79 109 hartop camper build .

Phew ! testing day today so far. 2 1/2 hours to fit the lower dash .. thats 2 bolts ..had the Mrs out to give me a hand .. was nearly there then a rivnut decided to spin.. that was half an hour and right there but it happens, there was more like that today but kept calm and carried on Got some other stuff on next week so I dont anticipate much progress till mid week . Collecting the roof cap on Thursday if everything goes to plan. At last I will be able to make sure the bulkhead is in the right place and everything bolts up.. Can do with a few days away from it to be honest.. my neck and back are killing me ..

waiting on a few parts that should see it pretty much to completion of this stage . Then its back on to the camper interior .. and more frustration

I dont like this stage of a build at all.. Committed to getting this done and dusted ( although having a break this week to eventually do my buddies hot ord rear axle swap) but doing a wee bit at night to keep things ticking over . Sorted the rest of the van liner in the back and had a look around for suitable ally for the camper units .. Made some orders for all the daft stuff , coolant hoses, heater hoses, horn, rear panel window seals, track rod ends, washer pump, p clips, Headlamps, ( H4s), headlamp tails, and other stuff .. Skint again.. Looking forward to collecting the roof cap on Thursday

picked up the roof cap today , had a wee let down on the diesel engine but thats not a problem , Im happy to run with the petrol for the time being. I did however collect the Fairley overdrive . complete unit with selector and brackets. feels good but Im not sure what Im feeling for lol..Gave it a clean up and hope to get it fitted soon. Dropped the roof cap on and temporarily secured it with a handful of 10mm bolts.. fits fine and kind of surprised it all lined up pretty good . Adjusted the driver door a wee bit and released the tension on the ratchet strap . All good nothing changed ..
That will let me get the bulkhead fully locked down and buttoned up. This wee job has been dragging on untill I fitted the roof cap.. I can also get the rear door fitted . Nipping out to rebuild the carb.. Cooant hoses , heater hoses, and a fair few odds and ends on there way to assist with the final furlong..

The fella I got the fairley from reports that they are pretty noisy old things .. is this the case for them all or just maybe his experience of the ones he has driven. Asking so as I might know what to expect when I knock it into overdrive

Carb done, just remembered , I forgot to peen the end of the screws on the new carb throttle rod and butterfly .. bugger .. Old tub is looking pretty decent , pretty happy with it so far, which is unusual for me .. Will get a wee bit more done on Friday evening , but otherwise kind of limited what I can get done as splitting time between here and my buddies rear axle fitment .. Just got the ladder bars to fit , clock the rear pinion , make any adjustments and weld on the ladder bar brackets . All the spring perch stuff is done and the rear spring rebuilt and fitted .. with it all in the last jobs are to set the ride height by relocating the rear X member , fitting the new shock mounts, replacing the boot floor and making a panel to cover the wire to the rear lights, then I can put that job to rest.. Then it will be back there to 4 bar the back end of his wifes 48 Chevy pickup, replace the bed floor and remount the bed which is pretty much just hanging in there by the skin of its teeth.. Hope to have the Landrover done before that though.

Onwards and upwards

Just as well I read the previous post,,, still forgot to peen the screws .. In the meantime ive had a few deliveries , so got the track rod ends replaced, cooland hoses fitted, heater hoses fitted, new rad cap stuck on the rad ( so I can find it ) assembled the headlamp units ready to go in . Didnt realise the new bols came with headlamp tails and I had bought new ones .. The new ones ar the proper colour codes though so swapped them over .. Will nip out later and fit the overdrive unit . Finding it hard to in down the proper materials im needing for the camper units but in the big scheme of things that's not to important. There are a fair few jobs to be tidied up and ticked off the list, which never seems to get any shorter.
If I want to get this on the road before the mot expires on the daily I have 20 days to do it .. Should be doable but I dont want to rush the final bit , might just use the wifes car for a bit ..

got the overdrive in today, Made a tool for the fancy nut and read a tech item saying the nut should be torqued to 100lbsft

Went to use the new tool, made from a 32mm socket .. completely overlooked that even a deep socket wouldnt reach over the shaft length .. DOH ! so got in with the old fingers to see how tight it was once the locktab was unfolded.. Well it was finger tight, so pulled the nut and washers and replaced the gear with the Fairey one fitted new lock washers spun up the nut and gave it a wee tap to line up the new taband locked it down, then dropped the punch into the box ..tsk No worries I was intending to drain all the transmissions but had to take the cover off the transfer box to retrieve the punch .. The way the lock tab lines up only one tang fits in a nut slot.. unfortunately the overdrive wont slide in as the unbent tangs dont allow the gear to engage so had to pull the OD out cut off the unused tangs and refit the OD . No problem..
Oil drained from the transmission including the OD unit was all good .. nothing manky or emulsified and no evidence of glitter or gunge so its worth taking a chance on it and just refilling with good quality fresh lube . Will have to look up what they require as it was pretty clear from what came out of each that they are different viscosities .

Will also drain the axles and give them some fresh lube too.

Looks like the selector rod for the OD will need a wee bend on the end to get things to align properly , nothing a wee bit of heat wont cure

Looking forward to seeing how you are going to deal with the camper interior, still thinking about this for mine, are you going with a lifting roof or suchlike?

BruceB said:

Looking forward to seeing how you are going to deal with the camper interior, still thinking about this for mine, are you going with a lifting roof or suchlike?

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I was planning to do a full 180 degree side flip which would require foldable legs to support the roof . Now Thats nt a fresh idea dreamed up by me, its been done before and there is a link to the fellas landrover earlier in the post . Having gave it a lot of thought , I have decided that having the roof flip and rendering the entire roof length and width as a bed area, so increasing the user space by over 100% due to added width and height ( and scoring a canopy to sit under ) its not the most practical design since it wont allow a simple roadside or off road stop as the footpring of the vehicle with the roof flipped actually doubles.. Not handy if you are stealth camping Its still my favourite design but im no longer sure its the most practical .

Now I have the roof cap on the body, Im looking at other possibilities. One being the standard full length forward lift . Im not keen on spending much doe and for sure £5k for an alu cab is out of the question despite how well thought out they are, putting one on a a budget series rebuild isnt really an option.

So im looking at various hinge set ups and lifting systems to see what might work with a minamum secondary frame work, similar to the original idea, but with a front hinge above the screen using something like aluminium hinges as used on boat deck hatches. By usng that type of flip over external mount hinge, a good sealing system can still be maintained without adding rubber flaps and all sorts to keep water out .. The side tenting is also much simpler to make and secure .. and with the addition of a dew gas struts the roof will lift easy and the bed will drop easy too . Its a huge compromise but its more practical than the 180 side flip and support legs ..

The main argument is for what type of camping I will do in it . To be honest its most likely to be open areas where there is enough space to flip the top 180 , But that is also a limiting factor , just taking off for a weekend I might just feel the need to stop up an old section of road where a flip top would be more suitable ... easy up easy down discrete and secure ..

I was looking for the materials for the interior but decided to make the spend on the few parts I need to finish the main build before I get side tracked doing the inside .. I need the thing on the road and driving and I can do the inside as a separate project but in all likelihood it will be the next stage and pretty soon after its on the road

Right now its taking a disproportionate amount of time to do daft stuff. 45 minutes to fit the 3 wee screws that secure the Speedo cable to the gearbox .. Patience of a saint .. knocking all these jobs off the list though ..

I really need to get the last coats of paint on so I can fit the lights and lamps, wipers and door glass.. One job holds up several others ..

original roof idea

I saw that video earlier in your thread and liked the idea but like yourself wondered about the practicalities of it, particulary on uneven ground and about how much strengthening would be needed on the roof and therefore high level weight (cornering!)
I bought the 109 with the idea of making a camper originally but having had a VW camper since, and hated it, this isn't an option now. Still thinking of a day van which is more useful.
Will keep an eye on what you do, mine is still at very early stages and isn't likely to progress faster until the better weather comes in

Day van idea is probably where im at with the 109 with a basic lift up roof for overnighters .. Ive still got my T2 VW wife loves it, but wont drive it as the steering is to heavy and the brakes aint up to what shes used to in her modern mini . I get a sore back driving it and im to tall for the bed, plus its a chore setting up and packing away every time you use it .. I secretly still like it though, even though the furthest it went last year was 120metres .. Bacon rolls and cups of tea taste a lot better rustled up and served in an old camper. Makes for a fairly expensive bacon roll though ... I really need to sell it to be honest as its not even a practical daily , the land rover was supposed to be a cheap replacement for the T2 with the bonus of being used as a daily, bearing in mind I don't actually have a day commute , sometimes my daily doesn't turn a wheel for a fortnight ......so free tax, a decent maintenance routine and no MOT plus cheap insurance the land rover is actually nearly practical

I had a hi top LWB T4 as my wife wanted one, I loved using it for long journeys, even had a kip going through the Chunnel once, but I never liked the idea of the camper itself. For the money tied up I would rather just sleep in a proper bed. We sold it after a couple of years at the beginning of lockdown and made every penny we has spent on it back with a bit left over.
The day van thing for diving, dog walks and even days out still holds some attraction but we are unlikely to use a S3 going to the south of England on holiday from Inverness as we did with the T4

We did south wales from Forfar the first year the van went on the road , did it the long way though via all the A roads and a few B roads .. tried it on the motorway.. never been so intimidated .. wouldnt do it again.. the A9 is bad enough and its 50 in some spots now .. its fine for the west coast Lochinver and all those type of routes ..

re the roof mods, I wanted to do the perimeter framework in 50 x 25 x 3mm alloy tube a frame work around the body and a similar arrangement around the roof cap , but currently looking at the feasibility of doing in with 50x25 x 3mm angle and flat stock aluminium ..which is basically holding the mid body panels in place and preventing the bulkhead / screen from flexing .. doing it with these materials would limit any additional height to around 10mm max .. with the idea I have in mind .. I really need to get some materials and make some models but getting the main job complete has to be the priority just now..

There is a guy locally who has done this, he built a frame and mounted the roof onto this and it hinges from the front. It looks normal except for a 10-20mm strip all around the base of the roof.
I did have his email address at one point and I am sure I could probably track him down, he lived just across the fields in balloch somewhere and I used to see the Landy at tesco now and again.

did he post the build on you tube ? I saw a build by a fella in Scotland although that one was kinda like the same idea as the alucab with a riser section .. I woud be interested to hear if you get any other info on the one up your way .. I dont mind pinching somebody elses idea im not proud

auld duffer said:

did he post the build on you tube ? I saw a build by a fella in Scotland although that one was kinda like the same idea as the alucab with a riser section .. I woud be interested to hear if you get any other info on the one up your way .. I dont mind pinching somebody elses idea im not proud

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I would recognise the 110 the local guy built if I saw it, its quite distinctive, if you find the video post it and I will be able to tell if its the same one.
I'm not proud either, if an idea works then it will be pinched if its useful!

Made a bit more progress, got the brakes and clutch bled , had a few pipe leaks but nothing that wasn't half expected, all nipped up and leak free now .. Clutch was a breeze, I hear a lot about folk having issues with them,

This is how I do it :

with the clutch system set up with a new master and slave, clamp the flexi . then crack open the pipe at the top of the master, pump the pedal down and close the metal pipe, let the pedal up crack open the pipe, press the pedal , 2 or 3 presses will be fine you will see the air bubble out the union at the metal pipe . Basically your bleeding the master cylinder ..

Keep the clamp on the rubber flexi and dive under the car and open the bleed nipple on the slave cylinder. pump the pedal, it will go hard as the flexi is clamped, with the pressure on, release the clamp on the flexi, the pedal will sink hold it down and re clamp the flexi, let the pedal up and build the pressure again. hold the pressure on, open the clamp on the flexi and you will hear the air spurt out the slave . repeat the process 3 or 4 times, lock up the bleed nipple , clean up the mess and your done ..

But you already new that

Got the bulkhead buttoned down at last .. YEHHHHH . Floor panels in , seat tub carpeted, ( yup I said carpet ) Its not old school Axminister from yer grans though,, just a bit of left over black bed liner . This is all kind camper prep .. might as well cover some of that area at this stage . Im not covering the floors or the transmission cover, leaving them as a feature LOL just rubber mats .

This is definitely the most difficult part of any build . Tying up the loose ends, doing all the finishing's and not rushing to the finish line but sticking with the plan .. Its the most expensive part of the build as well , seems like you need pretty much little trinkets and seals, pedal rubbers, trim parts, hoses , wire , switches fluids paints etc etc etc ..and finding stuff you know you took off but seem to have disappeared. Frustration sets in, But the end is in sight .. just got to keep cool and keep focused . and try not to mess it up..

Depressingly when its all buttoned up and painted, I have to take the roof off and do the prep and repairs on that, do the insulation and roof covering and prime and paint it . Im seriously thinking about doing the mid section of the roof with tinted bed liner as it is such a resilient covering .. easy to use, great cover and good protection .. would draw the line at doing it like that gutter rail to gutter rail though .. Very few people will see the mid section of the roof, its even above my abnormal eye level..

Really looking forward to rolling this out and seeing if its going to drive OK for any distance ..

Well done in getting so far on with your project. Have you got any pics of your progress? I really like the idea of a Lwb day van

Its hard to show any progress in pictures when its just swapping temporary nuts n bolts for permanent proper length ones with matching washers and nylocks, it just looks the same, but its taken 3 hours ,, most of the stuff like the wiring and piping is hidden. That's the frustrating and often demoralising thing at this stage , Im still dropping 6 to 8 hours a day in it but it never looks like anything has been done, even the list of things to do gets longer, not shorter !!, I really need to get the final coat of paint on it , that will bring me on loads since I can fit the headlights, tail lights , door seals, radiator and a host of other bits that will make huge progress toward completion ..

Bought some coir matt for the back and front mats .. yup not your usual choice but pretty cheap and I think it will look cool when the camper units are built in.. bit of a contrast .. Its not yer usual landrover , Im just having a bit of fun with it in its retirement Definitely wont be everybody's cup of tea, but it will have some kind of funky functional appeal and raise a smile ..

If I could shove it out the shed to get some pics that would be better, but with the roof on its never gonna fit under the door .. mentioned that the other day, the roof is a completely separate job and in some ways a minor set back,, Just when it looks done, the roof comes off again , bit of a pain but thats the way it is ..

Done all the lubes today, fitted the floors, finished bits of trim, and gave the underside a going over with Waxoil and a brush , ladeled it on in the most vulnerable areas . I havent did any of the cavities as I dont want the waxoil mist covering the body surface before I paint it .. Once again, when its painted its game on for a sprint to the finish line .

Nearly there. I find sometimes the small jobs take the longest time and you have little to show for it. Must be getting towards the end now! Great stuff