Series III - Even older more masochistic Land Rover Content

I don’t know, Big Blue has been saying the same for years.

I fitted a big bore stainless system to mine, with tubular manifolds. it sounded like a TVR.

Well it’s sort of the same engine isn’t it? Obviously TVR did a bit of work on it, but they started from the same place.

A little more done today.

Front wings removed and wiring disconnected, front suspension bolts loosened along with all ball joints. I need a proper ball joint splitter to get the steering arms off.

I need to drain the coolant and then I can remove the grille and radiator and then the engine and gearbox will be ready to come out. I can borrow a crane from someone in the village.

I’ve soaked the steering relay in Plusgas so hopefully that won’t put up too much of a fight. If it does I can cut the front crossmember off and use a press or use a jack and a sledgehammer on the crossmember.

I’ve also undone the exhaust down pipes from the manifolds and it’s nice to see beefy custom engine mounts. I’ve seen some properly horrible bodges while browsing forums.

It’s a lot bigger job than anticipated, but not really surprising for a 40 year old car. 

I’m hoping to get the axles to my garage then I can have access to a vice and workbench and a little more weather protection than a barn can provide while I refurbish them. 

Refurbishment will involve stripping, check final drives (diff) for excessive backlash and set, half shafts for wear and replace swivels on the front along with all seals and brakes along with a coat of anti rust chassis paint.

I hope to get the truck cab roof and gubbins on eBay fairly soon as that will pay for the axles.

That’s the plan. I’m going to see if I can pick up a set of sticks at the LRO show. I need a header rail and door frames too.

It’s nuts and bolts. I can also read a workshop manual.

That will be true, but I will be putting it back together with a proper nut and bolt kit. Having to swap sockets and spanner’s randomly several times for fastenings that should be uniform for a panel is a pain!

Ah yes, an old BL trait. I remember many years ago one of my dad's company cars being worked on, IIRC the alternator required changing and the mechanic said something like that there were 3 bolts to remove.... one imperial, one Whitworth and one metric.... 3 sets of spanners/sockets needed when one should have sufficed

Had the phone call today. Chassis is now paid for and arriving Monday.

Good stuff. How many chassis have you bought in the last ten years, is this the third?

That’s what trigger said about his broom! 

Didn’t you need a new chassis on a trailer as well?

I’ll need to get my finger out on Saturday. The bulkhead needs removing along with the engine and gearbox from the original chassis. 

I've just sat down and formed a plan of action.

TVR is getting relegated to the driveway for the time being. The chassis is coming on Monday and that needs washing, drying and painting before anything else. I can't do that in my mate's shed so my garage will have to be used. Sadly, I can't get the TVR up his track either. I have a cover for it and it has lived outside before. I will spray everything underneath with ACF50 to stop any potential corrosion.

Anyway, once the chassis is done I have decided I am going to complete it in my garage. I've lacked motivation partly down to not having the chassis and partly as each time I go to do some work on it, I have to cart all the tools needed down to my mate's and bring them all back again. That and the fact it's a fairly open shed in the middle of winter! Working on it in a warm dehumidified garage will be nice. I've ordered all the new suspension parts and I will bring the axles up to the house and rub them down and paint them before putting them on the car. I will then be able to refurbish the axle internals and the brakes as needed. It is virtually impossible to do them off the car as they move around too easily and they are bloody heavy!