The Rover-Landers of BC

Well after much designing, bending, cutting, drilling, welding, trial fitting; swearing, beer, cutting welds, redesigning; more swearing, more beer, more bending, more cutting, more welding, more trial fittings, lots of grinding, lots of welding, lots more beer, and final test fitting..... here is my version of an air distribution box.
The line of rivets holds a divider plate, separating the defrost and floor airways. The lever at the drivers end turns a flap at the other end, to direct the airflow up, both, or down. I went to my local wreckers and grabbed a selection of air diffusers, rectangular and round. I finally selected a pair of 3-1/2” round diffusers that can rotate, open and seal.

The most difficult part was trying to get all the bends right, given my cheap Princess Auto bender. I never had an original air box. Matt Mepham gave me a very rusted one from a Mk1 Kodiak that I thought I would try to resurrect, but it was too far gone. So I designed one using the basic Mk1 shape, tailored to my needs. I made the box out of stainless steel (as I already had several 22 gauge sheets of it in the garage), so it should never rot out. 😬

I didn’t realize how hard the stainless I had, was. Drilling it was a bitch. I must have broken 15 drill bits and had to keep sharpening them as well. My old high school machine shop instructor (circa 1967) would be amazed I actually remembered how to do it.

Next on my list, assemble and mount the heater box and test the airflow.

M

Very nice, better put a patent on it :wink:

That looks great 👍🏼 Also I may have missed this but what seats are you running?

franko wrote: Sun Sep 27, 2020 8:49 pm That looks great 👍🏼 Also I may have missed this but what seats are you running?

Thanks. I have a set of grey Britpart Defender seats, but while I’m doing the build, I’m using an old set of brown seats taken from a Triumph sports car rebuild I did years ago, for the mock ups. They are available cheap if anyone wants them.

SO I got busy this past week and finally go around to making up an S2 wiper cover plate. I have a sample one I borrowed from Matt M and tried to make a copy.
To make a very long story short, after a number of attempts at trying to form the recessed shape out of sheet metal, all failures, I gave up and made a number of plain flat ones. Oh well..... :?
And mocked up on the dash: The one on the far right will cover the fuse panel, as I'm going to use a lot of the original Disco wiring (Fuel Injection, ECM, etc.)

I also have a single switch panel borrowed from Andy D and a gauge panel from my parts vehicle to fit beside it, to the right of the steering wheel, but I decided to make a double wide single panel instead. While I was at it I happened to get a call from Andy and as we chatted, we realized his switch panel had an extra hole, taped over. So I said I'd make him a replacement with just the two holes he needed. I had run out of aluminum, so made his from thin sheet metal.
Now that summer is over, I feel like I'm making progress. Who knows, the "Franken-Rover" might even be on the road sometime next year! :bounce:

I've got a finger brake if you need to use one.

Thanks Jake. I might take you up on it and really appreciate the offer. I still have to build an under-drivers-seat, battery box and a few storage boxes for mounting in front of the rear wheels. Will contact you offline once I'm ready to build those.

Thanks again Jake.

Looking good Martin.

This build is unreal. keep up the great work!

So I have the cables with control knobs for my Kodiak heater, and just purchased a Cole-Hersee two speed heater switch. The heater switch has a cheap plastic knob which I intensely dislike. This morning I went out to garage with the intention of sorting out some kind of a replacement knob.

I was out for about 10 min, still cleaning up from previous stuff, when I could hear the wind start to blow. Then my phone rings and the wife says the fence is wobbling in the wind. And at the same time the power goes out. Great.... So I brace the fence with some wood and screws (Yay for battery operated tools!) and close up the garage to wait. Power didn't come back on till just before dinner. Sigh. :roll:

After dinner I went back out to the garage to figure out what to do re the knob. The switch pulls out - off, low speed, high speed. The knob is screwed on a 10-32 threaded shaft. I decided to try to match the other control knobs shape with whatever I could scrounge up in my pile of bits. I have lots of aluminum scraps, a lathe and my high school machine shop training (mind you that was over 50 years ago.... :oops:), so the decision was easy. I mounted the aluminum bar in the lathe and started cutting and shaping it. After about 20 min of careful manual lathe work (no computer controlled CNC stuff in this shop!), I had the shape I was hoping for. So I cut it off from the bar, drilled a hole in the bottom, threaded it and then trial fitted it to the switch. The shape is close to the other knobs and it works like a charm.
Tomorrow I'll buy a set of cheap letter punches to punch "Heater" onto the knob face and paint the letters red to match the other controls.

Hmm. Now what to do about a matching knob for the 2-speed windshield wiper switch? :bounce:

M.

Nice work!!


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Not much progress since the last post. Changed my mind a few times as to what types and how many, gauges and switches to install. I have both series 2 and 3 speedometer and secondary gauges and the various switches.

I refurbished the S2 ignition switch. A spring and small ball bearing popped out when I took it apart. Took about 5 attempts at getting it back together until I had it working correctly. I’ve pulled the series gauges apart to clean them up as best I can and paint the bodies and bezels black. May have to replace the glass due to discolouration and rust pitting. I’m going to use S3 - 90mph speedo (wishful thinking for a Series in the mid 60’s) and the S3 water/fuel and charge light.
Finally settled on five, 2” black face gauges: ammeter, voltmeter, oil temp, oil pressure and a fuel gauge. Here is the first mock up with the wiper switch and aux tank fuel gauge on the left, the other gauges and heater controls on the right.
Tomorrow I hope to sort out the steering shaft mounted turn signal switch and the main panel switches. Nice not having to worry about originality. :D

M

Looking Good!

Been a few weeks since my last update. I guess life and Covid can get in the way of posting regular updates............. :)

I picked up some heavy aluminum checker plate at the start of Dec and cut out some new floor panels.
A while back I had adapted an old Lokar hotrod floor shifter to use as my automatic gear shifter. I also managed to pick up a used Lokar combination, shift indicator and surround trim ring. In order to mount mount the trim ring, I needed to move the entire shift assembly rearwards about 2". While I was at it, I cut down and re-bent the shift lever to look more like a Series shifter.
My wife wondered into the garage while I was admiring my work and asked, what are you going to do about a matching ring for the 4x4 lever? Gotta be one in every crowd... So I said, no worries, I have a milling machine, I'll make one myself! This is what followed:
The Lokar trim ring is cut using CNC. My little mill is completely manual. Milling curves, and getting it right, is ... 'somewhat challenging'. As well, the Lokar ring has a 1/4 round chamfer cut around both the ring outside and inside. Oh joy. But, after careful work and much swearing, I ended up with this: I still have to hand finish the chamfers on the inside curves to smooth them out and then polish the ring. Not a good as CNC, but I'm fairly pleased with what I produced in my garage with my old Taiwanese bench top mill/drill.

Finally, my original seat box had a lot of cuts and holes that needed repair, and the battery box was rusted beyond repair. So I bought a used, military seat box a while back that did not have a battery box under the drivers seat. I decided to make a box with enough room for dual batteries and most of my electrics/fuses, etc. Because it's a Disco1 frame, I figured I could expand the box inwards over the frame rail and downwards with a removable base (in case of damage, rust, etc.) as well. I made up some templates out of heavy cardboard and started cutting. I chose heavy gauge mild steel for the sides and even heavier galvanized plate for the base.

The seatbox:
Fitting up panels:
The almost finished box: The base is riveted in and sealed with seam sealer, so all I need to do is drill out the rivets to remove and replace it. Still to do, drill several holes on the inside and back panels for electrical wiring, and a drain hole in the base. Then I can rivet it onto the seatbox. What else is there to do on a Covid Christmas day... :bounce:

Impressive work!

Thanks for the compliment oldgravy.

We've been looking after our granddaughter this weekend so not much progress. I did manage to get out for a few hours this aft while she was napping.

The other day I redid the top of the tranny cover as I didn't like the way it mounted to the sides. Now it curves over and screws into the sides, rather than from the top with an exposed seam. Much nicer. Today I cut out a plywood frame that matched the overall shape of the shifter trim rings, to mount the faux leather shifter shrouds to. It fits on the underside of the tunnel cover and the trim rings screw through the cover and into the plywood. I did a few trial fits, then glued and stapled the shrouds to the wood, screwed it together and refitted the cover over the shift levers. This is what I ended up with:

The black bar to the left of the gear shift lever is a gear indicator that will light up to show which gear is selected, once I figure out how to trigger it, that is. (It's an auto, but the lever makes it look like a standard. :twisted: )
Levers in park & low range Levers in park and high range. There is space between the two levers - the angle of the photo makes it look like they are touching. Levers in drive and low range Just as I finished and took these pics, the wife and granddaughter came out to see what I was doing.
My granddaughter is Land Rover crazy at 3 yrs old (I'm so proud). She insisted on testing out the truck, so I remounted the steering wheel and hoisted her into the seat.... :lol: FYI - The cubby box in the pic will be recovered in black eventually. Shift lever in the pic is in the 1st gear position. Lots of clearance.

M.

Well, its been a while since my last post. I got distracted by holidays and grandkids for a while and then got a killer deal on an old Warn 8274 winch. For those that don't know, these are the hardiest, and in many peoples opinions, the best winches ever made. Been in production since 1974 and are still made today. There are tons of upgrades and modifications available for DIY and purchase (if so inclined) This is what an old one (not mine) looks like. Mine came in several pieces. And after I removed the cable and motor it looked like: There was over 120ft of heavy duty cable on it and it was a tangled mess in my yard, so what does one do? Why make and wind it onto a home made spool... The winch likely hadn't ever been serviced, had a bit of grease but no oil inside. It was rusted both outside and in some places on the gears inside. And there was strange scoring on some of the gear faces. :cry:
So, I cleaned up as much as I could by wire brush, ID'd and ordered all new bearings and seals, went to a fellow club member's place and cleaned the spool on a big lathe (thanks Jake!!) and the next day cleaned the cases in another member's sand blaster (Thanks Terry!!).
Because these winches have been around so long, there is a wealth of knowledge on the web. Common upgrades include drilling and tapping oil filler and drains in the main case halves, adding a bolt to secure the brake plates (instead of a wimpy circlip), adding a lock pin to the free-spool lever, swapping out the old 4 relays for a modern winch contactor unit and upgrading from the stock 4.5hp to a 9hp electric motor. There are even some companies that provide a replacement double motor upper case (2x 9hp = waaay too much for me :bounce: ).

So I decided the next thing I'd do was add a bolt to the end of the brake shaft to hold a sleeve and nut to replace the stock circlip retainer. The shaft is hardened steel. Most drill bits just get dull and don't even leave a mark on it. More reading on the web and I ordered a set of carbide tipped bits from Amazon. Very similar looking to concrete drill bits. So this morning I drilled the end of the brake shaft with the new bits. Like going through warm butter. Wow!. I tried tapping the hole for a bolt, but it just dulled my tap, so option number two was to counter sync the hole and flush weld in a stud. Then I cleaned up the end of the weld on the lathe to re-flush the edge. Next step is to machine up the retainer ring and test out the new brake retaining unit. Something for tomorrow. :bounce:

Glad you managed to find something to cut it!

Here is my first trial assembly of the brake unit. The washers are temporary as I will machine a collar tomorrow to replace them. Once fitted and a assembled with a locknut, I’ll trim off the end of the threaded shaft.

The pawl/shaft of the free spool mechanism was horribly rusted and really not worth repairing. Warn only sells the complete replacement assembly and for big $$. So, I have lots of 3/8” steel rod scraps, I’ll make my own replacement. First machine a new shaft... Next, cutout the gear lever... Verify the size and shape... And assemble. Next was to drill the case the lever slides in and then the shaft, to accept a pin that will prevent any accidental disengagement while winching. The finished bits.. And reassembled. There are a few mars on the shaft where i held it in a vice and idiot me forgot to use soft jaws. Couldn’t quite polish them out, but the shouldn’t affect its operation. :oops:

Today’s plan is to add oil fill and drain holes to the gear case and make the brake retaining collar. More later.

Here is the finished brake shaft retaining collar mounted on the shaft
Next oil fill and drain holes were drilled and tapped with a 1/4" NPT tap and 2 brass plugs. Here is the top case: I repeated this for the drain in the main gear case, but forgot to take pics.... :oops:
Next will be welding tabs to add two strengthening bars across the back of the winch drive and support cases. Apparently the support case tends to flex under heavy load resulting in uneven wear on the bearings. I have it all prepped, but need to get someone to TIG weld the aluminum tabs to the cases. Once that is done I can paint the cases and then once my new spool bearings arrive, I can re-assemble the winch. :bounce:

A few weeks ago I picked up a set of used galvanized Defender wheel arches and modified them to work with my bulkhead placement (about 6" forward of stock) and to line up correctly under the Series 3 fenders I have. This required me sectioning and adding 6" of metal at the middle of the arches. Seems I am always making more work for myself then I need to. Sigh.... Here is the arch attached to the assembled LH fender. The fender arch opening is cut to clear the 265/75-16" tires, based on my revised bulkhead position. Anyhow, after getting it all to fit, I then realized that their was no way to access the top of the shock tower. More needless work I caused myself.... So I modified my Series 3 inner fenders to sort of mimic Defender ones. In hindsight I should have done this from the start. It's going to to make mounting parts, routing electrics and a raised snorkel much easier. As well, I added bracing to the cut and bent edges, which eliminated some existing sagging along the tops and making the fenders much stronger. :bounce:

Almost ready to pull the motor to see what shape it is in.....

Good progress Martin 8) Its amazing how much you can get done in retirement!

Nice panel work, maybe I will drop off my S1 panels with a bottle of whiskey :drunken:

So I got back to finishing the Warn winch. Last week a club member welded the four tabs for mounting the rear bracing to the aluminum housings (sorry no pics of the actual welding). I can weld steel fine, but aluminum requires a finesse I don't possess (not to mention a lack of TIG equipment). This past weekend I painted the cases.
Then I pressed in new needle bearings and put the gears back in the upper case. Warn says not to remove these gears because the shaft they ride on is pressed in using a special tool that prevent it from "walking out" under load. They want you to buy a whole new upper unit for big $$$$$. My solution was to machine up a slightly longer shaft with groves at each end for circlips. Works like a charm.
Next I decided to try out my hand at DIY Zinc plating to refinish the cleaned up brake plates and various nuts, bolts and other rusted metal. I had a bit of trepidation getting started, but it turned out quite simple and easy to do. The plating solution consists of vinegar, Zinc Sulfate Monohydrate powder ($12 from Amazon), sugar and tap water. The sugar is used as a "brightener" - almost gives the plating a chrome like look. Otherwise it comes out very dull, or so I'm told. Here is my little Zinc plating setup. There are two zinc strips hanging on opposite sides of the bucket and attached to the positive of my power source. Parts to plate are hung from the copper pipe which is connected to the negative power. The power is supplied by an old 12v adapter I had lying around. It produces 12v at .2amp. I cut off the old socket end and attached alligator clips and used a meter to verify which end was positive and negative. :lol: I also heated the solution to 120F with a little immersion heater I found in the same box that the 12v adapter was in. Seemed to improve the plating process.

To plate, the first thing you do is degrease the bits, then soak them in muriatic acid (available from Cdn Tire) to remove all rust, rinse in water, attach a hook made from solid copper wire and lower into the plating solution. After a few minutes the zinc strips and parts usually start bubbling a bit. Reading online, they say you have to be careful to calculate the right amount of current for the size of part. I didn't have any way to vary it, so I just watched and guessed when the bits had enough plating. The longer you leave the bits in, the heavier the plating. Small bits I left in for 5-10 min. The large brake disks closer to an hour each. The bits come out a dull grey colour with a bit of a brownish sheen (from the sugar I used - all I had in the house was brown sugar :bounce: ). You rinse them in water and then polish. Below are two of the brake disks, left side right out of the bucket, right side after polishing with a wire wheel.
I re-plated every rusted part I could find and then went about re-assembling the winch. Here it is:
Tomorrow I'll start refurbishing the relays and wire it to the motor. Then I'll use jumper cables and a spare car battery to test it out.

It does indeed look great.

Well I got the winch wired up yesterday. So, I went and grabbed a battery I had at the side of the garage, connected the leads to it, crossed my fingers and tried the remote. Success! In button spins the drum the correct way. Out button does the opposite. I even hooked up and tested a wireless remote. Works great.
Now to build a winch bumper :bounce: