Got myself an Australian Land Rover

too late now but when I did a head gasket etc on a 186 I found autobarn the cheapest.

The gasket set was around $50 I think - I'd rather not go down the cheapest route, I didn't want to run any potential risk! I really never want to have to replace the head gasket ever again. I would rate it as the worst job I have ever had to contend with on a Land Rover. I just hope everything continues to work for a decent period of time - I'm slightly over spending all my weekends fixing some issue or other.

Drove into work today, so nice not being back on the buses and took just 30 minutes :)

I finally have a roof! Ordered it from All Wheel Trim in the UK on Friday, it got delivered to Sydney yesterday morning. I really didn't expect it to come so quickly. Really impressed with the quality and service.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...13/11/1464.jpg
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...13/11/1465.jpg
The fitting guidelines tell you not to thread the rear rope through the eyelets on the back until the canvas has settled / shrunk to fit.

Now need to find a replacement oil pump for the Holden 186 - it's developed a huge oil leak and doesn't seem to fit flush with the engine.

Door tops are next on the list, they should be winging their way over to me from the UK too.

looks great!

I've been very pleased with the fit and quality of mine, mine seemed to fit better after the first rain it went through, and shows no sign of leakage.

Did you go for Khaki or Sand?

I think it's just the standard 'sand' colour. I thought it would suit the pastel green better than the other options. Fitment is a bit loose in areas at the moment but as you say, once we've had some showers it will shrink and fit more snuggly. Hope that my doortops arrive this week.

Just had to order a replacement oil pump for the 186. Looks like it should be here this afternoon for tonight's 'fun' task.

Would love to come visit and look at the canvas when I'm in sydney next..

Planning on getting a soft top for the S1 :)

LoveB - welcome to come check it out.

So yesterday I took the day off work to get the oil leak resolved. I ordered a replacement oil pump, it arrived on Tuesday evening. Tried to fit it that evening but found it was ever so slightly longer than the original and consequently would not fit due to its proximity to the engine mount (of course it took me a while to realise this as I struggled to get the damn thing in - not a very pleasant job with oil pouring out of the newly primed pump). So yesterday morning I went to Bunnings and bought some grinding wheels to attach to a drill. Tried grinding the engine mount whilst lying upside down in limited space - no chance. In the end I took the weight of the engine on a jack and undid the engine mount so I could get at it properly. Those grinding wheels are useless! After much torment I managed to grind enough off - we're only talking around 3 mm. Fitted the new pump, then the engine mount back on. Filled it up with oil, turned the key. Success. I was expecting to see oil pouring out of it again so it was nice that the replacement resolved the issue. I'm not sure what was wrong with the old one - there's no sign of obvious damage but I think there's a hole somewhere. With the new oil pump the engine is running much smoother, it's actually transformed it which I wasn't expecting.

So having fixed the engine leak I turned my attention to the lack of operational headlights. Turned out that the relay had become detached and shorted out the system. All the headlight wiring was burned out. I replaced the wiring and now have working headlights... albeit on dip beam. The floor mounted dip switch is clearly broken. Does anyone know where I can get hold of a replacement in Sydney? I haven't done any calling around yet.

But at least I can now drive at night albeit on dipped headlights and driving into work this morning felt very civilised with the roof. Once it's settled / bedded in I shall be taking it off again - visibility with the soft top is pretty poor plus my wing mirrors are essentially useless!

So now I have a roof with door tops to follow, the plan is to go on a road trip over the Christmas break, sleeping in the back. This has been my dream since I bought the Land Rover, and the reason I opted for a long wheel base. I'm going to fit a platform in the back to span the wheel arches so I will have a pretty decent sized sleeping area with storage underneath. Has anyone slept in the back of a 109 before? How did they find it?

Couple of pics down at Clontarf Beach...
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...13/11/1342.jpg
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...13/11/1343.jpg

I will be down on the weekend... perfect now that ive got my 2a also

Sent from my GT-N7000 using AULRO mobile app

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...14/03/1144.jpg

Adapted the auxillary panel to fit a cigarette lighter so now I can charge my phone.

Also fitted bench seats to the back, will take a picture at some point.. does anyone know if a 1968 Land Rover needs to have seat belts fitted in the back? It certainly never had them originally. Would rather not have to shell out on belts for occasional use. Thanks

Hey what's the story with the firewall below the windscreen frame? In that photo, a section appears to dip beneath the vent mechanism.