Dreamer

Received the winter edition of excellent magazine "Built Two Last" from the Series 2 Club in the U.K. today. The editor, Dan, had asked if the photo of my daughter could be used on the rear cover, but it was a real treat to dicover that the photo is in fact the entire rear cover! There will be one happy little girl around here when she sees that. Thank you, club! If you own a Series 2, it's a club you simply must be a member of, and has been a tremendous resource in helping restore this Land Rover.

Head Gasket Replacement

A low top speed in 4th gear suggested that something was wrong. Adjusting the timing didn't help. A drop in compression in cylinders 2 and 3, and no indication of problems in the oil or coolant, suggested a blown head gasket. Taking the cylinder head off showed that was in fact the case, and so the gasket is in the process of being replaced.

It's turned out slightly longer to do than normal, first due to a slight bit of damage to the fibre covering the metal core of the replacement gasket the first time around, which allowed the coolant to leak out. The fibre covering is quite delicate and comes away from the metal core easily.

Head off again, a replacement gasket was installed, and all seemed well, but then when starting the engine, there was a fairly loud ticking noise which suggested that something metal was hitting something metal in the head or rocker cover.

An initial investigation seemed to indicate a pushrod wasn't seating correctly in the tappet cup, but when the head was off again a detailed look at the tappets, rollers, pushrods, rockers and camshaft surfaces indicated that everything looked in great shape. I may have just maladjusted the tappet clearances, in spite of it being relatively easy to do, but to be safe I've asked that Steve come over and have a look at things, to be sure.

Other than that, taking the head off is not a difficult operation, but having done it three times in one week, I've found ways to make it more efficient each time! It's also been a great excuse to clean everything up.

Below, cylinder head removed, and engine block covered while waiting for Steve's next visit. Cylinder head is suspended from engine hoist.

Rocker assembly prior to removal. Tie wraps prevent the springs from pushing the assembly apart when lifted.

A handy way to make sure all bolts and pushrods are reinstalled in the same order they came out. The rocker assembly was later taken apart, cleaned and inspected. The springs don't exert much force, so disassembly and re-assembly was pretty easy.

Rocker assembly removed, and head disconnected from everything.

The old copper head gasket. Can you see where it's burned through? : )

Carbon on the pistons:

In case you missed the burn-through: : )

After the initial cleanup. Tappets and rollers have been taken out, cleaned and inspected, and the camshaft surfaces inspected, as well.

Short Video

Had made a few small changes to the carburator and timing, so just went around the block a couple of times to make sure I hadn't made anything worse.

Turn signal doesn't automatically turn off, and I forgot.... : ) And the aspect ratio of the video looks a little squashed....

-10 C, fairly cold but at least the wind had died down. Lots of ice left from two days ago, however, as can be seen by my attempts to get back in the garage.

Leather Steering Wheel Cover

Given that we had an ice storm yesterday and a howling blizzard today, and the temperatures will be around -12 C for the next few days, the Land Rover isn't going anywhere for the time being. And so, took the opportunity to put on the leather steering wheel cover, purchased from Pangolin 4x4 .

It took about an hour to do, and is a very nice kit. The leather has a nice feel, the instructions are clear (a rarity), and comes with waxed thread and needle. Pretty straight-forward to do, the only casualty being the skin on a finger from constantly having to pull the thread tight!

Test Drive Four and Five

No photos today, but did take the Land Rover out twice. The first was a 25 km (15 mile) trip through the countryside that also included two stretches of faster roads.

Temp: -5 C, cloudy

Fastest she would go was 73 km/h (just over 45 mph) sustained, measured via GPS, which isn't fast for a Land Rover, but then again the carburator wasn't adjusted and timing may need further tweaks. That's programmed for the end of next week. I don't know what the rolling resistance of these soft knobby tires is, either. Ran smoothly, just as loud as everyone said it would be, no smoke, tracked nice and straight. In fact, once warmed up, there is hardly any exhaust smoke at any speed.

The squeek/squeal from yesterday turns out to be the yellow-knobbed four wheel drive selector rod, or rather the spring or thimble around it. Just enough vibration to make a noise (and a loud one) as it rubs; easy to take care of.

After the high speed run, the windows were fogging up pretty well; I now know why the previous owners had installed the fan. The water temperature gauge indicated 100 degrees. I then noticed something that could have been either steam or smoke coming out the heater pipes, nothing dramatic but enough to see. A stop by the edge of the road revealed nothing amiss, and a call to Steve the mechanic later indicated an inspection of the Kodiak core is in order, and otherwise there may just be paint/lubrication heating up somewhere as things get their first use at higher operating temperatures.

In spite of some adjustments to the suspension this morning, she still lists slightly less than 1 inch (at the wheel arch top) towards the driver's (LH) side. Not much, but quite noticeable from behind. I'll be loosening all the suspension bolts and taking her out for a bumpy ride, to see if that will settle things.

Second trip:

Temp -2, sunny

Wasn't planning to go out again, but daughter asked if we could, and who am I to say no? : ) Just a 5 km run around the neighborhood, plus a jaunt into the countryside to briefly try out the off-road capabilities in a field, but daughter found that a little too bumpy. Land Rover clearly enjoyed it, however, as did its owner. : )

Test Drive Two and Three

Another perfect day for testing, and so went out this morning for about 5 miles, and then again with my daughter later in the afternoon, about another 5 miles. Issues found so far are that the speedometer doesn't work (but the odometer does, so it's not the cable), and a loud squeak-squeal from somewhere that sounds like the instrument panel, so that may be the speedo cable. Doesn't sound like brakes or bearings, the sound is almost in the cockpit. We'll have to have a look.

Drives well, though, just a pleasure.

The second ride, with my daughter, was her "thank you for being a such patient helper" ride, and she loved it. Dreaming is one thing, it's always nicer when they come true. Her 'booster seat' fit right in and the seatbelts fit perfectly. One amusing comment was that it was all "really 3D!"

First Test Drive

Big moment today! I know, I know, I was supposed to film the first drive, but the day was nice and I decided that being able to focus completely on what I was doing would be more prudent. And so:

Temperature: 4 C, nice sunny day.

Started well, as usual so far, ground the gears getting into reverse the first time, but after that it went in smoothly. I went backwards and forwards a few feet in the garage to make sure the brakes and hand brake were doing things, and then backed gingerly out of the garage.

Had a quick inspection outside, all looked ok, so backed the Land Rover onto the street, and went for a drive around the block. Started in 2nd gear, kept it there, only de-clutching at the stop sign. Finished the tour, was about to go back up the driveway into the garage - and then decided a second trip around the block was necessary. : )

This time I started in 1st, shifted up to 3rd, back down as we went along, and no problems. Brakes don't have much bite, but I expect that's because they are new and still must bed in.

After that, a cautious and reluctant trip back into the garage.

All seems well, I only notice that there is a gentle list to one side, which I think may be because I had forgotten to tighten the spring bolts. I'll look after that this evening.

Anyway, on with the show:

Almost There

With the wheel alignment and seatbelts completed yesterday, today it was the turn of the brake adjustment (which I believe wass related to the brake light issue) and a tour underneath the Land Rover to make sure everything looks as it should. With that now done, there really only remains the door seals to do, and the filler strip in the window seals (waiting for correct tool). Some of those door seals will need riveting, and so may take a little while to get things together, but aside from that the vehicle is ready for the test drives. If we get a warmer day this week, off we'll go.

In honour of this stage being almost done, just thought I'd post a small tour of the exterior, as things are today. A little over 600 hours to do (big learning curve in there). The wrinkles and dents probably take away a little from all that, but on the other hand, this is the vehicle's 'patina' (although I had to get rid of some of the larger damage), just looks a little better with fresher and original-colour paint.

Seat Belts Completed

First, let me just say that I'm not an engineer or a safety specialist. The installation for the belt buckles comes from my estimation only, based on where I think the shear and pull forces could be during an accident. I am not an expert.

Below, the four 1/2" holes drilled for the seatbelt bolts in the space behind the seat  box. The outer ones are for the left and right seat buckles, the center two are for the restrain system for the center seat. Beneath the holes is a 16.5"x2"x1/8" steel backing plate, for strength, through which the bolts will also pass. In this case, I also had to drill a 3/16 hole in the steel for the start handle support bracket (rearmost). The forward bracket will no longer be usable.

Here, the buckle stalks in place, with the center stations occupied by brackets for center seat restraints. These brackets can be replaced with any other seat belt hardware as required, this is just what I have for now. The buckle stalks are being held in place with tie wraps to stop them turning as their bolts are torqued. Start handle brackets back in place.

Start handle back in place, and an illustration of how the buckle stalks are situated within the seat cushions.

The final result. Perhaps I should remove the stickers on the buckles! I'll have to do some research on what the best system will be for the center seat, but at least the mounting points are in place.

Spot anything new? Yes, the license plates are now on, which means that the Land Rover can go for a test drive whenever everything is ready. Don't quite know why everyone blanks out the letters/numbers on the plates in photos, but who am I to argue? The orange box is the battery charger/maintainer. Oh, and have also done the wheel alignment....

Headliner Installed

Looking a little flimsy, but probably quite normal for its age and history, the rejuvenated headliner was re-installed today. Nice to finally hide the insulation.

Doesn't look so wrinkly in real life. And in case you notice that the support brackets at the top of the windshield aren't perfectly straight, that's the way they were originally installed. The original holes were used for the drive screws.

And while we're at it, you can also see that the seatbelts are installed. They are only missing the buckles between the seats, and that will be undertaken very soon.

Headliner

Tried something new today, in that it's the first time I paint vinyl. The paint used was Dupli-Color's High Performance Vinyl and Fabric spray. The result was quite nice to use. It's a thin spray, and it takes several light coats. By using light coats, the threads on the seams did not clog or even appear to gather paint other than turning white, and no surface detail is hidden. The paint itself is obviously very pliable. The end result is quite pleasing to the eye, and doesn't look like paint, at all. If it lasts a long time and resists cracking and scratching, I'll be happy.

Below, the headliner after painting. This headliner was white originally, not Limestone. The wrinkles were there before, and should pull tight(ish) when reinstalled.

The headliner fittings, after cleaning, de-rusting and two coats of Eastwoods Rust Converter (which has turned them black). After priming, they'll also be painted black, their original colour. The three parts at the top are for the 'eyebrow' headliners. These small headliners will not be installed immediately, as much work needs to be done to de-rust the metal there and re-glue the vinyl.

Photo, taken before the restoration, below shows the'eyebrow' headliners at the top of the windscreen, just below the main headliner. These are sheet steel with vinyl fabric glued on.

Lift Gate Installed; Headliner

Haven't had too much time to work on things, but have managed to get the lift gate installed. This was not as easy as it sounds, as the collision (or whatever it was) that made the original tail gate unusable also distorted the lift gate hinge brackets and dented the steel frame. This meant that the hinge brackets had to be re-bent to not just their correct shapes, but also to conform to the dent, etc..

It took me a while to figure out how to bend the hinge brackets, as they are very thick. Finally, however, they were done with the help of a long pipe wrench and a firmly anchored shop vice. It took a lot of adjusting and many trips back to the vice.

The damage also meant re-riveting the galvanized brackets into which the hinge brackets fit. No damage there to the parts themselves, just pulled and sheared rivets which had to be replaced.

Below, the final result (which also makes me realise the original paint on the interior needs better cleaning...). No inner door handle yet, as the mystery of how the parts get assembled still needs to be resolved. Window and seals also need installing.

Overall Land Rover still wearing the plastic used for protection when painting the lift gate. It'll stay on a while longer, as work begins on the interior headliner.

More damage than you might think. The latch handle had been pulled off, too, dragging the bolts through the skin.

Headliner. Very dirty, but still in pretty good shape. The metal frame is rusted, but should last for a while, and won't be the end of the world if it needs to be re-made. Thread and seams are in excellent shape. I had thought about having the local upholstery shop redo the fabric, but I think a good cleaning and a coating of specially formulated paint for vinyl will work, and is in keeping with efforts to keep everything original where possible.