Antipodean '61 SIIa Station Wagon

Hello from New Zealand...
I'll get onto the current project but some previous Landy background....
Previously owned a 1970 SIIb, and for a while a D2 V8.


So what have I bought here... its a '61 SIIa Station Wagon, I've been after one for a while (finally a classic which can fit the whole family) and found for quite a good deal through facebook.
Its quite an early one, #383 of model262 - Export RHD and looks to have had the 'deluxe' interior (or what is left of it). It's been modified in the early 90s to include a pair of salisbury diffs (probably out of a Stage1 V8 which our army used at the time) and has a Nissan ED30 diesel (my previous ragtop ran an ED33...) with a 5spd which is somehow mated to the LR transfer case.









I have to finish a mk2 mini project before I get to this so I have some time to figure out a project plan. Ultimately the aim is to have something usable and 'comfortable' (as much as I can get...) enough to use with the family to create memories with... The running gear is 'tired' but probably usable for a while, current idea in my head is to strip down the body, replace all the rusty bits, give it a respray and fit out a new interior. Ultimately I'd like to do a RR chassis swap to get disc brakes/power steering/decent ride etc but unsure on drivetrain, 200/300TDI would be nice but there is not than many around down here (and $$$). I do have a niggly voice in my head to return it to original but I think I'll just find some spare 109 running gear and keep that if ever needed.

Thoughts/ideas are welcome...

Hi and welcome!

Looks like a good project. Don’t forget some more pics as it progresses.

Where in NZ are you?

Thank you
Yes I will, I’m on a few forums I post to
I’m in Dunedin, in the south of the South Island. This truck came from Timaru, a few hours north. Previous owner had a paddock full of S1s him and his sons use.

Still a lot of series landys around here as every farmer used to have them, prices have been creeping up though

I've been making some progress of late. Sold the Mk2 mini so have created some space and some funds to make this all happen...

Pulled the interior and headlining. Headlining frame was crunchy, some interior bits remained, or at least enough for me to make a pattern.


Bit of inspection shows some areas which will need attention.... we will come back to these bits later.







All things considering the bolts didnt fight me too much...


Down to the frame there is decades of dirt here (I believe this has been a farm truck for much of its life). Note the bent rear crossmember corner and the doglegs at the back of the sills which just pulled off from where the rust had eaten them. The keen eye will also see an old hydraulic fitting on the back and what would have been tank mounts in the middle crossmember.



The gearbox assembly is interesting, from what I can tell its a Nissan 5spd adapted to an early transfer box. Other than some leaks the internals look in ok condition.


Gave everything a great big clean. That tank got taken out as its got a hole in the back corner (so I discovered).



Pulled the crossmember straight, a small patch, quick scotch and some 2k black to seal it all up



The start of some rust repair....





The front doors are ok but the rears need alot of work, someone has been in with the expanding foam. I can fix all of the frame no problem but thinking of reskinning them.



Been doing a bit of a mechanical tidy up of the rear end also. It has been swapped to a later salisbury axle at some point. The diff has been lunched as remains of where the pinon has been eating the carrier, happened some time ago as has all replacement gears in it and good condition Timkin bearings.

Enjoying the project so far...

Doing a bunch of cleaning/derusting/painting on the rear end....

At the moment I'm a fan of using oxalic acid for derusting, it leaves a green iron oxalate residue which can be easliy taken off with a wire brush. Items which were galv/zinced come up really well. Doing some research I think I may have figured out a DIY recipe for Evaporust, going to try that out



Today I pulled the transfer box off the nissan adapter case. Was a bit of faffing arround, needed to partly dissasemble the box to get the bolts out which hold the cases together.





There is a bit of engineering in this conversion. The PTO cover has been replaced with this unit which contains a large roller bearing to support the tail of out the output shaft. The original output shaft sleeve has been cut and a landrover output gear welded to it. Unfortunately that internal race is spinning on the shaft so I'm going to have to fix a repair...



On the bench, pretty grubby



And here's where it all starts to go wrong....

The rear output bearing has gone rusty and fed oxide dust onto the shaft which acts like grinding paste... Its worn the internal splines on the low speed gear (the large one to the right) and is very sloppy on the shaft. Also feels like there is play on the high speed gear and some of the splines on the shaft are worn....

Currently pondering whether I shell out for the replacement gears or just find another box....

This is quite cool, that bearing carrier has 'Made in New Zealand' cast into it. It's actually two pieces which are tigged together.



More cleaning/painting etc. Also had a load of parts arrive from the UK so that allowed to put the diff cover/pinion back together. Hope to refurb the springs and get it all back into the chassis over the weekend, dreading doing the shackle bushes....

Swapping back to a bit of bodywork now....

This corner of the tub has number of hits, the rear is quite stoved in and it has made quite a bit crease in the side where it joins up to the galve capping. Not to mention a dent across the body line. When I started stripping it I found a ton more bog from older repairs.



I loathe doing bog work so will be attempting to get the panels back as good as I can get them using metal work. This old girl will wear its body scars with pride, likewise its going to be used and if I do (when?) I hit something in the bush there's no point having all your filler crack down....

First time I've panel worked alloy. Trying to be super careful not to stretch it more than it is already. Got all of the areas which are braced square first. Then I had to take out the spot welds to shift the fold in the rear section to pull the stretched areas tight. Not perfect but better.... Will do the bottom section when I tip it upside down in the shed.


Back on some steel... These B pillars are pretty bad (this one has separated from its sill and both sides of the top of the door frame are rusted through.



Cutty cutty, foldy foldy....



Weldy weldy..


Because this area can be seen I've decided to TIG it all. Finally getting my head around how to do it with pulse on panel steel, really enjoying it to be honest, very controllable and I can just knock it all down with my body file to leave a good finish.



I've yet to decide what my plan of attack is going to be here....

Lovely work.

My grinder broke so have resorted to filing out my welds...



Did a quick clean/paint/grease on the handbrake...



Think I've sorted out a replacement transfer box but decided to pull it down. The splines on the shaft and where the high speed gear runs is worn so that is junk, the low speed gear is hogged out where the dogs engage (most likely when shifting into low while moving) so that is too. But what takes the cake is the high speed gear....





Yes that is a crack the whole way around.... whats more interesting is that its been pinned as a repair some time in the past. These boxes are built pretty tough it would have been quite a situation to do this kind of damage..