Thread: S2A bit and pieces.

I picked up the last (I hope) of the galvanized bits today. This included the windscreen frame, the various gearbox mounts and other assorted bits and bobs. So if I really get my finger out this weekend and buy some bolts I'll be able to get the gearbox back in and the rest of the cab assembled.

I initially thought of fully dismantling the air cleaner and having the entire case galvanized, but that can't be done as far as I can tell without drilling out spot welds at the top of the air intake tube which runs down the middle internally. Also dismantling and then reassembling the clamps with new pins didn't look too easy so I put all of that into the too-hard basket and settled on sending just the top piece off for galvanizing, painting the rest.

I wish it were feasible to get stuff galvanised here, but the nearest galvaniser is too far away.

I'm not sure I would have bothered to galvanise the top of the aircleaner - it is not something that is prone to rust. (Nor is the rest of the aircleaner for that matter.)

John

All looks good!
Did you get that galvanising work done by Korvest?
They did a lot for me a few years ago and it turned out great.
I have been considering getting some rims done in the not too distant future.


Cheers, Mick.

I had my first batch of bits done at Korvest. This included mostly the stuff in the engine bay and some body dress panels. When I dropped off the parts one of the employees told me that a lot of the customers which they occasionally do car parts for end up complaining about the quality because they, allegedly, don't understand what an industrial galvanization coating looks like. I thought that was a bit weird at the time and probably should have taken it as a bit of a bad omen, but I assured him that I know what galvanised stuff looks like and we were then both happy with that.

When I picked the bits up his comments suddenly made sense. About two thirds of the stuff was not brilliant, but acceptable, but the rest was really awful. They were clearly swilled in the sludge of a dirty tank and one of the body dress panels that didn't galvanize properly was "fixed" with an aerosol overcoat of cold galv! Suffice to say that wasn't acceptable. The radiator grille even looked rusty in parts. All the dud bits went back to the grit blaster and I have since had all of my galvanizing (re)done at Adelaide Galvanising Industries. The difference in quality is night and day.

Not trying to rubbish Korvest, but my impression is that they do heaps of very large scale industrial stuff and aren't really interested in small fry work, which will just get plonked in a basket and dunked into a big tank that's had who knows what go thought it previously. Problem is they were only half upfront about this when I gave them my bits.

Maybe you got lucky with your bits and got a clean tank!

Well it is good to know these things and it was at least three years ago when I had my items done. For the next lot of work I will take your lead and try the other company.


Cheers, Mick

No worries. Did you live down here then or did you send stuff over from Victoria?


Received a response from the transport department over here re the 6.5" rims and 235mm wide tyres. This might be of interest/benefit to others for I'll post it here:


"In regard to your 68 Landrover you can fit the wider tyres, providing there is no clearance issues and the wheels/tyres do not protruded past the bodywork when viewed from above.

Provided the rim offset is the same as the original rims, or within 13mm then the wheel track should not be an issue either.

So I cannot see an issue with the proposal"


Those Wolf rims have a +20.6mm offset, which is only 12.4mm less than the stock 5.5" rims' +33 offset, so they are just within the legal limits, reducing the total track width by a fraction over an inch.

Those wheels will increase the track by just under an inch not reduce. Offsets are a pain but if you think of the mounting plate being offset from the centre line of the rim rather than the other way around then they make more sense.

I noticed in your photos of the swivels pulled apart that you appear to have Railko Bushes at the top which I thought only came in with Series 3 but may have been late in 2A. You may need to think about changing the bushes as well as the bearing at the bottom as they will probably have both worn.

Cheers,

TimJ.

Yes you're right about the track width; a brain fart on my behalf.

The outer wall of the 235mm tyre should then sit 235/2-20.6 = ~97mm from the hub mounting face, which is just under 35mm further out than what the original 7.5-16 tyre was at (190/2-33). That should still be comfortably far from protruding past the guard.

My "Series II and IIA Bonneted Control" parts catalogue is dated 1968 and it details both swivel hub upper pin arrangements. My Railko pins are actually in good nick. My LR only had just over 50,000 original miles on the odometer (last registered for the road in 1984). Besides one busted rear axe there really wasn't any significant mechanical wear or damage anywhere in the drivetrain.