The Rover-Landers of BC

I recently posted the issues I had with completing my capstan winch project and I thought I should start at the beginning, so if you don't mind , let's go back to 1984. I bought her just at the end of high school in Victoria for $1500. I drove it every day until 1992 at which point I got married and we moved to 5 acres in Duncan B.C. On the farm it continued to haul everything from firewood to all the neighborhood kids in the snow. I started the restoration in 2017 due to severe engine smoke from broken piston rings. I will add more to bring us to where we are today. Cheers Robin

That's a cool looking Land Rover 8)
Do you know the story of how it came over to Canada? Presuming its British military originally due to the RHD,

Looking forward to seeing the story,

Cheers
Andy

That 2L engine looked like the head has been off for a long time. Did it still turn over? What state is it in now?

Ditto on looking forward to the story.

M.

I removed the cyl. head in 2015 I believe and one piston was broken and the cyl. deeply gouged . I started to price out the repair and found I could have inframed a Cat diesel for less so it went into the shed while I started to save my money. The 2 litre is quite an expensive little engine to overhaul but I wanted to keep it as original as possible. Some people drop in a 2.25 litre engine. It ended up being about two years before I got back to it and at that time decided to restore the whole vehicle. I will never regret that decision . At that time I joined the series one club in the UK . We have members with all the information on ex military Landrovers through the registration and chassis numbers. This one was in a REME unit { Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers ] within the 1st. Armoured Brigade. I found the markings when I started removing the paint. How it came to Canada is not known, however there were several sold and shipped to the USA during the late 1960's.

After completely rebuilding the engine , we cut all the rust out of the bulkhead and installed a new top rail. Also repaired the relatively few rusty bits at the rear of the chassis. It took one year to complete this . I then sent the bulkhead out for paint and reinstalled it. Some shiny new bits definitely raise the spirits after staring at rust for so long.

Here are some pics of the new engine ready to go and the bulkhead and chassis repairs

And a few more pics

While all the painting and welding was going on , we replaced all the trans oil seals and the swivel housing seals, replaced wheels bearings and installed the updated swivel pins and bushings. I made all new brake pipes and installed new brakes. The semi floating rear axle bearings and seals were a bit of a chore , had to make a steel plate to press the new locking collar back onto the axle shaft. The full floating axles are much simpler to work on but honestly I have never broken one of the semi floating shafts , however I have broken several full floating shafts in my Dad's series 2. With the bulkhead in place and the engine installed , I got to work sorting the electrics. We had the engine running last fall.

The fuel tank developed a small leak so I sent it out and had a new bottom installed . The series one fuel tanks are quite expensive however the repair was very reasonable. The next project was to install new vent door seals which we did this past spring. At this point I removed the radiator assembly again and focused on the capstan winch for which I had been collecting the proper parts for years. It was far simpler to work on the winch drive line etc. with the rad out of the way.

The only difference from the civilian dash is the convoy lamp switch on the far right and the military data plate just out of the picture on the left

The last winch part came from Germany and that completed the capstan project. Re installed the radiator assembly and started on the tub and doors which are all at the paint shop at this time. Tomorrow I am dropping off the seat base and floor panels for paint

Very cool

I am running one of the reproduction solex carbs. It seems to work ok here in the garage but I will let everyone know how well it works actually driving. It has all the correct fittings for throttle and choke etc. and also the threaded fitting for the copper vacume line. Has anyone used one of these before ? I would be interested to here your comments. Cheers Robin

Here is a shot of the carb. Also using the repro air filter hose from the LRSOC

Well I guess I am the guinea pig for the carb. As I said , I will let you all know how it goes. It was only $250.00 new so I couldn't resist as my old solex leaked more fuel than it fed to the engine. I am very excited to say I got a call from the sandblast / paint shop yesterday and all my parts are ready to be collected . I will be picking them up after work today and will post some pictures on the weekend. I wanted to take a moment to say , that is my friend John with the big smile in the preceding photos . He did all the welding on my bulkhead and some other bits as well. My son Chris helped with the initial tear down back in 2017 and has helped with the winch project. My friend Tony and I built the engine together in my garage and went on parts collecting adventures to Saltspring which were a lot of fun. I wouldn't have been able to do this project without their help. Having your mates over to skin your knuckles and drink some beer together is a huge part of the enjoyment of it. Here are a couple of pics of the body work ready to go to the paint shop

I got all of the electrics sorted recently . the tail light wiring is in place and labeled as is the wiring to the front wings. This shot is after John and I completed the intense task of aligning the tub , doors and bulkhead. And one pic of the convoy lamp shining on the white rear diff. Cheers Robin

I collected all the parts from the paint shop and worked on it yesterday. Didn't get as much done as I had planned . I removed all the tape from the galvanized bits and riveted the cross braces to the bottom but couldn't install the tub because I got the wrong sized rivets for the rubber pads on the bottom. Oh well I have them ordered and will get it done next weekend. I only needed 12 rivets but had to buy 100 , hope I find another use for them. We hung the doors and they look nice. We also bled the brakes as I never put fluid in the system when I replaced all the brakes and lines etc. but we are getting ready to drive it in the yard so figured it was time . Cheers for now Robin

Hey Robin, great progress! It's really moving along nicely. I hope to get back onto mine now the camping season is almost over!

Did you strip all the old paint from the tub by sand blasting or another method? I have to do mine very soon ...

cheers
Andy

Lovely work

I made many calls last spring to find out if anyone had a mechanical means to remove the paint as there were four layers but nobody on Vancouver Island would touch it. Apparently sand blasting will damage the burmabright , I didn't know this at the time. There is a fairly old post on this forum about having the parts soda blasted in Victoria but with all the calls I made I couldn't come up with anyone who would do this either. You may have better luck where you are. I stripped all the paint by hand with paint remover. It took many weekends but it did the job. Cheers Robin

I may be wrong but I believe that langley u-blast offers walnut media blasting. I would guess that'd be soft enough for alloy, given it's also used for cleaning brass.

Looking awesome .

We installed the tub , interior parts and doors and then it was time for the maiden voyage . First time under it's own steam in at least 8 years. We live on a dead end street in the county so took her out and went through the gears , all seems ok . Our farm has some steep grades and she took it all in stride. I hope to get the final paint done on the tailgate, bonnet and front wings over winter . Obviously still a lot to do but such a thrill to drive it around after all these years. Next project will be front and rear lighting. All the wiring is done so just waiting for the lamps. Brits On The beach in Ladysmith is my goal for next summer. Cheers for now Robin

Great to see her driving around, its all down hill from here ... :rev:

My new pork pies arrived today and the fantastic weather got me in the mood to do some work to the old Landrover. Installed the pork pies but not wired in yet. stripped paint from the bonnet and tailgate hinges plus a few smaller parts in prep for paint in a week or so . Both front wings are also ready so in a few weeks should be looking like a complete series one again. Also had some new 488 front marker lamps show up in the mailbox so need to get those front wings painted.

Hello all , got the wings , tailgate and bonnet back from paint a couple of weeks back. Just completed the install and hand painted all the original military markings back on. Today I am working on the canvas hood mounting parts around the doors and hoops etc.. Next will be blasting and painting the rims and getting a start on the seat coverings. Cheers Robin

Looks awesome !!!

Stunning, excellent work you did!

Thanks for the encouraging comments. I dug the canvas hood out of the basement and set it in place this weekend. Some of the ropes are rotten so I will source some new ones soon. Also completed the registration plates. Cool thing about military Landrovers is the original registration plate numbers are stamped into the WD data plate on the dash so I know these numbers are correct. Also ordered the material for the seats and a local upholstery store is going to make them for me as well as the tailgate chain covers. Cheers Robin

Here are some new pics.

Looks great! Beautiful restoration.👏👏

I got my rims painted and reinstalled my old tires for now. Still looking for some good useable Dunlop trak grips. Mine have some weather cracks in the sidewalls at proper air pressure. Just getting the seats upholstered which should be ready soon . I will be starting the process of getting collector plates but not sure how that will go as my body panels have some ripples. Cheers for now Robin

This was on Fathers day, gave everyone rides around the property. Robin

Awesome, where did you get the Bronze Green?

Hi Colin, I took the turn signal indicator plate which had the original colour on the back, in to Cloverdale Paints here in Duncan and they custom mixed it for me.

Thanks

Very nice !

I don't know why I said Dunlop Trak grips as I meant to say Good Year Trak grip. A friend in England put me onto a tire called a Camac CJ-110. It would look great on a series one but so far can't find anyone in North America who deals in them.

I got the seat cushions back from the upholstery shop today and bolted them in . Also had new leather tabs made to hold the seat backs up. I have a few more parts to gather like the rubber door bumpers and some door and tailgate seals but almost there

When are we going for a drive? Looks fantastic.

Thanks Tony, just starting the licencing process so hopefully not too long

Just looking at the paint on my small bits, looks a bit different than yours, do any of your paint cans from Cloverdale have a code or recipe on them?

pm sent

I COULDN'T LOCATE ENOUGH GOOD-YEAR TIRES SO DECIDED TO ORDER THESE FIRESTONE MILITARY LUG TIRES, I RESEARCHED THEM AND FOUND THEY WERE COMMONLY INSTALLED ON SERIES ONE LANDROVERS DURING THEIR TIME SPENT IN THE BRITISH ARMY AS A REPLACEMENT FOR THE FACTORY INSTALLED ONES.

Looks great! I had those tires on my military ambulance, just be careful in the rain! I could slide the rear end of the ambulance even with the gutless 2.25L powerhouse!

Matt

Thanks Matt, There is actually a warning comes with the tires describing this situation so I will be very carefull. Installed the rubber door bumpers and I have the pedal rubbers with the felt seals to put in this weekend. Mailed off the pics and paperwork last week for collector plates . Very curious what the outcome will be there as the body panels have a few ripples collected during it's life which I didn't want to remove or fill. I am looking forward to taking it out on a real drive and see how she runs. Cheers Robin

Looks great Robin, hopefully we'll get to see it around the island this summer

Had some spare time today so stripped the doors of all glass and hardware then stripped all the paint off. The paint shop that has done my entire project says they are no longer taking on small jobs like this so I had better get them in soon. I have noticed a lot of shops are no longer interested in any small jobs these days, the metal shop where I got some bits of aluminium cut really didn't want to do it and the welding shop who made some repairs to the aluminium box said I was the last one. The galvanized parts look really good after all these years of being painted over and as I am not painting the galvanized parts I am very happy with that. Still have not heard from anyone regarding the collector plate application and that was sent in about a month ago but maybe that's normal. Cheers for now Robin

Here is a shot of the door tops all cleaned up and ready for paint. Only painting the flat panel inside and out so still have to do some masking.

Hey Robin,

It was great to meet you at P&R this afternoon. All the best on your project! Always love seeing your D90 parked at your workplace. And hopefully also see the military 88" parked there soon!

Thanks Andrew , it was good to see you. Maybe we will have a south island road trip next year and we can have a chance to talk again. Cheers Robin

I am still working on the collector plates. My application was rejected because there was sun shining on my door and they felt it was primer showing through and so I need to take more pictures and re submit. I will pick a rainy day with no sun which shouldn't be a problem in the coming weeks.

I collected the door tops from the paint shop and fitted them without windows to see how they look. these are the last parts to get painted. I think that's it for this year , I will order the new lexan and felt kits along with door and tailgate weather stripping but most likely won't install them until next spring and I may have collector plates by then. who knows?

freshly painted door tops

Looks fantastic! You did a very nice job. I can't believe they rejected the Collectors application.

I've seen a lot of grubby North American vehicles with collector plates, maybe the approval panel is a little bias and they just don't have a good appreciation for a good British heritage vehicle, its 64 years old for goodness sake :roll: That's my rant for today :D

Well I am happy to report that I have my collector plates. After e-mailing some pictures taken at different angles to change the sun glare on the paint. Installed the plates and went around the block a few times . I have to build up the nerve to travel farther each time as I had a brand new ignition condenser fail on me last week after just a few hours of operation. It sure felt good to get her into top gear at 40 miles per hour, yes my speedo works. I won't be driving it once they start spreading salt on the roads so looking forward to a few more nice weekends. Cheers Robin

Amazing job, and such a great personal history. So much hard work, clearly full of love. Way to go.

Congrats Robin!!!

When are we going for a drive?

Looks awesome

I took advantage of the nice hot day to install the new perspex side windows and new felt channels and also fitted all new door and tailgate rubber seals. Installed the new door rubbers and closed the doors on them, the hot sun should set them in nicely. What a difference in the door rattle, Cheers Robin

Looking great, it’s all those little finishing touches that take so much time!
Hope you have been enjoying the good weather and running her (him / they / it) around town

lovely machine!