Trip to Godley and Macauley river valleys

Last weekend I managed to get up the Godley and Macauley rivers on an overnight trip. The weather was perfect and the rivers were nice and low. We were in dad's 2012 Defender 110 and my 1994 200tdi Discovery 1. Both cars were essentially stock with the defender having a snorkel but as it isn't sealed it is more of a raised air intake and doesn't really help in river crossings.

The first crossing was pretty deep with the bonnet dipping under on entry (see photo). I was a bit worried in the Discovery but it made it across fine. We walked all major fords before crossing which you should always do as water always looks shallower than it is. The first crossing was probably about 600-700mm deep which was way above my 500mm recommended maximum! After crossing the river we made our way up the Godley River valley which has some absolutely stunning scenery. Mt D'archaic (2875m) stands at the top of the valley and as the photos show, it makes a spectacular road into the wilderness. We reached Red Stag Hut around 2:00 and chatted to a group of hunters who advised us not to try to reach the glacier lake as the terrain became harder the further up you got.

We then headed back down the valley to Lilybank Station but headed up the Macauley Valley to our overnight stay of Macauley hut. We drove about 1 1/2 hours up the valley and met another group of hunters who said that the hut was already full and was another hours drive up the valley. We therefore elected to camp in a sheltered spot on the  edge of the valley, well away from the river.

The next morning we drove out and crossed the Macauley River at a much better ford that was only up to the sills. Then it was a 3 hour drive back to Christchurch.

It must be noted that we did this in a bone stock Discovery 1 with road biased tyres, no snorkel and no lift kits. The only problem was the low-slung tow hitch that bottomed out frequently coming out of fords. That may soon be coming off in favour of something more suitable (stay tuned). It goes to show that almost anyone with at high ground clearance 4wd can come out here and experience some of the best scenery in the world. Any Land Rover model could make it up here, even a Freelander (with some careful selection of river crossings). All up it cost me about 57 litres of diesel ($65) and a couple of hundred diesel miles which made it under $100 per vehicle. If you live in the Canterbury area I strongly suggest that you give this trip a go.

Ball joint replacement

I've finally finished replacing the ball joints on the landy. I started this job more than a week ago but there were a few problems. I started with the drag link. The ball joint on the steering relay end came out pretty easy but the other one took a fair bit of whacking the steering arm to break the taper. The hammer type ball joint splitter that I bought especially for the job was useless. I got one ball joint unscrewed easily but the other one wouldn't budge. Even lots of heat and two monkey wrenches couldn't do it. Dad mentioned that when he replaced them back in 2005 he couldn't get one undone so it is likely it had been in there 20 years or more. I ended up buying a new drag link. I needed another at some stage anyway because mine didn't have the mount for a steering damper. I got it from Classic 4x4 Parts in Auckland along with a new oil pressure switch for my Discovery. Both were genuine parts and fitted perfectly. The track rod ball joints came out easily. It seems that some makes of ball joints have grease nipples have some don't. The ones I got were Britpart and the sealed for life type. I prefer this as the OEM (Lemforder) ones are sealed for life so I guess this is superior. The ball joints all went on easily and seemed ok quality wise. At $5 a pop i'm not complaining. I reused the old clamps with new bolts.

Track Rod Ball Joint

Steering Damper Mount

I've taken the Landy on the tarmac before I touched the steering, after adjusting the steering box and after doing the ball joints. The adjustment of the steering box stopped the wandering but the ball joints have got rid of lots of the play in the steering. It now holds a straight line at 50kmh when before I touched it it was dangerous to go 30. Huge improvement. I think that replacing the ball joints was one of the best improvements for the money i've made. The ball joints only cost me $30 and are pretty easy to do.

I've also dug out my old Haynes manual for help with ordering axle parts. I'll probably do the rear axle before christmas and wait until the new year to start the front.

New Brake Drum

I expected putting the new brake drum on to be a 5 minute job but as always not everything went to plan. When I went to put the drum on the first time the studs didn't line up. I thought that as the wheel had been on without the drum the studs hadn't bedded in straight, they didn't look like it anyway. I then proceeded to destroy the threads on the studs and nuts trying to pull them back through so I had to get 5 new studs and nuts. These studs seemed much better quality than the ones the replaced but were, again, unbranded. Replacing the studs didn't work. I then drilled out all 5 holes to 19mm to get the drum on but it still took a mallet to get it over the shoes. I think that both the hub and drum were just crap. I know the drum was Britpart but I don't know about the hub. I should have simply found a series 2 hub in the first place rather than substituting a series 3 one. When I rebuild the rear axle I will find a secondhand series 2 hub and brake drum rather than using the ill-fitting series 3 hub/drum. I guess the lesson learnt is to get the right part and try to go with good quality parts rather than the cheapo Britpart stuff.

New Parts and other updates

The new parts have arrived and I have run into a few problems. I placed two orders with LR Direct, one for the brake drum and ball joints and another for the lights. However, I somehow accidentally ordered two of the brake drum order so I have ended up with double of everything. This was no fault of Lr Direct, they shipped everything I ordered and it was brilliantly packaged. It was just me being a bit stupid. Hopefully I can sell some of the stuff through forums to recoup the cost but I guess its a good lesson to make completely sure you have the right stuff before you order.

The posts on replacing the ball joints and brake drum will still go ahead but unfortunately you might have to wait a wee bit longer if you want to see the lights being replaced. I'm thinking of placing another order in November/December for stuff like hub oil seals and possibly a swivel rebuild kit. The next few big jobs will be focused on the axles and I will eventually move on to drive shafts, gearbox and clutch. I am focusing on the drivetrain as I can do it myself, the rusty chassis and bulkhead will require someone that can weld. I've also got some things on the Discovery to do but I probably won't document them as they're just small electrical jobs.

The ball joint and brake drum posts should be up by mid next week (10-11 October). Also, the trip up the Rangitata might turn into a overnighter up the Godley/ Macaulay rivers at the head of Lake Tekapo. Bit easier terrain and better facilities. Also the scenery should be even more spectacular. It's just going to be the Discovery and dads Defender and because my Discovery is bone stock and dad is very careful with his Defender the easier terrain is probably the better option. This is all weather dependent but hopefully all the rain we had in winter has left none for spring!

Please feel free to leave a comment. If you have any recommendations on parts suppliers or brands to look out for i'd love to know!

Steering test

No fixes this weekend as I am still waiting on parts. However, I did get the series out on the tarmac to test the steering. I only did up to 20mph as I have very limited brakes but the steering is a huge improvement. There is still a lot of play in the system but it doesn't want to wander nearly as much as it used to. So I thoroughly recommend trying this fix. See the post on steering box adjustment on how to do it.

Minor touch-ups, cleaning and new parts

Spent this weekend doing some minor touch ups on the series. I have now painted all the brake drums to match the soon-to-come new rear one. One of the brake drum screws was very hard to get out and even my impact driver didn't cut it. I have heard of a method of using a drift and hitting the edge around. Worked a treat. I'm planning to clean-up the front backing plates when I take off the hubs to fit the new oil seals which have both failed. I used CRC Black Zinc paint which apparently also stops rusting which is handy. It seems pretty solid after 3 coats.

The rest of the axle needs it now!

I also water blasted the underside of the landy. Much better. I can actually see the chassis now and it probably prevents rust. However, cleaning does reveal problems you didn't know you had. I have now noticed that the passenger side bulkhead cross member has had a hit at some point and someone has bogged it up to make it look like it isn't there. This has caused a bit of rust in this area. I think I might need to take off the tub to fix the chassis as there is much more rust than I thought.

Possibly the best part of this weekend though was finding a stash of landy parts. I think they are left over from when dad built the 109" station wagon back in 2005. Lots of seals, a spring shackle, wiper blades, steering wheel, a badge and gear selection plate from the donor car. The best thing though is the chrome trim for the interior light. The one I have just ordered has a black plastic surround which would look crap in the car so it's great that I can have a chrome one.

I also made up a replacement hanger for the exhaust. This was my first attempt at metal working but I hope to do more in time. Not exactly complicated but you have to start somewhere.

Finally, I replaced one of the front vent seals with one that I found in the stash of parts. The old seal was very perished but came out easily. I used Skellerup adhesive designed for bonding rubber to other materials. The hardest part of this job was actually getting the bolts that hold the opening mechanism to the vent. Not much room and with small bolts makes it very fiddly.

Don't have much else to do until the new parts arrive so might be no posting for a week or two.

Repacked Wheel bearings

Sorry it's a bit late but last weekend I repacked the nearside rear bearings and finished cleaning the underside of the car.

When I stripped the hub apart I didn't find any damage to the bearings or races so I may have got off lightly. I gave the hub and bearings a bloody good clean and repacked them. I've also finally finished pulling all the mud off the underside of the car. I still need to water blast it but hopefully I don't have mud falling in my eyes when I'm working on it anymore. It has also given me a chance to take a better look at the rust in the chassis. The rear crossmember is worse than I thought but fortunately the bulkhead outriggers are pretty good. The nearside front mudguard is also completely rusted out. I may have to take off the tub to repair the chassis at some point but i'm focusing on the mechanicals at this point.

On another note, I have ordered new lights all round (excluding the headlights which i've just replaced). Four indicators, two park lights, two 3 inch brake lights and an interior lamp. I also got two new oil seals for the front hubs as when I opened them up the insides were covered in oil. I could have used the light old housings but some of them are corroded and the rubbers are perished. I don't want to be fighting problems with sealing and rusty contacts down the track. Another order from lrdirect.com and insanely cheap, $50NZD for all of it! Albeit, I did buy all Britpart but I haven't had a problem with them yet and my budget is limited.

Might not be a post for a couple of weeks as I won't get the new parts until then and I am super busy. Granted, you will be inundated with posts when I get them as there's a bit to do!
Stay tuned!

P.S- Here's a picture of the Landy flexing. Not bad for a leafer!

Steering box adjustment

Today I spent a couple of hours adjusting some of the play out of the steering box. I saw a post about this on another forum so I decided to give it a go. Hopefully this coupled with the new ball joints should make the steering good enough to not have to touch the steering relay or swivel housings for a while. The great thing about this adjustment is that you don't need any new parts to do it, really helpful when you're on a budget.

The wheel nuts were super tight because they probably haven't been touched for years but heaps of CRC 556 and 5 minutes of bouncing up and down on a breaker bar saw them finally give in. I was afraid I might end up with more snapped studs which would have been a real pain but they all held on. 

The amount of mud that has piled up over the years is incredible and I managed to remove a few kilos while getting to the bolts. To get to the steering box you have to remove the cover which is held on by three bolts, one in the driver's footwell and two on the inner wing. As you can see in the photos the steering box cover is completely rotted away so I didn't hold much hope for the bolts. I gave them a good soaking of 556 and tried to get them off. It is possible to do this with one person like I did but it would be a lot easier with two. Only one bolt came off unscathed with the others snapping quite violently.

The steering box adjustment is done with a bolt on the housing. Usually the housing is covered in grease so you will have to clean it up before attempting to undo it. It has a 24mm locking nut over the 11mm bolt that will need to be undone before you can adjust it.

There isn't enough room to get a socket over top so I tried using a crescent to undo it. Even after multiple blows with a hammer it didn't budge. After what seemed like a long time hammering and swearing about the stupidity of the engineers that didn't leave room for a socket I gave up. Instead i gave the mudguard a few hefty blows with the hammer so I could get a socket on. Fine for me with a rough car but not ideal if it is a freshly restored example. I may take out the mudguard later on and cut a slot for it to fit but I think that will just end up with more broken bolts. With the breaker bar and a 24mm socket it came off super easy. To tighten the steering turn the 11mm in and lock it with the nut. Make sure you lock it before testing it otherwise it will adjust as you test. If you tighten the bolt too much the steering will become very heavy so it is best to have a little more play and lighter steering. I ended up not putting the cover back on because it was doing nothing anyway and the bolts are a pain to do up. I'll need to get another one but for now i'm not too concerned.  Here's a picture of the cover - probably repairable but I can't weld and new ones are relatively cheap so in the bin it goes.

A short drive up our gravel drive showed a little decrease in scariness but I never noticed the play off road anyway. I will have to get it on tarmac to see it it has made a real improvement.

Going to spend the weekend repacking the bearings in the nearside rear hub and cleaning up the brake system on the offside rear hub. I will then move onto doing the same on the front axle and generally cleaning up the wheel arches. 

Completed Jobs & What's Coming Up

Just thought I would make a post about the jobs that have been done recently on the Landy that I haven't documented.

In the past 6 months I have replaced the offside rear half shaft as I snapped the old one while off roading. This is a common problem on the older series with the 10 spline half shafts which was significantly improved when they switched to 24 spline in 1980. Replacing it was a real pain as it had snapped off at the hub end, flush to the stub axle which meant I couldn't remove it without stripping the axle back. Once the stub axle had been removed I could get a pair of vice grips on it and knock it out. I repacked the bearings when I put the axle back together but I would like to replace them sooner rather than later as they weren't in the best shape.

After I stupidly overtightened the wheel nuts on the nearside rear wheel I managed to snap off a couple of the studs. This posed a problem as the series 2 studs are screw in and quite hard to remove. A few of the remaining studs had been welded in before which is a common fix but i weakens the metal and the welds were starting to crack. I therefore elected to buy a new hub. However, after ringing around a few of the local suppliers I found that it was quite hard to find a hub with screw in studs. I did get hold of a series 3 style hub with push in studs from Rex Mealing (Land Rover Spares) in Auckland. He has been very highly rated on the forums so I thought i'd give him a go. I was told the hub would fit on the axle no problem but I would have to get new wheel nuts etc as the studs are bigger in diameter. The hub also came with new bearings. The service from Rex was awesome with shipping to Christchurch in a couple of days. I've had to wait a week for parts from other suppliers.

However, I did have some problems with the parts. The hub must have been slightly undersized as the inner bearing race really didn't want to go in. I put the race in the freezer overnight and put the entire hub in the oven for about 20 minutes and managed to get it in the first 10mm or so. After that it was a 2 hour long slog with a soft punch and a hammer tapping it in. The new rear oil seal also didn't fit so I had to fit the old one, not ideal but it didn't leak before so fingers crossed it will be alright. Time will tell.

What I wasn't told but I should've assumed is that my brake drum doesn't fit. I could drill out the holes but the original is in pretty bad shape so I will be getting a new one.
Also, just last week I took off the hub again to clean up and paint the brake backing plate. When I reassembled the hub I found the drive flange was rubbing on something when I turned the hub. After a bit of detective work it turned out the lock washer was rubbing. and had left shavings of metal all through my lovely new bearings. I have hardly driven it since replacing the bearings so fingers crossed they are salvageable. A quick google search and measure revealed that the washer was 3mm over size. Lucky I caught it when I did.

Although the parts were definitely sub-par I did pay very little for them and I guess you get what you pay for. They were unbranded so I couldn't tell you a name but it certainly shows to pay the wee bit extra for the good parts. It will save money in the long run.

I also installed a new pair of sealed beam headlamps, just cheap ones from Supercheap. I had to replace all the connectors because the 50yr old ones just fell apart in my hands!

Now for the jobs coming up. As I am writing this I am ordering new ball joints for the steering system, new brake drum and lock washer. I have the benefit of my dad working a few months of the year in the UK which means I can get him to bring them back instead of paying international shipping. I try to support local suppliers but sometimes the absurdly low prices get me.

Sorry, that turned out to be quite a long post, congratulations if you could stand my blabbering and got this far. I might post some videos of some off roading once the ground dries out and I get some brakes! I am also planning a bit of a trip up the Rangitata River in late October with the Discovery, Defender and possibly the Series 2 if it is in a reliable condition. Stay tuned!

Introduction

I've created this blog to document my ongoing fixes on my 1969 Series 2a SWB. My father purchased the vehicle in 2003 as a daily driver. After building a custom 1969 2a LWB the Landy fell into disrepair and came off the road in 2008. Dad later sold the LWB and now drives a 2012 Defender 110. I learnt to drive in it around the paddock and have got most of my mechanical knowledge from working on it. I now intend to get it up to a roadworthy standard as my funds allow.

The car was registered on 11th August 1969. I therefore assume it has a late 1968/early 1969 build date as these cars took a while to come out from the UK. I believe it was bought by a mining or forestry company somewhere in the North Island judging by the records on MotorWeb. It was rebuilt during the 1990s which is when I think it received it's current Holden 173.

The car is in pretty good shape considering the amount of abuse it has taken over the past 50 odd years. The motor is a sweet runner with the only problem being a hairline crack in the block which slowly leaks coolant. This was a common conversion in NZ and I can see why. The 6 cylinder is really smooth and is much more powerful than the standard 2.25. Oh, and it sounds great. Spending the past 20 or so years in Canterbury has limited the amount of rust. There are the usual problem spots in the front of the chassis, rear crossmember and door pillars. However, this all seems repairable. All the driveline is pretty worn out and the steering is very vague.

The pros include a solid engine, a pretty good chassis and the fact its been driven pretty regularly for the past few years.

I might also add some posts about my 1994 Discovery in this blog but that will hopefully require less attention than the series 2!

This blog is NOT a restoration blog. I have decided that the car is too far gone from standard to restore. The Discovery is a bog standard example in great condition and is much to good to turn into an off roader so I have decided to make the series 2 my off road toy. I am also not going to strip the car down at this stage because I don't have the space or money. So this will be a sort of rolling rebuild. Feel free to leave a question or comment and I will answer it as best I can.