Well I've been "refreshing" my IIA shorty for about 3yrs now so I thought I'd share some pics on the progress.
Here's where it was back in 2017. Hadn't been driven for about 5yrs because I just got too busy, moved interstate twice, and it languished in a carpark in Sydney. Screen Shot 2020-11-14 at 4.29.35 pm.jpg
I got it shipped home to Melbourne (from Sydney) and noticed the bulkhead had started to rot in a few places.
After having a crack at cutting it out and patching it got out of hand because there was way too much work to do. The car has a 6cyl IIA bulkhead and a few other bits of butchery to make things fit around that. So I wanted to get a 4cyl bulkhead and fix it properly. I never managed to track down a decent one, so I found a good 6cyl bulkhead and chopped the centre section out, fabricating a 4cyl centre panel out of sheet steel to weld in. Harry built me some new floor pans and other bits for it too.
I also attacked the doors to cut out the bottom frame rot, but again that got out of hand because it was much worse than it initially appeared. So I sourced some half decent SIII doors that just needed the bottom frame replaced, but in the end bought some brand new ones instead.
Fast forward to now and I'm on the final big push to get the car back on the road. It's not going to get the full paint job I initially planned just yet, because we're moving house in a month. So it will be a bit of a rat rod until next year. A few progress pics.
It's getting twin 16 gallon fuel tanks, I'm leaving the holden in there for now but I have an original diesel to go back in once its rebuilt. I have a set of stock rims and Michelin XLZs ready to bolt on. There's a toro overdrive in there too.
Left to do are:
- front axle rebuild (I have new swivel hubs and all the stuff ready to bolt in)
- all brake shoes and wheel cylinders replaced (it has an XA falcon master cyl and booster that are engineered and will stay for now)
- new front brake lines (the old ones were rusted badly)
- finish off the bulkhead centre section (needs to be bolted in the chassis to make sure everything is square before I weld it up)
- replace the bolts being used as shackle pins (!) with proper pins
- weld in the fuel tank outriggers
- replace LH bulkhead outrigger (old repair is shoddy and bent)
- replace the wiring loom (I have a new vinwire loom ready to go in)
- bolt everything back together....
so today I've been sorting out fixings that I previously tumbled clean. Some of these will get replaced because they're knackered, others will get zinc plated. I bought a Janes Kits plating kit some time back and have done a few bits and pieces, they turn out very nice.
About 10yrs ago I bought a set of good SIIA steel rims and got them sand blasted and hot zinc sprayed. They've been stored under various houses since then waiting to get painted. Just so I can stop moving them around I grabbed a rattle can of Dulux 'Hog's Bristle' to spray on them so I can fit up the Michelin XLZs that are also under the house. Then I can get rid of the 15" sunraysiers that are on it now. Paint came out ok and will do for now. Oh, and I know the wheels should be body colour on a 71 model, but I'm not a rivet counter and I like the limestone wheels look much better.
Also spent a bit of time measuring up to replace the LH bulkhead outrigger. Tomorrow I need to do a parts run for some brake line nuts - the old ones are all rounded off - then I can get the lines made up and finish off that job.
had a bit of running around to do today. Dropped the flywheel off to get machined and a new bearing installed. It's some kind of custom made thing with holden starter gear but land rover size clutch face. Will be putting a 9.5" clutch in to replace the 9" one that was in there.
Then I picked up new shackle kits and installed the front ones. It has military 'style' hangers and slightly longer than stock plates, but I replaced them with stock plates and moved the fronts up to the 'civilian' hole. Nothing tightened up until I have it all back on it's wheels and do a lap around the block to settle down.
got stuck into the outrigger moving today. Had to remove the LH bulkhead outrigger because it's bent backwards about 3/4". Have a new one on the way from Landybitz.
Other side is fine but after I cut away the fuel tank outrigger I found a couple of pin holes, so patched them up. A bit rugged but they'll be behind the tank out of sight.
Also been churning through the fixings in the zinc bath. Wont be doing this for every nut and bolt because it's pretty time consuming, but while I have the patience I'll get a bunch done and save some money.
A few updates from today. Pulled the rear drums off and both sides have an oil leak. The distance piece where the seal runs is knackered, so I've ordered all the bits to replace them and the seals. The bearings are almost new, I did them less than 1000km ago (although that was about 8yrs ago in time).
Next job was to check out the old diff centre. Years ago I swapped in a range rover centre to see how it would go on the highway. It was great but around town it was a clutch killer. So I'm swapping back in the old 4.7:1 centre, but it's looking shabby from sitting in the shed.
Well I wouldn't drive it across the Simpson, but it will do until next year when it gets a full rebuild.
Other than that I just washed parts and sorted out some more fixings. Fingers crossed the outrigger arrives tomorrow and I can weld that on and get moving with the bulkhead.
Now waiting for some bolts and loctite to arrive so I can finish off the rear end. Still no sign of the bulkhead outrigger... hoping for a weekend delivery.
unfortunately another few days with not much to update. Made up the front brake lines in copper coated steel line with new nuts. After having a heart attack seeing what places want for decent brake line p-clips I decided to design and 3D print some that 'snap' in the brake line. Turned out OK so I made up a twin version as well. They're screwed to the chassis with a 5mm pan head bolt.
another quick update - I hate my "universal" clutch alignment tool and somewhere along the way I've lost the gearbox input shaft I had for this job. So today while I was printing the brake line clips I thought "maybe I can print a clutch alignment tool?"
So I did a quick sketch and printed a small prototype. Fits like a glove. So tonight I'll print a full length one.
yeah I've printed a few bits and pieces for the defender but mostly I make drone and electronics project stuff. Did the full size clutch tool overnight and it printed great.
More delays thanks to the chassis outrigger not arriving this week. Parts I ordered from the UK on the same day as the outrigger have arrived. Some Australian suppliers really not making their case for further business at the moment.
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