Turrets and Tracks
Land Rover 110 Station Wagon Part 2
Military Vehicle Restoration
Land Rover 110 Station Wagon [Part 2]
Below is the 9th report of the Landrover 110 County rebuild.
At last!! refitting components back onto the chassis has begun. It feels really good to start assembling things into something which begins to resemble a Landrover once more.
All the rear suspension radius arms, 'A' bars and new shock absorbers have had their Metalastik bushes pressed out and replaced with Poly bushes. Pressing out the old ones caused a few problems. When pushing out the bushes from the 'A' bars [the largest diameter ones on the rear suspension] the 30 tonne press was at its maximum and still they didn't move. So a bit of gentle heat and a robust tap with a hammer and the whole press shook when suddenly the bush freed off. If that method hadn't worked then the old trick of burning out the rubber and slitting the metal bush to collapse it would have moved them.
But with all the bits now cleaned, painted, ball joints overhauled and bushes rebushed, assembly restarted.
The springs were attached to the axle and it was wheeled under the chassis. At this stage I have only cleaned and painted the axle between the rear hub back plates and will wait until all is bolted in before starting to overhaul the hubs and axle proper. Next I fitted the tie rods/radius arms. Getting the poly bushes to fit between the radius arm mountings on the axle was a tremendous struggle. I was almost convinced the poly bushes were too long but eventually managed to get things in place with the help of some thin shim plate, grease, much sweat and strong language guiding the bush into place. Fitting the tie bars to the chassis mountings wasn't possible with the chassis up so high on the springs [i.e. no weight on the chassis to compress them] so I supported the chassis from a lifting beam, removed the springs and lowered the chassis to get the tie rods horizontal and correctly aligned with the chassis mountings. It was then an easy matter to position them, bolt them up, lift the chassis and refit the springs.
Refitting the self-levelling unit also proved to be something needing to be done in a specific sequence. First thread the top ball joint mounting bolts through the flange. This can only be done by manoeuvring the ball joint to allow the bolt heads to pass [hence cannot be done with the unit in place against the chassis]. Then align the unit with the top mountings and push the long bolts right through the chassis to hold it approximately in place. With this done the bottom ball joint can now be aligned with the mounting on the axle and the taper bolt introduced through the mounting plate and secured. On this model the self levelling unit has a large reservoir attached. This must hang down below the unit and a not so sophisticated strap must be attached around the unit and to the chassis to prevent the whole thing rotating in the ball joints and the reservoir hitting the chassis.
Next the new rear passenger foot well floor support chassis cross member was fitted and the grit blasted and painted mounting brackets bolted back into place, making sure [with a long straight edge] that the welded mountings and bolted mountings all aligned across the chassis.
And so it was done; the rear suspension assembled. So continuing my theme of rust prevention I've taken the opportunity to rust proof the internals of the three rear most chassis cross members along with the box sections of the new bolt on cross member. All of these have easily accessible access holes [with the body off] and have now benefited from a good internal spray coating of Bilt Hamber Dynax rust proofing solution. After 24 hrs the top access holes will be sealed with rubber plugs, leaving just the bottom most holes open as drainage.
Total man-hours to date 199 hrs
Expenditure since last report £78 for Bilt Hamber rust proofing materials and Etch Primer paint. The total now stands at almost £478.
LANDROVER 110 County - [Code name: Dennis]
Period 18th March 2008 to 7th April 2008
Progress over the last three weeks has been slow but steady. The front axle has been cleaned off, scraped, rotary wire brushed then pencil rotary brushed in those 'difficult to get at' areas. This was followed by a coat of Galvafroid cold galvanizing paint prior to two coats of black Smoothrite. Again, overhaul of the wheel bearings, brakes and swivels etc is being left until the axle is bolted back on the chassis.
Next the front tie rods were fitted to the axle using new Polybushes and bolts, then with the front of the chassis
lifted up on the workshop hoist the axle was rolled into place, the spring support plates bolted on and new shock absorders fitted through the springs. Bolting the shock absorber turrets and positioning the shocks [with their new Polybushes] seamed easy enough, until I tried to fit the shock absorber top nuts. No way were the Polybushes going to compress enough to enable the nut to be started on the thread. Closer inspection revealed the new top mounting washers [supplied with the shocks] had a slightly larger centre upstand than the receiving hole in the turret. So that the washers would only sit on the mounting hole in the turret rather than recess into it. Off with both turrets again and the holes opened out a few thou so the washers dropped into place and the whole lot bolted up again. Success this time! I'm not sure whether the repro turrets have been made with a slightly too small a hole or the shock absorbers [Armstrong] have been supplied with top mounting washers with a slightly too larger upstand. I couldn't check them against the originals since they were long gone to the scrap bin.
With the chassis back on it's wheels it was time to think about refitting the engine/gearbox assembly. The intention is to refit the 19J & LT77 units and get the whole vehicle up and running, then start to look for a 200 or 300 TDI replacement engine with/without gearbox. [So if there is anyone out there with one of these units going spare do get in touch via the web site email address.] Whilst the engine/gearbox unit was out of the vehicle it made sense to check the clutch. Stripping out the starter motor revealed a horrible smell of burnt clutch lining coming from the flywheel housing, so things didn't seem too good at this stage. However, removing the gearbox revealed a pristine/new clutch cover plate, driven plate and release bearing, all looking as though they'd just come out of the box and there was no sign of wear or damage, or engine/gearbox oil leakage. Additionally the clutch release arm was also brand new, still gleaming bright with no signs of the remains of burnt clutch on it. I can only think the clutch was replaced by a garage just a few weeks prior the the previous owner selling the vehicle. I say garage because whilst they renewed the old clutch components they totally failed to clean any of the remains of the old clutch dust from the bell housing, it was still covered in masses of burnt lining material. This has now been rectified.
Next will be stripping each wheel hub/drive/brake assembly to assess/order parts required, then renewing the engine core plugs, refitting the fuel tank, exhaust, steering box etc.
Total man-hours to date 214 hrs
Expenditure since last report £3.53 for a set of engine block core plugs so the total now stands at almost £482.
LANDROVER 110 County - [Code name: Dennis]
Period 7th April 2008 to 26th July 2008
Since the last report only 46 hours have been spent on completing the chassis. Somehow other things just got in the way.
All four wheel hubs have now been overhauled. At the front new top pivot pins/bushes, track rod ends then all new oil seals and gaskets were fitted. CV joints and wheel bearings were found to be in good condition so were just cleaned lubricated and refitted. The rear hubs told a mostly similar story except the rear brake shoes had been incorrectly fitted at some time.
This resulted in one brake doing much more work than the other. Reassembly showed how easy it was to get it wrong! It is necessary to exercise extreme caution when reassembling the rear shoes as they might look similar but believe me the two shoes in each drum are different and must be put in their correct places to enable the adjuster to work correctly.
Both prop shafts were cleaned and all joints found to be OK so were just cleaned, painted and refitted but not before a new set of handbrake shoes had been fitted.
Removing the fan and water pump allowed access for the timing belt to be renewed. Once the crankshaft pulley was removed [using a bit of gentle heat and a big spanner to break the Loctite stiction] renewal of the belt was a simple job. The opportunity was taken to clean the engine of accumulated crud then paint the cylinder block and gearbox and buff up the alloy. With things cleaned the core plugs were knocked out using the sharp screwdriver method and that revealed loads of sludge. About 2" of it in the base of the block. This was hosed out and assisted in the hard to reach places with a few flexible tools; so the cooling system should be spick and span for a few more years.
Not much to do on the power steering front except clean up and paint all the bits. I'm a bit concerned at seeing one or two dents in the power steering pump casing and signs of jointing compound around the back of it but have decided to wait and see if it all works before deciding if a new unit is required. The pump looks to be crimped together so any DIY overhaul could be a bit of a problem!
All of the exhaust system was cleaned, the only bit needing repair being the rear of the rearmost silencer. A coat of heat proof aluminium paint and it looks almost like new.
Periferals like fuel and brake lines have been refitted. All the brake lines have been renewed using cupro-nickle tubing and new flexible hoses fitted as a matter of course.
The chassis is now complete and awaits body restoration before the two can be reunited. Watch this space!
Total man-hours to date 260 hrs
Expenditure since last report Difflock gearlever gaiter [£6,] Handbrake shoes [£20], Two Tyres [£129] and 10 Litres of cellulose Conniston Green Gloss paint [£215]. The total now stands at almost £852.