Wing Test Fit

As anything needing painting is on the fast track these days, and while the hood/bonnet frame dries in preparation for primer tomorrow, thought I'd do a test fit of the right wing, along with the ABS plastic outer wing. Didn't really fasten anything together, just enough to hold things in place. Had to do quite a bit of panel beating first on the inner wing, as it was more damaged that previously thought, but eventually it came together. Hope to do a test fit of the other wing tomorrow.

Aside from some small adjustments, it appears everything will fit together well. The plastic outer wing is a very good quality part.

Square hole on the inner wing near the headlight is the air intake for the Kodiak Mk.II heater.

Paint: Limestone; More Hood/Bonnet

Was at NAPA today, at lunch time, picking up some more Pastel Green paint, and asked about Limestone. It turns out it's already in the system, as an official Land Rover paint, which was a very nice thing to discover. The guys at NAPA very kindly mixed a sample for me to try out, and it is indeed an exact match for what's on the Land Rover.

Here's the computer entry and code (3307, but can also be found as 516 in the same system) that NAPA has on file. In case it's useful to those who don't have a NAPA at hand, the entire formula is here:

Worked further on the hood, finishing up the scraping, sanding and wire brushing. Where the old paint resisted well, it was left alone and sanded smooth, as I'm not going to argue with paint that has stuck well for 51 years. Then masked off the aluminum (including the rivets, as they would not have been painted originally when the frame was installed; however they were covered by the Pastel Green overspray) and then two coats of Eastwood's Rust Converter (which smells a lot like tea, incidentally, which may be the tannic acids used).

The Rust Converter needs 48 hours to dry completely, and then the frame will receive a primer coat, and, following that, some black high-temp paint. Then work will switch to the other side.

Here, the exposed steel and rust are turning black, which indicates that Rust Converter is doing its job...

Hood (or Bonnet)

In an effort to try and paint everything possible before it gets too cold to warm the garage effectively, I made a start on the hood yesterday and today. At this point, this involves just removing 51 years worth of dirt and oil. As ever on this Land Rover, it's been a pleasant surprise to find that corrosion has been relatively light - outside of the bulkhead and chassis.

Day 1: Cleaned some sample spots just to see what I was up against, and then did the central aluminum areas. Then, a light scraping of the steel frame to see how things were there, exposing some red oxide primer at the same time. Result: very minor corrosion on the aluminum, and just light surface rust on the frame. That was some very well baked on dirt and oil. Frame is painted black with red-oxide primer.

Day 2: Aluminum done, and most of the frame scraped and gone over with the wire wheel. Interesting to see the factory overspray of the Pastel Green, including what looks like a little test of the spray gun from whoever was painting that day. Hood hinges have been removed for stripping.

Vent Seals; Windscreen

The vent seals are proving to be a challenge all of their own. I purchased Land Rover-manufactured seals, and they are a very nicely made product, but unless I'm missing something I don't believe they work properly. There's no groove for the vent lids to settle into, and so the lids have to be jammed down in the hope they will eventually make their own groove through pressure. It requires a lot of pressure to press the lids down, and even then they don't go all the way.

A search on the web and Land Rover forums revealed a lot of frustration over vent seals, and no real answers. The seals themselves, like almost everything else on the aftermarket side of things, come with no instructions. The most common answer that I found was to keep the vent pressure on the seals by clamping or whatever, and after a few weeks or months the vents should be properly seated. This can't be right. When original Land Rover owners needed new seals, did they just have to endure rain and snow and blowing wind in the cabin for weeks until the vents sealed properly? I can't see a practical and experienced engineering company like Land Rover doing that.

It seems logical, at least to me, that the original and correct seals must have had grooves of some sort, and not have been as thick.

I tried cutting a slit in the seal for the lid edge by tracing around the vent lid, but that wasn't successful as the lid lip didn't always catch the slit.

Peter at 3 Bros. kindly sent photos of the aftermarket seals they sell, and they appeared to have the same flat-top profiles as the official current Land Rover ones. The only seals I could find on the web which appear to have some sort of shape that might be correct are part number MUC4299, as imaged on the L.R.Series website here. I'll have to look into this, preferably with Peter, even though they are apparently only for Series 3 and Defenders.

And so, I experimented with other seal types, and one which appears to work well, at least in the short term, is a self-adhering, water-proof, closed cell outdoor rubber weatherstripping available at Home Depot here. I bought a few sizes to try things out with, and this was best. For now, I think this will do.

(If you know of any other solution, leave a comment!)

Here, view of the weatherstripping. Pro's and con's: Pro: very inexpensive, easily available, and easy to remove/replace if necessary. Plus, the lid can be lowered/closed completely right away, with fair pressure on the seal. Likely good for keeping wind and light rain out, and heat in. Con: May not be good for heavy rain or trying to chip ice off of, and, don't know how long they'll last.

A view with the lid closed. (Incidentally, the weld blobs around the hinge welds, etc. are factory original, and so I sort of like them, which is why they're still there.)

On a different note, and no big deal other than it's really starting to feel like a Land Rover now, the windscreen went on today. (By the way, the high-quality Land Rover-manufactured bulkhead-to-windscreen seal, also appears to be too thick, as with with the vent seals. Even with considerable force the windscreen won't lay back at completely the correct angle. May just go back to the original 51 year old seal, as it was working just fine except for being slightly tattered at the ends.)

Doors Installed; Sill Panels

The doors are on, as are the sill panels on one side. I thought it would be pretty straight forward, just bolting things together, but noooo, it's taken a few hours of adjustment and then readjustment. There's a reason so many bolt holes on a Land Rover are oblong and not round.

Here, a view to shock the purists, perhaps! The Land Rover with her wrinkled rear panel, a souvenir from work-related activities some time in the 1960's, but also showing the doors installed plus one of the ABS plastic front outer panels, from Paddock's, that was installed to ensure everything lined up as it should. Original aluminum panels just weren't available, unfortunately. The rear vertical cappings are being held in place with clico's for the time being, but the riveting should be done soon.

The passenger-side door, showing a couple of its own small dents. Getting everything including the sill panels to fit evenly was a real challenge and took a lot of time.

Just a view of the weatherstipping, and the 3M weatherstripping glue used for attachment. The weatherstripping will also be riveted, later on.

The lower weatherstripping. I had installed the official Land Rover weatherstipping here, but it was far too robust and the door simply wouldn't close properly, even with the sill rail moved all the way in. And so, off it came, and this substituted. This segment is riveted on. The door now fits just perfectly.

A view of the passenger side door. The metal handle is a replacement from Blanchard's, as the original had been lost, otherwise everything is original. The plastic on the door handles had come off, and so they were re-dipped with three coats of Plasti-Dip. The forward door seal will be attached once the windscreen is on, so that the seal can be sure to meet up with the one on the windscreen frame.

The driver's side door. Everything here is original to this Land Rover, including the pull handle, with the exception of the outer door handle, which also needed new coats of Plasti-Dip.

Tub Exterior Painted

Another area of the gold colour applied by the previous owner some 35 years ago has disappeared. Today the tub returned completely to its colour of origin for the first time in more than three decades, with the sanding down, masking off and then painting of the exterior sides.  Now just have to be patient for a few days and then the doors and sill panels can go on - although the door seals may have to go on first.

Here, the doors are in the tub to stay out of the way, and continue their own drying process. Note the backs of the Exmoor Trim seats, which are pretty ugly and un-finished looking compared to the originals. May have to see if I can do something there. Planks on the garage floor remind my feet not to come too close to drying paint.

Not the best lighting, as I was just on my way out, but she certainly seems to be coming along. Angle grinder is on the bumper as there is a small bit of metal that must come off the bulkhead where it meets the floor on the driver's side, as it's impeding the placing of the final spire nut: tomorrow's job.

Seats

After some trial and error, have the seats installed: fun to sit in the Land Rover again! Seats are by Exmoor Trim, supplied by Rovers North.

I found the wooden strips on the bottoms to be too narrow to keep the seats in place, and the first time I sat on one of the seats it came off the rails, with the staples that hold the fabric on making some good scratches in the rail paint. Not very pleased with that. Solution I came up with was to purchase some wooden strips myself, cut them to fit, then glue and screw them to the seat bottoms. Had the whole family in the vehicle afterwards, wriggling around, and the seats now stayed in place.

The seats: firm but comfortable. Of course, in a stationary vehicle is not the best place to judge, but at least for now they're quite nice. I have the rubber bumpers and leather straps for them, but as usual, there are no instructions, and so it'll take some guess work. Seat construction is completely unlike the originals.

The new strips, carefully measured, glued and screwed into place.

Looking back: the original seats. May still get these re-uphostered one day, as their basic frames and springs are in excellent shape.

Original seat bottoms and backs. How did the bottoms stay on the rails? Just with the leather straps at the forward end (of which there is just the one remaining, bottom right)?

The interior is slowly coming together, with various items being fitted and tested. The lever knobs are all original.

My daughter, Land Rover dreaming.... : ) Note also a test fit of a vent seal.

Did I mention the door exteriors are now painted, as well? : )