On the Road

On 31st October I drove the Series 2A on the road for the first time. Tax was free as it's a registered Historic vehicle, MOT exempt, and cost about £100 to insure for the year. It was a great occasion, I couldn't stop going round the block as I got into it more and more. By the last lap I'd even managed to get around without crunching any gears.

So now I move into a period of using and enjoying it, at last, and engaging in all the sort of tweaking and maintenance that hasn't been needed so far. It's all very well setting brakes and fitting new suspension, but until you drive it you don't know it's pulling this way, or that, or binding in reverse, or what..

So there are a few jobs presenting themselves now which I'll work through between using it in the local area. We should be moving house soon, so I'll leave the roof off until we're ready to go so it can stay in the garage overnight, and just take it out on the milder days. Then I'll put the hard top and cat flap on when we're ready to go, and it will have a barn to sleep in there.

It's been a brilliant journey. I didn't know what a differential was when I bought it and I have learnt a LOT over the last three years. I can't wait to do some more work on it. So far the running gear seems fine and she is running well.. but who knows, maybe next winter will be a good time to fit a new clutch. I'm sure that's grabbing a bit in first.. :)

This might be the last post on this blog, but I'll be posting videos on youtube, so you can find me there if you like. Or I might write the odd summary every year or so on here, we'll see..

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJsiCcouRmUTX0EEgNamvmQ

Lights! Coolant! Action!(?)

After three years and a lot of fun and learning new things I'm now putting the 2A back together with a view to making some road tests with it this autumn. We may be moving house later this year, or early next, so it's a good opportunity to get it ready to make the move under its own steam (petrol?).

There's lots going on, but mostly I'm bolting bits back on because that's the reverse of how Series Land Rovers are put together (Haynes manual joke that, for the uninitiated).

I'm wiring in new front light harnesses, and relays for the headlamps. Banging out dents on the wings, putting together new headlamps, running the engine up to temperature whenever I go out to work on it, fitting a new coolant drain tap - and doing my best to get it to seal.. yes, lots going on.

Once the lights are in, I'll need some tyres as three of the four I have are badly cracked from when it was stood up those years before I bought it.

Then I'll need some insurance.

It wouldn't pass an MOT at this point on some welding I need to do in the passenger footwell, but there's nothing that would stop me from driving it. Hard to believe I'll be driving it down the road soon - bar something unexpected turning up in these 'final' stages.

Enjoying the underside views while it's still all clean! :)

Shiny!

N/S wing propped in place for last checks.. couple of dents I missed there above the headlamp port.. I'll knock those out a touch.

Driver's Door Pillar, Footwell, and Bulkhead

I've just welded a new door pillar on to the driver's side and it's been quite a step up from outrigger replacement and dumb iron rebuilds so now is a good time to review how it's going so far and what I've learnt.

Required Work

- Pillar rotten through at bottom, half-way up, and badly dented on crease
- Pillar foot looked very bad, from what I could see, and apparently not welded at all to existing pillar
- Hinge bolts wrung off in dual-captive nut plates inside pillar
- Footwell rotten where it meets pillar and on inside corner
- Bulkhead corner rotten completely around top hinge area, plus other holes and rust

Bulkhead Alignment and Door Gaps

I wanted to ensure I had a vertical bulkhead and the right door gaps before I started cutting out the old metal, especially the pillar, which I had decided to replace entirely. This would mean I could be sure the same could and should be achieved when the new metal was to be welded into place.

34 1/2" gaps between the face of the rear tub and face of the door pillar allows for a good fit to a Series door including seals. I had this at the bottom both sides, just above the sill channel (the galv section, the aly part lower down is the sill 'panel') with no spacers between my pillar feet and bulkhead outriggers. The top of the door gaps, just above the crease, were both out by up to 1/2", which explains the difficult door fit when I first brought the vehicle home. I used the adjustment points on the bulkhead/chassis fixing plates, and the bolts in the driver's and passenger footwells, and those hidden away the other side of the steering box beneath the steering box bracket, to set the bulkhead vertical. With 34 1/2" gaps top and bottom both sides everything was tightened up and I was confident enough to start cutting the old metal out.

The work is better detailed by the three videos I uploaded to youtube:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xX7teADVdNA
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlITNeZczT0
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7f9B40yZl8k

Overall I was pleased with the result. I have a lot to learn about painting but I was pleased to get everything aligned correctly and welded in right. The bulkhead corner is not perfect but it's pretty good for a first effort, and much, much better than it was, and than the other side(!). The footwell is now sound, and the door gaps are good.

First time here, so slowly working out how it fits together

The area of footwell in need of replacement

Offering up the new bulkhead front panel section (the door pillar plug welds to this, and it was rotted out)

Checking the crease line with the new pillar offered up

Pillar foot surgery to help the fit (the 'hinge' here was welded up along with the pillar and foot)

What an original upper door hinge cage looked like

Inside view of original upper door hinge cage and nut plate

Bulkhead repair sections going in. Double skin on the door hinge now, second skin  to go in above..

Welded up and ready for clean-up

The finished pillar and bulkhead corner

Painting..

Door Hinge Refurb

As I'm working on a door pillar replacement on the driver's side now, and have another to do on the other side at some point, I thought I would tidy up all the door hinges.

I stripped most of the paint and cleaned them up and have them a few coats of primer and BS224 DBG. I also fit new bolts, springs, bushes, etc. Getting the hinges apart initially required the use of the angle grinder, something I don't often resort to for old fixings.. some of the bushes I removed had been worn to an egg shape.

They look very smart now. I am looking forward to fitting them.

YouTube Channel - 'spannersonthefen'

I have started a YouTube channel to experiment with making videos of some of the work I do on my Land Rover:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJsiCcouRmUTX0EEgNamvmQ

Second Dumb Iron Rebuild

I've finished rebuilding the other dumb iron. As with the first, I learnt a lot and appreciated the welding experience, but in future I think I'd look to replace the whole thing if I suspected it needed anymore than a local repair or two - and I'm now a better judge of what the job will turn into based on how it looks from the outside..

This one was worse than the first. I replace the main underside, the 'bridge' section that 'holds up' the inner floor, the inner floor, the sides, top, and front, and crush brace. The underside and sides were all double welded from both sides. The bumper fits. The dumb irons are level when the front cross-member is level. Glad to have this complete. I do have a repair on the underside of the first dumb iron to make at some point when I go to the passenger side, but I'm going to carry on with the driver's side now with some bulkhead repairs.. that's another story.

New underisde and sides, welded both sides, replaced back to good metal.

New bridge welded in under here already, new floor lined up.

New inner floor welded in.

Crush brace welded in at bottom, bumper bolt holes drilled, top laid in place.

All welded and painted inside, top and front welded on.

Alternator

I've replaced the old Ford alternator that was not very well secured and would not align well enough with the other pulleys for my liking.

There is no "correct" alternator for a Series 2A that was not fitted with a Lucas ACR 11 as an option at the factory (they have voltmeters on the dash). There are alternators that are suitable in terms of current and voltage, and that fit, and there are alternators that are not, or don't (e.g. alternators suitable for Defender 2.5 and 200 TDI engines would be suitable if they didn't foul the engine mount on a Series petrol engine..).

My late 2A has a 2.25 petrol engine, suffix A. I have fit an alternator that is "correct" for S3 vehicles starting from engine suffix B. I replaced the dynamo bracket with the S3 alternator bracket, that fits in its place, and I also swapped my S2 dynamo tensioner for a S3 alternator tensioner, which is slightly narrower and shorter, and I felt cleared the alternator blades a little better. Other than that, a 1075mm x 10mm wide x 8mm deep fan belt fits perfectly, giving good clearance between the tensioner and alternator blades, and alternator casing and engine mount. I'm really happy with the fit.

S2 dynamo tensioner alongside an S3 alternator tensioner

Use spacers (washers) to align the belt with the cam and crank pulleys

Alternator:
https://bearmach.com/alternator-suitable-for-series-iii-suffix-b-engine-range-rover-classic-v8-carb-vehicles-br-3551

Drive belt:
https://simplybearings.co.uk/shop/p20079562/AVX10x1075-Major-Brand-AVX-Section-Cogged-V-Belt/product_info.html

The drive belt specified in the S3 parts book is 1050mm in length. If you are fitting an alternator to a late 2A don't be surprised if you need a slightly longer drive belt. Whether the cam or crank pulleys changed diameter, or there's another slight difference in the blocks between A and B, I don't know. I needed another 25mm.

There is no "correct" alternator for a 2A with no voltmeter on the dash from the factory. You just have to find one that is suitable, that fits, and that can be aligned.

Bonnet Tidy

With a lot of places closed as part of the Covid-19 restrictions, and all the uncertainty, I've been looking for progress I can make at low cost.

I was pressure washing the wings and other bits in the garden and the underside of the bonnet came up so nicely and showed all the original overspray that I decided I could touch up the black paint on the steel frame of it too.

I've included some original shots (after the cup brush) to show the green overspray originally went as far as covering the two horizontal parts of the frame, including the small bracket the spring-latch is threaded into. I haven't re-produced that when I've painted the steel frame, but if and when I spray the bonnet as part of a re-spray in the future I will!

Note this is a blade bonnet but it does not have a full size bonnet "strike" bracket that bolts onto the frame like other S2 bonnets do, just a small one welded to the frame under the spring latch.

After a pressure wash and cup brush on the steel frame the original overspray is clear

Over spray went straight over the some of the frame bottom sides and centre

Over spray went right along the top of the frame too

Tidy!

I think it looks tidy now, and I took the spring latch apart and degreased that and straightened it out so the bonnet latches nice and tight now too.

I've also cleaned up and am painting the mudshields but I'll just show those when the wings eventually go back on.

Next job is the other dumb iron rebuild.

Progress Update and Future Plans

I haven't been taking as many pictures lately, just enjoying the project. I'm putting the 2A back together now so I'll be able to drive and enjoy it after so much work, uncover any problems evident in use on the road, and to make it easier to move if we do move house later this year!

I welded some bulkhead outrigger braces on yesterday. That's a job I'll do before fitting new brake pipes in future. The driver's side is very close work with new pipes so close by, but I got the job done with care. The passenger's side was easier and a better weld for having warmed up for the year on the other side first. I made them up from a length of 25x3mm angle.

I have fit the correct three-spoke steering wheel, the rear tub wiring covers, and the S3 alternator bracket I needed has arrived so I'll fit that soon and do the first run test since fitting the new water pump last year.

I've started replacing front lighting parts with a view to knocking some dents out the wings and getting them reattached. I may need to purchase new mud shields for both sides.

I am going to need new tyres before using it on the road.. some of the cracks in the current ones are so deep I don't know how far down they go. Which brings me onto some thoughts I've been having about the long-term direction of this project.

I had been planning to get new 235/85 R16 to replace what's on there today on the LWB rims it came with, but I'm starting to realise that what I have enjoyed most about working on the Land Rover is restoring its originality. Fitting the correct seats, steering wheel, the jack stop, the bands to hold the brake pipes to the rear axle, the correct brake pipe shields, the elbow strip, check straps, the grille, the plates, and so on.

Similarly, it always felt mildly wrong to put parabolic springs on the rear, and even now to fit an alternator when I know it had a dynamo originally. I want to re-fit a S2 style magna tex indicator and restore the floor dip switch to working order. All of this means.. I like to restore originality where it has been lost. So I am considering fitting original size and pattern rims and tyres, and at some point, getting that S2 indicator switch and a dynamo.

But first, I am going to continue putting it back together and enjoy driving it on the road and finding out what gremlins are hiding in the drive train - I am sure there are a few. The fun goes on.

Slow Winter

It's been a slow winter, I haven't done much on the Series 2A since the new year but now the daffodils and blossom are coming out I'm back in the garage.

I've put the seat base back in, save the tightening up once I know everything is good and aligned. The original seat belts are back in, the seat rails are painted and in place and I have a full set of 8-rib original deluxe vinyl seats too. I found the last one I needed, and outer base, in the back of a Series 1 pick-up.. which I might just meet again one day but that will be another story.

Today I put the new black and silver aluminium plates on. I like them. It's registered as a Historic Vehicle, being registered in 1969, so it is allowed period correct plates.

Pictures soon, once I've finished putting the interior back together and put the 2A 3-spoke steering wheel in. Then I'll fit the new, correct, alternator and fill her up with water to test the new water pump I fitted back in the autumn. If it doesn't leak the wings and doors will be going back!