1956 86" sympathetic restoration

Hi folks, i've recently joined the Landy Zone forum as i have been given a 1956 86" Series 1 by my father in law. It's been standing for a while due to a broken half shaft, (now have a replacement).

She starts fine and was in regular use until shaft failure. After giving her a look over she appears to need some new springs and shocks, and a small patch where the o/s chassis rail joins the rear cross member. I checked over the chassis as best i can with a small (tapping hammer) and the rest seems ok. fingers crossed. My father in law has upgraded her with electronic ignition and an alternator.
I would like to give her chassis a good clean, patch the small hole then paint it with zinc primer and chassis black. Can any of the experienced members tell me of the best way i can do this while keeping her as a rolling chassis. The land Rover is stored in a barn and I am planning to work on her while visiting forlong weekends with the rest of the family. As i have to travel to Wales to my in-laws home, i am trying to avoid a complete strip down to minimize the work load.

Any advice or opinions will be gratefully received.
Cheers All

Hi!

Recently got a 54 86 as well - so feel like you and i are going to have some long discussions...

To be honest giving it a good clean and getting the welding done is a good start. The back body is not all that difficult to remove and could be done to facilitate the repairs to the chassis, and would of course make painting easier. Floors out and seatbox could be done in a few hours if it has no roof (roof off will take a bit of time) and you have a runner and driver minus the body panels. I wouldn;t bother to remove the nose to do the painting and cleaning - wheels off and on jacks will get you enough access with removal of blocking bits in the engine compartment.

Springs and shocks can be done withoutj major disassembly of the truck - support the chassis on stands and use common sense and you'll be fine. Getting the rear end back together will be fun but not a nightmare - if it's not already out I'd pull the differential and clean out the axle casing thoroughly to remove all of the bits of broken halfshaft. You'll need to have it out anyway to get the stub out of the diff...

I can't see why you'd have to completely strip it if it was a runner before - you should be fine unless you run into major chassis issues - and even those can be dealt with without removing the bulkhead with luck.

ajr

mine is a 54 too

Thanks ajr,

Just for the record, the diff is already out. The half shaft is complete although the last 2" is cracked and twisted, it has managed to remain intact. When I visit in a few weeks time I will refit the differential and the new half shaft, then i'll need to free off the hand brake, its a bit weird as the lever is in the off position but will not move upwards,( closer inspection needed I think) then take her out for a gentle run round some country lanes. I will post some pictures once I am able to get her out of the barn.

Let me know how you get on with your vehicle, It will be good to compare notes.

All the best
Andy

Hi honolulujoe, thanks for your reply, I might be asking you for advice also.

Cheers
Andy

Those halfshafts look like bastards.......I have a spare pair of rear ones I need to clean up and put new bearings on as spares

But anyway wheres the pics!

Dr_evil said:

Those halfshafts look like bastards.......I have a spare pair of rear ones I need to clean up and put new bearings on as spares

But anyway wheres the pics!

Click to expand...

Rear wheel bearings are a bastard to do, or at least the few I have done were. I was struggling with a 50 ton press and ended up cutting the collars off. Unless it is a being kept original I would swap for a latter type axle.

And yes where are the pic's

andybbrown said:

Hi honolulujoe, thanks for your reply, I might be asking you for advice also.

Cheers
Andy

Click to expand...

I'm more in the I just drive them camp, I have relatively little mechanical knowledge about landies, the little bit I do have I have gleaned from people on here, the tips and pointers you get on landyzone are invaluable to say the least.

What you plan seems a good bet. Mine is in the process of getting some extensive wiring repairs (lunatic previous owner), and much love from having sat on a Texas ranch for half the past decade. Desert sun does some VERY nasty thingssss to Perspex - i've had to have all new sliding windows for the truck cab made.

I can't wait to get it back on the road, though - lovely little truck. Good luck and do give a yell if you want any "is it supposed to look like that?" questions answered.

ajr

ajr