Blimey Jared you have been busy mate! Lovely paint job you've done there too. Makes me wish I'd have done mine in DBG instead of NATO. I learnt that that would have been correct for mine for the year as well! :doh:

Anyhoo keep up the good work mate, I've got a final list of jobs to do like yourself but it doesn't seem to be going down too quick! Have you got a date you wanna hit for it to be on the road?
 
Sorry i've been quiet guys - work and Landy tinkering has dominated most of my time, so not been on the interwebs for a while....

I've hit the point now, where Smidge is REALLY close to MOT time !


  • Tub is finished
  • New Static seatbelts
  • Front end finished and dressed (just have to fit light surrounds)
  • Rear Dampers need fitting
  • I need to find a compact 90deg elbow for the carb (which needs adjusting)
  • I need to re-cover the cab dressings and roof lining
  • My good friend has donated a set of std steelies with road tyres - which is bloody awesome.
  • Fitted a set of Standard seats (£76) - decided that this being a utillity/laning build the "deluxe" seats wouldn't last long. As a side note - the standard seats are now built on an MDF base, not steel/compressed board. I laid a thin fibreglass coat over the exposed MDf, as once that **** gets wet / damp....it'll start falling apart.
  • Went through all the wiring and ripped all the **** out, replaced the splices with bullet blocks and sealed with amalgamting tape.
I'm ****ED if i'm paying nearly £100 for a pair of 1/4light windows for the cab, so i've got some UV stable Polycarb sheet, which i'll heat form and trim. I'll post a walkthrough later, if anyones insterested.

took him for a test drive today, just round the block...drives quite well. Gearbox is a bit "grumbly" but it HAS been sat for nearly 6 months, so i'd expect that TBH.

A few pics:
IMAG0134.jpg

IMAG0147.jpg

IMAG0148.jpg
IMAG0145.jpg
 
Almost forgot to say - I'm not going to run the door tops for a few months, and i'm still undecided on carpet choice.
 
super job jared, good luck with the finishing, been a bit busy myself and uploading pics real soon. good luck with the mot......
 
super job jared, good luck with the finishing, been a bit busy myself and uploading pics real soon. good luck with the mot......
it's a few weeks off yet - i noticed you've been a bit quiet, too - be good to see yer build back on track fella ;)
 
Blimey Jared you have been busy mate! Lovely paint job you've done there too. Makes me wish I'd have done mine in DBG instead of NATO. I learnt that that would have been correct for mine for the year as well! :doh:

Anyhoo keep up the good work mate, I've got a final list of jobs to do like yourself but it doesn't seem to be going down too quick! Have you got a date you wanna hit for it to be on the road?


Cheers :D

I toyed with NATO, too - but Jason - my landy nut friend who lives round the corner talked me onto the DBG route. Glad i did TBH - Love the NATO, but i'd then have to go and get myself a canvas roof to make it look right :D

I'm hoping to get Smidge back on the road by August....heavy emphasis on "hoping" :D
 
yeah been a bit quiet, had new addition to the family on monday, and other things going on before that, i have knocked on quiet a bit since last update and have uploaded pics to photobucket, just going to do a write up tomorrow and decide which pics to put on.
still toying with paint schemes and changing my mind like the weather, but back to origional plan (limestone, black trims etc, with copper hammer finish on engine and axles) yuk i hear you all say lol
 
thanks neil, but its a grandson for me not actually my baby much too old for that sort of thing, however been a grandad is harder than been a bloody dad i thinks.....
 
It's a lot to live up to, isn't it ? :D

Good news, the list is shrinking ! All I have to do now is:
Fit some bulbs
Rear qtr windows
Fit Carpet
Headlight surrounds
Put ma wipers back on, and connect the washer pipe
Fog light, plonk on a 90deg elbow fer the carb...

oh yeah, and put some petrol in it. :-D

...insure.......MOT......i hope......tax.

ill post some more pics l8trs :D
 
impressed with the bulkhead repair, I think every weld I've seen on a Land Rover is a plate on top of 2 other plate held together by what looks like bubble gum..... and those white plastic bar/butt connectors, must be a common theme. I found 13 of them in just 2 curcuits.
 
Soooooo...you all remember I said i was "really close to the MOT" ???

Well, being true to my work ethic, i thought i'd investigate a small oil seep from the o/s freewheel hub.
Thinking it'd just be a borked oil seal in the axle tube, i started to take the stub off in high hopes of a 30min job..........

Fat.Fooking.Chance!
IMAG0152.jpg


After the FWH was off (found a load of mud, sand and random **** in there...NOT a good sign) I pulled the stub and drive shaft out.....and what do I find in the swivel housing..... ???

IMAG0153.jpg

The ****ing remains of the axle/shaft support bearing !!

Looks like Captain ****wit had taken a bash at removing the collars, and the borked cages ...then simply given up - leaving the shaft collar split and rattling around, the mullered outer race still in the swivel housing, and the rest of the bearing rollers still mooshing around in the grease/sand/mud !!!

took me 10 mins to get that lot removed, hardly a bloody taxing job. Expensive, though..... £30 for the bearings, and another £28 for the oil seal collar - Ouch.


So.....MOT is now on hold until i've rebuilt the swivel .. annoyingly, i can't remember if i checked the N/S so that has to come off aswell !

The more I find, as ever, the more i'm convinced this poor truck was left in a riverbed, or partially buried in ****e.
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<
BUT some GOOD news is that i popped into CWS in Glastonbury today, so see if I can get some corner glass for the cab.....and the chap in there told me that Defender glass would fit perfectly......and for both sides @ £30 i was willing to take the chance.......and fook me, they DO !!

Woot ! Yay!
 
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its coming on now mate!
its looking real tidy, soon all your hard work will have paid off and yet another series will be saved from the scrapheap :)
fantastic job :)
 
nice one jared, luckely i aint found anything like that in mine yet, a few broken teeth, a ficked up pair of balls and lots of **** and the likes, good news on the windows..... i am investigating or trying to see what fits from the defender into the series with no arsing about so if i see something i going to need or want it will open my search criteria. another update from me by the weekend i hope.
 
How did the mot go? Who u lookin at for insurance? My '74 88" petrol was quoted at £125 Fully comp, I've 7years no claims but I'm only 24, and I think that was on a ****ty comparison site!
 
Loving the thread BTW, I've tons to do on mine, just never welded a thing in my life, and I've the bulkhead to patch and the rear crossmember to fit :( aswell as all the comedy wiring and bodges, mainly done with bathroom sealant!
 
I'm in the middle of replacing my pass foot well if you'd like to look at my Album. I'm using the premade pans that were mentioned earlier in the thread.
 

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