1962 2a 109

Thanks fellas, been a long time coming, all worth it though.

Looking good!

Hey up folks, more done today.

Cheers Cabbie, she`s getting there .

right more piccies.

Gearbox No.



Hopefully she should be in good nick.


Handbrake lever and linkage




Windscreen frame getting there.



The bumper staighten out, old silver paint removed and a fresh coat of zinc galvy primer.




hope this keeps you all happy, more due next weekend.

Regards Chris

Looking good !! Have just had a look through all the pics looks like your doing some fantastic work there !!

Makes me want to get out and tinker all the more

How did you manage to get the bumper looking so straight / good? It looks awsome! Mine was bent back in towards the wing on one side, I ended up putting some timber in the back of it then bashed it with a FBH, straightend it but didn't look as good as that one! lol

Hi folks,

I`ve got some more done,

handbrake lever and sandblasted and primed just needs a coat of black.

I`ve also bought 5 brand new 7.50 x 16" Michelin ZXL`s for £120

Also I`ve made a set of cab floors.

Original passenger side


The new one.


The original driver`s side


The first one... only 2mm thick .


The final one.


The nearside bulkhead bracket blasted and primed.


the of old mismatch tyres I got with the landy, and one of the new ones


Hello mo_sizlac, I clamped the bumper front face down onto a workbench at work, and using a deep pipe wench and gently eased it out straight in small section. Once that was done I removed the silver hammerite and resprayed with two coats of red oxide and two coats of zinc galvanising spray.

Regards Chris

Hello folks,

Ive got the gearbox moved indoors, and started on the midpart of the chassis, I`ve also removed the steel brake pipes.







The midsection of the chassis, new clutch as well.





I`ve also started work on the pedal boxes,





Regards Chris

Hey up,

I`ve got some more done today, the handbrake lever and linkage are now a nice shiny black colour . not very good photos Im afraid I`ll get some better ones tomorrow when its assembled.



Heres some pics of the gearbox on the bench in the "workshop"





I`ve also welded up some bolt holes in chassis that were under the passenger seat they were for angle brackets, i don`t think they were orignal as there are no crush tubes inside , heres a photo series.













I`ve wire wheeled and primed the midsection of the chassis,





Also i`ve put a patch into a thin bit of the fuel tank outrigger where it had gone into holes.









I`ve also started on the offside bulkhead outrigger, I was going to replace the whole outrigger but I`ll just patch it up, the chassis rail itself behind the outrigger needs bit of work as well.
anyway I ran out of daylight for photos but heres some of the rot.





what do you all think so far ?

Many Regards Chris.

you're doing nice work there

you do realise that the chassis rail inside that outrigger will most likely be rotted through, when i changed mine (that wasn't as rusty as yours) i had to cut out a little section and fill it with new steel before fitting the new outrigger, definitely worth considering

Thanks Nitemare, the chassis rail is rotten through and will defo need patching, Im only replating the rotten bit of the outrigger not the full thing.
Regards Chris

Now then,

heres how far we got today.























I`ll have the underside on tomorrow, and a coat of red oxide on the whole area.

I`ve also got one of the old tyres off its wheel, its going to work with me to be sandblasted .

Regards Chris

Hi all,

Thinking about going down the 200tdi route as It will cost around £400 to get the pump and injectors done for BMC 2.2 and even then I dont if she`s alright and I can buy a 200tdi for around £400/£500 ish

what do you think?

Regards Chris

You should be able to pick up a complete scrap disco for that, rip out everything you need and weigh the rest in.

Decent 200's are starting to get more difficult to find now but I'm well happy with my 200Di. Almost a direct swap though a little more faffing if you want to keep the turbo, but nothing too complicated. (Just don't boot it off-road if you like your half-shafts)

Hi fella, Im thinking about it,
Im going to be doing more gentle greenlaning than anything else,
and the 65 mile trip back and forth between mine and the parents, can do it in an hour and three quarters in the metro and id like it to be a similar in the landy.

That chassis work looks great! The bits that haven't needed work look well solid too, it's going to be a top job.

Eskvalleyboy said:

Hi fella, Im thinking about it,
Im going to be doing more gentle greenlaning than anything else,
and the 65 mile trip back and forth between mine and the parents, can do it in an hour and three quarters in the metro and id like it to be a similar in the landy.

Click to expand...

My 109'll sit happily at 60 with the overdrive, 70 on the motorway if I'm feeling in a hurry....standard Series set-up otherwise.

Only place I miss the turbo is pulling away on a hill but otherwise keeping with the flow of traffic is just purring along nicely. 30+ mpg as well

There's pros and cons of going with a turbo but for simplicity and practical, everyday Series driving I'd go with a 200Di everytime

both my Series are fitted with full fat 200tdi's (slightly tweaked in my 88") and 3.54 diffs, fit them with an overdrive and they purr quietly (by 200tdi standards) at 65 on the motorway, 50-55mph and they'll return 35-36mpg on a run, gun them and they pick up thier heels and gallop along

i've not bust a halfshaft yet in 5 years (rover axles in both) had both in pay and play pits and laning around Wales, last two times in Wales was in two wheel drive only as i've still got a 4.7 diff in the front axle of my 109 (Strata Florida and Soar y Mynydd so not just flat scenic lanes)

i couldn't fit one without a turbo for my use now, had the turbo to intercooler pipe blow off on my 88" one night with about 3 miles to go to get home and it felt as flat as a fart

there's only two other engines i'd like to fit now really if not a tdi, 3.9 Rover on gas or the 3litre straight six nissan diesel out of the old Patrol

200tdi's fit really easily complete with turbo, only thing to remove/modify in an 88" is the battery tray, clock the turbo and there's no inner wing problem to overcome

a couple of ways to fit them in the 109 due to the deeper chassis rails, scallop the chassis to clear the 200 turbo, tilt the engine and gearbox to lift the turbo above the chassis rail, and finally fit a 300turbo

to assist clearance on the front axle i suggest 4x shock top washers fitted between the rubbers and the mounts to lift the nose of the engine another 1/4" and if you have the cast iron front pulley i suggest a little trimming on a lathe

and for real tidyness i suggest a TD5 intercooler which will fit easily between the wings in front of the 200tdi radiator with trimmed down surround, radiator expansion tank to use is out of a modern Rover 75 as it's slim and can be mounted to the rad' surround with a little homemade bracket (no need for the swimming pool from the disco)

the 300tdi also fits with relative ease but needs a little more inventiveness due to the offside engine mount obstacle, i've not fitted this engine myself but plenty of folks have with various ways round the mount problem, all documented on the web

500quid should get you an mot fail disco with plenty of life left in the engine

on saying all that a mate is looking to fit a 3litre V6 ford into his 109 station wagon as he prefers petrol engines

Cheers for the replys fellas.

Thanks Nitemare lots of good advice there, I`ve decided to go with a 200, Im pretty sure I saw a article on Land Rover Monthly about your 109", Did you fit your 200 with a 300tdi inlet manfold and 200tdi turbo?

thinking also about what you said blur beasty about not having the turbo, where I live up in North Yorkshire, its not really high speed territory but would not having the turbo affect the pulling up hills power ?

Ive borrowed a tractor battery for one final go at getting the BMC 2.2 going, but Ive also found out that a friend in hull has just sold a pair of BMC 2.2s to the canal boat people for £300 each and one was bits ! they love them apparently, so its gotta go me thinks

what do you guys think?

yes you may have seen an article in LRM (June issue 2012)

i fitted both the inlet and exhaust manifold from a 300tdi, the 300 exhaust manifold is cast integral with the turbo housing included (make sure you get the 300 oil lines with it as they're a different length to the 200 ones), you'll also want a few longer studs to fit the 300 components, no need to buy them as the bellhousing studs are the correct length to do that job, just swap them for the manifold studs as the length isn't needed to bolt the gearbox up

personally the only experience i've had of a de-turbo'd 200tdi is following one on the M5 (apart from when my pipe blew off) whilst in my 88" 200tdi, we hit a long incline and his speed dropped off with plenty of smoke (not massive clouds but more than mine puts out), i didn't alter my accellerator pedal position and reeled him in with ease, i had to lift off as we were travelling together and i could have left him for dead on the hills if i hadn't.

mine is very slightly tweaked on the injector pump and only a truck cab with 3/4 tilt whereas his is a station wagon complete with full size roof rack carrying 4 jerry cans, a roof tent and 4 big spotlights so his does have a bit more drag than mine (i think) and is obviously heavier.

i've had a disco on a towing dolly behind my 88" on a couple of occasions, the one time i had to drag it up Hatton Hill (look up Hatton Locks), 2.5 ton behind me, power on hard in third gear (possibly with overdrive engaged) and accellerating all the way up the hill, i had to ease off for the corners as you get to the top, no idea of the speed i was doing but do remember i also have 3.54 diffs and 7.50 tyres on it which gives you a near as dammit 30% increase in true speed over what a swb speedo will read .

i do like the power of the complete 200tdi

p.s.
i don't get the simplicity thing that folks keep mentioning (referring to the removal of the turbo) as you still have to either make or buy an exhaust to suit (even if it's just a downpipe and flange), the only thing that "may" require a little thought when keeping the engine complete is where to put the intercooler, which really isn't rocket science as these conversions have been carried out by everyone and his aunt Fanny and an awful lot of them have been documented on the web where with a little searching they can be found, i dunno

my next possible conversion/modification will be on my 88" bitsa, i'm thinking of adding a "longstick" LT77 and LT230, possibly modified to part time 4x4, i've a gearbox sat on the floor that i keep looking at and just need to decide which LT230 to source, it could be fun

Hey up, folks,
Nitemare, once again sir your convincing it`s for best, Id better start looking as Im nearly up to doing the front of the chassis, one thing I`ll need some 200tdi engine mounts, are they availble to buy anywere ?
as the BMC ones certainly wont fit and I wouldnt trust them anyhow, shall we say their a tad bodged !

One thing I`ve done this morning is dry assembled the handbrakelever and linkage.



many thanks for all help guys, you really are a great bunch.

regards Chris