Articles - Land Rover Series 2a Restoration

PK
14/05/2024

Steering

Short one this time.

Got the Rear and Front axles on, with some challenges still to sort, the last part is to get the steering on. As with the axles, I had done some work previously on the steering components, I talked earlier about the steering arms and the drop arm on the steering box being a bit of a challenge, which are now sorted. I did have to buy a new drag link arm, the old one where the Ball Joint would not come out turns out that the thread in one end was a little knackered.

There are three main parts to the steering, the Steering Box, Steering Relay and the Steering Arms.

Now I have not done everything on the steering just yet, but did re-build the steering box and did do some work on the steering relay.

The relay has a huge spring in the middle, and I have read many many stories about this coming out at speed. Even in the Land Rover Green Books (workshop manual and repair and operation manual) they suggest putting a sock over the end to catch it as it escapes.

I didn’t fancy doing this at all for two reasons, 1, while not having the prettiest face in the world, want to keep what little looks I have ideally without the imprint of a spring on my face and 2, more importantly when we got Isobel, the steering all felt pretty solid.

I did however change the seals and gaskets and re-filled it with fresh EP90 oil, which took forever.

If you look closely you can see the little bubble coming out of the top hole. Just had to keep feeding oil over a couple of days until no more air came out.

Other than cleaning up the case, painting the bottom support that was pretty much all I did with the relay.

The Steering box on the other hand, I did a full re-build. This was pretty straight forward.

New Bearings, Bearing Races top bottom and new Bearings in the bit that sits on the worm, seals and gaskets fitted. The only challenge was the bearings top and bottom, really fiddly to get them in, and keep them in while everything else goes together.

The final part was to add shims on the bottom plate to ensure that the steering arm turned nicely without any end float. As I say, all pretty straight forward.

Last part was to fit the brackets to the chassis, install the steering box and relay and connect up all the drag links and steering arms.

All this went pretty well, other than buying the wrong length bolts to fix the steering box bracket to the chassis.

Not only does Isobel have wheels now, can move with a bit of a push and pull, she can now also go round corners.

This pretty much brings this part to a conclusion, there is lots of stuff to finish, everything needs tightening up properly, but this is enough for now. So what next? Well, I should probably look at the engine and gearbox, but what I’m thinking is that I start on the body work. If I can get that sorted, and by sorted I mean stripped, fixed and painted by the end of the summer, I can work on the engine, gearbox and other bits over the winter, but lets see, plans can and do change.

I am guessing it will be some time before the next proper article but am contemplating a To Do list, lets see.

Leave a comment InPart 4 - Rolling Chassis Build

PK
12/05/2024

Front Axle

Last time I installed the Rear Axle, this time focusing on the Front Axle and a bit of the steering. so after writing this, left the steering for another one.

Firstly, this was not as straight forward as I was hoping for, and had to reach out to people way more knowledgeable than me.

So before we get to installing the Axle onto the Chassis, things had to be taken apart, cleaned up, painted and re-built. First thing is to install the Bearings into the new Swivels and a new Railko bush in the top of the swivel, the picture on the left shows the new Swivel ready to go, the picture on the right, the old swivel and the new one with the bearings and Railko bush fitted. Its a pretty straight forward process, bearing driver tool, copper hammer and some gentle persuasion.

Next bit is the half shaft. This is the part that gets the power from the Differential to the wheels. Inside the Swivel, is a universal joint separating the half shaft into 2 pieces allowing the front wheels to drive and steer, pretty important as it goes!

First thing is to install the Cone distance piece, Bearing Race (for the big bearing in the back of the swivel. picture above) and the final part, the bit that sits in the seal which is installed into the axle (no picture of that). The Bearing race and the other bit are a tight push fit, so heat them and drop the half shaft onto a scaffold pole to drive them home. The cone distance piece is a slide on fit so no need for heat.

The Universal Joints are pretty easy to fit. The only real challenge was making sure all the roller bearings stay in place, oh, and when you decide to buy a new half shaft part as one of yours is showing some wear and the circlips wont go into the grooves, annoying, so have to use the old one.

OK, so that’s all the bits ready to be assembled. Not going to cover the axle casing, its pretty much same as the rear one, just shorter. So, first thing, get the re-furbished springs on. This is the same as the rears pretty much, just shorter and lighter, thankfully.

Next up, put the axle in-place. Now, I started to assemble the axle in the workshop, but pretty soon realised this thing is getting really heavy, so called Reuben (Son No# 3) for some help to carry it to the chassis and place it onto the springs. Even that was not easy, but we got it there.

Got the Axle on, springs loosely bolted to the chassis and the axle secured to the springs with new ubolts on and lightly tightened up.

Looking good! Yep, just a shame about what happened next. Now I would love to leave you in suspense, but cant be arsed, so here goes, sorry its a bit long.

With the Axle on, swivel housings on, the next step is to slide the half shafts trough the swivel housing, into the axle case and locate the splines into the Differential. Simple, well one side was, the other side is where it started to go horribly wrong. I could not get the half shaft to sit centrally in the axle case, no matter what I did, so much so that I ended up breaking a rubber seal that is in the end of the axle.

I tried everything, took everything of the axle, swivels, differential to see what was wrong, nothing! all looks perfect and everything fits together perfectly when off the axle case. Cut a long story short, I asked the Series 2 club forum, which while helpful started to make me think that my axle case might actually be bent.

Now, my brother Martin, works for a wire supply company so he popped over to have a look at the wiring loom to see if it is worth making a new one and while here I tried the half shaft again, and guess what!! it went straight in and was perfect!! Bloody hell if only everything else was on that needed to be so I didn’t need to take it out again. Also, My eldest son, who knows Josh at the Spur pub, who did my wheel hub studs knows someone who is a Land Rover geek, who my Son happened to meet one evening. Fergi, the LR guru said to Daniel, if you’re Dad every needs help get him to call me….. So no time like the present I did and Fergi kindly offered to pop round to take a look.

By the time he arrived, I had taken it all apart, fitted all the bits that needed to be there and guess what, it wont go back in properly again. FFS!! Even Fergi, Oh, who turned up in an amazing Land Rover defender (wont elaborate any more on that) had a go, and was as confused as me. Only good thing, I was not being a total idiot and not done something stupid. While somewhat baffled, Fergi took the “phone a friend” option who I assume made a suggestion which finally got it back in again, trouble was, we had taken all the other bits off again 🙂

Anyway, later that day I replicated what Fergi did and got it fitted with some success.

This picture is not the troublesome side, didn’t bother taking a picture of that one, was too pissed off with it.

It looks the same as this, just the other way around.

At this stage, was all good, half shaft turned nicely, it all looked good and I was feeling confident it was sorted.

So, onto the other parts, pretty much a repeat of the rear axle now, Stub Axle with the brake back plate and then the Wheel Hub. All easy peasy….. So, lesson learned, never ever assume something with a 59 year old land rover that’s not moved in the last 20 years is going to be straight forward and easy, in my very limited experience its not.

Because!!! guess what, after getting everything on that side the half shaft went tight again, not so tight it wont turn, but certainly tighter that all the other corners.

Anyway, that’s it, will have to re-visit this at some point but for now its good enough to move on. What I ended up with, is something that kinda resembles a Land Rover that moves! Which actually will allow me to try something Fergi suggested with the troublesome corner, which is to try the Long Rear half shaft in the front as a test. Someone on the Series 2 Club forum also suggested this to make sure everything is straight.

Unnecessary, but also has a front bumper

You can see I also have some of the steering parts fitted, but not covering that here, will write a short (er) one on that in a bit.

As always, thanks for reading, hope you enjoy it and its not putting you off doing something similar. With all the frustration, it is worth it, it is great fun and not only that you get to meet some amazing people along the way.

Rear Axle

Told you it was a little out of order!

Now the chassis is ready, I can start to think about adding stuff to it. The first of these will be the Rear Axle and Rear Suspension.

I did this some time ago, but the Rear Axle has been completely re-built, new Bearings, seals and gaskets and distance pieces. These are small collars that sit on the Hub Bearing sleeve, they are a press fit and normally put on with a press, which I dont have.

So, I boiled the new distance pieces in old oil, metal expands when hot yes? well yes it does and by leaving it to cook for long enough they went on without any issue at all.

Another new skill to add!

Next was to fit new bearings into each of the Hubs. I had purchased complete OEM bearing kits, that have everything I needed, and some good quality bearings so didn’t want to mess this up.

Using a combination of a Bearing tool and old bearing races I got them all in, two in each hub and without too much hassle, also got to use my new copper hammer, which is bloody expensive and probably too big for the job, never mind.. Size does matter.

So now its just a case of putting it all together, Hub Bearing Sleeve onto the axle, and break back plates bolted on, with nice new BZP bolts (which I had forgotten to order in my previous nut and bolt order) and locked in place with spring washers and locking plates.

I chose not to fit any of the new brake parts just yet, Isobel is not going anywhere for a while, so would leave them in their boxes until later.

Next was to slide on the newly re-furbished hubs with new bearings, bearing nuts and various washers and locking washers.

And finally set the end float, which I got pretty much sorted.

What I didn’t do was to bend the lock washer, I will re-set the bearing end float when the axles are all on the chassis.

In with the axle shaft and on with the drive member. I should have put a felt washer in the end of this and torqued everything up properly, but as with the bearing end float will re do all this when the axles are all done.

So, have one completed Axle, apart from the brakes, and new brake drums. Will use the old drums for now, no point getting the new ones rusty.

So, next… Get it on the chassis. Now I said this was out of order, I did this axle before the chassis had even arrived, but seems to make sense in this order!

Now, I had done this part before, before I realised I needed to change the bushes, so this time it went a little easier.

Basic process, hang the springs from one end, slide in the axle and then with a jack holding up the chassis, drop the chassis down until the other end of the springs can be attached.

Once the springs are on, can then bolt the axle to the springs with the U-Bolts and bottom plate, with original lockers on the nuts rather than nylocs.

Did get the wheels on for a short while, but there is other stuff to do, before its all ready to be tightened.

Put shock absorbers on
Set the springs (Distance from axle to chassis)
Torque all the hanger bolts & U-Bolts.
Put the Check Straps on
and of course, when ready install all the brake stuff (must remember not to forget that part 🙂 ).

So that’s it, rear axle on. Not finished, but enough to move on with the Front Axle, which I have not re-built yet.

1 Comment InPart 3 - Axles

PK
20/04/2024

New Richards Chassis

Were going to go a little out of sequence now, in terms if what has been worked on and the order I write about them.

So the re-build properly starts, and it starts with the Chassis that I purchased from Richards Chassis, which was delivered on time and looked great.

Now while I am expecting it to be pretty much perfect, I know from reading that a little bit of work is needed to tidy it up.

Chassis Preparation

To start with, the Galvanize process can leave little bits sticking out, some rough patches that need some tidying.

My Chassis had a few of these, the biggest one was on the rear cross member, which is perhaps the only part on permanent show.

Some very gentle sanding with a disk, without going all the way through the Galv and have it all nice and smooth.

Chassis Painting

Next step was to paint it. I’ve been asked why, when it is protected by Galvanize? The answer is simple, I like the look of them in black and it also provides another layer of protection, want this one to last longer than the one that came off.

First had to find a way to paint it all over, so concocted a frame thingy to hang it from.

A little bit of a bodge, and some handy rope work from Ex-Navy son Daniel and help from the other boys we got it suspended inside a marquee so I could get on with it regardless of the crappy weather we are having.

1^st thing was to degrease it, so used FX Degreaser from Buzzweld, who I also got the paint from.

The paint I used was from Buzzweld, called GIO (Glav in One). The normal process, as I understand for painting Galz is a several step process, Degrease, T-Wash, Prime and then paint.

This GIO stuff, is supposed to go straight on, after degteasing. Asked on one of the many forums for other peoples experience, loads came back as gave a thumbs up, so that’s what I used.

I wanted to spray it, which I tried but had mixed success, nothing to do with the paint, more that I probably didn’t thin it properly, it was too cold and/or the gun not setup properly.

Ended up hand painting it, and after several coats was pretty happy with the results.

Didn’t just paint the outside, did the inside aswell.

The original chassis rusted from the inside out probably due to the number of holes and the intended use of a Land Rover, water, mud and in my Land Rovers case, case straw all gets inside the chassis and rots it from the inside out.

Not Buzzweld this time, but Dinitrol cavity wax. Loads of the stuff injected into the chassis using various methods, each as equally messy as the next, but got loads in and a good sign, loads dripping out onto the floor, but should now be nicely coated.

Chassis Bushes

The final challenge with the chassis was the Bushes, it came supplied with Poly Bushes as opposed to the Metal bushes that are original. Now, that’s not an issue except that I have new rear springs with Metal Bushes and refurbished the front springs with new Metal bushes, and they cant be mixed.

So decision made, poly bushes will come out and replaced with metal ones, not only does that mean I dont need to change the spring bushes and buy loads of extra poly bushes, it is more original, and didn’t like the bright yellow of the ones supplied

Now, getting the poly bushes out is not a big deal, however getting the metal ones in can be a bit of a challenge as they are a very tight fit and because of the way they work.

There is an outer metal sleeve, with rubber glued in and another metal sleeve on the inside to take the bolts. This inner sleeve is slightly wider that the outer one, can cannot have pressure applied as it will break the bonded rubber.

So, a tool needed, this time instead of spending money, well lots of money anyway, I made one. One of the other parts I have worked on is the steering box which has two bearing races in, which I have replaced, so have two old ones (will show that in a later article), these fitted perfectly over the inner sleeve and sat on the outer sleeve. So with a bit of M12 threaded bar, some nuts and plate washers, made a tool to pull them in.

Even with this tool, which worked really well, it took an hour for each of the two front ones, and 30 minutes for each of the the rear two, but they are in after copious amounts of copper grease and a F Off Great big extension bar in the socket, 3 snapped threaded rods and many many knackered nuts later, all sorted.

I probably should have done this before painting, but didn’t realise it was a problem until I tried to fit the rear springs, hey ho, bit of touching up of the paint, I now have a chassis ready to build everything up on.

Leave a comment InPart 4 - Rolling Chassis Build

PK
25/02/2024

Axles, Steering and Suspension

When I started writing this blog, I added a quote, “Plans can change but the goal stays the same” and that has surely proven true.

My original plan was to complete the rear axle, move onto the front and other stuff. As things stand the Axles are still both in bits, albeit with a shelf full of new parts. I have changed the plan a little partly due to circumstance, but mostly procrastination and in-decision on my part. What couldn’t I decide on, well however stupid it sounds, the Nuts and Bolts. Should I clean and zinc plate the ones I have, should I buy new, and if I bough new which ones do I need, BSF, BSW, UNC, UNF? seems I have a selection of all.

So decision finally made, will buy mostly new and re-use some of the more special ones which I will Zinc plate. I purchased a selection of BSF, BSF, UNF, UNC nuts & bolts, in various sizes so I could make sure I knew exactly what I had, and after some time getting a list of all the ones I should have, placed and order with Namrick, an online store with a shop not far from me, in Hove. Waiting on those to arrive.

Item	Quantity	Item	Quantity
1/4″ BSF x 1″ H.T. Bolt BZP	2	3/8″ UNF ‘P’ Type Nyloc Nut – Pack of 10..BZP	1
3/8″ BSF x 1-1/4″ H.T. Bolt BZP	10	1/4″ UNF Full Nut – Pack of 10..BZP	2
3/8″ BSF x 1-1/2″ H.T. Bolt BZP	10	5/16″ UNF ‘P’ Type Nyloc Nut – Pack of 10..BZP	5
1/4″ UNF x 1″ H.T. Bolt BZP	10	5/16″ UNF Full Nut – Pack of 10..BZP	2
5/16″ UNF x 1-1/2″ H.T. Bolt BZP	20	3/8″ UNF Full Nut – Pack of 10..BZP	1
5/16″ UNF x 3-1/4″ H.T. Bolt BZP	10	7/16″ UNF Full Nut – Pack of 10..BZP	1
3/8″ UNF x 4″ H.T. Bolt BZP	2	7/16″ UNF ‘P’ Type Nyloc Nut – Pack of 10..BZP	1
5/16″ UNF x 3-1/2″ H.T. Bolt BZP	2	1/4″ UNF ‘P’ Type Nyloc Nut – Pack of 10..BZP	1
7/16″ UNF x 2-1/4″ H.T. Bolt BZP	2	1/4″ BSF x 3/8″ H.T. Hex Set BZP	10
5/16″ BSF Nyloc Nut BZP	10	3/8″ BSF x 1″ H.T. Hex Set BZP	24
1/4″ BSF Nyloc Nut BZP	10	1/4″ UNF x 5/8″ H.T. Set Screw BZP	10
1/4″ BSF Half Nut BZP	2	3/8″ UNF x 3/4″ H.T. Set Screw BZP	10
3/8″ BSF Full Nut BZP	23	Mixed Imperial Spring Washers Rect Sect. BZP	1
		Mixed Imperial Plain Washers ‘T’3 Hvy BZP	2

While waiting for the nuts, bolts, washers to arrive I have decided to revise the plan.

I am now going to prepare everything I need to build a completely re-furbished running chassis, including Axles, Suspension and Steering. So, I started looking at some other bits to start working on. Starting with the Front Axles.

Now, the Front axles have a universal join that sits inside the swivel’s. These shafts also have a bearing inner race and a bearing retaining collar, which also acts as an Oil seal.

First thing is to take out the UJ, to separate the shafts. Pretty straight forward.

Now I am pleased I bought new bearings and collars for this, looking at them they dont look in the best condition (red arrows).

First off, the retaining collar. I have done this before on the front and rear stub axles. It means splitting it with a cold chisel around the outside until it starts to move.

Being carful not to mark the shaft.

Next, the bearing inner race. This I found was a little harder, literarily harder, the cold chisel didn’t even make a mark. Didn’t get a picture of this part but basically it meant taking an angle grinder to it, both weakening it and heating it at the same time. Little nervously, finally got them both off.

That’s all I did with the axles, they are now ready to be re-assembled.

Next part then, the steering arms. There are three of them, one from the steering box to the steering relay, one from the relay to a wheel, and one between both wheels.

Better with pictures I think! Oh, now I’ve added it maybe not.

The three bars have Ball joints, one at each end, one with a right hand thread, one with a left hand thread and they are secured with little clamps around the bar.

Now, all the ball joints came out except 2. After 3 weeks of feeding the threads with WD40, other releasing agents, applying heat, using a hammer they finally came out, after loads of grief and a broken ring spanner I was using as a lever.

But they are out, the bars are cleaned up with a nice fresh coat of paint, ready for re-assembly. Haven’t taken a picture of the painted versions yet, but trust me they are shiny black.

Next job, onto the steering box and steering relay box. The relay box I have already talked about, the steering box will be easy. OMG, made that mistake again, its never easy, especially if you think it will be.

The steering box has what’s called a drop arm on it, and after many attempts to get it off, a quick google search realised that a special tool is needed, and even then it may not come off. Now at £90 for some online, I was not going to pay that for something that might not actually do the job. So, eBay, £30, and I get the tool, and 2 minutes later off came the arm. Anyone want to buy a drop arm removal tool? will likely never use it again.

Cleaned up the steering box, degreased all the metal work, flappy wheeled the bits too big the blast cabinet, sand blasted the rest and got a coat of oxide and black paint on.

So that’s the steering column and steering box pretty much ready to be re-built.

Final part to get everything ready for the re-build is the suspension. Now, the rear leaf springs were horrible, broken springs, really rusty so they will be replaced. the front ones however didn’t look too bad, apart from the little nick from the angle grinder when I took them off, so decided to have a go a re-furbishing them.

So took them apart, spent ages cleaning them up, removing the bushes, a coat of rust converter and a coat of oxide on, ready to be re-assembled. Now I will use these to start but will likely replace them before Isobel is actually on the road.

So I have ended up with a load of partially re-furbished, partly finished bits, trust me, its part of the newly revised plan. Now that last picture shows the leaf springs resting on the Old Chassis, which as it turns out is the original.

This brings me to the final part of this article (its been a long one) and the plan. What I have done is spend a small shed load of money on another, well a few new parts orders, along with the biggest purchase to-date, a Brand Spanking New Galvanised Chassis from Richards, which should be arriving in 4 weeks or so, and because I could show I had cut off the original dumb iron, with the VIN number on, and I have the V5, they will stamp the new chassis with the same VIN. That’s cool.

The other orders are for parts to re-furbish all the bits I have been working on and replace some parts (rear leaf springs) that are too far gone. I went to my preferred supplier first, Paddock Spares, and for a few bits they didn’t seem to have, John Craddock Spares.

So this is what I purchased from Craddock Spares

Item	Quantity	Item	Quantity
Dowel for 9 Leaf Front Spring. (243131)	2	JC3 Lock Washer – for U Bolts 1952-64. (234734)	4
Spring and Shackle Bush Series Vehicles (548205)	4	JC3 Plate for Check Strap. (219574)	4

And from Paddock Spare, a little bit more.

Item	Quantity	Item	Quantity
Steering Arms		U Bolt (Front Axle) (562641)	1
Ball Joint Assembly (R.H. Thread) (608464)	3	U Bolt (Front Axle) (562637)	3
Ball Joint Assembly (L.H. Thread) (320902)	3	U Bolt (Rear Axle) (242127)	4
Steering Relay Box		Check Strap for L.H. (237100)	1
Oil Seal for shaft (213340)	2	Check Strap for R.H. (274469)	1
Joint washer for retainer (90624436)	2	Rubber Buffer for Axles (241380)	4
Steering Box		Rear Spring (Off Side) (517588G)	1
Steering Box Service Kit (DA1236)	1	Rear Spring (Near Side) (517589G)	1
Suspension		Shock Absorber Front (RTC4230)	2
Shackle Plate Tapped (537687)	1	Shock Absorber Rear (RTC4232)	2
Shackle Plate Plain (270520)	1	Shock absorber top bolt and nut (NRC7064)	4
Shackle Pin Front end of Front Spring (537741)	2	Washer (243022)	4
Shackle Pin Rear end of Front Spring (537742)	4	Split Pin (4063)	4
Shackle Pin Rear end of Rear Spring (537740)	4	Plain Washer (264024)	10
Shackle Pin Front end of Rear Spring (537741)	2	Bottom Plate for Rear Spring (LH) (NRC3898)	1

Now with that on order I should have everything I need to re-build everything to give me a running chassis, with Axles, Steering and Suspension. As I re-build bits, they will go straight onto the new chassis, after the chassis has been painted.

To finish off, I mentioned before I had bought a Zinc Plating kit, originally for nuts and bolts, but as mentioned I have ordered new. However, there are many other bits that would look good Zinc Plated. So with the weather being crap, and waiting on all the new stuff to arrive I had a go.

The picture on the left, shows one of the steering arm clamps after I cleaned it, and on the right, after my first attempt at plating. Not perfect, but actually pretty good.

This is the Zinc plating setup. I purchased a 5L kit from Gateros Plating and some extra bits form Amazon, 10L tubs, fish tank heaters (Solutions need to be around 20^oC to work) and 25L of distilled water, need some more of that already (my maths let me down a little).

While pleased with the first result, some lessons learned. Wait till the weather is warmer, took ages to get the solutions upto temperature, should have bought a 10L kit, and should have bought 4 fish tank heaters instead of 3. Oh, and the final thing, as everyone says, make sure the parts to be plated are super clean.

That I guess brings this article to a conclusion. Lots been going on, but now need to wait for all the parts to be delivered, along with the new chassis and ideally some warmer weather so I can spray the chassis and give all the painted parts another coat of paint.

As always, thanks for reading, sorry this one was a long one. Will be a while until the next, which according to the revised plan should be a good one. Till then, bye for now.

1 Comment InPart 3 - Axles

PK
06/01/2024

Axles Refurbishment

As I thought, its been a while since the last post, for many reasons, ordering parts, buying some new equipment for the workshop, weather (not ideal when its pissing with rain in the workshop) and finally, my Mother In-Law being poorly, and sadly passing away just after New Year.

The last article was about the strip down of the Front and Rear axles. One of the major things I wanted to sort out from that was the Hubs, I had a real mix, some, actually all bar one with some studs pulled out, one that didn’t look original and one that had the studs welded in at the back.

So my first purchase of new parts was some new studs. Pull in ones with original thread size.

In my excitement at getting a Land Rover Series 2a, I joined the Series 2 club, which among many, has some side benefits, such as discounts from suppliers.

I bought enough for all 4 hubs, now all I need is to get them fitted, which requires the old ones taking out, the holes slightly widened and a flat countersink the back of the hub. Beyond my skills, and certainly beyond my toolbox.

These studs were purchased from Paddock Spares Pt No. 561886

Now, I’m fortunate enough to have a Son, who went to School with and continues to be a friend with, a chap who is passionate about classic and custom cars and has recently set himself up with an engineering and vapour blasting business. A side benefit, he lives at a Pub, who serves a great Pint. So a bit of blatant promotion of Josh and his new business, the Pub (Great Food and Beer) and the Spur Classic Car Club, run by Josh and others.

JC Vapour Blasting

The Spur Inn, Slindon

The Spur Classic Car Club

Josh went about working on my hubs, after several chats over a Pint or 2. 3 of the 4 were a great success, the welded one however was beyond saving. What to do with that one, replacements are not easy to find and expensive. So another benefit I have found with owning a Series Land Rover, is that everyone on FB groups and the Series 2 club forum are super helpful.

Cut a long story short, I posted a plea on the Series 2 club forum for anyone with a 1965 Series hub they were prepared to let go. To my amazement, a chap came back to me with “I’ve got 2 from a 1966, if they are any use”. Umm, let me think about it! Yes please. As it turned out one was complete with all studs the other with one stud out, so that one went back to Josh @ JC Vapour Blasting to fit the final 5 new studs, leaving me with 4 original hubs, all with all studs fitted. RESULT!

So, onto the next part, cleaning up all the parts I had dismantled, so I got my wallet out again and went and bought myself a Parts Washer and a Blasting Cabinet and an accompanying Compressor. It was at this point I had to drop tools for a while for lots of reasons while constantly thinking about all the stuff that needed cleaning up and all my new toys that I couldn’t use yet.

So along with the Blast Cabinet, Parts Washer and Compressor, I also splashed out on loads of new parts, all from Paddock Spares (So far so good with these guys, quite happy with the service). Below is a list of the parts, which in total were an embarrassingly large amount of money (my wife doesn’t read this blog, so I should be ok), mostly because I have gone for all OEM or Genuine stuff where it counts, and some aftermarket where it doesn’t matter so much (or could not justify the expense).

Item	Part No.	Qty
Brake Back Plate Locktab	277311	10
Aftermarket Brake Drum \| 10 S2 & 2A	591661	4
Axle Case Breather	515845	2
Axle Case Front Oil Seal \| OEM	217400G	2
Bearing For Halfshaft	244150G	2
Brake adjuster kit (set of 4)	RTC3176	1
Drain Plug Washer	FRC4809	2
Front Halfshaft Collar	90217398	2
Front Halfshaft Distance Piece	244151	2
Wheel Bearing Lock Washer	217353	4
Wheel Hub Bearing Kit – OEM	RTC3534G	4
Lock Plate	236995	1

Item	Part No.	Qty
Front OEM Brake Kit \| SWB Pre June 1980	DA6042G	1
Full Kit With Swivel Housing (LATE)	DA3181	2
Joint Washer	232038	2
O Ring for Swivel Pin Bottom Bearing	531433	4
Rear OEM Brake Kit \| SWB Pre June 1980	DA6043G	1
Split Pin \| 1/8 x 1 1/4 Long	PS608101L	10
Stub Axle Collar	599698	6
Swivel Lock Stop Plate	508175	2
Swivel Pin Bearing	217268G	2
Wheel Bearing Locknut	FRC8700	8
Front halfshaft universal joint OEM	RTC3690G	2

Before starting to fit them, and have still not started with that as I write this, my focus has been on cleaning all the parts and getting a fresh coat of paint on them, so hours at the parts washer, wire brushes and even more time at the blast cabinet I’m pretty happy with progress. Here are some before and after pictures, with some half way.

To paint, I am sure this will cause some tut’s and oooh’s, “I wouldn’t have done that” but I painted everything with 1 or 2 coats of red oxide, and then finished with Chassis Black from Buzzweld.

The next step, before assembly will be to check and clean up all the Nuts & Bolts. I did consider buying all new, but wanted shinny! Don’t want to fork out for Stainless, so am going to give Zinc Plating a go along with some new where necessary.

Update on how that goes in the next article.

Quick add…

I have gone through all the bolts, nuts, washers and matched them up to the parts diagrams.

So, another order with Paddock Spares for some replacements, where the thread does not look ideal, where the wrong bolts have been used, nuts damaged etc.

The parts diagram mostly has Nuts with split washers, except in a few places where lock nuts are specified. Question, should I replace with all Nylocs or keep it original?

Also, some ordered are Zinc plated, some not, so all that are not will be stripped and plated.

Thanks for reading, hopefully the next one will not take so long.

Front and Rear Axle strip down

I had always intended to focus on the Axles first, and do them each separately, starting with the Rear Axle first as it should be simpler that the front with the front swivel hubs. However, as I am sure will be an ongoing theme and what I mentioned in the “plan” the plan can change, but the goal stays the same!

I ended up working on both the Axles at the same time, I will explain why in a bit.

So, first thing on the agenda, strip the axles. This was a relatively simple process as I had watched endless hours of videos of people who know, or seemingly know what they are doing. So here’s a few of those videos for reference. I have to say, when I watch these, I don’t take them as gospel, I like to make my own decisions about things.

Geoffrey Coaker

These videos are both informative and amusing.

Rover Tasmania

A whole series on Land Rover 88 2a, good videos.

Half Job George

Maybe not so in-depth, but good to see the process

So after draining the Oil from the Diff (Oh, my god that stuff stinks!!), started with the brake drums, another reason to use my Impact Screwdriver.

All except one came off without too much drama, and after looking at the first figured I wont look too much at the others, I can see my shopping list getting quite large, very quickly.

After taking off the Brake shoes, springs etc looked to tackle the Hubs.

First to come off, the slotted nut and drive member. Now if your wondering how I know what these things are called, there is a complete parts list available that details every single part, its name, part number and how many are needed. This will become my bible.

Made very easy using yet another new tool, gifted to me by Peter, my brother in-law, who had this given to him by one of his friends

Once the drive member is off, its time for the hub. To get this off there is 1 locking Nut, a washer, another nut and then another washer.

These are there to hold in the bearings, and using the lock washer and tab washer keep it all tight.

Unfortunately on 2 of the 4, the tabs were all bent upwards, they should be bent backwards and upwards to hold the two nuts in-place

I have seen a few things now that suggest someone has had a go at this before, its clear now that they have, and while I don’t know much, whoever did this knows less! That also brings me to why I did the 2 Axles, not just the rear. When I got the front two hubs off, I saw something that made me got Humm, that looks Sh.t. When I took the wheels off for the first time, one or two of the studs came out. From what I understand this is fairly normal as the studs are screwed into the hub and then peaned / pressed over to hold them tight.

These are the rear hubs, and as you can see the one on the left looks like an aftermarket one, the one on the right original, but with some of the studs welded in! This is why I did the fronts, wanted to see what they were like.

These are the front hubs, both look original however the one on the right has had new studs fitted, and not fitted very well at all.

So now have a decision to make on all 4 hubs.

So what are the issues? well as far as I know, when studs do come loose there are a few options to repair them. What I do know (from reading) is that welding is possibly the worst option, welding hardened steel to softer is not great, and when replacing with pull through studs, either get extra long ones or countersink the heads into the hub. Neither of which has been done here! as can be seen in the two pictures.

Now to get original replacement hubs is not cheap. and they are a bit hard to find, and while I am not heading for concours standard I want period correct and I also want the wheels to stay on when I do get to drive it, so will be replacing the 2 rear hubs and looking to get the other two sorted with proper studs, properly fitted. Have an idea who can do that, as I don’t have the equipment to do it properly. Will cover that in a later article.

The reason for tackling the rear first was because they are simpler. Having tacked the front as well, this is why they are a tad more complicated. The front wheels need to go around, but also they need to steer, that’s where the big chromed ball thing comes in, with a universal joint inside.

Little more challenging to strip down but nothing too bad, other that stinking old oil pissing out everywhere, and the top and bottom swivel pins which were a little tight.

So that’s both the Rear and Front axles stripped, everything bagged up and put away after a little inspection and a mental note of what seems to be a rather long shopping list.

So the next step, while I am sourcing some new bits (and checking my bank balance) is to start cleaning stuff up and getting bit of paint on to stop the rust coming back before I am ready to paint properly.

So after a few hours with a wire wheel on an angle grinder, some degreasing, got one of the axles ready and then painted with a little red oxide.

Need to stop now for a couple of weeks, next weekend off shopping at the Newbury Spares day and my Nephews wedding the week after, Jonathan and Briony.

Hopefully next time, one of the first pictures you see will be a bench full of new parts..

Thanks again for reading.

3 Comments InPart 3 - Axles

PK
10/09/2023

Teardown Part 4 – Final Part

After a good weekend last week, and a few little bits during the week, it is time to tackle the final planned part of the Teardown, Engine, Gearbox and Axles.

Engine Hoist hired, I started with just the engine. Got it rigged up with a bit of rope, I learned well from Daniel, my eldest son who recently left the Royal Navy after 8 years. Got all the bolts around the bell housing out, no issues there other than one stud came out, starter motor already out, took that out a week or so ago while tinkering.

So, it all just comes apart.. doesn’t it? Nope!! tried for some time, wiggling the engine, lifting and putting pressure on the gearbox, tapping the bell housing with a mallet even tapping a length of wood through the starter motor hole. Nope, not a sign of a gap.

Re-think!

What about engine and Gearbox together!

A little more rope work, and some gentle lifting, still wont budge.

Another re-think!

Let me ask my friend, Google! Humm, someone suggested it could be seized around the clutch, now that will be awkward if it is.

Lets try the engine on its own again, this time with some more wiggling some gentle tapping, and a small blunt screwdriver tapped into the seam between engine and bell housing and I start to see a gap appearing. Finally the Engine and Gearbox are apart, and the engine comes out.

Gearbox in comparison was a piece of cake.

Now you can see from the pictures, and previous goings on, I laid stones around the workshop. I knew a Hoist would not work on stones, so laid down some ply sheets. What I didn’t consider was that the wheels of the hoist would decided to make their own holes in the ply. Hey, Ho, its done now.

Onto the Axles then, starting at the front dumb irons. One side came out a treat, the other side not, so out came the Angle grinder again. The front ones are done, back of the springs next.

Now, I have said that I am a beginner at all of this, and there is a bit of advice I have often passed onto others that I should have listened to myself.

RTFM
Read the F’ing Manual

What I didn’t realise until I did RTFM, was that the rear spring hangers are threaded, so no amount of banging with various weighted hammers was going to get them out.

Back to it in the morning, and guess what, they undo with a socket! well most of them had to cut one side out, no amount of extension bars on the socket would budge that one.

Pleased with progress, both axles no off.

So next lesson of the day, make sure you prepare for what could going to happen before it does!

For those that have seen leaf springs before, the leaf’s are held together with brackets, with a single bolt up through the middle to hold the final 2 or 3 leaf’s on, and the whole lot together. Now these things are under a bit of pressure and what I didn’t expect was that these centre bolts would either be missing, or so rusted that as soon as the U bolts are cut it will all go POP!

That was a bit of a wake up call! So the next ones were all clamped together just incase.

5 Cutting disks later, and a few squeaky cheek moments later they are off.

Bit out of sequence, but thought I would get Daniel in the blog, Needed a bit of help wheeling the back axle out.

So I now have everything other than a few bits and pieces off the chassis. I have been anxiously waiting for this moment so I can see the real status of the chassis top and bottom. So leant the chassis on its side and got my first proper look at the under side. I knew some work would be required to make it good, but, and its a big but, I don’t think I’ll bother, I think it will be a new chassis.

Now a new Galv chassis is around £2k, that’s a lot to add so early in the project, but is one of the most important parts, so lets break it down, lets say £2k, its a 2 year project so its only about £2.77 per day. Doesn’t sound so bad now.

The final two pics of this article are a close up of the chassis (if you think its worth saving leave a comment), and the final state of Isobel after this weekends work.

That’s It, TEARDOWN COMPLETE. Now I think it will be a little while before the next article, so please be patient, it will come. That’s because I will taking some time out, I need to keep the wife sweet, and it will be the start of the restoration, bit by little bit. The first of those will be the Rear Axle.

Thanks for reading, hope your enjoying it, maybe having a little giggle now and then and maybe finding it a little informative even though this was never intended, and never will be a tutorial.

Feel free to comment below, be good to hear your views on what I’ve been upto.

Teardown Part 3 – Bodywork

Short one this time, the goal was to get the chassis to the point where the engine, gearbox and axles can all come off. Goal Met!

Before we start, Thanks Reuben, 1.5 tons of gravel wheel barrowed and laid, Finally.

That should, be the end of that part of the story, however the roof I concocted was a disaster, every bit of rain turned it into a swimming pool on top.

So I have ordered some corrugated, clear roofing, which should solve that problem and make it easier to see what is going on.

So, back to the Tear down. The bulkhead came off relatively easily, perhaps would have been easier with the steering column out, but had a couple of issues there, mostly lack of tools. But its off after removing Accelerator, Brake and Clutch pedals.

Bulkhead stripped of everything I need to keep, plus a few bits I don’t, but got it all anyway

On the note of the Bulkhead coming off easy, part of the reason was that it wasn’t actually connected to the chassis as I expected. There have been a few things along the way, missing bolts, loose bolts and other things that makes me think someone has had a go at this truck before. That could be good or bad, lets hope if they had, it was because of the amount of work needed, rather than something fundamental. I would imagine the former, as everything I have seen so far is doable, but not yet seen what’s inside the Engine, Gearbox and Axles, lets hope there is actually something in there and its half decent.

Did’nt get upto much else, other than stripping down some of the parts I had already taken off, Wings, Foot Pedals, Brake and Clutch cylinders and a few other odd bits.

I did however try something I have seen online, which is to use Vinegar to clean off rust. I did’nt do it properly, but the results are not too bad, and with a little more cleaning after they have been neutralised I think this will work.

I said this will be a short one, I’ll finish up with a couple of images some of the other parts that came off, me in action with an angle grinder and where Isobel is at the end of the weekend.

Next Step, is to get the Engine and Gearbox out, and the Axles off. Now that’s quite exciting, because as soon as that’s all done we will be into the next phase of restoration and maybe even a little bit of Paint.

Before I conclude, worth mentioning bough myself another tool. This time a Impact Screw driver. Bought it in anticipation of taking of the wheel drums (I know the screws are super tight) but got some good use already. My latest fav tool 🙂

Taking off the rear handles, and tow hitch. Not particularly interesting, but hoping this is one of the last times I have to use it.

Teardown Part 2 – Bodywork

After struggling with the sills I left Isobel for a week, actually not because of the sills, but we went away for a few days to the Peak District. Great place, wish I had Isobel up and running for the trip.

Not entirely wasted time, I managed to find a, if not year correct, period correct radiator on FB Marketplace, not too far from where we were. So one day, While the boys were at Alton Towers, I took the wife on a road trip to collect a 1966 Series IIa Radiator.

(It was actually our wedding anniversary, which I realised when the wife reminded me over breakfast, oops!)

£20, it has to be worth a punt, even knowing it will need some work to the top tank.

After a fabulous few days away, it was time to start thinking about how to tackle the sills, wings, tub and other bits a pieces I wanted to get removed, and the struggles with rusted, in-accessible nuts and bolts playing on my mind.

Time to Spend some money, I mentioned I have a very limited tool kit for this type of stuff. So went off and purchased the following:

2 Ton trolley Jack and 3 Ton axles stands from halfords to start, things will surely be easier with wheels off.
Imitation Dremel from Amazon
Nut Splitter and some other bits from Amazon ( this rapidly became my best friend, worth every penny).

Started with the Tub this time, tired of struggling with rusted solid bolts, decided to cut off the bolts across the back, and used the Nut Splitter on the 4 nuts at the front. Job done, its off! Should have perhaps waited for some help to lift it off!

Back to those dreaded sills, this time with the truck on on axle stands and wheels off (Only one stud came out, happy with that and will deal with that later).

With the Nut Splitter, mole grips and a little angle grinder, they finally come off, and mostly intact, certainly re-usable.

Time to tackle the front wings, but before I do that, spent some time on the bits I had already taken off, stripping them down to component parts, including the Seat Box, Windscreen and Front Grill. Started the day with a little sustenance, clearly being more focused on a radiator rather than our anniversary hadn’t completely lost me all my benefits.

Back to the Front Wings. Now I knew this was not going to be easy, the mud guards inside are completely rotted out, I can already see that lots of the nuts are more rust than metal. So radical moves needed.

Cut out the mud guards, get them out of the way, need new ones anyway, and started to tackle the easily accessible nuts, with a degree of success….. UNTIL, it came to the 4, attaching the wings to the bulkhead.

I tried every socket I have, NONE of them fitted, how the hell am I going to do this?

So, I knew when I bought this truck, it would have its problems, one of them quickly became apparent. The Bulkhead, even in my un-educated view it is toast, I would need every repair panel going and more, so a new, galvanised one will be ordered at some point! So rather than buy more tools, just for 8 bolts, decided to have some angle grinder fun, If I cant undo the bolts the right way, I’ll do it my way!

Wings off, making good progress now

Have you spotted my nice new shinny trolley jack and axle stand?

The goal of this step is to get all the body panels off (Tick), Next step will be to remove the bulkhead, but to do that need to remove steering column. Now, for those that have read previous articles, you will know about the debacle of getting some gravel to put down, rather than just mud and weed mat. I was promised that they would be delivered while I was away on Hols, however got back to an empty drive, no stones. I’m generally a patient and forgiving sort of person, but not now, ordered from somewhere else, they are arriving tomorrow. That means I need to evict Isobel from her forever home in preparation, so cant taking the steering out just yet.

Don’t like sitting idle either, so cracked on with removing lots of other bits and pieces in preparation for later stages. So removed the wiring harness(s), battery tray, exhaust, suspension straps & hand brake.

Isobel is now ready for the next stage, Bulkhead removal, engine and gearbox out, axles off and chassis completely stripped. What I have ended up with however is a kit of parts, quite a lot of parts, some in the workshop some in the garden still, some behind the workshop, some in bags, some on the work bench, which at some point will be re-furbished or replaced and all put back together.

Come back soon, for the bulkhead removal and if I can beg steel (not really) or borrow a engine hoist, the engine and gearbox, and maybe even the axles. Bye for now, got “proper” work to do for a few days.