1956 Series One Rebuild Project

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ANDYD · #51 Post by **ANDYD** » Fri Nov 17, 2017 5:28 pm

Re Photos

I just open them with Microsoft Office Picture Manager (as far as I know it is pre-installed on all Windows products) click on edit and resize to 900 x 600, quick and simple and uploads easy every time .......

- Cheers,
Andy

ANDYD · #52 Post by **ANDYD** » Thu Nov 30, 2017 12:17 am

So onto the Internal Chassis Rust protection, I would of like to go with the Waxoyl product but I found it hard to get hold off and very expensive. When surfing the net for alternatives I found some good reviews for Eastwood Internal Chassis Coating which comes conveniently in large aerosol cans with a 24" tube for getting inside the chassis.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that KMS tools stock this locally and it comes in Black and Green. Green was on sale for about $25 a can, so that helped me decide!
All in all it went very smoothly, I found 3 large cans did a good two coats of the complete internal chassis and the nozzles performed as advertised and gave a 360 deg spray coverage. It is quite runny, I would of liked to of seen it a bit of a thicker mix. (they likely keep it thin so it doesn't clog the nozzle).
Once complete, I had a good look through several holes along the chassis and the coverage appeared very good. There was a couple of cross sections that I couldn't get the tube to access. I considered drilling a couple of new holes :shock: but then decided against it.

A few tips I learnt along the way,
-Tape up all the chassis holes you are not using, this will stop the paint coming out and dribbling all over the outside of the chassis and floor.
-I taped some stiff wire (old coat hanger) to the spray tube, this helped keep the tube straight and allowed for more control of where the nozzle end went.
-Do a dry run inserting the tube into all sections of the chassis before actually spraying.
-Push the tube in as far as it can go, then spray while slowly withdrawing it back to the hole.
-Keep a damp rag handy as you will get a bit of mess / runs and this stuff dries quickly.
- Its smelly and messy, use disposable gloves and respirator.

Bill E. · #53 Post by **Bill E.** » Thu Nov 30, 2017 3:12 pm

Andy,

Let's face it, anything with the Eastwood name must be good :wink:

The truck is looking great by-the-way

rayhyland · #54 Post by **rayhyland** » Thu Nov 30, 2017 4:56 pm

When you finish that one Andy just tell me your hourly rate, I have 5 waiting...

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ANDYD · #55 Post by **ANDYD** » Fri Dec 08, 2017 12:11 am

Ha, yes Bill, Mr Eastwood is the best!
Hey Ray, keep them safe until until I finish this one and then Ill come over and give you a hand!

Ok, this week I have been jumping around a bit on different areas of the LR, I made up and ran some new brake lines, spent some time inspecting the steering relay (not looking forward to that!) and ended up working on the fuel tank.

The fuel tank looks original so its likely 61 years old :shock: Actually pretty good shape. I have heard they can seep a bit around the seams so I filled it up with water and let it sit for a few hours. All good so far. After some research on the web I decided to give it a tank sealer treatment, mainly just because the previous owner had stripped it down of all fittings and cleaned it inside and out, its off the vehicle and probably never a better / easier time to do it.
I went again for the POR-15 (no I don't have shares in the company!) just because it has good reviews and available locally.

Basically the process goes like this;
Step 1- Pour in the Degreaser mixed 50/50 with hot water, seal up all openings on the tank with duct tape and then pick up the tank and slosh it around for 30 mins. Pour out and rinse out well with a water hose.
Step 2- Pour in the Metal Prep, seal up all the openings on the tank with duct tape and then pick up the tank and slosh it around for 30 mins. Pour out and rinse the tank out with a water hose.
Step 3- When the tank is totally bone dry (a heat gun can help with this) Stir up the tin of Tank Sealer and pour it into the tank. Once again seal up the tank with duct tape, roll the tank slowly onto all four sides, then the two ends, repeat this a few times for 30 mins. Remove the duct tape from one of the holes and drain the excess tank sealer out. Let the tank dry / harden for at least 4 days.

That's it, it was nice and easy to handle a small Land Rover tank for this process. Now I feel better a bit more confident that my 61 year old tank will keep my precious fuel on the inside of the tank...

rayhyland · #56 Post by **rayhyland** » Fri Dec 08, 2017 6:57 pm

Wow looks great!

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ANDYD · #57 Post by **ANDYD** » Sat Dec 23, 2017 11:24 pm

Its been a productive couple of weeks, I finished the restoration of the fuel tank and installed it along with the intake, sender and fill spout....

ANDYD · #58 Post by **ANDYD** » Sat Dec 23, 2017 11:46 pm

The old brake lines had been removed and disposed of by the previous owner so I didn't have any old "templates" to follow, so I had to start from scratch, using information from club members, manuals and the internet. I borrowed a brake flaring kit and got to work.... I learnt a lot along the way about "double flares" and "bubble flares" and male fittings and female fittings etc.. but it is very important that you identify the type of flare you need for each connection. With the newer Series 2 & 3 parts that you have to buy for the older Series 1 Land Rovers its quite likely you will require a "double flare" at one end of the brake pipe and a "bubble flare" at the other end.. :shock:

ANDYD · #59 Post by **ANDYD** » Sun Dec 24, 2017 12:08 am

Its a good feeling to start emptying boxes of random parts and bolting them into place. I cleaned up, painted and installed the hand brake assembly. Its awesome to see the old 1950's engineering that went into making the handbrake work on the LHD.
After getting the hand brake installed I turned my attention to the Master Brake Cylinder. A lot of people modify a Series 2 Master Cylinder to work on a Series 1, mainly because its a bout 1/10th of the price and more readily available. After inspection of mine, it looks it really good condition (internally) so I have decided to order a new seal kit and try that first. Only time will tell if that was a good idea .... I've not had a lot of success with new MC seal kits in the past and once vowed never to use one again ... we will see!

bsa_m21 · #60 Post by **bsa_m21** » Mon Dec 25, 2017 11:17 am

Merry Christmas Andy,

I used a brake hone to clean up the master cylinder on my 80" (same one as your's) when I first rebuilt it. But she started leaking after several years. Well after fighting with multiple rebuilds over the years, I gave up. I was going to get the master cylinder sleeved with a stainless steel insert, but it was way cheaper and better (IMHO) to replace the unit with one from Wilwood. (http://www.wilwood.com/MasterCylinders/ ... 20Cylinder)

Unless you are going for a concours resto, the change is invisible and he benefit of incorporating dual circuit brakes instead of the original single circuit swayed me. I also added 2psi Residual Pressure Valves to improve the feel of the brakes. Works like a charm.

M.

ANDYD · #61 Post by **ANDYD** » Fri Dec 29, 2017 3:45 pm

Hi Martin,

Thanks for the tips. With the new MC fitted did you keep the original brake fluid reservoir? Also did you re-run the brake lines to separate the front and rear into two circuits?

cheers,
Andy

rayhyland · #62 Post by **rayhyland** » Fri Dec 29, 2017 9:43 pm

I love the brake fluid reservoir in my Series 1. It’s like an old pre-war can for truffle oil, or something equally obscure.

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bsa_m21 · #63 Post by **bsa_m21** » Sat Dec 30, 2017 9:53 am

Hi Andy,

Actually, I replaced the remote reservoir with a plastic one as mine was rotting out. A simple brake-safe hose connects from the reservoir to the existing pipe.

On my 80", the brake lines already split (front/rear) at the MC with a T-junction, so I just removed the T, added two connectors and short pipe sections to connect them to the MC. No proportioning valve mind you. I really only separated them for safety if one line is compromised.

M.

ANDYD · #64 Post by **ANDYD** » Tue Jan 23, 2018 7:22 pm

OK, it's time to address the dreaded Steering Relay.
It actually turns smoothly and has no play or obvious wear & tear. Originally I was considering just leaving it well alone.

On closer inspection I could see that where the upper and lower oil seal sit there is grooves worn into the shaft and its unlikely that new seals will ever keep the oil in. In addition to this I cant get any new oil in or out of the steering unit. I have come to the conclusion that sometime in the past a previous owner has given up trying to seal the oil leaks so has just filled the unit with thick grease.
So with no idea if its full of good grease / old grease / no grease the only option is to change the whole unit or change the inner parts.
After a few days of trying to remove the complete unit, including a 20 ton hydraulic jack, a full can of penetrating oil and various large hammers.... I come to the conclusion that I will go with just removing the inner parts.
I recently discovered that the previous owner had already removed the upper and lower oil seals and the retainer, the famous large spring has apparently be free to come shooting out at any time but it had chosen not to .... not yet anyway!

rayhyland · #65 Post by **rayhyland** » Wed Jan 24, 2018 10:37 am

Can you clean it out by spraying brake cleaner into it and then injecting fresh grease?

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bsa_m21 · #66 Post by **bsa_m21** » Wed Jan 24, 2018 4:02 pm

rayhyland wrote:Can you clean it out by spraying brake cleaner into it and then injecting fresh grease?

That's what I did. Worked great.

ANDYD · #67 Post by **ANDYD** » Wed Jan 24, 2018 8:44 pm

Ray / Martin, Thanks for the tips.. So to clarify, you mean to and spray brake cleaner into the little hole in the top with the hope the old thick grease breaks down and all drains out the little screw hole in the bottom? Would brake cleaner break it down that thin?
How would I know how much of the old grease has been removed?

Hummmmm ..... I can see that as an option if the vehicle was all complete and the relay was hard to access, but right now as a rolling chassis it would probably make sense to fully service the unit.

I'm going to ponder it some more with my mug of tea and a cookie or two or three .....

rayhyland · #68 Post by **rayhyland** » Wed Jan 24, 2018 10:49 pm

If you can’t get it out, and you said it’s nice and smooth, I’d go this route. If it’s stiff then you need to do what you need to do. I’ve heard of people having to cut them out with a torch...

Mine was really really bad. Drove it like that till we reached the UAE when I came across a spare.

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ANDYD · #69 Post by **ANDYD** » Thu Jan 25, 2018 11:47 pm

As the Steering Relay body doesn't want to move I decided to see if the Steering Relay inner parts would come out.
With bucket positioned underneath I gave it a few good taps downwards and the shaft has started to move down. It moved down about 1 inch before getting stuck again. It did open up at the top enough to let me get a bunch of penetrating oil into the relay body. I will leave it soaking for a day or two before giving it another good bang downwards. Apparently the BIG spring is in no hurry to leave its home!

Photo - Steering Relay Shaft moved down about 1 inch before getting stuck again.

ANDYD · #70 Post by **ANDYD** » Mon Jan 29, 2018 2:47 pm

After another day of good soaking time in penetrating oil and grabbing a bigger hammer I was able persuade the Steering Relay "guts" to fall out the bottom into my rag filled bucket, a lot less drama with the big spring than I was expecting, partially I expect due to the amount of rusty, corrosion that had built up inside the relay body.
It looks like at some time in its life, water was able to find its way into the housing and everything is pretty rusty.

1st Photo - is looking through the Steering Relay body from the top
2nd Photo - is all the "guts" spread out after retrieving them from the bucket

rayhyland · #71 Post by **rayhyland** » Mon Jan 29, 2018 5:07 pm

Can you reuse anything or are you getting all new parts?

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ANDYD · #72 Post by **ANDYD** » Mon Feb 05, 2018 10:58 pm

Nothing really worth re-using, all very rusty and corroded. The internal replacement parts are not expensive and Jeremy has them all in stock.

ANDYD · #73 Post by **ANDYD** » Mon Feb 05, 2018 11:14 pm

Well, after feeling a new burst of energy from removing the Steering Relay inner parts I decided to have another go at getting the old steering relay body off. With the guts removed I could see that a simple pulling jig could be made with a piece of 3/4" ready-rod through the center of the body and a couple of spacers and washers, all I had to do was crank the nut down the ready rod and it should pull and pop the relay body right out of the chassis...... ummmm ... sounds so simple, what could possible go wrong....

Photo 1 - Pulling Jig in place, start cranking on the nut to pull the steering relay body out of the chassis
Photo 2 - Movement! The steering Relay body starts to move upwards... Success?

ANDYD · #74 Post by **ANDYD** » Mon Feb 05, 2018 11:32 pm

The upwards movement continued, this was going way too easily?
Then I realised that the "pop" I heard wasn't the Steering Relay body coming loose but it was actually the welds breaking on the metal tube that the relay sits inside. The top and bottom welds had sheared right off and the sleeve had come out still firmly attached to the relay body...
Once off the chassis, it still took a lot of work to remove the metal sleeve from the relay body, 61 years of crud in the gap had done an amazing job of welding to two parts together.

Now I will have to get this piece welded back in place (still seems very solid) then I can finally install the brand new Steering Relay.
I think I will rebuild the old one and keep it as a spare, I hate throwing out any original Series 1 parts :roll:

Photo 1- The welded sleeve popped right out of the chassis before the corroded parts would let go of each other
Photo 2- Hopefully this sleeve will pop right back in and I can get it re-welded back in place.

ANDYD · #75 Post by **ANDYD** » Mon Feb 05, 2018 11:46 pm

A quick call to "Rothman's Mobile Welding Unit".. (a very friendly, helpful Rover-Landers Member) and we had the welding on the go!

It didn't take long to get the metal sleeve back in place and we also took the opportunity to replace the 3 tabs that support the Front "Breakfast" piece, they had been chopped off :shock: by a previous owner for some strange reason.

Photos 1 & 2 - The young :wink: welder in action.....

The Rover-Landers of BC

The Rover-Landers of BC