Land Rover Double-header

OK, thought it was about time to start actually making a thread to document the bruised knuckles and gritty eyeballs ... hopefully something I can look back and read over a nice G&T and a wry chuckle, when they're both pristine (ha).

I decided to take on not one but two complete unknown vehicles at a time - neither a 'standard' vehicle. Well, that was last summer. I'm just now getting to grips with just how complicated that can make all sorts of things, but starting to actually have fun fixing everything. Not a thread for purists - since both have been significantly messed about with I'm not trying to turn the clock back, just make them enjoyable to use and reliable (as reliable as Landys get eh?)

So here they are:
1) Big Red - a 1968 Series 2a 109 hardtop, with a Rover V8 out of a Rover P6 (I think a '73)
2) Sunny - 1986 Ninety hardtop, converted (ish) by a supposed bunch of experts into a Station Wagon, with a mutant 2.5 NA that mixes components from 14J and 12J engines just to mix things up a bit



Hopefully remember to take more photos as I go along from here on in, but I've got a patchy selection here and there to illustrate some of the work I've already done

The super exciting bit about all this is (as you can see from the pic) is that I get to do all the work by the side of the road (I'm standing in the middle of it to take that photo), which makes it all good fun even tiny jobs.... more fool me probably! Anyway.

Picked up Sunny in July, from a chap in London. For various reasons, Sunny hadn't been used at all for years, but supposedly subject to a full ground-up restoration. Well, the chassis and engine bay looked smart, and everything worked OK, til I got home anyway. The fuel gauge had a cute little wiggle like a dog's tail, but everything else was fine.

No problems at all getting back, at which precise moment half the electrics went. Probably a bit unfair to have re-familiarised him with the open road by way of a 150mi slog on the motorway....

The obvious culprit was the fusebox, a right rat's nest still using glass fuses. On closer examination these would just fall out at the slightest touch and the experts who refurbed the truck had just sprayed over half of the wires. Merely a taste of things to come if I had but known it...



And as it got dark when I reached home, the perennial Landy problem of genuinely terrible headlights reared its ugly head. Easily fixed thankfully.

Anyway, job 1 - fix that fusebox. The default only has 12 slots, but I knew I was going to add some extras (headlamp relays, driving lights, USB sockets and cameras being the main examples) so I thought I'd add some spare capacity. Two ten-bank fuseboxes ought to do it! I got some nice ones from VWP that have LED indicators if a fuse blows - not cheap but very handy for the wife to sort out if I'm not around when one goes...

Well, no way that was all going to fit (with a handful of extra relays) on the old fusebox mounting plate, so I found a nice bit of stainless sheet I had lying around, and folded and cut it to size. Few holes drilled for mounting bolts, and the cutouts made with an angle grinder and finished with the Dremel, job done. It sticks out further as I wanted a bit more space for the wiring behind it (I extended the loom and labeled it all according to the wiring diagram for ease of reference later), and the fuses are on show but it's a working vehicle so who cares. At least it works and looks tidy.

But have you changed that fuel filter and replumbed fuel pump on the v8?

Mmm,, interesting, 'specially "Big Red" ... Any chance of some more piccies please

Watched

Shippers said:

But have you changed that fuel filter and replumbed fuel pump on the v8?

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Yes yes - this is supposed to be a story, I'll get to that bit! you don't start a story with 'and they lived happily ever' do you? (Unless you're Memento's director I suppose...)

Disco1BFG said:

Mmm,, interesting, 'specially "Big Red" ... Any chance of some more piccies please

Watched

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Thanks Disco! Feeling the pressure now I'm trying to find the new fusebox photo at the mo....

Nick666 said:

Yes yes - this is supposed to be a story, I'll get to that bit! you don't start a story with 'and they lived happily ever' do you? (Unless you're Memento's director I suppose...)

Thanks Disco! Feeling the pressure now I'm trying to find the new fusebox photo at the mo....

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But weve been waiting for an update on your thread in the engine section...its annoying when threads arnt updated I dont always check this page and only noticed you had posted otherwise wouldnt have known

Hi Shippers - I totally agree, I hate unfinished threads where you never find out what the thread owner did or if it fixed the problem. I won't do that - and I will update that thread (however unsatisfactorily) right now
( link )

[Edit - For completeness, the 14J alternator belt saga (my other plea for help!) is here]

As a totally unproductive aside, one reassuring thing about all this daftness is that even when they're driving me nuts, I absolutely love these Land Rovers. God knows why - probably the inner child in me which still just wants Tonka toys and a big sandbox...) And v glad I went backwards in sophistication. Hopefully there isn't anything on these that with a bit of effort, reading and elbow grease I won't be able to sort out. [Which couldn't be said for the TD5 may it rest in peace.]

Next thing was to replace all of the lights (save the rear fog and reversing). No interesting pics, but here's one anyway.

That's partway through obviously. Found out I hate bullet terminals. Esp old ones. Mind you, dunno any better types really - the blades seem just as unreliable. Anyway. Ghastly use of scotchlok tap connectors here and there - loathsome things. Once I've got the basics all sorted, a complete rewire beckons. (Note the friendly (dead) spider far right - time for a good clean too!)

Mix of Britpart / Wipac / Bearmach - the supplier I bought them from didn't specify which. Lesson learned - the Britpart were similar looking, but the plastic was more brittle and cracked easier than the Wipac. Don't think it was just my prejudice against them! Also replaced the shocking looking little reflectors which I replaced with side repeaters - the holes were already there, so that was handy. Those were Britpart too - the backing plates rusted within weeks. Bloody awful. I'll never buy from them again.

Next job was to fix the passenger side seatbelt - I hadn't noticed on the test drive (sitting in the other seat wasn't I!) but it wasn't even attached at both ends. As per below. [PS these photos are low quality as they're ripped from a quick MP4 video I took - I even downloaded a new app just to do that. See how much I love you guys? I know, it's OK, I don't even need any thanks! What a guy. ]

This was because it was the 'old style' one where the far end is supposed to bolt into a bracket on the sill (rather than back into the seatbelt reel). And there weren't any of those. The seatbox ends had been replaced (v badly) with some flat sheet, presumably at the same time they took the brackets off.

God knows why you'd do that instead of just buying some seatbox ends I don't know. And they'd obviously then replaced the driver's belt, but not the passenger's. [On that note - Gus, bit of friendly advice, stick to bicycles maybe from now on eh? Or maybe knitting.] But anyway. I bought some lovely galvanised brackets from Bits4Landys, to be fitted one day when I get around to sorting the seatbox ends and put it back to standard, but in the meantime I've sorted a slightly different one which is safe and sturdy. Not quite the same as the other side but it'll do for now. And the brackets and period belt will go into the parts bin for another day

[When I need to remember, it's a 7/16" UNF bolt not M10 - a quick google and @aaronmorris's reply in a super-old thread helped me out there . To me, M10 looks super similar... doesn't work at all. Obvs. ]

(All new fasteners, before someone says something about how rusty those fixings are on the passenger belt mount.)

The gearshifts were a bit clunky and SO far apart, the wife refused to drive it. What the heck, she's kinda right - so the next step was a slickshift - had one of these years ago on my TD5 hardtop (the one that worked) which was a dream, so worth a try!
Super easy to fit, thankfully. The three 'boots' on the gearstick and difflock had to be cut off as they were so old they'd gone hard. Needs must. Anyway. Got a new tower for the shifter as well, as the old one was showing a bit of wear where the pins on the stick itself are housed. It does seem odd to me to have made it from cast alu but what do I know. Bit of dabbling with the adjuster nuts on either side, nice short shifts again - almost car-like. Lovely.
Series of painfully large photos follows (so just thumbnails to click on for those who don't want the blow-by-blow) ... or you can follow the YouToob vid from the Synchro Gearboxes guys which is a great how-to (or the same process by my fave Landy Youtube guy LRTV).

In the last, you can see the blue anodized spacer which is needed because the basic premise of the slickshift is to move the pivot point further from the box hence smaller shifts of the stick for the same movement at the box. Both vids show two thinner spacers, but the kit's since been updated to have one thicker one.
Simple but effective! I do like this kit, really well made. Worth buying a new anti-rattle spring and the nylon selector 'cup' the bottom end of the stick sits in. The turret probably isn't needed by most, if this one hadn't been so battered about (I found out why later) I wouldn't have bought a new one.
No special tools needed - just the usual metric spanners (10, 13, 17), a 5mm (IIRC) hex key, and a solid screwdriver for coaxing the spring over the pins (mind your bloody fingers that thing's a bugger). I also used 10mm and 13mm deep sockets but can't remember whether they were actually a must or just more convenient... And lots of grease.

Then an attempt to deal with the lake I found every day in the driver's footwell.
A quick survey showed the windscreen seal was knackered, as were the vent seals, the door seals, the bulkhead-to-windscreen and windscreen-to-roof seals. No real surprise there. So, having read the danger stories about silicone sealant, the Sikaflex came out (some white 291 - not cheap but good stuff). A neat run along under the roofline cured most of the water (the crack there was enormous). Cures SUPER fast though, so you need to smooth it off even faster. Being Superman or the Flash would be of benefit here presumably. We're talking 5 minutes-ish til you can't do anything with it.

Then the door seals. Bearmach as they're more flexible. No probs, went on like a dream.

New hinges fitted on the doors at the same time (btw those wing mirror screws are 1/4" x 7/8" UNF Pozi-pans - I couldn't find any in stainless so bought 1/4" x 1" and cut them down a smidge). Unfortunately I suspect the bulkhead was probably put on by a blind person as even right up at the top of the adjustment, the gap between the top of the door and the frame is big enough to put a finger through. So yea. Another job.

[Haven't fit the vent seals yet - I bought some Series-style ones, I hate the foam ones - but haven't yet fit them as I'm psyching myself up to fitting them with Sikaflex - not sure I want to use it for that but probably will anyway. Will let you know how I get on with it!] One tip I found was to use Aerospace 303 Protectant on the seals when installing them (whether door or vent etc) which will make them last a lot longer as protects (hence the name) from UV which is what makes them crack faster. Handily I had some anyway, not sure I'd have bought just for that but...

Wife stole (OK it's hers really) Sunny because of the snow flurries, so it was Big Red's turn for a bit of attention. Only had about 3h after taking the dogs for a walk, sorting the shopping, blah blah blah.

Fit the fuel pump (photos tomorrow, I forgot) - a smart little Facet Posi-flow. This V8 (it has SU HIF6 carbs) isn't meant to have more than about 4psi of fuel, so I got one that should be just about right, the 60301 model from Green Spark Plug Co., which also has a built-in 'check' valve on it meaning it can deal with a vertical rise of over 1m so can be put anywhere-ish, unlike many of them (the identical looking Facet one sold most places being one!). Added one of the standard pre-filters, and a tidy little anodised post-filter. All on 8mm ID standard hose. I was kinda tempted by the hardline, but there's no point in going bonkers on this thing right now. When/if I rebuild it from the ground up maybe. A slight weep from the outlet where the barbed connector comes out of the pump, so I need to wrap just a bit of PTFE tape around the threads, then just tidy up the hoses and fix the filter in place.

Sadly don't think it was the problem after all, didn't get to test drive it but it died just sitting there once, so didn't quite dare drive it down the road. Never mind, it all helps. Fuel return line's the next big job.

In the meantime, got *most* of the spark plugs done today too. Champion L92YC's (likewise from GSP Co.). Cheap as chips, which is nice for a change! Had to **** about with the socket and grind it down so the walls were thinner (it said 'thin-wall', was it hell) and prise out the rubber washer in there which is supposed to grip the ceramic bit of the spark plug (too small so the spark plug wouldn't even go in - idiots). Never mind, it works now. Ran out of time because of that, so I wrapped things up as the sun went down. Still two to do, but no hurry. Guessing the old ones weren't done THAT long ago as they didn't look like some of the horror stories I've read. The access wasn't great to some of them, but thankfully the socket had both a 3/8" square drive and a 22mm hex (dunno the right terminology) so I was able to get the right reach with a short 22mm socket between that and the ratchet.



So much easier with the bonnet off. Must remember from now on


But a good day really.

Had the same problem ground down plug socket but still couldnt get the bloody things out...mate lent me a snap_on thin wall socket and thread chaser they fought every inch of the way even with o torque wrench for extra leverage..po had fitted long reach plugs!...last one number 8 snapped....plug so far in it had thread locked...just got it back together will try to fire it up next couple of days

@Nick666, lovely pair of Landies there esp the Big Red V8 and some great restoration work.
Out of curiosity, what is the 'thing' next to air intake elbow in the 1st picture of post #15?
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Shippers said:

Had the same problem ground down plug socket but still couldnt get the bloody things out...mate lent me a snap_on thin wall socket and thread chaser they fought every inch of the way even with o torque wrench for extra leverage..po had fitted long reach plugs!...last one number 8 snapped....plug so far in it had thread locked...just got it back together will try to fire it up next couple of days

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Bloody hell, well let's hope the remaining two don't put up this kind of fight, to make up for the others being relatively easy. Noticed a couple of them didn't have a washer on - not easy to look so hoping I didn't miss one still in the block. If it starts ****ing oil out one of them I guess I'll know why!

capo said:

@Nick666, lovely pair of Landies there esp the Big Red V8 and some great restoration work.
Out of curiosity, what is the 'thing' next to air intake elbow in the 1st picture of post #15?
.View attachment 141711

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I can see why it wouldn't seem familiar! It's the dipstick handle - presumably the original from the P6 the V8 came from, but I don't know for sure...

While I was doing the belt, I took a quick photo of Sunny's front timing cover - the engine's a 14J so in theory this is supposed to be a tin plate. Looked back through the paperwork and nothing to say either way, and I can find bugger all on 14J engines and the differences between them and 12Js. Looks like ETC4421 and ETC4422 to me, which means it should be waterproof and more like a 12J than I'd originally thought. Anyone know better?