Alan the A-Suffix Restoration

Excellent thread. I am looking forward to following this!

Pete

Cracking effort.

27 July Footwell update
Problem with the pressing that is available is that it does not allow for the two different radius nor the large flat area on the bulkhead front. The profile against the bulkhead side is different to that where it meets the gearbox cover. The panel also needs to accommodate a large flat area for the bulkhead mount to fix to.
After a load of messing about today I made myself a wooden former that matched the profile of the edge of the bulkhead to the side of gearbox cover - specifically the bit that the footwell will be welded to. On the other side of the panel will be welded the bulkhead mounting. Out of the box the only bit close to lining up is the outer "Bulkhead side" So I kept that as the baseline.

Here is the wooden former against the edge that will be welded to the gearbox side.!

After a fair amount of ..... adjustment
I got the fit as close as I can get it

Nothing is welded yet. new inner wings arrive tomorrow so I plan to bolt that in place so I can position the bulkhead mounting and then weld it to the footwell before making final adjustments. Does feel like I am getting there although there are 3 more corners to go before I can even lift the body frame.


I want the body off before August Bank Holiday... Not saying which one

update time
30 July
Inner wings have arrived from Froggatts and I bolted these up to check alignment of the bits I have fitted to the nearside. Pleasingly the wings slipped on with no fuss nor adjustment. Now I have these I can mark up the bulkhead mount and weld it and the footwell into place.

First though my daily driver which was treated to a new rear crossmember needed a petrol top up and annoyingly the fuel flap wouldnt open.... because i hadnt reconnected it when i refitted the rear wing!. Anyway with rear light cluster out and the access panel removed I was able to wiggle to loom through and reconnect.

lots of rain here in North Devon so didnt get around to welding stuff until yesterday 2 August
With innerwing fitted, bulkhead mount bolted tight to the chassis and footwell roughly in place, I scribed the edges and drilled it for pop riveting. Then cleaned all the thick black paint off and zinc primered it

Clamped up on the now largely flat face of the footwell and ran out of welding wire

with the mount welded to the footwell and then bolted to the chassis I clamped the footwell for welding to bulkhead and side panel

reasonable fit

welded both inside and out to the bulkhead


Made filler panels to close gaps at top of footwell and beside the gearbox tunnel
This will all be ground flat and primered.
One corner done yay

Awesome !! this brings back memories of last year for me !!

I ended up buying a complete chassis, welded 4 legs onto it and took the body off once the sills and A and B posts were replaced.. I needed the chassis for the rear section as my original chassis was corroded at the rear.. I do however still have the chassis with the legs and it's free to anyone restoring a Classic.. its ideal to drop the removed bodyshell onto..

https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/suffix-a-and-csk-restoration.286717/

Great thread

+1 on the thread. Wish I'd kept my old classic when prices were so low all I could get was scrap value.

One comment on the SIP welder. I got one of those. Did a similar fix based on SIP forums, but also added 2nd transformer for the feed motor. This way the weld current no longer affects wire feed rate. Not used it in 5 years though !!

I wish I had collected a few more when they were cheap. Even the nastiest of P38s are getting good money now! I have an itch for one but Mrs theStag wont tolerate it and I have three classics to play with, oh and a Stag and a Series !!a.

I also have seen the SIP fix online and can see how it makes sense, I did find that the closer the earth (and I mean like less that 6inches) the better the weld, and yes everything is bare steel and clean before I start. the first 2 seconds of feed just splatters before it settles down. Once it is going though seams, tags and plugs are nice. I will have to give the fix a go, what is the worst that will happen

update 4 August

Ground back all the ****ty weld splatter, seam sealed, thick coat of red oxide and nearside front corner is done for now, still needs some work but not a lot


had a beer to celebrate

and onto the drivers side front corner




Big strip down to get ready to just sill, a post and footwell out, cut nuts off the door hinges


removed sill cover intact. wierd hole on a post which looks like it was always there ?!?

rear wing off and installed support between chassis and roof

This might be why the drivers door bottom hinge might have some flex in it

Stripped out steering and support

lovely job,keep up the good work

Is the 2x2 holding the roof weight...

Hi yes the wood is wedged between chassis and inside of roof on one of the strengthening beams. I took measurements between roof gutter and top of sill etc before cutting. the bulkhead is still secured to the a post and the b posts are tied together with welded rods between the two floor sides. So far it has kept everything in alignment.

Update from the last couple of days
5 August
12 ultra thin cutting discs on my angle grinder to get this little lot out. The rear sill mount was held on by rusty patches.

I will fit sill first and then line up a post and bulkhead side before working on the footwell and bulkhead mount


Chassis continues to please me with how solid it is. No welding spotted yet


Kept as much of the original a post as I could. Will work out what to do with this once the sill is in place


Inner sill bolted tight to chassis

Outer sill clamped in place

Might have been enjoying a beer at this point

6 August
Re fitted the interior floor and gearbox cover to ensure all the holes line up

Welded, Cannot get the SIP to give consistent results on seam welding so I overdid the tag welds. It is not going to come apart anytime soon

After welding I seam sealed everything and red oxide painted the whole sill. Will bolt it up to the car next time I get a chance to go out to the barn

Reminds me of Trigger's broom.

. . . yes sir said the salesman. . " an original A-suffix". but it's still gonna look fine when it's done !!

Look fantastic!

Keep the pictures coming!!!

update 18 August
Been a bit busy with family fun but have managed to get a chunk of the driver side front done Having done the nearside and learned from it I found that by assembling the driver side sill, a post including the inner, bulkhead side and front inner wing I satisfied myself that the bits were all in the right place.

I welded the two half of the a post together but not yet to the sill. Still having issues with the wire feed! I have not yet added a second transformer for the wire feed but have found that the wire continues to feed for a second or so after the trigger is released arghhhhhhhhh






Then removed the bulkhead side to prepare it to weld on, I could have done this earlier but wanted to be sure that everything was spot on first


Celebrated with a Peroni because there was no proper beer available Then welded the a post to the sill


refitted gearbox cover and floors to confirm everything fits


Next up the floor pan and bulkhead mount

Not a huge amount has happened, got the drivers footwell in and been messing with the damn welder so much that I have thrown the towel in and have a highly recommended unit expected for delivery today
I make no excuses for the pigeon ****e welding in the following pics.

Using my wooden former to shape the curve to the bulkhead I rapidly got to this point





Trial fitted everything back again and it all still lines up as good as it did in 1972




Lots of gaps especially after I cut out the rust


Not happy with this! Has anyone got a classic that the are breaking that they could cut out the steering column part so I can weld in and replace ****e patches and holes?


Bulkhead and sills nearly done, this is the scrap pile ffs

p.s. silencer came of a misfiring Series IIa that went bang very loudly in Barnstaple