Series 3 109 Six Pot Rebuild Thread

[BikerB]

I did an MGB box many years ago and the manuals were none too good. I did a really good job on it and it was like new, worked a treat, all new parts and all the jumping out of gear and noise it had was gone.
Within about five miles use though it starting giving problems with noise, stripped it back down and I had not one clearance on the mainshaft quite right when I set it up as it was not mentioned in the workshop manual
It kind of put me off doing gearboxes for a long time but the Landy looks simple enough and I'll have another go again. It really is really the only part of a car I am wary of, not bikes, done plenty of them over the years.
I'll probably do the OD first and then take the box apart, I have never heard it running so no idea what state its in.

 

[Wagon Loon]

If it's not had new seals in some time, then to open up and replace would be a good idea. Land Rovers do seem to think everybody's drive needs oiling; of course now you need new gaskets and might as well replace any worn bearings lol.
Did your MGB box work out ok in the end?

I like watching this character's you tube videos. Mind you, he did say he was doing his gearbox a second time but drives it plenty after it's rebuilt, so must have done a good job.
Well worth a watch if you haven't already

 

[BikerB]

Normal service should resume now, had a back back, was on holiday, have an OU assignment, had a few breakdowns on tools and then had to do some work around the house, all of which stopped play on the Landy.
Finally cleaned out and sorted the parts washer and put a new extractor and did some repairs on the blaster as well as tidy up, blasted and painted the steering arms tonight and will finish the rest of the front axle parts over the next few days.
I would like to get it on its wheels for the end of the year so I can start the gearbox and do the props.
Was out at 3am on friday trying to stop the tent the chassis is in blowing away, three hold downs snapped on one side and it was just about to take off. Its just as well the noise woke me up before the wind managed to get fully under it and it headed westwards.
It was a tad windy Friday

 

[Wagon Loon]

It certainly was, my neighbour lost their entire fence in one piece, and I haven't even been out to my words yet to see the state of the stacks and trees. I have a 4x2x2M poly tunnel as a small on site workshop and have no Idea if it's survived.
Wish I had a blaster, that would be really useful, have just invested in an air pop rivet gun, to rebuild the seat box, and researching which are the right 3/16 rivets to use ?
Good luck getting to a rolling chassis, a great milestone that would be.

 

[BikerB]

Baked the steering arms tonight, another bit ready to fit.
Started on the swivel housings and the blaster stopped picking up material half through the first one.
Last time I eventually tracked down to a fuse that had managed to get into the media, worked its way through the hose and jammed in the blast gun. Will need to strip down the feed hoses tomorrow to find the blockage.
I think I may put a bit of coarse wire mesh across the hopper exit
I couldn't do without the blast cabinet, its a brilliant bit of kit and allows every bit of crap to be got off so the paint keys properly and everything gets back to bare metal.
As long as you don't mind a bit of mess you can get a small handheld one for about £30 which takes about 5kg of media, just put up a tarp or two and you can recover most of it and reuse it again and again. I have one for doing things like axles which wont fix into the cabinet.

 

[Wagon Loon]

Yep they're great, I made a cheap one up for outdoor use. Filter the sand through a flour sieve to re-use, do it on my lock bloc drive so when it's swept up the lock bloc gets some sand to fill any gaps.
But it's only doable when it's very dry out.
I wear a full haz suit and respirator and full face shield too, because that stuff gets everywhere lol .
Sounds like your making progress

 

[BikerB]

You'll need the protection when using sand, in the portable one I use expired media so as it disperses and I lose it it doesn't really matter.
I had a bit of a result tonight though, when I dumped the media in a bucket and sifted through it I found not just the problem but also the Superdream clutch lift pin I had been searching for in the garage for months as I neared fitting the clutch cover. I knew I had not thrown it away and was struggling to get another but could not find it Result!
Anyway, blasted the swivel housings tonight and will paint and bake these in the next few days. That will allow me to start assembling the actual housings and halfshafts which are sitting ready to go.
I need to finish the last bits now. I think the only bit I current need to get right to the hubs being assembled are the O rings at the bottom of the swivel which I have missed on previous orders

 

[BikerB]

The swivels went on tonight having been cleaned, painted and reassembled. They are both too tight even with all the shims in the kit in so tomorrow nights job is to set the preload. The halfshafts and read to go and the fixed hubs as well. Just need to finish cleaning and painting the actual hubs and brake backplates now.

Its quite slow going at the moment due to other pulls and its pitch dark and cold all the time, the workshop seems nice and warm but the tent outside simply isn't attractive at the moment.................

 

[GSF 109]

My swivels were exactly the same. I had to use some of the older shims to get the preload correct. Both sides were equally out funnily enough.

 

[BikerB]

I haven't forgotten about the Landy but the plans for it went out the window when the weather turned absolutely freezing up here. Got more shims and other bits but concentrating indoors on my Honda Superdream project in the workshop till it warms up a bit

 

[BikerB]

First time it has been above freezing for some time and I hadn't really wanted to set clearances at -5C, even if I had have wanted to go outside to work.
Anyway, a balmy 10C today so went out and got the swivel preloads set and buttoned up and inserted both halfshafts.
Hopefully I can now blast both brake backplates so I can bolt up the rest of the swivels and seals along with the gaitors and have the swivels finished to fit the front wheels, then I can start on the back axle.
Its been absolutely baltic here now for nearly a month, not the weather for working outside when you don't need to

 

[BikerB]

Its been absolutely baltic here now for nearly a month, not the weather for working outside when you don't need to

So I have been working on this, turning it from this

into this

and then back to this

 

[BikerB]

had a window between other things so dragged out the rear axle from where I had dropped it months ago when stripping the Landy and managed to get it round to the workshop and up on the bench (that thing is heavy when you are doing it on your own)

and started stripping to get it to this to be rebuilt.

Thats all the parts now stripped off apart from the pinion seal which I'll hopefully get off tomorrow. I haven't inspected all the parts thoroughly but initial looks seem to show everything is in good condition and I may get away with just cleaning, painting and renewing the seals and maybe bearings. The only suspect part is the diff cover which I may look at replacing as some of the edges are a bit thin.

 

[BikerB]

I managed to order a new diff cover and some of the various seals etc so I can keep going next week. Had a laugh though, a britpart pattern part is about £60 upwards and I managed to get an genuine one for £45, not sure why anyone would buy a britpart copy when the originals are actually cheaper................

 

[BikerB]

Not done anything for a while, need to start again. Been doing OU assignments and then caught the dreaded Covid. Just got my first Negative test after a fortnight of it but still feel a bit crap.
Have restarted the last job I started which is cleaning up the rear axle for painting to install it back on the vehicle but severely lacking oomph to lift it around
The only good thing is I have a fair amount of parts built up so it will be a while before I need to order more, need to clear some of the space they are taking up first

 

[BikerB]

Still too busy, fixing and servicing the bikes for the summer. However I just scored one of the last big bits of kit I was looking for, a nice MAP/Fairey capstan winch.
The only big bit I am looking for now as an accessory is a Safari roof, can find them but they are all down in Englandshire and my trailer isn't big enough and/or the courier charges are too ridiculous to ship it.
One will come up eventually more locally if I keep an eye out I hope.
Still got the fatigue thing, been told it may take up to a month to go away fully

 

[BikerB]

I haven't stopped on the Landy, just slowed down.
Unfortunately it took me a long time to get back to halfway "normal" after having Covid earlier in the year, and since most folk wonder how "normal" I am normally this is hard to judge.
Have been plodding along with some stuff, Winch was rebuilt(just awaiting the missing starter dog to turn up to allow me to fit it), towbar parts remade and fitted, rear axle refurbed and fitted, got the gearbox stripped and inspecting as we speak. pics to follow and hopefully some further progress. had a load of bits galved recently locally so it looks like lots of bits will end up galved and painted to improve rust prevention.

 

[Wagon Loon]

Winch looking lovely. I'm sure it will really finish off the front nicely and be useful also.
The galvanised parts look great too. It's the prep and refurbishing of individual parts that sometimes makes you feel like your standing still and getting nowhere, until you start putting them all together and everything starts to build up from those many hours.
It's all looking great, i'd love an original winch up front but may utilise my rear tow mount, same as yours, and temporarily mount a small electric winch on the back only when used/needed.

 

[BikerB]

I have the recovery hooks for each side of it too, if an original LR optional extra is available and I can get it for a reasonable price then I tend to source it and will fit it.
I have been galving everything and then painting it with corroless as well as using wax, I don't want to be under this with a welder in 5-10 years sticking on outriggers or treating rust spots.
The winch is just to intimidate folk to allow overtaking with a series 3 on the roads up here
It was tripped down to individual components and rebuilt completely, unless you are masochistic I would recommend not doing this unless it is obviously broken. Just replace the oil seals and paint the bits you can see...........

 

[BikerB]

The back axles is checked over, painted and fitted to the chassis, although I can't find the pics of when I did this.
This is the gearbox after pressure washing most of the muck off

and this is the cases after the first run through the parts washer, will attack them with scotchbrite and some gunk to give them a little more sparkle before starting to assemble the bearings and seals into them.

This is all the internals having been in the parts washer but still awaiting full checking over and final cleaning/replacement/sorting.

Now the hunt begins for not just all the bits to put it back together but the money to buy them as well