79 109 hartop camper build .

What you painting the outside with Duff.

Will just be straight 2k Marine blue and Limestone . Will do them a panel at a time to save to much overspray. saving the roof to last :and do it off the car. )

didnt get much done over the weekend , did get the wee bits and pieces cleaned up and various brackets and rods painted . Also got the front radiator panel lower section repaired inner and outer , not without minor drama but all good in the end .. I just keep finding there is to much contamination on old steel and stuck between double skins to allow it to be tig welded cleanly.. So got the gas out, and as usual, old school always comes good fingers crossed for some deliveries next week.. Expecting the last of the body seals , various nuts n bolts n fasteners, inner wing splash guards, ( galvanised no less, lol) and some other odds and ends to assist putting it together.

Sounds like a productive day though. Got any pics of your front panel repair? I will be doing the same as mine is rotten on the lower edge. Was going to use angle as I have some approximately the same thickness.

Im terrible for not recording bits of this build .. But I try to keep the repairs to assmall an area as possible and if possible within the outline of the original . By that I mean cutting within the profile of a fold so that the original edge is unaltered

Mine wasnt to bad to be honest, It did need the inner piece repaired as well asthe skin . I just bent up a short piece of 2mm for the inner and 1.2 mm for the outer . they were just pieces of scrap thet were big enough for the job . nothing fancy . . will get a pic of the repair later today .

Sorry still no new pics , will get organise , but for now , been held up a wee bit waiting for deliveries but a few things arrived on Wednesday , but I waas alrady engaged with other stuff to infill the downtime on the main event .

So I got to overthinking stuff as you often do with these projects , and decided that I was going to use the original style heater after all. It was looking a bit scabby, so stripped the matrix box down and gave it a good once over . The fan box was needing a bit of attention as well. Fan wasnt working s tore it apart , cleaned it up lubed the shaft and earthed it out.. Now have a working 2 speed fan. There is a fair bit of puff from the second speed . . Cleaned out the matrix feels fairly light and runs clean so Im stabbing a guess that it will be clear and work fine .. Tere is a bit of pitting on both the fan box and the matric box , so in the interest of saving time and making the best of whats there without getting to bogged down its just going to be drenched in bed liner, inside and out , cheap and cheerfull and plenty serviceable .

I scared out the original dash . top part is OK but will need recovered as there are a few cracks in the vynal covering. Its rock hard , but otherwise whole . The dash panel is fine as id the plastic box that carries the gauge cluster , just needs tarted up a bit . the main disaster is the under dash/ parcel shelf / water collector. . The vynal was buggered, and the dash itself was pretty past it with lots of rot . So tore the covering off , wasnt worth saving, and decided that repair was futile, making a new one would be far better .so go to measuring up and made a new replacement lower front section . Will move onto a replacement top ( air box lid ) and a pair of new corner pieces. Just to save time the indented part on the original is still OK so I will cut that from the rusty relic and use it on the replacement . Spring clip mounts for the air duct flaps will also be transferred over ..

I scrimped on the swage details that are on the original but I used a heavier gaige steel than the factoryand the construction is fairly rigid . Chances are it will be coverd in eother a crocodile embossed leather, because I have a hide thats been kicking around for years , or straight black leather , again I have a hide inthe loft thats been hanging around .. . will carry on with the dash on Thursday but might have to sneak into town to collect more bed liner spray.. It covers well but doesnt go far with 2 coats on everything..

Part that arrived on Wednesday : rear door ( glazed ) full door /floor/ wing/bumper nut bolt and screw kit , rubber spacers for fuel tank, rear door seal ( £74 weep ;( ) and a few other wee odds and ends that will let me move on again once ive sorted out the dash manufacture

Oh also made up a couple of sill extensions that go forward under the front wing and curve up to the wing opening, will need trimmed but they came out pretty neat and just finish off what I didn't have for the sills .

Thats about it for now .. will try and get some updated pics .. Camera hasnt been playing lately either , yep I said Camera.. Im a, "no mobile phone zone", LOL AKA Dinosaur .. I lead a very solitary existence

Sounds like you have been fairly busy anyway. Crocodile Leather in a series 3 - now that’s posh! Have you tried doing upholstery, as I’ve always fancied giving it a go? Thought about doing the seat covers on the seats in mine......but I need seats first . Next purchase for me I think.
Get the camera out so we can see how you are getting on.

Got a couple of really bad pics snapped in the grey of the shed during todays annual winter power cut ..
Got into town for some consumables and took delivery of the bits of tin that go under the wings .. I could have made them but didnt have any templates to go by .. just got to work out how they are orientated now.

quick question.. does anyone recognise this piece and where it goes ?

Never delved any deeper into upholstery other than sticking some van liner carpet stuff in the camper . But sticking some leather over the new dash shouldnt be overly complicated .. a bit of spray glue a layer of thing foam more glue and stick on the leather ..

Its not real crocodile, just embossed cowhide , but it will give the interior a bit of that DAKTARI feel LOL for the youth out there reading this Google Dactari ... a boyhood favourite

When I got back from the paint suplier the power was off , so spent time cleaning stuff up and masking the glass on the new rear door .. . When the power came on around 4pmish I got the inside of the rear door coated along with the inside of the bonnet and the bulkhead to trans tunnel panel plus a few small odds and ends that needed doing including the inside of tne radiator panel.. Thats pretty much all the panels coated with bed liner on the underside .. just a few bits to do black and that should be me about ready for paint prep. ( after a big clear out of junk.. )

Scared up my ancient gas blower heater , and a half bottle of vintage propane .. By the time im ready for paint the Propane will need replenished , A full bottle just in time for heating the place up for painting

Got the black bits done last night so all good and dry for today. Regretably did waste a wee bit of the coating, bad planning . Thought I might have got away with leaving a bit in the tim and using the last wee bit today but it was hard , simply a chemical reaction. Good thing is it showed the low temp in the shed doesn't matter, the material cures regardless.

Got the shed cleaned up a bit too. Where does all the junk come from ? Also got a bottle of propane as planned so were all good to go over the weekend and begin the task of pre paint body assembly..

auld duffer said:

Never delved any deeper into upholstery other than sticking some van liner carpet stuff in the camper . But sticking some leather over the new dash shouldnt be overly complicated .. a bit of spray glue a layer of thing foam more glue and stick on the leather ..

Its not real crocodile, just embossed cowhide , but it will give the interior a bit of that DAKTARI feel LOL for the youth out there reading this Google Dactari ... a boyhood favourite

When I got back from the paint suplier the power was off , so spent time cleaning stuff up and masking the glass on the new rear door .. . When the power came on around 4pmish I got the inside of the rear door coated along with the inside of the bonnet and the bulkhead to trans tunnel panel plus a few small odds and ends that needed doing including the inside of tne radiator panel.. Thats pretty much all the panels coated with bed liner on the underside .. just a few bits to do black and that should be me about ready for paint prep. ( after a big clear out of junk.. )

Scared up my ancient gas blower heater , and a half bottle of vintage propane .. By the time im ready for paint the Propane will need replenished , A full bottle just in time for heating the place up for painting

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Done quite a bit of series upholstery and its not that straight forward. The issues I have had are mostly stretching it on and watching it shrink back over time. Easier with real leather but a pain with vinyl. Specially when you cant staple into steel All spray contact adhesives are not equal either. Quite a lot of them turn into sticky snot over time and let go.

I think I have grand ambitions of doing something nice with the interior of my 109, but am in danger of running before I can walk! . I need to concentrate on getting the basics done on it first.
@auld duffer your skills with metal shaping are impressive! I am also trying to find the same underbody coating you are using locally. Like how it looks.

I would like to be able to do something a bit upscale for the interior but I remind myself that its supposed to be a daily driver and utilitarian vehicle. The dash covering idea is just to make it tidy and a wee visual distraction . I've had experience of the sticky glue mess in the past ,
Ref the protective finish, I was apprehensive about using it on some of the visible surfaces but thinking once again, hard wearing utilitarian that it would be fine . Its not a valuable example of a land rover, just a rebuild to use regularly as my daily. So talked myself into using the stuff on a lot of visible areas and now its done, im pretty glad I did . This stuff is easy to use and dries in any temperature, or so it would seem.
It cures hard overnight ( touch dry in an hour or so depending on temp) and continues to cure harder over the next few days . Im pretty happy with it to be honest .. A litre tin doesnt go far, I think I managed to get the underside of both front wings from one tin .. and so far used 8 tins to do pretty much the entire underside of all panels andboth inside and outside surfaces of the floor, seat box, and bulkhead . That also includes the underside of the bonnet and the inside of all 3 doors .. so its a fair area to be honest. I think that cost about £100 for that lot . Probably my biggest regret at this stage is not having used the same stuff on the chassis .
Ref the metal shaping, thats some thing I got into about 30 odd years ago, Ive did a fair bit over time but not so much these days and not to the same standard, most of what I do now doesnt warrant metal finished invisible repair.. The landy doesnt have any really complicated shapes and most of the parts are so cheap you cant make them and make progress for the same price . Its cheaper and quicker buying the bits I dont think you can buy replacement dash panels though.. so kinda forced to make something to replace the rusty one ..

made a start to assembling the body and panels today . currently have zero parts bolted tight so everything can float about and be pulled into shape and gapped before being beefed up. set the drivers door and sills in place to eyeball the gaps and het some idea where things need a lift or a tug or a shim or spacer . so far so good.

Also been looking out appropriate nuts and bolts and cleaning them up in readiness for securing the pedal boxes, but waiting on seals to arrive. Fingers crossed it will look like a land rover again next week.

Ive replaced a lot of the individual nuts and bolts that secure the outer wing to the main wing with acme nuts and screws, much quicker to assemble and easier to take apart in the future .. they will all be coated with waxoil to stop them from rusting up to quick .. Did the same with the sill panels too. Individual nuts and bolts are a bit of a faff in some of these areas , The acme fasteners are quick and easy and good for non load bearing parts .

will load some pics later just nipping back out Its great having gas to keep the chill off the shed ..

auld duffer said:

quick question.. does anyone recognise this piece and where it goes ?

View attachment 227117

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That bit goes behind the speedo and other instruments on the dash. Supports the plastic cowl thing.

Thanks for that, I thought it was a dash related piece but with the dash in bits just now finding the proper location for it was proving difficult . Your timing is spot on as I was starting to put the dash together to see whats missing ..

Waiting for some parts to be delivered so filling in time today , missing one air vent thingamabob for the demist on the dash , but found a couple on e bay.. will see it I get lucky lol

cleaned and checked over the starter and alternator , I know the starter works, and spinning up the alternator seemed to indicate that it was working too, so going to take a chance so wasted some time cleaning and painting it . If its not working properly in the car its an easy fix or replacement .. resumed work on the lower dash tray panel, will carry on with that later tonight . cleaned up the rear door hinges and straightened the pins , looks like they had a hard life . Had a neighbour express an interest in buying it when its done . Im not thinking of selling it but nice to know there is local interest. I reeled him in anyway, just in case .

Ordered up some new headlight bowl kits , rood cap to side seals, and a pair of unglazed galvanised door tops , and a couple of glass fitting kits . Probably the dearest single spend on it so far.. Went for the Galv door tops after reading a recommendation for them on another post in here .. The one in the pic above which is a solid replacement needs the glass seals and runners done so just decided to splash out and get a matching pair . This satisfies the underlying but controlled OCD in me ..lol..

Also orders up a solenoid opperated fuel cut out as a security measure and thinking of a line lock for the hydraulic brakes to lock the brakes on when its parked , press the pedal flip the line lock brakes locked on , also considering a simple imobiliser ( dash switch to coil wire ) and a decent superloud alarm ..

Does anybody have any recommendations for a good loud motion activated/ door open thief deterrent .. Also gona get the windows etched and stamp the reg on everything ... lol is that overkill?

auld duffer said:

Does anybody have any recommendations for a good loud motion activated/ door open thief deterrent .. Also gona get the windows etched and stamp the reg on everything ... lol is that overkill?

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You only need a few bits for a PIR. I find making my own is harder for the general scrote to bypass. I have developed a system for the camper and its very simple, hard to get round and obviously cheap (as its for me) .

You'll need these.



Charges off the car battery and continues to be active for weeks if the power is cut.