Hand Brake Re-assembled

Put the hand brake together this afternoon. Hopeful that it works (and looks) a little better than when it was taken off! The outer backing plate shows some signs of its former surface rust under the paint, but the inside was almost rust free. New parts are the brake pads and springs, plus the locking plate, packing plate, retaining spring and their rubber dust cover (which were completely missing). The rest is original.

Tires Removed from Rims

Today's lunch time project was to get the tires off, which was done by the good folks at the local Firestone tire center. Let the air out of all five tires before taking them over, and boy did the air inside small bad! However, once the tires were off, nice to see that the wheels are in good overall shape. The paint inside almost appears to have been painted by a brush, or is that due to the tubes? In the next couple of weeks they should be off to a specialist for soda-blasting, and then I'll be painting them back to their original Limestone off-white colour (as per the top-most rim seen here).

Two views of numbers stamped on the wheels: the first is the year of manufacture, I assume.

The second is the wheel part number, described in my Land Rover Parts Catalogue as "Road wheel, well base rim type."

Rust; Springs

A typical time spent with an old Land Rover: a selection of rusted nuts, bolts and washers, all in various states of damage and corrosion - all to be replaced with brand new ones, thankfully.

Test fitting of the front axle casing on the new springs. Good thing I tested, as it turns out the dowls that center the axle are not exacty in the middle, from front to back (not side to side). On each front spring, they were off by about 3/16, both in the same direction when reading the stencilled words on the springs. Not much, but when I had the springs initially placed with the stencilled wording facing outwards on each side, it was visible, by comparing with the chassis, that the axle had a very slight 'turn' in one direction. By making the springs identically placed, i.e. with the stencilled wording reading from the driver's side, on both sides, the axle lined up properly.

Have now made sure the rear springs are also identically placed.

Busy

No photos these past days as there's been too much going on, and the garage has been very cluttered. Basically, had set up to paint, and have been doing the axle casings and many other parts. With all the parts now waiting for reassembly into front and rear axles, plus the wait for the last remaining small items to arrive from the UK, USA and here in Canada, I think it'll be nicer to take some photos when things are a little further along in a few days. : )

Hand Brake - Dismantled and Cleaned

The hand brake parts have cleaned up nicely. Have ordered new OEM brake shoes and springs from Rovers Down South, along with the dust cover for the expander unit, and the packing plate, locking plate and retaining spring which go with said expander - these last were completely missing. The hand brake cover, which isn't visible here, has already been cleaned and has received a new coat of Eastwood's Rust Encapsulator, prior to getting final coats of chassis black. The same will be done for the backing plate.

In this view you can the expander and adjuster parts in the plastic bag at top. They are in top shape.

Over the past few days have also started to install the springs on the chassis, seeing as the axles are coming together and it may be possible to make a rolling chassis fairly soon. Today I found a place that will remove the old tires from the wheels, and have already lined up a company that will media blast the wheels. Then the wheels can be painted in Limestone (the original off-white visible on one of the wheels immediately behind the chassis) and the new tires  installed.

The original rear springs bolts are truly seized, and I can't get a good angle to try and get them off, so have ordered new ones (plus shackles) from 3 Brothers Classic Rovers. Was able to use the original shackles and shackle bolts on the front springs.

Hand Brake - First Look

While waiting a few days for the garage to get warm enough to work in again, went in briefly and took the hand brake drum off. Drum itself appears in perfect shape, however the rest will clearly need a good cleaning, inspection, overhaul and, if nothing else, new brake shoes.

Before:

After:

Rear Axle

Finally removed the rear axle today. The prop shaft bolts came undone without any trouble at all, a nice change after the struggles with the front axle. I have to say, though, that the special tool I bought for the purpose has been useless, not fitting around the prop-shaft yokes. Brake line screw-in connections were rusted solid, so simply cut the lines again. U-bolts were not going to be used again, so simply cut through them. Et voila, off it came, although I forgot about the remaining oil in there and had to clean a fair amount off the floor.

Best news today is that the replacement refurbished galvanized bulkhead from Ashtree Landrover International is due to be shipped from the UK at the end of next week. Looking forward to seeing that.

Rear axle itself appears, externally at least, in good shape, and should clean up nicely. The differential turns as it should, and so I'm hoping that when I take it out that all the teeth inside are in equally good shape. So far (touch wood) the rear axle and hubs have been refreshingly free of problems.