I've got a 73' SWB that i'm stripping right back to the chassis to repair and rebuild the whole landy.
It's pretty rough and needs a lot of work but I'm up for the challenge. It has the original 2.25 petrol but it doesn't look to have run for a very long time and will be replaced.


I'll do the majority of my updates through my blog benslandrover.blogspot.co.nz . If you check out the link you'll see I've already done quite a bit of work. Just creating a thread here for when I need to come and ask for help!

Thanks

benslandrover.blogspot.co.nz

Good luck with the project. It certainly does look like it's been lying for a long long time. You could get the petrol engine totally refurbished by someone like Turner Engineering. It would help retain it's originality. The bulkhead looks like it will need work. Curious colour being all white even bulkhead and inside panels. What's it's history?

John S said:

Good luck with the project. It certainly does look like it's been lying for a long long time. You could get the petrol engine totally refurbished by someone like Turner Engineering. It would help retain it's originality. The bulkhead looks like it will need work. Curious colour being all white even bulkhead and inside panels. What's it's history?

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Thanks, Yeah I'm guessing 15 to 20 years it's been parked up, going by bits and pieces I found in the dash. Yep the bulkhead is toast, but I have a spare thats in good nick, it just needs the lower centre panel transplanted from the one on the landy. ( check out benslandrover.blogspot.co.nz to see the posts regarding the other bulkhead, etc)
The colour is limestone, It's a very common LR colour here in New Zealand. Not sure about the history, It seem stop have come from a farming/agricultural background

I spent a few hours in the garage after work and managed to remove both the bulkhead and the fuel tank. The latter was 3/4 full of rusty water, I guess 20 odd years outside with no fuel cap will do that.. It is full of pin holes so I've decided to throw it out, and will find either a good 2nd hand or new tank when the time comes to reassemble.

Bulkhead was pretty straight forward, though I had to cut the bolts that go through the chassis outriggers, as the nuts were rusted solid.

Tomorrow I'll tackle the rear tub and then the engine & gearbox over the weekend. I need to make a little skid with wheels on it, so I can drop the engine on it and still move it around until I'm ready to scrap it. Could be a project for Friday.

Anyway, here are the pics from today.

What's the cut out for in the rear bulkhead on the tub probably for a heater but just curious
Nice project though was probably a van in its day finished in limestone then had side windows put in later, looks just like mine was before I stripped it but mines a 1970 2a

cornish rattler said:

What's the cut out for in the rear bulkhead on the tub probably for a heater but just curious
Nice project though was probably a van in its day finished in limestone then had side windows put in later, looks just like mine was before I stripped it but mines a 1970 2a

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The hole was where the LPG (gas) cylinder was mounted, they had it so you could access the valve etc from the cab. A bit rough for me, I'll end up patching over it. All hard tops in NZ have the side windows, we don't have any van bodies at all. Safari/station wagons have the sliding type, all others have the fixed glass like mine. I think van bodies weren't sent to export markets ?

Got to ask....just how do you manage to keep that garage wall that perfect shade of cream? Are you sure you've not parked it in a hospital?

It's been a busy few days in the garage. I've come down with a cold though which has slightly slowed progress. Firstly I got the tub off by lifting it slightly to slide a length of timber underneath then sliding it backwards until I could tip it off onto the back face. Pretty much the same way I removed the hardtop. Haven't decided how I will store it long term. At the moment it is in the garage, I'll move it outside if it starts getting in the way.




Next I started to strip the bulkhead, so that it's ready to be chopped up to transfer the centre panel to the 'good' bulkhead. Most of the trim and dash parts where pretty rough, and have gone in the bin. Luckily I have a good set of dash & trim from the donor bulkhead. I was able to remove the wiring loom in one piece without cutting anything, I'll have it checked out, hopefully I can reuse it! Some additional wiring had been added for the LPG system (which I've discarded) and for the brake pressure differential warning actuator (PDWA) , or brake failure switch as it's more commonly known. This must have been retro-fitted at some stage, because as far as I'm aware, dual circuit brakes weren't introduced on Series 3 until 1980. The PDWA has a brake test switch on the dashboard. This is an instant test system check, If it lights up with the ignition switched on, the system should be functioning correctly because the shuttle valve is centralized in the valve body.



Today's mission was to get the engine & gearbox out. This was pretty straight forward as pretty much everything was already disconnected/removed. At some stage someone had put silicon between the flywheel housing and bell housing so it took a pit of prying to break the seal, but once I made a gap right around, the engine withdrew nicely.




Gearbox was next, was made even easier by the fact that one of the rubber gearbox mounts was completely split in half, so I only had to undo one side.

Ben O said:

The hole was where the LPG (gas) cylinder was mounted, they had it so you could access the valve etc from the cab. A bit rough for me, I'll end up patching over it. All hard tops in NZ have the side windows, we don't have any van bodies at all. Safari/station wagons have the sliding type, all others have the fixed glass like mine. I think van bodies weren't sent to export markets ?

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Are right I never nu that about the side windows, are you keeping with the gas conversion or just having it as a petrol