look very clean and tidy afterwards, I like to be able to look at bolt heads and read the manufacturer's name before and after they are painted, the nut plate with traces of paint on it was put back through and the old paint removed.

It takes some time to etch prime all items separately, paint the unseen sides flat black, allow to dry then set them all up on cardboard, then mix the paint etc, spray and hang out to dry

and the nut plates and nuts for the door tops, ATM I don't have any square section 7/16" spring washers or flat washers for the door tops so they will have to be painted another day

anyway that's been my day so far, spray gun cleaned, only need to roll up the hose, cheers Dennis
ps the grand kids have behaved themselves, following the good wife about and helping water n feed the bantams etc etc, they have gone to the movies in Maitland LOL,,.

Well the weekend is over , managed to fit in quite a bit this afternoon though, mixed some more Silver enamel and sprayed the couple of small areas on the vent regulators that I knew I had missed, while I was at it I sprayed the 4 hinges and the locking hasps for the seatbox, still had a little paint left over, so I resprayed the grille and the starter solenoid, Hi-range spring.

I had a few smaller items like 2BA screws washers etc 6 for the vents, 8 for the spare tyre bonnet mounts, the small ferrule that the Hi-range spring is located in and the small panel that holds it to the floor, so I mixed some DBG and away we went, some paint left over, a quick whizz across the floor panels and it now has it's first coat of DBG on

and damn still paint left over, so I sprayed the vents with their first coat

everything all cleaned up including my hands anyway thats been my afternoon, cheers Dennis
ps the G/kids went home with mum n dad @ 1230hrs otherwise I wouldn't have got that much done, now to get x-mas out of the way,,. everything that had been painted yesterday, has now been bagged n tagged,,.

Next time you have paint left over that laundary trolley could do with a bit of paint. That will get you in the wife's good books.

Hi Dennis, you've been hard at work I see. Got to love Bronze Green...

Waved as we drove up the Hunter late last Friday night. (very late).

Well I'm back on days off again, although had a funeral to attend this morning and off to Newcastle to pick up items that had been ordered etc, so I really didn't start work until 1530hrs.
I had refitted the tub a few days ago as I needed to move along with it, so this afternoon I moved one of the items that had been remade, set it up at the correct height from the top of the transome, clamped it up in place.

I also had installed a couple of rivets in the transome as well, I have done both sides, so many things to remember with what goes here n there and in what order they go in

after this brain strain , I decided that I should do the lawn etc so I have a full day tomorrow, hopefully I will get quite a bit done, wish me luck that I don't bugger it up, cheers Dennis
ps 1950 Landy, it ain't a Land Rover so I wouldn't waste my time, LOL I keep in the good books by putting the washing on the line etc etc etc, no seriously my wife wouldn't want me to waste my time with it,,.
I know there is another support bracket that has to be riveted insitu, but it will have to wait until I have cleaned it up, and had a chance to etch prime it and paint it both sides and the transome where it's riveted too.

Moving right along (as you do), I had to get into the tub today, when I remembered that I had some unwanted visitors that had made themselves quite at home in my carport, Paper wasps, I hate them, when I realised how close I must have been to them and they started buzzing getting agitated, it reminded me of when I picked up the chassis for my 109 S2A Wksp. It was covered in undergrowth thick as +++

while cutting my way into this pile of jungle etc, it was thicker at the front BTW

I felt this hot burning sensation in my right hand, I thought I must have hit a thorn or something, so I kept cutting etc, wrong, I had 3 Wasps hammering my right hand, can't print what I said but I'm sure you get the idea, anyway had to keep cutting as no one else was going to do it for me , now what has this got to do with today???.
Well last night around 2200hrs I went outside with my small torch and a can of fly spray, good night dick, the deceased this morning

with that off my mind, I could now concentrate on fixing panels together, here is the job about midday

I had etch primed the back of the pop rivets and the area on the transome to minimize electrolysis, and was it hot working out there , many a water stop throughout the day, this evening we have 3 of the 6 brackets for the seats in place

The gal bits are held in place using 3/16" gutter screws, all holes have been drilled for the pop & solid rivets, I need tomorrow to finish the seat brackets, remove the seatbox again and drill all the holes out to the correct size (almost 7/16" dia holes), the seatbox was 5mm lower on the left side, that has now been rectified, anyway that's how I spent my day, I'm relaxing ATM, the good wife has gone out with 2 friends to a dinner/show to see todd mckenney, I would sooner listen to the 60's @ 6 on 2NUR Fm (103.7), anyway cheers Dennis
ps can some one tell me if the crank handle is on the top of the transome or is it down lower and the jack handle? in the upper position, I would like to get all the holes drilled asap, so I can work out in my head what I need, and which sides of the bolts are going to be painted in DBG with the opposite side in Silver where it sits on the gal bits..

Progress is looking good Dennis! Good to meet you and see all the Landys, and now worries on the drink, I didn't think of it myself.