Series 3 109 Station Wagon, full ground up resto and 88 redo careless resto driving project

Im not sure what % of magnesium would be in the alloy mix but pretty sure there is some in most grades .The very first series ones would have been from old stock aircraft grade but that surplus probably didn't last to long, Most upmarket cars of the era were aluminium too and probably made from the same surplus government stock . By the time the series 2 came along they would be on a cheaper grade alloy and probably cheaper still by the time BL got in on the deal which is probably why a series 3 welds up OK, its just straight forward run of the mill ally sheet

Well, if that makes the panels easier to restore, then that suits myself.
Just ordered loads of closed end rivets for the seat box rebuild, hopefully they will keep road and off-road junk from causing the rivets to corrode from the inside , and some 3/16 stainless steel nuts, bolts and washers.
This job just keeps on growing lol. But the interior will look so much better for it I hope.

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Been soaking the nuts and bolts overnight

They were so tight and covered in sticky crud.

Drilled out the toolbox pop rivets. Just the heads, and knocked the rest through with a 4.5mm shaft of a screwdriver. It was the only suitable thing I had the right size


Got the tool box out, and removed the big repair checker plate

To reveal what it was covering up

Maybe this is why so many don't like checker plate.

Removing the tool tray exposed more repairs needing to be done
Spent much of the afternoon cleaning up old rusty nights and bolts, as it poured down outdoors

Quite surprising how well 47 year old nights and bolts can clean up really.

Keeping and cleaning up the original nuts and bolts is making disassembly very slow. Been giving the runners a good service and clean up too
They will get a protective 2k coat of silver. Oiling the roller balls has got them running much smoother.

I wonder who came up with the idea of pushing a steel clip in-between two pieces of aluminium under the vehicle where it gets exposed to all the elements.

I've managed to get all new clips and screws, and I suppose some of these have somehow managed to survive over forty years, which is impressive


My new under seat tool box arrived tonight, and it's impressed me with the lovely build quality and weight. Given a week I could have made one, it may not have been quite as good, but there's enough jobs on to get her back up and running, so I bought one from Emblem Imperial Ltd, CODE C550-B4L0023 £79.95 Delivered, through eBay.


And it fits beautifully




The panel lines up well to the existing holes for rivets too

I will paint it with Upol Raptor anti corrosive 2K primer and body colour before fitting, and of course continue cleaning, restoring and prepping the seat box ready for assembly.
Then maybe I can get back to replacing the gearbox lol.

Raptor is pretty expensive by brand , Try Tough OX same product, easier to use by virtue of the fact you dont have to worry about the mix ratio as the activator comes in a small tin and you deposit the entire contents into the producy and add your colur tint of choice ,, applies really well and dries equally quick even in colder conditions . Its around 2/3rds the cost of the Upol product .. a fair saving when you use a decent amount.

That sounds useful,
I've a 5 litre tin of fast hardener, and yes the 2.5l tin of raptor was pricey, but seeing the restored bulkhead in it, and considering the hundreds of hours it took to restore, seems a small price to pay.
But I'll check out your Tough OX, that sounds very interesting and it may well represent much better value.
I was also thinking it may be a good idea to have this lovely new toolbox pre drilled before painting to reduce the galvanic corrosion, plus maybe fit rubber runners to it's floor to reduce scratches from stuff moving around inside.
All this would be easier done pre assembly if I'm careful with how thick the paint gets in the pre drilled holes. I've also got closed end rivets and an air riveter,
to stop water ingress and to reduce pain from my RA in my hands from popping lots of rivets it's just lovely to use, although the instructions are all in Chinese help google !!

Brilliant project - brave, I could never take on anything on this scale. Lack of a garage doesn’t help! Good luck and thanks for sharing a really interesting project.

Thank you Scipio Africanus,
I keep learning useful stuff from other folks here, and if I can give something back, even if just a little entertainment, then that's just lovely.
Of course it also gives me a documented history of what I've done, which may add to the history of my car for the next keeper.
I was looking at the prop shaft from my 2016 Subaru. The centre bearing went during the first lockdown, and although under full manufacturers warranty, the dealers were closed so I had to repair it myself. But looking at the Universal Joints on the shaft, you can see they can not be replaced by you or I
Because the bearing cap is fixed by a special pressing, and probably not replaceable. This is bad for the planet in my opinion.
But the Landy
Each component can be taken apart and refurbished
Even the splined end, if there splines become too worn

How eco friendly is that
This is how all cars must be made in the future; infinitely repairable and able to be modified to fit requirement, and last indefinitely.
America is littered with abandoned electric cars, because their batteries die and the car is scrap in less than a decade
Apparently I can run my Landy for thirty years for the remissions to make one electric car, this is mostly attributed to the battery which is designed to last seven years.
For an electric car to make any environmental sense it needs to last over twenty years which none of them can, and they can't even recycle the batteries
What really got me is this person figured that running my Landy emits half the emissions of a person sitting on their laptop all day. And nobody totals about those emissions lol
This is a link to the source material which I've based these outlandish comments on.


Skip to 13:03 for his figures on classic cars.

So next time your getting a condescending look from a Toyota Pious driver, just bear in mind they're destroying the planet while thinking they're doing the right thing, and they're helping fund misery in the African countries where they mine cobalt to make those batteries.
Old Landy's are good for the planet

The UJs on the Subaru are "staked" when they are assembled the caps are pressed in by machine and as they seat the press tooling cuts into the yolk and creates the stake marks which just secure the caps with a bit more than good old friction. They will press out just the same as any other UJ .They will resist a wee bit given the staking but they will pop and are replaceable .. when you fit the new UJ cups just re stake in areas that were not staked previously using a centre punch or modified chisel .

Interesting stats on the EV Vs Classic. But you cant argue with the tree huggers or pretentious EV owners..they are saving the planet dontcha know, while we continue to recycle old tat ,the same old tat we have recycled for decades while they think a used scarf from oxfam is the way ahead .. fools ..

I just love having somewhere to fettle out of the rain.

Front part of the shaft came apart very quickly, and was able to keep all of the old c clips in tact.
The clips of the new UJ's seem to be ever so slightly thicker. Maybe it's my imagination, I'll measure the both tomorrow with calipers and find out for certain.
It's had lots of cleaning and left it with kurust painted over pre assembly. Which will get finished with a wee splash of black paint.
I haven't even taken the old gearbox out yet, which was what brought about the desire to do all these other jobs at the same time.
The seat box is fully striped down and all the hardware cleaned and serviced. The old seat runners needed a little more than polite persuasion to get any movement, now glide two and fro easily.
But so much to do still
Hoping tomorrow, to snow foam jet clean the seat box after scraping mastic sealer off the join areas, not a fun job. But a pressure wash is the final step before fitting the new end panels, repairing the back section, and pre fitting/drilling the under seat tool box pre-paint.
What started out as replacing the gearbox has grown into several extra projects, but it seems a good idea to sort the other jobs while I have access at the same time.
All these jobs should have been addressed at the point of fitting a new chassis, maybe they just ran out of enthusiasm and cash who knows, but I'm really hoping it all comes together soon as I really miss using my Landy, especially when working in the woods..

After a good clean with degreaser, snow foam, pressure washer and a bit of wet sanding.
I removed the N/S end by drilling the spot welds out with a 4.8mm bit.

You can see how much corrosion when placed against the repair panel, which needs a little shaping to be the same.
Ordered a new back piece; was very corroded near both ends, and that's what bolts to the tub.

Braised the holes from drilling the welds and made new holes more evenly spaced for riveting the end repair panel, and removed all the hardware prep for paint

Also built up the front Prop, just waiting for the new bellow rubber and some paint.

Nipples in and both ends greased.

Had to file a couple of wee nicks before fitting the caps, and clean out the groove for clips


And used a socket in vice to press the new caps on to the universal joint.
After fitting the new clips which were slightly thicker

I carefully hammered on the shoulders to bring the caps carefully up to the clips which freed up movement again.

Fitting up the replacement end panels.

Also replacing the back angle support. It took hours to get the holes in the right places.


That's the seat box and seat runners ready for paint.

Rebuilding the back prop, had assumed the tiny bit of play to be equal wear across all four of the UJ's pin roller bearing surfaces.
But it transported to be a very different story on disassembly
Apart from some normal wear, one bearing surface was in a bad way and close to failure, as compared to the other three
Didn't expect that!

I guess just rebuilding both props want a bad idea after all

Never seen damage like that on a UJ before, wear yes, damage yes but never rollers imprinted onto the spider like that!

No doubt there has been a lack of maintenance allowing the Hardy Spicers to run dry causing much friction, But they are all replaced with new ones, and the props have had a right good cleaning and treatment fir the tin worm, then some acid etch primer to boot. All they lack now is a nice shiny coat of black and they'll be fit fir anything lol.


I cleaned with pre-paint degreaser, after having given a key with a stainless wire brush and sprayed with acid etch primer from a rattle can and everything looked good until the next day !




When I discovered much of the paint had not adhered properly and much could just be scraped off with a fingernail, it all had to go.

.
Oh well, remove all the paint and start again!
So this time I used my high build 2K Primer which has never let me down. The etch primer had taken really well on the steel prop shafts, front one got a new bellow from Bearmach. It was a delight to see the rubber component was not only actually manufactured in the UK, but was a lovely soft springy quality. I thought all rubber things Land Rover were manufactured in India, but hey we actually still make some stuff . So The props got a light coat of 2K also.


The 2K primer took and adhered as it should Phew, it was followed after curing for a couple of days with some topcoat






The box got more paint than was necessary, as If I decide to wet sand and polish the ends I could remove some orange peel on the sides. But that would be for another year , when nothing else needs fixing, like that will ever happen lol.

I replaced the Fuel sender which was in worse shape than I had expected once removed




Why the previous previous owner would have fitted a new petrol tank and not just put in a new sender when they saw the state of the old one is beyond me.

It does raise the question: is this some of the damage we can expect from using E10 fuel ?

Or maybe this is just what a 47 year old fuel sender looks like.


After much time with a scary wire wheel on a grinder to remove rust, the seat frame parts that were black, (not the silver runners), are in primer too after been treated with the Kurust





There is some very minor surface corrosion that's left crater-like depressions on the surface in a couple of places, so I'm tempted to give them a light fill as they would be exaggerated once the shiny black 2K paint covers them. It's purely an aesthetic thing and probably completely unnecessary


I have a middle seat to go in where there was a badly fitted cup holder/Box with a lid accessory fitted.

Here is a pic of how the base was, but I’m not sure how the base of the centre seat should be fitted, I mean what it sits in ?? Any information would be helpful please. There are the Hinge attachments for the seat back, but I just can’t seem to reference how the base would have originally sat.

Really nice finish on the seat box! What grade of paper did you use to flat it off ready for primer? I’m about to start mine…

Thanks
I used 240 on a small air orbital sander, to give a key for the paint, especially on the new panels which were very smooth

Wagon Loon said:

Thanks
I used 240 on a small air orbital sander, to give a key for the paint, especially on the new panels which were very smoothView attachment 255962

Click to expand...

Thanks - another thing for my shopping list tomorrow

Lol, always something needed to be bought for the Landy.
Auld Duffer suggested I use a Tig back in October, and thank you sir, it's definitely the best way to go I now have come to realise.
I have taken a rather large plunge on an ac/dc Tig welder, after much deliberation.
This ment I also needed to get pure Argon gas which cost way more than I can afford too, but If it's not now, it'll be never.
Really can't see any better way to repair the thin aluminiums galvanic corrosion where it's been in contact with steel bolts and, by the looks of it, ever bigger washers to compensate for an ever growing holes.
Even seen the machine I got been used to weld two aluminium soft drink tins together

Of course you need an AC digital Tig with pulse and a good Cos wave functions.
But if this can be done with a Coke tin, or even possible to weld cooking foil
I'm sure that's beyond me.. then it should be as it was suggested to me on here, the best way to weld structural mounting points

Lol, always something needed to be bought for the Landy.

Auld Duffer said "I've welded the land rover panels easily with the tig without any problem other than dirt contamination", back in Nov. I've never had to weld aluminium before, so I had some proper learning to do, as Tig = Technical stuff for me to learn first. For example a DC Tig doesnt have the cleaning action of an AC Tig, hmm and theres lots ofother stuff like pulse and waves to consider for the best result too.
So after much head scratching I've have taken a rather large plunge on an ac/dc Tig welder, and follow your advice, thank you.



This ment I also needed to get pure Argon gas which cost way more than I can afford too, but If it's not now, it'll be never. This machine should do a good job for what the Landy needs.

Really can't see any better way to repair the thin aluminiums galvanic corrosion where it's been in contact with steel bolts and, by the looks of it, ever bigger washers to compensate for an ever growing holes.

Even seen the machine I got been used to weld two aluminium soft drink tins together which is just nuts



But if this can be done with a Coke tin, or even possible to weld cooking foil which I'm sure is beyond me.. But it should be, as suggested, the best way to weld structural mounting

points on the aluminium body, and other repairs like round the side lights.