1968 S IIA 109 ex-military slow rebuild

[Colin]

Hi all not been here for awhile. Good weather and self-isolation means time to putter. Took my brake pedal mount off today, judging by the gunk in the master cylinder, time for a new one! Current plan is to pull the clutch pedal and steering column and paint and redo seals on those. Paint the firewall and by then likley pull the engine for a rebuild. The tranny was done years ago, so might just need new seals and oil. Redo front axle steering and seals on both axles. My plan was to rebuild the engine when my daughter was born, she is now 15.......

[troy]

Cool rig , I wish I had a S2A military 109 , I like my 88 but a 109 would of fit my needs better . just do it piece by piece . I had boxes of parts I had restored sitting for years before I even really got started bolting it together. It's taken me a long time to get my 88 close to done life and priorities always change . Like the saying How do you eat a elephant , one bite at a time.

[Colin]

Coming along, the cat came by to make sure I wasn't farting around. The front diff bearings were a bit rough, so I pulled out a spare diff that feels better, hubs are almost done and soon i button up the front axle and then do the rear. After that , off comes the rad and then the engine.

[Colin]

Progress, front axle is redone, jacked up the back and the rear turns easily, happy but I will redo the grease in those hubs a bit later. Got the rad and grille off, prepping to remove the engine. Hand cranked her over today, turns nicely, water pump bearing seems good. painted most of the engine side of the firewall, will get the rest when the engine is out.

[Colin]

Got the engine out and into the garage, will work on that when the weather changes. Front axle done! Now to repair some of the "bodging" done by REME wrench turners on the firewall and paint the firewall and frame. Currently scraping the tar off of everything they spray on. A heat gun and scraper gets a lot of it off, followed by paint thinner and a scrub brush. I can see that my oil seals on the valves are shot.

[RobinS]

Great looking Landrover Colin, love the military Rovers with all the unique odds and sods that go along with them. Looking forward to your build. Cheers Robin

[Colin]

Pulling my fuel pump and tank selector apart and going by the amount of crud I see, I have my work cut out for me in cleaning the fuel system. On the bright side that fact that there is 15 year old evil smelling gas in my tanks means they don't leak!
Found cork seals for the fuel tank selector tap on ebay, $15 each with shipping! Making progress in the engine bay grinding and painting.

[Colin]

Heater checked, repainted and together. Got the head off, nice oily mess which is kind of good as the engine sat for 15 years, however I did turn her over occasionally and kept it sealed up, turns over easily. Got a machinist lined up, so I get him the head first, get the block pulled down and then get that into him.

[Colin]

Slow progress, heater is done and tucked away. Head to a machinist, no big issues , just need new exhaust valves and seals.

The cylinders appear ok and have not been bored out. today I flipped the engine on it's side to access bottom end.

[Colin]

So I improved my technique to remove and replaced suspension bushing, thought I will pass on my lessons. Use a butane torch to heat the bushing till the rubber is bubbling and expanding out the sides. Drift the centre tube at this point. I wear heavy gloves and a face shield in case the molten rubber splatters. Then I carefully made two parallel cuts with my reciprocating saw and drifted out the loose piece. That allowed me to bend in the tube freeing it and drifted it out. Got two of them done today, happy with it and easier to do when the engine is out. Left to right, centre tube, rubber bush, small section of the outer tube and rest of outer tube. Hope this makes life easier for someone else.

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Part 2 of suspension bushings. Once you get the old one out, make sure you wire brush/sand the tube clean get rid of dirt,rust and scale. Then I warm up the tube with my torch, then I take my custom press and press it in, note the new bushing is covered in anti-seize to help it in and for the next person to remove.
I made up my press using some threaded stock, some 1/2" sockets, a bunch of heavy washers and two coupling nuts, which the load over a wider area. I was pleased that my Ryobi 3/8 impact driver would push the bushing 3/4 of the way in. Using socket gives you a good face on one side and a cup on the other side to allow for the longer centre tube.

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[Colin]

So engine off to Magnen in Burnaby to get hottanked, new camshaft bearings, the cylinders redone, fitted and crank installed. Started on the frame bushings and it stumped me, got part way in and stopped rock solid, snapped a number of rods trying to get it in. The difference in the tube dimension is 1.17 compared to 1.20 for the bushing. There is interference fit and then there is to big. It was harder to get the new bushing out than the old ones (two part) Going to try to source some grade 8 rod. Thank god I doing this with the engine out.

[Colin]

I froze the bushing, honed the inside of the tube. Got the tube nice hot, oiled the tube manged to get most of the way in till the end of the bushing started to mushroom. This truck had the the older two part bushings and I suspect they were smaller diameter than the newer ones. I have to get the other bushing machined to a snug fit. Not sure if I will take this out or cut it flush and live with it.

[Colin]

So I cut the bushing flush on the one side and made a spacer out of the old bush centre tube for the other to get the correct distance off for the hanger, filled the cavity around with silicone, so hopefully that holds up, but i suspect the truck will not get worked hard for the rest of it's life. We machined a bushing, but it's to loose, wo we will machine another when my Brother gets back home and finish that job.

Got the firewall painted up, have to get the correct final coat and then I can start bolting things back together.

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Next job is the steering box and getting the bearing out of the tube was going to be a challenge till I spent a little time thinking about it. My 3/4 inch socket and bar were just the right size to fit inside the column but to big to pass through the bearing. A couple of quick up and down jerks and physics did it magic for me.

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[RobinS]

Nice work Colin, You know the old saying " necessity is the mother of invention " . I bet it feels good to be putting something back together. Cheers Robin

[Colin]

So my engine should be back from the shop soon with new pistons fitted and crank reinstalled.

Got myself a spray gun and used compressor, finally got my firewall to look ok, not great and used WAY to much paint learning how to paint! I let it cure for a week ans start putting stuff back on.

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For the engine I choose Detroit Diesel Alpine Green as the closest engine paint I am going to find to the original British Army eggshell blue.

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[Colin]

Finally got my engine back from Magmun Engines

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and working on my carburettor

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[Colin]

Got the block back with pistons and crank done. Setup the timing gears without much fuss, but now having a hell of a time. Put the timing cover on, slide the crankshaft pulley onto the shaft and the key came out. Took the cover off, reinstalled the key (using grease) with a slight slope to easily engage the slot, frigging key came out again, now I need to take the cover off yet again!



2nd issue
Just trying to put the oil pump drive gear back in and final lined up the master spline, when I try to line up the hole for the grub screw, i have to lift the whole body of the drive gear up about the length of the hole to get it lined up, which means the whole thing will be resting on the grub screw, is this correct?
From 22:18 in this video

[Colin]

I have had Britannia Restorations and another individual confirm that the Grub screw does indeed support the brass bushing. Once you line up the hole in the horizontal, you can slide a screwdriver into the bolt hole below the grub screw hole, to lift the assembly up and align it in the vertical.

[Colin]

What a utter pain these core plugs have been. What I thought was going to be a 20 minute job has turned into a several day, having to fix the threads without a proper tap as I have no idea what the thread is, and they don't seem to have any taps that big. I have the big one mostly in, one of the small ones fit, and the last small one is being a real pain.

[ANDYD]

I feel your pain, those big threads can be a challenge.
I would think its similar to a pipe thread, (just a guess) if you know a pipe fitter he will have the big taps.
If I remember right some of the plugs were 1" and others were 1 1/8"
If you can find a big bolt with the right thread you could gently work it in and out to clean the threads up?

Good luck :blackeye:
Andy

[Colin]

I did find some iron pipe that mostly fit the big plug, same thread but not taper cut I think. That helped get the new plug most of the way in. Could be the plug is not to spec either. I looked for a big bolt, for the smaller plug, but they only have those in coarse thread. Sigh

[Colin]

So much progress attends the effort. The engine is in, the electricals have been installed and mostly tested. Parking brake was gummed up by old grease, cleaned and working. All the hoses, master cylinders, brake cylinders have been changed in the brake system. Had a leak in the reservoir at the bottom fitting, took it apart and put a new crush washer in, quite an easy fix actually. Waiting for a big socket to come in, so I can tighten the crankshaft pulley nut to the correct torque and then I can put on the fan, radiator. Just installed the fuel pump, in the process of rebuilding the carb. As soon as the carb and rad are installed. I will get a battery and start her up. My friend Ian lent me a hand crank and been using that to get oil into everything.

[ANDYD]

Nice work, looking great 8)

Did you consider a change from RHD to LHD when you had it all apart (just curious if you looked into it)?

Keep her going ...
Andy

[Colin]

So been a busy lad. Engine all done, started and working, Yea!!

Managed to drive it up and down the alley, then I had a short and all sorts of electrical problems, so now I have to rip out wires and replace them. I was humming and hawing about replacing the wiring, but was trying to keep the vehicle looking original. No such luck! The amount of non-fused protected circuits was concerning, so ordered two fuzeboxes and rewiring much of the truck. Challenge is that there is no real wiring diagram for this truck. None of the ones I have found on line quite match it.

Also got some new tires for it. The old tube ones still held air after all these years. Replaced with 235/85/16

Next big job is the fuel tank, going to clean it and then line it. After that I can insure it and drive it. Brakes still a bit spongy, likley a bubble in the master cylinder.

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[Colin]

One step forward and two back. Got it insured and was driving around Lynn Valley and "bang" lost power, manged to limp home as I was 100m away. Stuck exhaust valve and bent push rod. Took the head off and back to the machinist. All of the exhaust valves and guides need to be replaced. Grrrrr.

Brighter note, finished resealing and install one gas tank, now working on the 2nd .