Rear Axle and Engine

Although there's been no posting over the last couple of months things have really started happening on the Landy. The front axle has been completed and is in the car. I have had the car rolling since then and there were no untoward noises and the steering was smooth. I haven't got around to getting a photo of the finished axle yet but I will get some once the rear axle is in and the chassis is cleaned up. 

I then proceeded to pull out the rear axle and dismantle it. The rear axle was much simpler than the front although because I have 3.54 diffs in it I needed to weld on a filler plug to the casing. I am just waiting on some new drive flanges and some other odds and ends to finish it up so I can finally have a fully mobile car again. 

I have also completely stripped down the engine and sent it to the rebuilders for a dunk in the acid tank, skimming of the head and block and machining of the valves. I was initially not planning to strip down the engine at all but a quick look inside the water passages showed that it needed to be cleaned out. I will be putting it all back together with all new seals and gaskets and new rings, using the original bearings. Hopefully this cures the engine's appetite for water. 

After investigating the cost of a new loom and considering that I would have to modify it for the engine anyway I decided to use the existing loom. I have made pretty much entire new looms for the front and rear lights and pulled out lots of old, disused wiring from behind the dash. 

Next up is reinstalling the rear axle and then cleaning the underside of the car. Then I will be rebuilding the engine and installing the drivetrain to have a running and driving car again. 

Sorry for the lack of photos, I just didn't get around to taking any. I'll make sure the next post has some.

Front axle progress

Sorry for the gap between posts, I have been overseas so nothing much happened for a couple of weeks.

I have finished all the wire brushing and painting so the axle is ready for reassembly. I am waiting on my new swivel balls and other parts to arrive so I can begin the swivel assembly and finish up the axle.

In the meantime I have taken apart the "new" series 3 gearbox for inspection and clean up. Some very questionable oil came out of the main box, very milky and chunky. However, once I took off the top cover and took out the selector shafts I found the 'box to be in good condition, with no missing teeth and no corrosion. The transfer case oil was nice and golden.

I am planning on swapping the bell housing from my old IIa gearbox onto my new series 3 box so I can retain the current clutch set up. I believe it is a case of swapping the bell housings along with the input shafts.

I've also installed some original style seats to help making getting it back on the road easier. Next up after the front axle is the rear axle which should be a much less involved job. Then the engine will be coming out for a service (seals, gaskets, paint etc) and so I can give the engine bay a spring clean. I think I will get a new wiring harness as the one I have at the moment has been badly chopped up in the past which is causing some problems with intermittent breakages.

I'll have a post up soon with the conclusion to the front axle and maybe a section on the gearbox.

Front Axle Update and Paint Process

I have done some more work over the past week on the front axle, mainly cleaning stuff up an painting it. So far I have painted the diff housing, diff head, swivel housings, brake backing plates and steering arms.

I thought that I would do a post on my clean up and paint process as I found it very helpful with my rebuild.

Firstly I get my hand wire brush and try knock the big greasy stuff off. I do this because if you went straight in there with the power brushes it would make the job a whole lot messier.

I use three types of wire brushes. One on the grinder and two on the electric drill.

The one on the left is for the grinder and it is very aggressive. I am careful not to touch gasket faces with this as it would scratch up the metal pretty bad. However, it is much more efficient at cutting through stuff compared to the drill. The big circular one on the drill is the one I use most frequently. It is great as I can vary the speed easily so I can be more accurate around more delicate parts. It does pretty well at cutting through paint but it struggles with rust. It cleans up gasket faces nicely and is safe on threads. The smaller end brush is also used on the drill for getting in tight spaces.

Before wire brushing

Next I start removing paint using the wire wheel on the grinder if possible. Some parts are too small to do this but on things such as the axle casing and brake backing plates I use it first. The steering arm example here is not a great result as a lot of the paint remained but I guess if it's been on there 50 years already it isn't going to come off anytime soon. This was done entirely with the drill which I like for smaller parts.

After wire brushing

Next I clean it up using Brakleen to get rid of the oils and any dirt left over. I then apply rust converter by rag and wait 15-20mins for it to react. I use SCA rust converter, its just the stuff that was in the shop. They're all pretty much the same. I don't wipe the steel down between the rust converter and paint and the bond seems fine.

Next I mask all the areas that shouldn't be painted. This is a pain but if you do this stage properly the paint job will look much better.

Steering arm masked

Next up is paint. I use Rust-Oleum paint and primer in gloss black. I use gloss as it should give a harder finish, a satin black would be better for looks but I suspect the paint will lose a bit of it's gloss after it's had a bit of mud on it. I usually only do one coat, mainly because it's winter at the moment and with the colder temperature the paint takes a while to dry. I'm not patient enough to wait for the paint to dry fully before doing another coat. However, obviously if the paint looks thin or if i've missed a spot I go back and do it again.

Painted

And that's my paint process. It may not be the best but it has worked so far and all the parts that have been painted look great.

Also, I am in the market for a set of parabolic springs for the landy. If anyone has any tips or experiences with them it would be great if you could let me know.

Front Axle Rebuild Begins

The past few days have been spent solid working on the Landy and heaps of progress has been made. 

I'll go through it as days as it splits it quite nicely into stages.

Monday

I began by pulling the front axle from the car. This involved lying in mud as I had to pull it somewhere where it could sit for a few months. Thankfully all the suspension bolts came undone easily and with the help of an engine crane the came out. Pulling axle did reveal a few new issues that need to be addressed. Firstly, the spring bushes are f***ed (see pic). the centre tube just fell out once the bolts were removed. It does make them easier to replace though.

Axle coming out

 

The freewheeling hubs are also leaking a huge amount of oil. I spent a couple of hours disassembling the axle and getting it into my tiny shed that will be used as my workshop. 

Tuesday

I spent the entire day disassembling the axle down to the core components. I had a good run with the suspension bolts but the axle itself managed to throw up a few problems. The hub nuts were so stuck I had to cut them off and the top swivel pin took my biggest hammer and a massive chisel to get them out. That was the cause of the heavy steering then. I also had the chance to inspect some of the parts. the half shafts are in excellent condition although they will require new distance pieces. The swivel balls are gone and every bearing is destroyed. I am overall quite happy with the condition of the axle and will just be a case of replacing wear items. 

Wednesday

I spent a few hours wire brushing the axle casing, the diff and the swivel housings. The wire brushes are very effective however the wire brush on the angle grinder really hurts when the wires fray off. 

Axle casing wire brushed

In other news I have purchased a series 3 gearbox which I intend to swap with the current one. I really want full synchromesh as it makes the drivability much better. I will be swapping the bell housings so I can retain the current clutch setup. 

I have also had some wise words of wisdom from a friend who has advised me to get the car on the road before swapping the engine etc as it makes the certification process much easier. He worked as a LVVTA inspector for a while so I trust his opinion. However, I you know better please leave a comment down below. 

I'll be back within the next couple of weeks with another update on the axle rebuild and a post on my painting process.

Rust repaired!

Lately the project has really kicked into gear and I quite a few things have happened. The biggest milestone was getting the rust repaired professionally. This included a rear crossmember replacement, bulkhead patches, and some minor patches on the chassis. I had this done professionally as I cannot weld and I am very happy with the results. The work was carried out by Costin Revival, which is based near Christchurch. If anyone is looking to get any work done on their car I would highly suggest them. There are still some small patches that need to be addressed but I hope to buy a cheap MIG welder and attempt to do them myself. As you can see by the photos some of the work done was quite complex!

This is a major milestone in the build as it is pretty much one of the only things I can't do myself and therefore one of the biggest costs. It all came in well under $2000NZD which I think is very reasonable for the amount of work put in. 

Update May 2018- Change in plans

I know this blog seems dead as I haven't posted in close to 6 months. I've been very busy over the past few months and haven't had much time to do anything on the landy apart from the occasional drive through the off road course I've made on our property. But progress is coming!

I've had a major change of plan for the car that I thought I may as well share. I originally just wanted to get it back on the road doing the least work as possible and doing it on the cheap. I now realise I should spend more time and money making it what I really want. This means a complete strip down and probably many years of the land rover in bits.

The basic plan is to pull out the holden straight 6 and series gear box and put what I have always wanted in it: a Rover V8. I will also be swapping the front axle for a stage one model with cv joints as I will be using the LT95 with a 101 bell housing and input shaft. The LT95 is a strong box and hopefully will be able to handle what I have planned. I will probably use a 3.9 out of a discovery as they are quite easy to come by and convert it to twin carbs. The series box would easily hold this power but in the future when I have enough money I really want a 4.6 efi in it. I don't think the series box would like 225hp going through it. Full time 4wd will also reduce the power going through each axle so hopefully with a couple of mods they can stand up to the abuse. I think that I can fit this behind the standard radiator panel without having a tiny rear propshaft but that remains to be seen. Other mods will be parabolics, bigger tyres, and rear locker.

I have already got everything needed to recondition the existing series front axle. The problem is that I may not be using it once it has a V8. I plan to recondition this axle and then sell it on. This will make me a bit of cash and also give me a bit of practice reconditioning big mechanical bits.

I want the end result to be a very capable off roader while being unique. This will be my play toy and with a bit of camping set up in the back be ready for any adventure this country has to throw at it.

It is a very grand plan and I have no idea how i'm going to be able to afford it but you have dream right?

Stay tuned for a full documentation of the axle rebuild hopefully before the end of the year. If you have any information on V8 conversions (or any other info on rebuilding axles etc) into series landies i'd love to hear from you. Pop a comment down below.