The Rover-Landers of BC

On Sunday I headed up to Comox to help Rob free up some space in his garage by taking bulkhead off his hands. (It was also an excuse to see his truck again, which is coming along nicely.) This should save me a lot of time at the rate I'm getting things done. It only needs a few small repairs that could be left alone but I'm going to fix them for the purist in me.

https://i.imgur.com/e5F37Col.jpg

On the way back Victor and I made a detour to Horne Lake to see Dave's Series 2, which gave me even more inspiration to finish mine, maybe I'll have it on the road for the Rally in the Valley this year?

https://i.imgur.com/3MQZ4FDl.jpg

Got the Hubs on the front Axle but had to remove one of the Freewheeling hubs to pack it with grease since I forgot to.

https://i.imgur.com/Ti4mR2Tl.jpg

I really should've followed in Andy's footsteps by assembling the axle lower to the ground, because I put it up there when it was light and then added a lot of weight to it. Luckily we own a backhoe (which may be slightly overkill) so we used that to pick the axle up and put it on the ground in front of the frame.

https://i.imgur.com/AuJdiFYl.jpg

I need to put the springs on the axles and get the frame powerwashed in the next few days

https://i.imgur.com/j3rXPdTl.jpg

Good progress Colin .... and you have your wheels & tyres on before me ..... I better get a move on :bounce:

Hi Andy, I think we are about equal in progress. Unlike you I don't have a frame to put those axles under. I'm hoping to paint it before it gets too cold.

Lots of progress on the frame today. I'm trying to get it done before it gets too cold to paint. Last weekend I gave the frame, engine and gearbox a good cleaning. Lots of that undercoating came off with a good pressure washing on max.

New body mounts for the 3 Door body

https://i.imgur.com/CkqCm6Vl.jpg

Added supports which are similar to the original. They don't need to be pretty since I will never see them again.

https://i.imgur.com/xR7UhoRl.jpg

Made up a new plate to go where the old one was on the rear crossmember

https://i.imgur.com/1zbHCt6l.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/abhh71Ol.jpg


I also discovered that the front right frame rail is slightly bent, it shouldn't be too much of an issue though I hope :bounce:

Started switching over the old images from Photobucket to Imgur, if anyone is interested. I will finish that in the next few days.

Finally got the Chassis repairs complete. I just need to weld in the front tub mounts because I'm not too sure where they go.

https://i.imgur.com/7TKfAx4l.jpg

Painted the Rear Axle in the cold weather. I've got a feeling I'll be painting it again in the new year when it's warmer.
I also forgot to grease the Diff Pinion seal so I took that part today and gave them a generous greasing. I was told that if they went in dry they'd start leaking after a couple hundred miles.

https://i.imgur.com/0UJS8Gdl.jpg

Removed all the old bushings. This turned out to be a terrible job which took much longer than anticipated. At first we used a Sawzall and a chisel, but the bushings were rusted in there very bad. Eventually, we ended up getting the torch out to heat them up, this worked quite nicely.

Pipe ready for the new Polybushes

https://i.imgur.com/2n0Kg1Sl.jpg

New vs. Old

https://i.imgur.com/MNHmEBAl.jpg

I don't think I will ever bother with standard bushings in the chassis again as they are much more of a hassle to get in and out than PolyBushes, even if they last half as long. They only take a few minutes to install and take out.

Good progress Colin. I feel your pain with the chassis bushing removal. When I did mine I rigged up a length of threaded ready-rod and a couple of nuts and correct sized spacers was able to pull them out using an extended breaker bar... had to cut through the metal part first with a hacksaw before they would even think about moving. It wasn't any fun and took the best part of a weekend... bloody knuckles and lots of swear words :oops:

I was looking at your post to see how you did it. That was my backup plan if the torch didn't work. I ended up burning the centre bushing out and walking away so I didn't have to breathe too much in. It took the two of us a few hours. Swearing usually helps get them out I find.

For ease of future replacement i went with polybushes too. I had an easier time getting the old ones out though - took about 30 mins each by torching out the rubber and centre sleeve, followed by hacksawing through the outer sleeve and drifting it out...

For ease of future replacement i went with polybushes too. I had an easier time getting the old ones out though - took about 30 mins each by torching out the rubber and centre sleeve, followed by hacksawing through the outer sleeve and drifting it out...

That was my original method as well but the outer sleeves were rusted badly into the outer. It was also the method I used on the 110 and it worked very well.

Finally got around to painting the frame. It has only taken me a year and a half. Like Andy I used the POR-15 Three-Step Process.

Degreasing the Chassis

https://i.imgur.com/mzxqudLl.jpg

Then waited a week for some time. I tried to heat the frame up by storing it in the Milk Tank Room.

https://i.imgur.com/Ts6lHxQl.jpg

After that, I used the overpriced Phosphoric Acid to prep the frame then liberally rinsed it off with hot water.

Here it is, before being painted. The POR-15 metal prep didn't do much but I suppose it did something.

https://i.imgur.com/EmrpC3Ll.jpg

After the first Coat

https://i.imgur.com/ZtgJLQAl.jpg

Unfortunately. I bought the smallest tin they had because they told me it was enough. So I had to drive back to the store to buy a quart and that still wasn't enough. This means it has about one and a half coats on. Once I get the axles and some other bits on I'll give it a liberal waxing to prevent any more rust.

Nice.... that's the worse bit done 8) , now you have a good foundation under your new beast!

Have you thought about internal chassis rust protection? I have just picked up a few tins of Eastwood Internal Chassis Coating, which comes in a aerosol can with a tube that you slide into holes in the chassis and the 360 deg nozzle sprays the inside as you pull it along the box sections as you spray.
It has some good reviews (made in the USA) and currently on sale at KMS tools $26, so I thought why not give it a try.
I will let you know how it goes...............
http://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-intern ... rosol.html

Cheers,
Andy

Looking good Colin - I wish I'd gone with POR for peace of mind also but I was lucky in that my frame had most of its original factory paint (probably why the bushes came out so easily lol). The waxoyl is a good call, as the POR-15 is sensitive to sunlight and can degrade over time if exposed...

Thanks for the input Andy and Dave.

I have thought about coating the chassis from the inside and planned on using something like that. Let me know how that turns out and I might give it a try as well.

My frame had a lot of the factory paint still on and the POR-15 metal prep etched it so it could be painted over.

I'm quite happy with the way the POR-15 turned out. I'm worried because in a few spots there are some air bubbles so I plan on redoing those when it's warmer. It may have been too moist or perhaps I put too much paint in those areas.

It was a good idea to remove those bushings before painting because that stuff would've welded them in!

Have started to add bits, I'm getting excited!

Last night the first bits I added were the bump stops and Polybushes.
https://i.imgur.com/S4XyWgol.jpg

I also filled the axles with oil and am happy to say they don't leak :)
https://i.imgur.com/2ZPS8oBl.jpg

Tonight I got the Axles and the Steering relay installed.
https://i.imgur.com/16QSDd6l.jpg

I am scared of large springs popping out at me so I decided not to take it apart. I put some oil in it the night before to loosen things up then tonight I swapped out the filler plug for a grease nipple and pumped it full of one shot grease. After smacking it around with a hammer for a while it was quite loose and could be moved freely by hand. When putting it back in I gave it a generous coating of anti-seize. I'm hoping the nipple will be easily accessible by only removing the grille.
https://i.imgur.com/0Izo4ull.jpg

FYI, if you put the POR-15 on top of other paint without using their primer, it will peel off in a year or two. It is very hard to get the stuff to stick to anything long term.

Well I guess I will have to repaint it in a year or two then. The store didn't sell any sort of primer and on the tin it said to sand old paint to scuff it. That Metal Prep chemical made the old paint very rough so maybe that was to help bond it. Next time I go to paint something with the POR-15 I'll see if they have a primer.

Got Quite a bit done last night. Put all the shocks on and put the Check Straps on.

One front shock cooperated with me but on the other side the bushings wouldn't move over far enough to fit the split pin. I got some woodworking clamps and pulled the washer towards the diff. That gave me enough space to fit it in nicely.

https://i.imgur.com/rIgOp27l.jpg

I had quite a similar problem on the rear because we welded a washer on because the hole was worn out. This didn't give me enough thread to fit the nut on. We had to "modify" the bushing so it was smaller and would fit nicely.

https://i.imgur.com/MsXGwEol.jpg

I used my Mum's leather hole punch to make bolt holes for the check straps. I may need to take them off and put larger washers on at some point so they last longer.

I'm a little concerned because I ended up with a few spare bits and bolts I can donate to the farm. I don't know what the Nyloc Nuts are for but the extra bushings, washers and split pins are leftovers from a SWB shock kit.

https://i.imgur.com/WCTfc0rl.jpg?1

So far it's coming together nicely. Not working on old rusty bits is nice for a change.

https://i.imgur.com/ZIEEOLOl.jpg

All pictures are now visible if anyone's interested.

On Saturday Night I got bored because there was nothing left to do on the chassis. I'll get the brake lines mounted on the axles at a later date. In the meantime, I'll take apart the engine and gearbox.

First I drained all the Oil. A bit of water came out so I'm hoping that was from when I gave it a wash. Pulled the Alternator and Water Pump out but broke a bolt. It was a pain to drill out because it was crumbling away since it was so rotten. We might've bodged it a bit so I may have to steal the timing cover off the other engine, haven't decided yet.

The Culprit
https://i.imgur.com/o4cMYxnl.jpg

What is this thing with the Teeth?
https://i.imgur.com/onZQFqcl.jpg

Also Started Tinkering with the Gearbox but forgot to take photos. I was told this Transmission came from Stuarts 109. I was also told it popped out of third gear on the odd occasion so I will be making an effort to fix that issue. Other than the third gear problem I was told it was a reliable box so I'll take it apart a little bit and check for chips in teeth and anything unusual.

Do any of you have tips for removing the Handbrake drum? I think I undid all the bolts. It does not want to budge. I'll probably end up pulling the whole flange off.

I had to hit my handbrake drum a lot with an appropriately sized persuader.

Hi Colin,
Hope it was not our recent conflab that resulted in the bolt mishap.
I think the thing with teeth is for your timing. When you get the head off, check how TDC of #1 is aligned with the pointers on the bracket. After which you can measure your degrees before TDC for your static ignition timing.
Eric.

I think I will have to get a larger persuader then. I was only using the small one.

Eric, it was not your fault the bolt was made of sand. Your stud extractor did come in handy for removing studs.

Maybe those teeth are for the timing light? I'm not sure if I will take the head off so we may never know.

Re timing marks:

You don't need to pull the head, just the rocker cover and all the sparkplug.

• Get or borrow a TDC (top dead center) tool, about $12 from amazon (or way more from Lordco), that screws into a spark plug hole.
  Screw it into to the #1 sparkplug hole.
  Slowly rotate the engine clockwise till it stops (piston hits the probe). Mark the crank balancer/pulley, aligned to a know point on the timing cover. Turn it CCW until it just stops, mark balancer/pulley to the same point on the cover. Halfway between the two marks in a CW direction, is TDC.
  Attach a degree wheel to the balancer/pulley with 0 aligned to TDC.
  You will now be able to see where the indicator aligns to the correct advance marks and if needs to be adjusted adjusted.

I did the above on my '52 S1-80", and filed a slight groove into the pulley at 8 degrees BTDC (what my engine s/b set to at full retard). Then I attached an indicator wire (made from a thin stainless rod) to one of the bolts holding on the timing cover and aligned it to the groove. Now I don't have to try to fight with the little flywheel access panel on the bell housing, that is a real pain to get to, to time my engine.

Regards,

M.