The Rover-Landers of BC

Hello from Brisbane - sub-tropical Australia.

This is my first post on the forum and will basically start a thread of accounts for the (slow) restoration of my 1975 Series 3 88" truck cab (ute in Australia - hence the username S3ute).

The vehicle was purchased sight unseen on eBay a couple of years back and has been under my house, accompanied by a boat and the beer fridge, in various stages of devolution for the about a year and a half - retirement hobby in a time of not being retired....

Why join this forum?

A couple of reasons - I used to live in BC many years ago and traveled extensively around it at the time, and I like the forum. Another is that I plan to come back for a visit one day and it would be nice to already know a few folks with more than a passing interest in Series Land Rovers.

That's probably enough background for now.

Here is a photo of my truck "Ratel" an Afrikaans word for the honey badger, but phonetically appropriate for a 40 year old Series Land Rover. Otherwise it is known by its pending Queensland registration plate of SWB-75:


There are a few small differences between an Australian built Series 3 Land Rover and the UK variants which the rivet counters might spot - notably the position of the number plate frame on the tailgate, the position of the reversing lights and reflectors, and perhaps the mirrors which mount onto welded plates on the windscreen frame support brackets. More discrete might be the small Leyland badges on the doors and above the plastic grille. Otherwise, the differences come down to a high level of local content, much of which involved parts that were manufactured in Australia - bodies, chassis, springs, shock absorbers, brakes, fuel tank, wheels, tyres, seats, seat belts, heater, hoses, glass etc. It was mainly the engine, transmission, steering column and diffs that were still imported by that stage of manufacture.

The truck presently looks like this:


Although it wasn't exactly love at first sight - the previous owner having described it with a bit of poetic license - fortuitously it spent most of its working life on a ranch in a dry region and has almost no serious rust. Nevertheless, the photos make it look a lot better than it actually is although it is pretty straight and should look and be the goods when it is finished.

Over the last couple of years I have accumulated a veritable mountain of parts for the restoration sourced from just about every corner of the planet, but excluding Canada. Unless you include a Roamerdrive and Startrex starter motor that was picked up from a dealer here on the Sunshine Coast. Most of the booty came from the usual suspects in the UK, locally or southern Africa where I still spend a good bit of working time, although not as much as I would like. Until the $A:UK pound:USD exchange rate went pear shaped about 6 months ago it was considerably cheaper to source parts from the UK than locally - although most common parts are readily available here if you really need them. Freight is often a killer which allows local suppliers to basically charge the UK retail price plus freight and get away with it - travelling overseas a lot means that the airlines often don't realise how much of a truck is in their hold....

The challenge for now is to start putting it all back together - more to add later to this thread.

Cheers,

Neil

Welcome to the forum Neil. Great looking project Land Rover. Good luck with everything. I can sympathise as our cdn $ is on a downward slide and buying land rover parts is starting to get painful. Fortunately, like you I travel lots and bring back what I can via a suitcase. Cheers,
Ian

Ian,

Hello again and thanks - appreciated.

Yes, I think it will come up pretty well by the time that I get it back together. Have to admit that when I bought it back a couple of years ago it had been represented over the phone as being '97% restored', so I thought I was cheating a bit on calling it a restoration project. So much so that I had planned to go down to the place where it was located with some trade plates and drive it home to Brisbane. The vendor didn't think that would be a good idea so I had it trucked here - in the light of day I soon realized that the 3% margin left to do was a bit ambitious. It had no brakes, most of the electrics were inoperative, leaked oil from most orifices and the tyres were 20+ years old... The paint looked OK in the photos but on closer inspection had runs everywhere and the middle seats were missing. But, for all that it was straight, has no rust, the original 2.25 litre engine and time is on my side. Also, while they were once common the short wheel base models are genuinely scarce these days and especially the Series 3 models - the Army was the largest buyer of Land Rovers for many years and by the time the Series 3 trucks came onto contract they really only took the long wheelbase models with the 2.6 litre petrol motors. I note from the gallery photos that one of your members has one of these trucks over in Canada.

To be honest, while this won't be novel for North Americans or Europeans, finding a rust free leaf sprung Land Rover over here these days is pretty hard. While we don't get the issues of salt on the roads, most of the older trucks may have spent time on the beaches or near the coast and typically have rusted out bulkheads or chassis. Unlike the UK, the restoration market is fairly limited and doesn't warrant local manufacture of replacement chassis or bulkheads - importing these items from the UK is prohibitively costly so you are pretty much left to effecting welded repairs. Finding a truck with the original Rover motor is also a real challenge as a good many had Holden engine swaps which typically wrecks them in my opinion. Holden is the principal brand of GM here and the motors, a straight 6 cylinder Chevrolet derivative, were once extremely common - and cheap. The swap did offer some power advantage on the road but, more often than not, also introduced an accelerated route to mechanical problems - not least, gearbox failures. The 200Tdi diesel conversion is not particularly common here because, unlike the UK, the older Discovery models typically wore out with very high kilometres rather than rust out at low kilometres - plus most of the early ones had the petrol V8 motor rather than the diesel.

Anyway, I have a plan which will unfold over time - the larger brakes from a 109' 6 cylinder, a second 16 gallon fuel tank under the passenger seat, electronic ignition and headers, overdrive, 7.50 X 16" tyres, new seats, tropical roof, revamped electrics, professional repaint etc. In fact, most moving parts will have been replaced by the end of the project. Most of the required parts are already squirreled away - just need a bit of energy to bring it all together.

Cheers,

Neil

Hi Neil,

Very good to read about your project land rover and plans for getting her how you want. I'm sorry to hear that it was not as described when you purchased the old rover. I had a similar experience, but have learned so much in only the one year that I have owned a series land rover. My current 1961 Series 2 arrived with some parts and the owner saying that it had everything needed to get it back on the road. It was an abandoned project and I'm slowly going through systematically from the frame up removing assessing if components are sound or need replacing before putting it all back together again. It's taken a while and a whole lot more parts than I'd envisaged, but a fun process none the less. I just wish winters were shorter to get more done before I stop until spring (no fun working in an unheated garage at -30c). Here's a very recent photo of how she looks. The rear axle strip down and refurbishment is just about done. I'm working forwards and upwards, so a lot still to do. Welding, rewiring, replacing leaking seals (just about everywhere), painting.. Then back on the road after a safety inspection. Hoping to have it close this time next year!

Cheers,
Ian
http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/cc412/geologydoubleagent/1961%20Series%20II/image.jpg1_1_1.jpg

Neil,
Nearly forgot to say I was lucky in that at some point in the not to distant past the frame was replaced with a galvanised chassis. This and RM parabolic springs. So at least this is a good starting point for me. Having said this whenever I have tried to remove fasteners nearly all of them are rusted solid, and many snap in the process of undoing. I have new footwells to weld in, but the rest of the truck is in good shape.
Thanks for the helpful insight into Australian Series land rover ownership. I had recently watched a restoration of a Series one with a Holden six pot engine. I think a lot of older rovers get large v6 or V8 engines swapped in. Fortunately my 2.25 petrol is original and looks to be good, though I've not had her running in the road.
In Canada donor engines from Discovery's also have very high mileage and 200 or 300 tdi's are not at all common, as most of the donors are petrol engines. Where I have seen these for sale they are many thousands of dollars, versus only hundreds when up for grabs in the UK. If only I could put one in my return luggage when visiting the folks back home...
All the best,
Ian

Ian,

Hello again and thanks for the update.

A little further clarification on swapping the Holden motors as is common practice over here - basically there are several small issues that the proponents typically overlook. The main one is being fit for purpose - the 2.25litre Land Rover engine, contrary to popular opinion, was not some 30's relic shoved in there because they had a few spare and couldn't be bothered designing something better. In reality, it was specially designed for the truck and particularly to slog away all day, with little maintenance, and on fairly dubious sources of fuel. In fact, it could probably be argued to be the first purpose built SUV engine of all time - which is why you see so many still putting away in Africa and Asia with no apparent efforts for high maintenance.

Here is a couple of examples:


The Holden (Chev) motors produce more power but don't rev as fast as a Rover engine, so in theory won't go as fast - the main advantage is the torque that allows them to sit on a higher highway speed. However, the Land Rover motor has a larger sump than the Holden and is designed to deliver oil at all sorts of odd angles which the latter doesn't, so bearing failure is common when used in hilly environments which aptly described our ranch. However, the real killer was poor alignment of many conversion kits between the Holden flywheel and the Rover gearbox which leads to premature seal and bearing failure in the gearboxes - this poor engineering probably killed more trucks than the extra power ever did. Nevertheless, the power doesn't help - the original conversions typically involved the 149 cubic inch engine, but this crept up to 179, then 186 and finally 202 cubic inches as the donor cars evolved which the gearboxes don't like at all. Finally, the Stromberg carburetors are also not designed to operate at much of a side angle - how do I know this? My late dad was talked into fitting a 202 cubic engine Holden into our 109" and on a right hand down hillside traverse you got two fairly disconcerting warnings of looming trouble - the smell of petrol leaking on to the hot manifold and a concurrent bout of fuel starvation leading to a violent jerking forward motion just at a time that you probably least needed it.....

More better to keep to the Rover engines.

Next time I will get back to the topic of restoring Ratel - I made a few advances on that front yesterday.

Cheers,

Neil

Hello Neil,
Thanks very much, this makes for interesting reading. Certainly, things I hadn't considered. I wonder what many of the land rover owners in the States have found when converting to their various Holden or Ford equivalents. It's fun to see these trucks being used and probably run on a shoestring budget in Africa.
Look forward to reading how your restoration progresses. Best wishes,
Ian

OK - a bit of background to the restoration of Ratel. I will get around to disclosing how it got that name sometime.

As earlier noted, it is fairly straight and pretty much free of rust which ticks a lot of boxes - but the PO appears to have been a bit of an amateur mechanic. When you get down close to it there were quite a few things that weren't done well and I took a decision early on to accept what is good and to start again from scratch to get what wasn't right right. Sounds like I am bitching a bit on this, but the main source of grief is that I actually paid a premium on what was meant to be a very close to original vehicle and especially one with the original paint intact - it was only after delivery that it was revealed to have been neither. Anyway, time to move on....

Possibly the first thing the would be restorer needs to make clear is the intent of the restoration - concourse or usable. When I thought it was going to be already fairly close to original I was erring to the former, but once the reality set in it became a bit of both. Once it is going, it will get going hopefully back to its suited habitat - some bush and desert tracking. For that reason given its age of nearly 40 years (45 on the motor) and the reality of Australian backcountry conditions (the place can kill you) you can't go screwing around with dodgy kit - as Murphy's Law states "nature sides with the hidden flaw", so you need to strive for a flaw free zone. As far as a Series Land Rover will let you anyway.

So, starting with the suspension, brakes and tyres:

The tyres as fitted were, to use a highly technical term "stuffed":


Twenty something year old Bridgestone Jeep Service 7.00 X 16" that might suit a farm trailer.

Luckily, however, the recent mining boom brought a few thousand new Land Cruisers on to the market and these come from the factory in Japan with spit rims and 7.50 X 16" Dunlop SP Road Grippers. Split rims are illegal on Australian mine sites, so 5 X several thousand sets of brand new wheels and tyres end up sitting around the back of the Toyota dealers where you can get them for about $150-$180 per wheel cf. $300 for the new tyres alone.

These ones cost $120 each.


The appropriate speedometer (new) was sourced from Cyprus of all places.

The brakes were a composite of LWB and SWB components - with the 3" X 11" drums from a 6 cylinder truck, but not the correct master cylinder - they didn't work anyway...


So, I picked up the correct vacuum booster and cylinder NOS from a local dealer who was liquidating his stock and the rest of the kit from the UK. The brake tower had to be replaced and this has been sourced from an Army wreck and refurbished for future application.

The springs are actually quite good and new shockers and steering damper came back in my suitcase from Johannesburg - still to be fitted.

The swivel hubs are leaking badly and a refurbishment kit also came back from South Africa with a carburetor overhaul kit on another trip.

Moving to the engine.

The engine seems to run OK, but the radiator has seen a few repairs in its day. The Australian and African trucks came new with a four core 'tropical' radiator so a new one to export standards was sourced from the UK at about half the local price landed back when the $A was trading at 69UK pence....


Holding this image - a few other parts of the plan can be visualised. The carburetor is to be overhauled and all of the ball and springs components of the Heath Robinson throttle linkage arrangement are to be replaced. I have a set of headers to replace the present exhaust manifold and a new electronic ignition system, including distributor, from the UK to also go there - as each is meant to offer up to 30% fuel efficiency and power gain, I should be collecting money from the attendants at the gas stations and flying low (guess it doesn't work that way).....

The wiring assemblage hanging out of the radiator support panel has been someone's craft project and will be neatened up to include heavy duty truck relays for the headlamps (new Cibie 7" units) to overcome the dreaded switch burn out that most Series 3 Land Rovers (if not the rest) succumb to. I bought a Startrex starter a while ago and that will go in there too closer to launch date.

Steering is another Heath Robinson affair as anyone who has driven a Land Rover with any mileage on it will know - but it isn't necessary to wander all over the road. I am replacing all of the tie rod ends and refurbishing the relay while it is accessible - the last item is reputed to be a right pain in the small donkey, but luck has been known to side with the fortunate as I know people who have had them pop out quite easily. These folk are in a minority unfortunately.

The steering box sprung a leak while the truck has been laid up and an overhaul kit (also from Johannesburg) is waiting to take its turn - from all accounts a pig of a job unless you have three hands and luck on your side.


I did get it out some months back and will clean it up eventually.


One of the nice things about the Series Land Rover aficionado community is its generosity - someone gave me a 16 gallon auxiliary fuel tank which I cleaned up to fit under the passenger seat box.


The plan is to put a second filler on the passenger side (driver's side in your cases) and plumb it through a dual function electric SU fuel pump as was fitted to the 6 cylinder models with twin tanks. I picked up the blanking plate from a wreck with a 2.5 litre motor in Zimbabwe to block off the existing mechanical pump on the block during one of my trips. The scouts over there are out looking for the pump, but if that doesn't materialize soon I may yet fit twin facet pumps.

There is plenty more, of course, including new seats and seat belts etc - but that can wait. There's enough here to keep me occupied for a while. I will report on it as it progresses.

Cheers,

Neil

Hi Neil! Very interesting reading so far.

I had the pleasure of driving a Holden Commodore wagon, throughout eastern Australia, in late 1989/early 1990, enjoyed it thoroughly and hope to return some day. I remember the terminology thing - when I asked one of the local car lot people about the Land Rover "pickup" on his lot, he didn't understand what I wanted to pick up, and then the light dawned and he said "you mean the ute!" and it was my turn to be confused.

I am in the process of restoring my '71 S2A 88 petrol - sadly started out much rougher shape than yours, the frame was missing outriggers and big chunks of the bulkhead need repair, but it is my mental health therapy and has been very enjoyable so far.

The 16 Gallon aux fuel tank in your last post caught my eye - do you have any details on that, who made (makes?) these and are they available commercially? I had seen some pictures of perhaps that very tank somewhere, but was not able to get any info ion them and have been considering the possibility of getting some made up (one for each side), but if they are being made by someone that may be a better way to go.

Thanks!

Frank

LR01011000 wrote:
The 16 Gallon aux fuel tank in your last post caught my eye - do you have any details on that, who made (makes?) these and are they available commercially? I had seen some pictures of perhaps that very tank somewhere, but was not able to get any info ion them and have been considering the possibility of getting some made up (one for each side), but if they are being made by someone that may be a better way to go.

Thanks!

Frank

Frank,

Hello from Brisbane and thank you for your interest.

The common option here for extending the range of the Series trucks was to fit an extra fuel tank under the passenger seat - as I am planning to do. The additional tank is typically fitted under the LHS passenger seat where the tool box is sited with or without a second filler assembly cut into that side and some sort of plumbing arrangement to link the second tank to the motor. This would either be by fitting a tap in the fuel line before the existing mechanical pump, or replacing the pump with a twin function electric pump or twin facet pumps. All of the Army Series trucks had this type of arrangement, although the older S2A short wheel base trucks didn't have a second external filler fitted but rather had a second tank similar to the original S1 trucks that had to be filled from inside the vehicle.

To your question - when this was common (i.e. when there were a lot of Series trucks still on the roads) a good many of the specialist Land Rover parts suppliers offered locally made 10 or 16 gallon tanks (Imperial not US). The larger tank, as shown in my photos, fitted under both the seat box and floor between the existing bulkhead and chassis outriggers. The shorter 10 gallon tank is the same as the existing tank under the driver's seat (passenger if LHD) and requires a special cross piece to be welded to the chassis to support the front of the tank. The 16 gallon tank typically cost around A$420-450, which is ~CDN$400-420. My local supplier here in Brisbane had a few in stock up until recently but seems to have sold out. I did read on a local LR forum that another well known supplier from Melbourne (Four Wheel Drives - http://www.landrovers.com.au) was now pricing them at around A$1000 which is a fair indication that they don't plan to make or sell many in the future.....

Even at the old price, getting one shipped to Canada would probably be a fairly expensive proposition. The best option is probably to source a couple of good 10 gallon tanks and the filler assembly from a wreck over there and make the supporting modification to hold it in place.

Cheers,

Neil

Try Leakers in Aldergrove, he made a number of tanks for my various Lr's.
http://www.weblocal.ca/leakers-gas-tank ... ve-bc.html

He had his properties up for sale awhile back and was trying to move to the interior- Keromeous, not sure if that has happened or not. Best try the phone first.
Cheers
ted

Thanks guys for the tank info. I will try to contact Leakers. Was looking at the Defender tanks - they have the added bit that protrudes under the foot area in front of the seat base - looks like Land Rover engineers had the same idea.

Rambler wrote:Hi Neil,

......I just wish winters were shorter to get more done before I stop until spring (no fun working in an unheated garage at -30c). Here's a very recent photo of how she looks. ........

Cheers,
Ian
http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/cc412/geologydoubleagent/1961%20Series%20II/image.jpg1_1_1.jpg

Ian,

Hello again and thanks for your update - genuinely interesting.

Many of my compatriots would not have much of an understanding of what those temperatures really mean in terms of general existence, let alone working on a truck... I do, because I lived there for about three years in my early twenties and did a fair bit of venturing out and about in winter - including a trip up the Alaska Highway to Whitehorse from Fort St John in a poorly heated freighter bus. But one hell of a trip. Hereabouts, the issue is more coping with the extremes of summer, although South East Queensland actually enjoys a fairly nice sub-tropical climate with most days summer or winter in the mid-20s to mid-30s. The exception is January and February when the temperatures don't rise all that much, but the humidity can go off the scale (actually I don't suppose it really does - once 100% is reached it is raining and we just get floods or a cyclone or both...). Fortunately, my home here in Brisbane is what is locally termed a Queenslander, which is a local adaptation from the late 1800s of a design that came from India with retired military officers. Basically a Victorianised bungalow built on poles off the ground with high ceilings and wall to floor windows to allow for air circulation, plus verandas all around to prevent the sun directly striking the outer walls. My workshop under the house has fairly limited temperature variation and the odd hot day is easily compensated with a beer, the beach or a barbecue which I think the maker fitted into his busy schedule on about the 7th day....... Mrs S3ute has a nice garden which is an alternative option for reflecting on trivial things Land Rover or otherwise.

http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee405/Tilly011/P1010024_zpszc7bheg8.jpg

http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee405/Tilly011/P1010032_zps9kl4bxnr.jpg

Back on the topic of Land Rovers - I had noticed the galvanised chassis on your truck and am a bit envious there. They are not all that common here because while the chassis can and do rust it is usually a much slower process than in the northern hemisphere and Asia because of the drier environment and nil use of salt on the roads in winter. Beach driving is an exception of course and this kills a lot of trucks here along the coast. As I mentioned once before, the market for new chassis for old Land Rovers is not really a large one which makes it unattractive for anyone to import them in bulk and more so as single units. Ditto bulkheads. So, this leaves most of us to our own resorts in terms of welding up the existing chassis and bulkheads or sourcing replacement units from a wreck. My own truck has signs of some previous repair to the rear crossmember, a common enough place for rusting to occur, but I think this was likely due to having been backed into something like a stump or piece of farm machinery.

The other thing from your photo that particularly interested me was the oil filter on the engine block - this looks like a later spin off arrangement rather than the original cartridge unit? Rocky Mountain used to sell an adapter (still advertised) but stock doesn't appear to have been available for some time. I am replacing mine with the spin on attachment that I sourced from a 2.5litre motor out of a hybrid S3-County in a wrecking yard in Harare - these had the same block as the 2.25litre motors, but were never sold in numbers in Australia. By the time the County's were being sold here they had largely discontinued using that motor in favour of the 200tdi - we were still getting the S3 from Leyland up until mid 1983 due to a backlog of unfinished orders for the Army. Such was the efficiency of the local Leyland operation before it went the way of the dodo just like its UK parent.

http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee405/Tilly011/Zimbabwe_wreckers2_zpse2146def.jpg

Thanks to veterans like this one in a Chitungwiza wrecking yard my own truck is getting a good bit of African DNA added to its present makeup.

Anyway, enough for now. Keep in touch.

Cheers,

Neil

Hello Neil,

Sorry for the delay in replying - has been a busy time of late. Thanks very much for the positive words and further information about your 'ute' Land Rover (is that short for utility?) and restoration/rebuild. I'm not from Canada originally so when I try to let my friends back in the UK know about winter and trying to work outside in an unheated garage they have no concept of how cold -20 or -30c really is. Still it is a dry cold so if you wrap up well in layers it can be pleasant enough outside at -30 as long as there is no wind blowing!

I've not been to Brisbane (other than a connecting flight) but I do have friends in FNQ as they call it, and I spend a pleasant week in Townsville and got to explore the beautiful Great Barrier Reef and nearby beaches (near the Whitsundays if my memory serves me right in the late 90's). I fondly remember the bbq's, tooes (not sure of spelling) cold beer and eating bugs in a restaurant (sort of like mini lobsters for those of us here in Canada!). Lots of fun and very hot, with tropical rains. My reason for mentioning this is I stayed in a Queenslander, so can relate when you talked about your beautiful home and the benefits it has of staying cool. You look to have a wonderful garden area, covered areas to eat outside, and lots of space to work on your Land Rover which is always good!

Not sure if I mentioned this earlier, but one of the reasons I bought the Series 2 was it's galvanized chassis. The Series 3 that I had recently bought turned out to have more rust on the chassis than I had thought and I saw this ebay advert for an abandoned S2 project vehicle. I bought it for it's hoard of new parts the owner was including and thinking that I may be able to swap the chassis. When it finally arrived (site unseen) I found the S2 to be in better condition in many ways than my Series 3 so instead wanted to restore the S2 to its former glory, resulting in my selling on the S3...

I have no record of when the S2 got it's replacement chassis. It has some nice original features in terms of it's welding and make up, but it looks to be a generic S3 type of build. The rear outrigger was bent (along with the rear bulkhead) when a previous owner had backed into a tree. I will have my work cut out in trying to straighten this, but it's all part of the fun. I think that who ever fitted the new frame did a lot of weld repairs to the front buklkhead. I only have to install the new footwells as the rest looks great and very solid. I should think that sometime in the past 10 years this chassis was swapped, it's not new by any means, but there is not visible corrosion or rust there, so it is a good find, especially given the cost of having a new chassis shipped to me. I can only imagine this would be many times more to do the same in Australia. I think I am quite lucky that the last owner had the old rover sitting in his workshop for the past 3 years. It hasn't seen a lot of use and this contributes to its good condition.

I will continue my strip down and refurbishment of the mechanical parts and then hopefully next summer can put it all back together and have the vehicle resprayed. (my attempts at spraying small items has not been all the good. the other option is that I paint with a quality roller and brush!).

Your asked about the Rocky Mountain spin on filter adapter. The Series 2 has the original design which removed most of the hardware for the canister type oil filter (which sadly I don't have any parts for). RM recently changed their design and I had purchased one of these for my series 3. it retains more of the original filter mount and in doing so keeps the original canister orientation for new spin on filters. It worked very well in my limited experience. If you contact Jeremy at Rocky Mountain in Vancouver I am sure he can help out. Their website shows not in stock, but I purchased one of the new filter conversions from them despite it saying the same on the website last year... Then again I think the route you have gone is just as good with fitting one from a later Land Rover engine.

Your mention of finding a good donor vehicle has me thinking I need to scour far and wide for a suitable scrap yard to see if there are any old rovers lying about. I am not confident as mostly these yards have domestic vehicles and old trucks, but you never know.

All the best and I look forward to reading more about your series restorations

Ian

ps here is a photo of the newer spin on oil filter adapter that RM offers:
http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/cc412/geologydoubleagent/1974%20Series%20III/RMnewoilfilteradapterS3.jpg

and their earlier design as fitted to my Series 2 by a previous owner
http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/cc412/geologydoubleagent/1961%20Series%20II/IMG_0924.jpg

Rambler wrote:Hello Neil,

You asked about the Rocky Mountain spin on filter adapter. The Series 2 has the original design which removed most of the hardware for the canister type oil filter (which sadly I don't have any parts for). RM recently changed their design and I had purchased one of these for my series 3. it retains more of the original filter mount and in doing so keeps the original canister orientation for new spin on filters. It worked very well in my limited experience. If you contact Jeremy at Rocky Mountain in Vancouver I am sure he can help out. Their website shows not in stock, but I purchased one of the new filter conversions from them despite it saying the same on the website last year... Then again I think the route you have gone is just as good with fitting one from a later Land Rover engine.

Ian

ps here is a photo of the newer spin on oil filter adapter that RM offers:
http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/cc412/geologydoubleagent/1974%20Series%20III/RMnewoilfilteradapterS3.jpg

and their earlier design as fitted to my Series 2 by a previous owner
http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/cc412/geologydoubleagent/1961%20Series%20II/IMG_0924.jpg

Ian,

Hello again - from Hobart this week a singularly attractive place and (IMHO) one of the great harbour cities of the world (not overlooking Cape Town, Vancouver, Wellington etc).

Thanks for the info concerning your previous exposure to the north of my home State. I think the beer you might have been thinking of would have been Tooheys although that is a Sydney beer and unlikely to have been a popular choice ahead of XXXX (yes, that's a brand) in Queensland.

Thanks for posting the photos of the RM oil filter adapters - I had only seen photos of the units on their website but not installed on the block. As mentioned the availability of the RM product here has been fairly ambiguous for a good while and the website was never very helpful. The parabolic springs are popular over here although I personally would be unlikely to import or buy an imported set. There are a good many local manufacturers making upgraded suspension kits that are receiving global attention (Old Man Emu, ARB, TJM etc) and I'd probably stick with them. To be honest the original Land Rover springs if set up properly and maintained will give as good a ride as any of the new whizzbang stuff and the springs on my truck are not too bad.

The adapter that I bought off the wreck in Zimbabwe is pretty much the same as the one fitted on the 200Tdi engines which shared a similar block to the older 2.5 litre diesel and petrol. To my eye they fit in a more accessible position as either of the RM variants in your photos and at US$40 in crumpled notes was a pretty good deal. So, this is the route that quite a few of the locals are taking (getting them off Discovery wrecks rather than flying to Zimbabwe).

Anyway, enough for now.

Cheers,

Neil

Hello from Brisbane.

Been a fairly quiet few weeks for the restoration - been travelling locally (Tasmania, Queensland) and head to Hawaii later this evening for a few weeks of rec leave on the beach. Our own beaches are probably as good as anyone's, but my sister married an American several decades back and this one is for her birthday.

Anyway, took the wheels into a local business for sandblasting and powdercoating in Limestone a few weeks back and the finished product is pretty good:

http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee405/Tilly011/Wheels2_zpshonc2cae.jpg

Powdercoating is often looked down on because it can crack and leave rust lines, but the operator did a pretty thorough job of prepping the rims before getting the final coats on. Time will tell.

Took the roof panel off and sent it to a painter along with a tropical roof panel that needs some work prior to also getting re-finshed in Limestone:

http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee405/Tilly011/IMG_2205_zpsplqqqikn.jpg

Received in a few more parts from the UK during the time and have pretty much the complete inventory now for the long overdue rebuild.

Cheers,

Neil

Hello again from Brisbane.

Been a slow few weeks in terms of getting much done on the Land Rover front - had a couple of relaxing weeks in Hawaii with the family and have also been planning a trip to Indonesia next week and India the week after that. Signed off on an airfare to Johannesburg yesterday for Mrs S3ute and myself which will hopefully morph into an extended traverse of South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe around the middle of next year - more of that when the time arrives.

For now I dropped off the set of five new 7.50 X 16" tyres that I sourced from a mine Toyota and the recently powdercoated rims to my local tyre fitter and picked up the same yesterday:

http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee405/Tilly011/Tyres_zpsyc7ytjok.jpg

There's something about new tyres and painted wheels that makes a restoration feel as if it is moving somewhere I think - even if the rims are 40 years old and near impossible to balance..... An old bush mechanic told me years ago that Land Rovers were built in an era that preceded wheel balancing as a routine maintenance procedure which is why the rims were rarely true from new and the front steering swivels used railko bushes to take up some of the slop.

On wheels - that classic series design looks good anywhere, even in Thamalakane, Botswana..............

http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee405/Tilly011/Botswana_Maun_Feb_2010_014_zps83f6760e.jpg

Anyway, not much else - other than the sad fact that my neighbour from across the road died from a heart attack on Friday night. Only 60 and a thoroughly decent human being - RIP.

Cheers,

Neil

sorry to hear about the neighbour. thanks for the updates on the rover, keeps me going to finish mine.
Geoff

I'm thoroughly enjoying this thread, with its excellent pictures and very civilized discourse.

Hello again from the antipodes.

A little progress since last time.

Got back from a flying trip to New Delhi on Thursday and decided to head down to Buccan to see how work was progressing on the roof panels that I dropped in a few weeks back for straightening and painting.

Turns out that Harry the painter and all round Land Rover wizz is battling a brain tumour and has slowed down a little from his usual hectic pace. Nevertheless, you can't keep him out of the shed and he was working on the tropical panel as I called by.

http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee405/Tilly011/Ho_Hars_Nov_2015_001_zpshuysawwi.jpg

The panel had been imported from the UK and considerably worse for wear when I got it. However, using an English wheel he had got most of wrong bends out of it and put the right bends back into it - so, once he welds up a few redundant holes with Birmabright strips it will be painted limestone to match the cab roof.

Harry and Carolyn (The Ho Hars on the AULRO.com website) run a small business called Landy Rescue Services and specialise largely in restoring the very old Series vehicles. Like the breed the world over they are dedicated wreck accumulators and have old bits and pieces stuffed under just about every bush and tree on their small holding - some insights:

http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee405/Tilly011/Ho_Hars_Nov_2015_013_zpse3hddcyh.jpg

One for the rivet counters - the truck nearest the front (WKY-285) sports a grille that was unique to the Australian built Series 2A vehicles from around late 1967 to 1971 when the head lights migrated to the guards.

http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee405/Tilly011/Ho_Hars_Nov_2015_005_zpsrjrhw75x.jpg

http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee405/Tilly011/Ho_Hars_Nov_2015_004_zpsqsy4iklh.jpg


http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee405/Tilly011/Ho_Hars_Nov_2015_002_zpsvggg4wj4.jpg

This veteran has had a hard life and a fair bit of time on the beaches which the rear cross-member bears witness to....

http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee405/Tilly011/Ho_Hars_Nov_2015_011_zpsg882hkwj.jpg

This is Harry admiring one of his latest acquisitions - a 107" ex-farm truck that spent the last couple of decades as a bush fire brigade water cart out in the backblocks.

http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee405/Tilly011/Ho_Hars_Nov_2015_010_zpsrsxosh5c.jpg

Another angle which also reveals Carolyn's favourite 80" ex-military recce truck. This is a bit unusual as the Australian Army really didn't get into Land Rovers until the Series 2's came on the scene as they still had plenty of ex-WW2 jeeps, Dodge Power Wagons, Studebakers and Chev Blitz wagons on their books in road-going order. As well as Austin Champs, but that was another story.......

http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee405/Tilly011/Ho_Hars_Nov_2015_012_zpszdmmijea.jpg

This one is a Series 3 109" troop carrier being butchered for parts - it would have seen service with the 2.6litre petrol engine.

http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee405/Tilly011/Ho_Hars_Nov_2015_003_zps9pyarfwi.jpg

Finally, Harry and Carolyn's everyday use fleet.

http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee405/Tilly011/Ho_Hars_Nov_2015_014_zpseoweorwl.jpg

Mrs S3ute's living fear is she will come home one day and discover there is more than one truck in occupancy..............

Returning to the main topic of restoring my truck, I did spot a deluxe bonnet under one of the bushes in fairly good condition - Solihull Santa might be coming early again this year....... Who's been a good boy then?

Cheers,

Neil

Hello again from the sub-tropics.

Christmas is in the air, so mainly spent the weekend just past trying to be generally useful around the house and yard and an agreeable neighbour being the season of good will etc. Mowed the lawns, gave Mrs S3ute a bit of a hand in the garden and getting the Christmas decorations up, had a wine or two with a diverse range of neighbours, relatives and whoever happened to be close at hand.

Not much tinkering achieved on the truck other than a little forensic pondering on a seemingly obscure part. I happened to be blowing the leaves out from under the house, including the truck, when I heard a metallic tinkle and caught sight of a small object just about to disappear into the floor drain. On retrieving it I was a bit puzzled as to what it was and where it belonged - or even if it came off the truck at all. It has been over a year since I pulled the floor and seat box out and I couldn't recall removing the particular part or why it wouldn't have gone into a snap-lock bag with its friends if I had.

The bit in question:

http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee405/Tilly011/Captive_nut1_zpsazqqxvye.jpg

Well, never doubt the capacity of the rivet counters to come running when the call goes out. I posted the photo on the local AULRO site with the questions "what am I?" and "where do I belong?" and within about 10 minutes the suggestions were pouring in - the main consensus being that it was one of the four captive nuts (I had figured that bit out) that held the lower seat belt brackets to the seat box and rear tub.

Were they right? "Yes" seems to be the answer as a quick look at one of my photos of the shell seems to confirm:

http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee405/Tilly011/Captive_nut_zps62b3y7pv.jpg

Lotz-o-Landies (south coastal NSW) gets a "well done" nomination of being the first correct answer....

Backtracking a little, I may have mentioned that the odd bit of my truck's restoration is being supported by some wrecking yards in Chitungwiza (Harare, Zimbabwe). One such sub-project is to switch over from the existing mechanical fuel pump to either a dual function electric pump or two facet pumps to support the proposed conversion to twin fuel tanks. Although viewed as not being strictly necessary, I have opted to blank off the opening to the block where the mechanical pump is fitted using a blanking plate from a 2.5litre block sourced from the said yards. One hazard of leaving the mechanical pump in situ (especially if the fuel line is still passing through it) is getting a sump full of petrol if the diaphragm fails.....

The following photos might give some small insight into why hunting for parts in the dark continent can be fun:

Firstly, scrounging around the yards is always an interesting experience:

http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee405/Tilly011/Zimbabwe_wreckers1_zpsg6ure7b3.jpg

You meet enthusiasts the world over - this is Godfrey a dedicated Land Rover enthusiast:

http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee405/Tilly011/Zimbabwe-wreckers3_zpsnzt13tax.jpg

And the post-hunt reflections and trophy displays are typically relaxed:

http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee405/Tilly011/Zimbabwe_Nov_2014_53_zps681897f4.jpg

Where it will find its new home:

http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee405/Tilly011/PA261241_zpss9w5mxny.jpg

What prompted this small bout of reflection was that the switch gear for the job finally started rolling in from the UK during the week. A decision still has to be made on sourcing the electric fuel pump(s).

Actually, I got a bit sidetracked there and almost forgot what was one of the genuine triumphs of the weekend's tinkering.

The previously non-cooperative captive bolt on the steering support bracket was gently cajoled into giving up its freedom further offering an opportunity to make some serious progress in that area of the overall restoration come the New Year.

Bad bolt:

http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee405/Tilly011/Loose_nut_zps7e497585.jpg

Good bolt:

http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee405/Tilly011/IMG_3093_zpsjjubnlvg.jpg

Meanwhile, back to Indonesia on Friday for a week in Bali and Lombok for some agricultural development work - my host at the university (Pak Dilaga) happens to be the president of the Lombok Land Rover Owners Club in his spare time which has its plusses:

http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee405/Tilly011/LombokLandRoverClub11062008__14_zps5edbff33.jpg

The good Pak told me that locals up in the hills colloquially call these things "Iraqi trucks". Muslim fanatics?

Cheers,

Neil

Such great pictures and commentary. This is one of my favourite threads.

Hello again from Brisbane,

Been a while since I posted anything, which in itself is a bit indicative of a lack of general progress on the truck of late.

Nevertheless, the diversions had their attractive sides.....

A couple of weeks back Mrs S3ute came good with a check off of an item on the personal bucket list which included a small plane flight around the Central Australian deserts and over Lake Eyre our largest salt lake and lowest point of the continent being about 15 metres below sea level. Back in the 1960s Sir Donald Campbell broke a few land speed records on the lake bed which grabbed a lot of attention here at the time - so did his backup fleet of 109" trucks all painted the same Royal Blue as Bluebird 2.



Were he alive now it might have been a bit problematic since the lake is half full and still filling from flood rains earlier this year from monsoon events further north - the explosion of wildlife, especially the pelicans and seabirds, makes it one of the great times to be in that part of the Outback.

http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee405/Tilly011/Lake_Eyre_Innamincka_2016_094_zpsnnckmbob.jpg

http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee405/Tilly011/Lake_Eyre_Innamincka_2016_066_zpswishtc88.jpg

http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee405/Tilly011/Lake_Eyre_Innamincka_2016_036_zps4pdprfyp.jpg

http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee405/Tilly011/Alice_Springs_Safari_2004_57_zpspltyvi5q.jpg

http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee405/Tilly011/Lake_Eyre_Innamincka_2016_045_zpsecnogyrz.jpg


Also been preoccupied planning a trip back to Africa for July-August including South Africa, Zimbabwe and Zambia. A number of nights are under canvas in several of the more famous reserves which should provide a bit of an opportunity for indulging in a number of my recurring Land Rover fantasies - a couple of examples from a previous time in Hwange NP, Matabeleland:

http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee405/Tilly011/Zimbabwe_March_April2013_648_zpsaf091ebf.jpg

http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee405/Tilly011/Zimbabwe_March_April2013_630_zpsb9903d02.jpg

http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee405/Tilly011/Zimbabwe_April2014_8_zps7b3ba712.jpg

Boys Own stuff.

Turning back to topic - one small issue that I may eventually encounter with my small truck relates to its rear differential which is a Salisbury from a 109" of unknown age.

http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee405/Tilly011/Salisbury_diff2_zpstha01sit.jpg

http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee405/Tilly011/Salisbury_diff1_zpsodxhryei.jpg

Various technical threads heartily advise the unwary against fitting these things to 88" trucks for a variety of reasons, the resulting length and angle of the rear tailshaft being a principal topic of chatter. Well, I can't do very much about that since the deed was already done when I bought it - but it has been suggested that even with the standard Rover diff in place an 88" jacked straight off the ground is likely to hit the limit of travel of the shaft well before the check straps do their intended job. The implication here is that the Salisbury would then make a bad thing worse.

On the other hand, few Land Rovers actually do that sort of gymnastics - unless for some reason they become airborne, and at my advancing age that sort of scenario is not very likely. More likely it seems that were the truck to ever become road bound again and to venture off road the normal pattern of axle movement would be up one end and down the other the pivot point being roughly at the centre of the diff. Under that scenario, even under extreme articulation, one or other check strap would presumably be called into play (assuming it isn't broken).

Sound reasonable?

Anyone got a horror story to share on the pitfalls of running Salisbury diffs in short wheelbase Land Rovers?

While on the Afro-theme - let me ask you what claim to fame you think the lady in the front row might have?

http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee405/Tilly011/mean_mum1_zpsadd47917.jpg

I will give you the answer some time.

Cheers,

Neil

Probably too recent to be Elsa of "Born Free", but maybe a cub?
Or, possibly Cecil's family?

Lovely pics!

The_Anachronist wrote:Probably too recent to be Elsa of "Born Free", but maybe a cub?
Or, possibly Cecil's family?

Lovely pics!

At least a try.

The hint lies in the killer stare.

The correct answer is that she tried, and nearly succeeded, to eat my research partner one night a couple of years back at the Mana Pools on the Zambezi River. The half-chewed Andre survived after suffering horrific injuries, but the titanium plate holding his skull together gives the airport security a bit of a start and walking into freezers is a no-no these days.

No longer alive now, she is known to have attacked two other people on separate occasions and also killed a houseboat deckhand at Lake Kariba. It was the latter indiscretion that finally got her shot.

Such is life and death in the bush I guess.

Next post had best get back to restoring Land Rovers.

Cheers,

Neil

Hello again from Brisbane.

We just had a couple of long weekends in a row down here which was to be the catalyst for a fresh attack on the truck. So, with an embarrassingly long 'to do' list to accommodate I figured the most efficient route was to attack the hubs as a prelude to completely replacing the front and rear brakes, hub seals, bearings, swivel seals, pins, bushes, bearings, seals and assorted what-not.

So, started to undo the driven plate nuts only to find that the PO must have used something like Loctite or similar on them at some time in the past - removal resisted both physical and verbal attack for several hours before the bolts, but not the plates, were independent of the hubs. Refusing to succumb they were left overnight with a generous application of penetrating fluids and bad thoughts for company. A renewed sortie the following morning with a very large hammer (FBH class) and driver finally saw the plates give ground and reassemble on the garage floor.


Now this should have heralded in the 'very easy' bit as with words of the factory manual still ringing in my ears ("just unbend the spacing washer tab and undo the outer retainer nut with the special tool, then go make yourself a nice pot of tea") I took the special tool specially imported from the UK from its pristine blue bag (there's a clue there) and approached the first nut........ Well, I can report that not only did it refuse to budge, so too did its' other three mates and the special tool proved to be worse than f___ing useless. Simply slid sideways off the nut and the slot for a cross bar - in this case a large screw driver - quite inadequate for getting any real force onto the job.

History is replete with cases where successful generals picked their battle sites. So, not being one in this instance I retreated for the rest of the weekend while fetching around for a better alternative. Fortuitously this emerged in the form of a nice bit of kit borrowed from a colleague (Killer) who had previously been confronted with a similar challenge. Being a fitter and turner by early training he had the advantage of a little knowledge and aptitude to support his approach.


Now this is a seriously nice bit of home made kit - it actually fits the nuts properly and has the advantage of being mated to the wheel brace for useful leverage and can also be linked directly to a torque wrench for the later Defender set up. I have sought a pup from it when he has time to run one up.

So, the nuts were finally defeated, the hubs were off ready for the brake plate and stub axle retainers bolts to step up to offer a bit of the usual grief. Well, they did put up a bit of a fight, but all finally declared defeat and joined the rest of the dis-assemblage in the parts bucket. One small ray of hope emerged in that the seal lands look to be in good shape.

I'm off to India this weekend and then the remote Kimberley and Indonesia in quick succession - so, a few weeks before any further advances are likely to be reportworthy.

Cheers,

Neil

P.S. I had the first purchase option on a very original rust-free and roadworthy 1951 Series 1 80" last week and thought my number had finally come in. But, twixt sighting and a final handshake the little woman (Mrs S3ute) decided to reverse her previous stance, stamped her dainty foot and said "no" - or words to that effect. Got sold yesterday to a phone buyer for about $2000 more than it was offered to me. It happens..................

Glad I'm not the only one to think that the BP hubnut spanner is about as useful as sn underwater fire engine. I've busted many knuckles slipping off of nuts while using a screwdriver as a lever on that thing!

That lioness looks like a cold blooded killer - her eyes compared to the other two give her away.

Good to see some parts of Africa still use the landy. I was in the Sudan a couple of months ago and I saw 4 Rovers. Two on blocks and two on the road... everything else was Toyota.

Who doesn't love a good story to go along with their land rover maintenance?

Hello again from Brisbane.

It's been a fair while since I posted anything to do with Land Rovers, mine in particular, and the miscellaneous topics that a life of wandering creates an opportunity to explore. Having returned from southern Africa in August last year in relatively high spirits, the immediate family found itself walking into a bit of a wall of stress related to a health crisis for one its members. I won't dwell on that but simply note that it didn't do much for promoting mechanical pursuits of a hobbying nature nor the inclination to write much about the same.

But having said all of that, there has been a bit of activity on the project through those months and a good bit found its way off the vehicle since it was last shown.

One of those small jobs that was previously offering up considerable scope for grief was removing the hub carriers - this came on the heels of a previously remarked on small job that was also offering a chance for grief, the hub retaining nuts....

Now one problem with sensing the nature of a job through intuition or a quick glance of the exploded parts diagrams is that subtle differences in part numbers are easily missed. In this instance these two hub carriers innocently might look alike, as they do in the parts manual which only shows this same side.


So, after much heaving and puffing trying the separate the rear ones from the axle casing flange by tapping from above, as was easily accomplished on the front - in the midst of a Homer Simpson moment - the thought occurred "H'mm what if they aren't actually the same"?


Whoo hoo............



Previous optimism over the state of the swivels dissipated on closer inspection, particularly in better light....



So, new ones were procured - in keeping with the international nature of the project the replacements were previously unused ex-MOD stock sourced from Cyprus.

Finding that some of the bolts/nuts in and around the swivel hubs share similar DNA with the Series 1 - ie, Whitworth rather than SAE - the time was opportune to dig out my late father's old tool roll from a much earlier time and there like a gleaming nugget was the right size ring spanner.....


Priceless - gripped tightly for the first time since about 1972 when he was still alive and we worked on such projects together on the farm it was a nostalgic old time feeling the power of torque beat the recalcitrant nuts into surrender. In the process a few more bits and pieces found their way onto the shed floor.

There is more, but it is of a similar nature and can wait another day.

Now back to Africa - although the travel was some months ago - during a recent sundowners session at the yurt a colleague asked me "did you see any fekking lions this time"? I thought about it for a while and said "suppose so" and handed him my phone.


This pair of cavortees were spotted in the bush around Sabie Sands near the Kruger Park and had been at it for a while - and seemed ready to keep at it for a while longer before presumably wandering off to kill something other than time.

Now I have seen the S3cat do this manoeuvre a few times and had previously put it down to sloth..........


But not one to let an opportunity for learning go begging I discovered that this is intended to help the wayward genes find their target - in the case of the S3cat, a long ago trip to the vet probably put paid to this being anything other than being a cat.

And finally,


I guess this is the leonate equivalent of sharing a cigarette.

Isn't nature marvelous?

Next time it may be back to mechanics.

Cheers,

Neil

Hello again from Brisbane.

It’s been quite a while since I posted anything on the restoration project that features in this thread.

There are a good many reasons for the absence that I won’t go into here. However, there had been a bit of progress since the last post - so, my plan is to bring it up to date some time in the not so distant future.

Neil

Hi Neil,

Good to see you back again. I see a bunch of your past Photo#ucket pictures are not showing up. If you cant get them working again you can upload photos directly onto the forum rather than use Photo#ucket hosting,

I spent a couple of years travelling up and down the East coast of Australia, including a week on Fraser Island in an old ex-military 109, good times for sure!

-Andy

Hello from the Antipodes.

It's been a long time since posting and the ship of good intentions got well and truly lost along the way - life's often like that I suppose.

Anyhoo, happy to announce that Ratel is no longer a pile of strewn parts under my house - former house and one reason for being distracted - but has been reassembled and road registered for a little over a year now. After nearly 14 years of episodic starts, stops, restarts, inspecting and rejecting the steady and expensive flow of imported parts etc it came close to a failed project on several occasions. That's some history for now.

Wearing number plates for probably the first time in nearly 20 years or longer the truck has covered about 8000kms covering a mix of highways, byways and good or indifferent gravel tracks. Most largely without incident although these things don't always run smoothly and some of the restoration effort had to be re-restored.... Partly my fault as the truck could have been a show queen with little use other than parked up on sports fields or shopping mall car parks. That seemed to be a waste of the re-established latent capability of the truck - so, I decided to drive it and ignore the cosmetic damage that would entail.

No regrets and a few longer interstate drives were largely following little used backroads through a number of old mining centres dotted along the Great Diving Range here in Eastern Australia. One was to a Grey Ferguson tractor rally in the New England and another was further south to Gundagai in the Riverina of New South Wales. Ratel was the best in its' class (Series 3) at both events confirming its show queen potential but the gravel travel has given it a bit more of an earthy look.... The point of going to Gundagai was to take part in an attempt to set a new world record for the most Land Rovers in a single convoy - both successful and enjoyable.

That's a little of where it's at - below are a few random snaps.

Cheers,

Neil

Hello again.

When I pulled Ratel apart and rebuilt him/her/it I thought the original springs were still OK and retained them - albeit after fitting new bushes, shockers, U bolts etc and soaking them in a lanolin based grease for several months. Unfortunately, despite that optimistic view, it bottomed out at every whoa-boy, cattle grid, driveway or creek crossing. Potholes were met with a resounding crash.

So, I pulled all that apart and fitted new parabolics and shockers. Made a definite improvement, especially on the gravel tracks - bottom outs are much less frequent and you don’t have to wince at the sight of another cattle grid of which this part of the world has many.

Cheers,

Neil

Hello again.

A quick comment for the keen sighted.

In one of the previous photos some might have noticed the Roverlanders badge on the grille of the truck - kindly given to me by your President during a very enjoyable visit to Vancouver a few years ago. I had a lot to choose from many sources but thought highly enough of that one to include it - it draws a lot of comment locally.

Here's another view and a closer view in the photos below.

Cheers,

Neil



P.S. The top photo was taken during one of the earlier testing runs in the Border Ranges - one that clinched the decision to scrap the springs for parabolics. The long ridge in the background is the weathered remains of what was once a series of supervolcanos that extended for several hundred kilometres forming The Scenic Rim between Queensland and New South Wales. The flora includes pockets of remnant stands of Antarctic tree species highlighting the great tropical forests that once stretched across the Continent through to Tasmania and Antarctica.

Hi Neil,

The Landy is looking fantastic, great job 8) Life is short so enjoy your time together!

The RL club badge is a nice addition on the grill.

Enjoy your adventures together and share more photos along the way.

Cheers,
Andy

ANDYD wrote: Thu May 14, 2026 6:15 pm Hi Neil,

The Landy is looking fantastic, great job 8) Life is short so enjoy your time together!

The RL club badge is a nice addition on the grill.

Enjoy your adventures together and share more photos along the way.

Cheers,
Andy

Andy,

Hello again and thanks.

Yes, the project finally came up well and it has been enjoyable getting out and about in the truck since it finally got back on the road.

I have some genuine regrets over the many missed opportunities that were lost over the years while it languished unfinished under my house. So, I suppose if there was one thing I could pass on to anyone else whose unfinished project seems to be a bit overwhelming that would be to persevere - the rewards will come in the end if you do.

One major goal that I have is to drive down the main street of Cooma (regional town in New South Wales) in 2028 for the 80th Anniversary of Land Rover gathering. I had originally planned to buy Ratel with an aim to doing that for the 60th and then failed to get it finished for the 70th in 2018. There were about 900 Rovers at that last event and hopefully a good many will come back again in a couple of years.

Cheers,

Neil

P.S. A couple of photos from Cooma back in 2018.


Cooma was/is the headquarters of the Snowy Mountains Hydroelectric Scheme which started not long after WW2. It was the largest civil engineering project in the world at the time and once had a fleet of about 300 vehicles including the largest private fleet of Land Rovers. So, it's sort of the spiritual home of the marque in this country.