Restoration - Day 6

Day 6 - Restoration (03.02.17)

Day 6 was a day of great progress but not much to see in photographs.  

First of all Leif dropped all his fluids:

Radiator drained

I thought the radiator was still the original Land Rover radiator; sadly it turned out to be a Holden one, and a very brittle one at that!  New radiator needed.

 Foul smelling engine oil drained, followed by the gearbox and transfer box

 My restored dash panel was carefully removed to avoid damage

Red wires galore!  Wiring is a complete mess presumably mucked about with when the Holden engine was installed.  It is all getting ripped out and replaced with a new harness from Autosparks in the UK.

Not much to see in this photo, but the engine is totally disconnected and ready to be separated from the gearbox and lifted out.  Exhaust is off, bulkhead is almost completely stripped with brakes and steering assemblies still to go.  Vents and bug mesh is removed, and radiator panel is obviously off as well. 

Restoration - Day 5

Day 5 - Restoration (29.01.17)

 Day 5 started with drilling out more blasted screw heads, this time to remove the splash guard from the footwell

 Drivers wing removed fairly easily as most of the bolts were missing, presumably from when the engine was replaced

 The passenger side took considerably longer to remove thanks to four silly rusty clips holding the wiring loom to the inner guard

 Some minor rot found on the passenger side door pillar.....

 .... and some on the driver's side.

After being told by people to be careful that the bulkhead might be rotten under the windscreen, I was pleased to find it was as good as new once the windscreen was lowered.

 Windscreen removed and weather seal scraped off revealing the rust free bulkhead

End of day 5

Restoration - Day 3

Day 3 - Restoration (14.01.17)

Back seat out and looking a bit tired. This thing is stupid heavy!

Brackets under the seat, perhaps to store the crank handle? Not sure

Back seat brackets in pretty good shape

You just know these are parts that if you loose them, you just aren't going to be able to find replacements

Grrrrr!!!!! I am sure these floor fixings were a good idea at the time, but it look over an hour to drill every one of them out!

Seatbox sides are a bit ratty so replacements will be fitted. This one wasn't even bolted in!

Casualty to corrosion, missing corner

Trailer light wiring photographed and cut.  The new wiring harness will replace all this

Under-seat battery tray is rusted through and metal tray just shoved in

Underside of battery tray

Seatbox and rear floor removed, finally the chassis can be seen

Interesting that the graphics rail stabilises the b-pillars, kinda like impact protection, haha

Here ends day three.....

Restoration, Day 2

Day 2 - Restoration (08.01.17)

Today was a fantastic day with a lot achieved thanks to help from two friends. As they say, many hands make light work.

First task for the day was to remove the head-lining, trim and sun visors. The vinyl was very brittle and will need to be replaced 

Rear headlining intact but very brittle and torn

Next, removal of all the bolts holding on the roof.  All but three of the many bolts objected to being removed, two snapped and one very strange bolt saw its demise via an angle grinder.  Despite the nut being held firmly on the back side, and a ratchet on the bolt, it turned and turned but never loosened or tightened, perhaps it was a mis-matched pair?

Roof finally comes loose once the endless amounts of silicon is cut, scrapped and pried off

It's summer and Leif has shed a few pounds and gotten his top off!

End of day: roof and side panels off, as well as the tow hitch which was an absolute nightmare taking two of us over 30 minutes of hard labour

Throughout the day it became evident that the passenger side b-pillar is absolutely stuffed. It is riddled with rust and will need to be replaced. Thankfully, I have a spare!  It appears the roof has leaked at this location for a long time, and silicon has been applied more than once to try to plug the leak with disastrous results. Unsurprisingly, it was this b-pillars bolts that snapped and needed to be cut out.

What seems a bit odd was that both b-pillars show signs of yellow paint not seen anywhere else on the vehicle.  The passenger side I had suspected could be a replacement with further evidence of repairs clearly seen on the tub, but that does not explain the driver's side being yellow.

Mystery yellow paint on passenger side b-pillar

To remove the passenger rear side panel an enormous drinking water tank needed to be removed first. I must say it is a very impressive tank, having been custom made to fit inside the side panel maximising the tank capacity, it has baffles for strength and is beautifully crafted.  I will, however, not be reinstalling it, but I do not want to see it go to waste.

 Water tank removed, volume unknown, but one could go on a long expedition and not be thirsty

 Very neat rivet lines and folded corners

Shaped for maximum capacity

With the water tank out, it is clear to see what the second body skin is hiding; I wonder what caused these?

With the water tank out, holes in the original tub skin can be seen.....

.... and tool box revealed

mmmmmm, yummy! 40+ years of dirt and dried up rubber seals

Ending on a high, some beautifully preserved Mid-Grey paintwork

Two men called Peter

Those of you who have been following my blog will by now know that the whole reason for me writing it has been to document my experiences within the Australian auto enthusiast community. I have met so many amazing people over the last few years, and in the last month I have met two more, coincidentally they are both called Peter.

Peter C. I met through the simple sale of a series 3 transmission tunnel cover on Gumtree. As it turns out Peter is not only a Landy nut like me, but he also works in the same industry as me.  Peter is currently restoring a Series 3 short wheel base with pain staking attention to detail making the restoration nothing short of jaw dropping! Having been to see it, I found myself not only inspired but also a little nervous about what lies ahead as I begin the work to restore Leif. Either way, I am excited about learning and cannot wait to get stuck into the project.

Peter C's inspirational series 3 restoration.

The second Peter, Peter F, I will sadly probably never meet as he lives on the other side of the country from me, but that does not make him any less important.  

Peter F contacted me via my Facebook page offering a 6 cylinder bell housing for sale. We got "chatting" and it turned out that he also had a complete and running Land Rover 2.6 litre, 6 cylinder engine and a Fairey overdrive for sale. The engine had been removed from his own Landy to make way for a TDI conversion, and the overdrive had not been necessary as he had a high ratio transfer box.

Keen to buy everything but struggling with the freight costs, Peter F's generosity came to the forefront and we struck up a deal that I am eternally grateful for.

Leif's new heart (original 2.6L 6 cylinder Land Rover engine)

The red paint will have to go!

Fairey Overdrive, and Peter F's toes

Everything looks to be in fantastic shape.

More about Fairey overdrives

This weekend the engine, overdrive and bell housing will be packed onto a pallet and delivered to the first of the two transport companies who will bring it the 3,100km to Perth, where Peter C. has offer to help me collect and store it until required.

Road Trip!!!

What about Cactus Jack you may ask? Well I am happy to say he is off to a new home, in the new year; to a new owner who isn't called Peter, haha.

In time Cactus Jack may well be known as plain old "Jack" which is the best outcome I could think of.

Cactus Jack

Well the second half of this week turned out unexpectedly. I am now the owner of three vehicles from the '60's!  It is at this point I wish to thank my very patient and understanding wife - love you babe.

So what have I bought? To be honest, I don't know yet.  Having paid a deposit sight unseen the process started in a similar way to the purchase of Leif, but this time I went to see my new acquisition and most importantly see and hear it run before finalising the purchase.

So lets start with the name to set the scene, "Cactus Jack".

Australian slang definition: Cactus: Dead, not functioning ("this bloody machine is cactus")
source: http://www.koalanet.com.au

And here he is:

"Cactus Jack"

So, no doubt you are wondering what the hell did you buy that for? Well here is the answer:

Still wondering? Well, what you are looking at is a Rover six cylinder engine.  Currently, Leif is running a Holden engine, so this new acquisition will give me the option of putting Leif back to original standard.  You see, there is method in my madness, haha.

I knew this engine was not original to Cactus Jack as the 88" Land Rovers were never produced in a six cylinder variant, but thanks to a friend with much more knowledge on the matter than me, we have determined from the engine number that the engine is most likely from a Rover P4, 100, dating it around 1961.

Under the dirt and grim, the engine number reads 650102285

Rover P4 which we assume Cactus Jack's engine is from

Rover P4, 100 Engine.  Just a bit cleaner than Cactus Jack's

As for Cactus Jack himself, he is in a terrible state of neglect and beyond economical repair, so I am not sure what the future holds for him, but here is what I have learnt about him so far thanks to the chassis number.

Cactus Jack's identification plates

Like Leif, he is a CKD (completely knocked down), built and assembled in Sydney by the Pressed Metal Corp.  Dated 1960, he is an early Series 2 (the first Series 2 was unveiled in April 1958), and he would have had a 2.25 petrol engine.
Cactus Jack has some early features that I hope to be able to extract from him and offer to fellow owners who have a vehicle of a similar vintage, but I don't know what they will clean up like; the initial inspection is not that great.

Left outside with no door tops, Cactus Jack is in very poor condition

Outside is not much better, but the bonnet catches are cool!

The badge is about the only shiny bit left!

What's next? Well thanks to a friend with a big warehouse and generous personality, Cactus Jack will be collected by Steve from Perth Tow, who collected both Jade and Leif, next week and put into storage for the next 6-7 months until my garage, the "Tyro Workshop" is built.  He will then come home to have a thorough wash before being inspected for salvageable bits.  Only then, with the help of some friends will I know if the engine is any good.  If it is, it will be extracted and prepped for transplantation into Leif.

I can't wait to get started, and begin my learning. This is way, way, way out of my knowledge and experience so it should be interesting.  Stay tuned!