Bare frame! Finally!

So today was a big boon in productivity. I spent the better part of the morning clearing out the rear end, i.e. brake lines, shocks, springs, etc. I finished clearing off all I could from the bulkhead as well. After that Carl came over and we got to work on everything else that was still in the way.

The steering components and the box itself proved to be quite the problem. Rust had seated everything in when it shouldn't have and as a result the impact and a very large hammer was required to pull everything out of the way and off the frame.

We rounded out the day by pulling the bulkhead off completely in preparation for welding repairs next week. At first I didn't think I would remove the bulkhead, but considerations for my welder came into play, as well as making it easier to repair and pull the motor. Just made sense in the end. Repairs in it are minor but something I can get accomplished fairly quickly so it's off.

The engine gets pulled later this week and then I'll put in a wish list to Trevor White over at Rovahfarm and get things moving.

Time before deployment is ticking away fast so I've got to get moving on this!

Bare frame from the rear

Frontal view

Steering box and scale rust on bulkhead

Rear end bare!

Front axle POR-15d ... rear has yet to be done!

Moving forward ...

After quite some time of no progress at all, I finally got back to work on the Series project.

These past few months have been busy for us as we celebrated the birth of our son Ethan, his stay in the NICU, a move across town, two birthdays, four wheeling trips and an extremely busy ops tempo at work. All in all, we just haven't had loads of time. On top of that Shawna decided to give her P38 springs instead of fixing the airbags so that repair was accomplished as well.

Last weekend though, after staring woefully at the Series in the garage whose progress had not changed in months, I decided to take some time and get moving. My welder had been over earlier that weekend and gave me some good news concerning the frame rebuild and so I started with new enthusiasm. Part of his good news though, was that he'd need a bare frame to get it done right, so I set to work.

The front axle housing was pulled without much fuss at all. Everything unbolted as it should have and there weren't any real surprises. When the spring hangers were unbolted though the driver side frame horn that had already failed just fell apart completely, merely firming the reasoning for the tear-down to begin with.

There were scored marks on the axle housing where the frame had been rubbing!

The rear axle housing was a little more difficult though as jack-stand placement didn't jump out at me immediately. I had to get creative, but when all was said and done it worked out okay. The housing is currently still sitting under the truck, unbolted though, awaiting the front to get it's time with the POR-15.

The front axle has been gone over with steel wire brush and degreased and cleaned. Fluids have been drained and serial numbers have been documented in case I can't find a good way of preserving them through the painting.

All in all it's a start. The axle housings will be completed in order to give me a sense of progress. Once they are finished the engine will be pulled for the rebuild and the transfer case dropped. With any luck the axles, engine, body, and brake work will be complete prior to my deployment in February. The frame will be finished while I'm gone and when I return it'll be a matter of paint and putting it all back together ... it all sounds so simple doesn't it?

Frontal View, axle housing removed

Axle housing awaiting rebuild

The reason we're here to begin with!

Body is off!

Okay, so I've made some progress since last time I posted.

The body is completely off the frame, bulkhead aside, and all my issues have been revealed. So far my major concern is of course the front frame horn on the driver side ... that weld didn't even think about adhering.

On the passenger side in between the spring mounts (just in front of the shock mount) is a bit that has rusted through and will need to be patched as well. From there back though are only minor issues, which I'm pretty happy about. Everything bulkhead back is in good shape, although once the tub came off it was obvious that repairs had been made before and the welds are decent, but careless as they weren't ground down in the slightest which we'll fix soon enough.

Rear crossmember and bumper are in good shape and that too looks to be a replacement at some point during this trucks thirty-some-odd year lifespan so far. Wanting to make sure I didn't create any more problems, as I stripped paint and grit I wiped down and shot with primer to keep the steel clean. When all the cleaning is complete the entire frame and axles will get coated in POR-15 or equivalent.

As I got around to cleaning all the exposed parts of the drive train I was surprised to see how filthy it was. As I was uncovering years of road grime and grease I kept finding tiny surprises. The VIN was stamped into the side of the transfer case, 'Made In England' was stamped into the block, I just found it fascinating.

When I pulled the alternator back to clean some of the grit off the block I found it had a Ford part number. I wonder how long that's been in there? It's okay though, the starter solenoid I had to use when it went bad came out of a late 70's Ford, so I guess it's all right.

The engine cleans well with a drill and a wire brush in the large flat surfaces, whereas elbow-grease and sweat are required to get in the nooks and crannies. If anybody has an easier method by all means, shoot me an email!

Most of the body panels are stripped. I'm halfway finished with the tub and the hood was finally completed today. Once those get knocked out I'll haul them off to the storage unit and have a semi-clean garage to finish cleaning and grinding in. I think I've bought my last gallon of paint stripper but will just move on to primers, paints and sanding materials. I've just started and I can already see it never ends!

Some various pictures. Some need explanation, some don't.


Paint is now stripped from the badge ... it is plastic though! I had always thought they were metal! Plan is to use a tip I picked up form somebody along the way and that is to paint the entire thing black, and then use a sharp cloth to wipe the paint from the raised lettering before it dries.


Holy booger-welds Batman! Guess the guy who put those in never heard of a grinder.


Getting cleaner. I wish there was some Agent Orange type stuff that would just kill all the surface rust and road grime at the same time and I could just hose it off.

Land Rover Ethos

I've received a lot of useful hints and tricks through various outlets, i.e. forums, Rover friends, research, etc and have been asked a bevy of questions along the way. I had a little time this morning so I figured I would try and explain myself, as I'm not sure I fit the traditional mold of a Series owner, nor what I intend to do with it.

(This might get a little long as I tend to be overly verbose, so feel free to skip to the end!)

There are a lot of different veins of how a Series restoration should be done, from full frame-off to doing one piece at a time, from concourse to hobbyist. We fall somewhere in the middle; we're not interested in a concourse restoration at all, but we are very committed to staying with the original idea behind the Series truck and keeping black and silver in Sam's veins!

When people ask me how I can drive that truck (basically a tractor with two seats) to work and back on a daily basis without a radio, without A/C or power steering and more noise than you could imagine, I ask how I couldn't? You can't drive a Series truck and talk on the phone because it's just too loud. You can't not think about driving, because it requires a lot more attention than a modern day vehicle. You can't be in a rush, because somebody is always going to ask you some questions and what kind of Jeep it is or why the steering wheel is on the wrong side of the truck.

In short, driving a Series requires life to be simpler for me ... no iPod, no bluetooth headset, no rush, no worries. It slows things down for me in a life that feels too fast at times.

We appreciate the history and origin of the vehicle and are trying to remain true. As we began sketching out the process for this project, we thought briefly of swapping out the motor but then quickly discarded that notion. The 2.25 motor is reliable, strong enough, and just slow enough to keep me on target with what we want to use the vehicle for.

It's always been that truck we wanted to tool around the countryside in at a slow pace, something we can enjoy with the top off and take off pavement when we so desire and not be left wanting. We are considering the spring over axle conversion while the body is off, gaining some ground clearance and hoping for some more flex when off-road. The drivetrain on these trucks are not known for issues, and we've had very few once we got her up and running.

This is the truck I use as a daily driver all summer, but it's also something we want to wheel and enjoy on the trail so suspension is something we're looking at pretty close. We'll make some final decisions once the body is off and we're looking at everything and how it all works.

In the end though, we want a competent trail truck, a nice clean daily driver and something that will last for years to come.

Wish us luck!

Catalyst revealed!

Progress is being made. For the most part, right now is just being spent stripping paint and taking body panels off. So far the doors, door tops, hood, breakfast apron, and driver side wing are bare aluminum.


The driver wings has given me the most heartache so far though, as there was a lot of Bondo repair and I'm doing the homework to find out how to get that all squared away. Most of the panels are straight-enough for a truck that's going to see a lot of off-road, and that's good enough for me. I'll hammer out the bigger dents and get things aligned, but leave some of the smaller ones for the rustic/used but not abused factor.


Once I pulled the driver wing I was able to get a good look at the weld that had failed and man, did it fail! Pulling the truck and starting repairs was the smartest thing I could have done as it just wasn't safe to drive anymore.

As you can see, the weld put in by a previous owner just wasn't done properly and the stress was too much. It shifted the entire front frame horn up on the driver side about an inch and another piece that appears to have been fabricated with it died entirely, dropping the bumper mount down into the channel of the frame. This entire piece will be cut out and re-fabricated.




In this last photo you can see where the original piece was held in place, almost as if it was just tacked in and the real welding never done. It's dropped significantly because of the weight of the spring pulling it down up front.

As I said, this was the catalyst for the resto to be moved up, but we didn't know how bad it was, or how lucky we were, until we got the wing off and were able to see the injury.

Paint stripping 101 ... from a newbie.

As we started this project, I knew there were multiple layers of both automotive pains and general household paints covering the aluminum. The white layer on top had been brush rolled, which was a good 100-foot paint job, but anything closer than that and you started seeing brush strokes and drips and runs.

I headed over to the storage unit and picked up the two sides of the top, which had been off of the truck since the temperature rose above forty. After doing some general prep work, i.e. chipping away the paint that had already started peeling, I read the directions on the small jug of Tal-Strip II, Aircraft Paint Remover. I started with a small can because I didn't want to buy an enormous jug of something I was unhappy with, but stuck with for the duration. Needless to say, this was a smart move.




The inside of the topside I started with was, in my opinion, going to be one of the most difficult because of the nooks and crannies on the inner panel. I donned my overalls and respirator and gloves and poured some of the stripper in a pan and brushed on as directions indicated. Within a minute or so of application the paint began to bubble and split, eating through the first layer of paint.

Almost immediately I knew this was going to be a chore and I started seeing several different colors of paint - white on top, light green, dark green, black, and then finally a Land Rover tan underneath it all! I had my work cut out for me!


After the stripper had setup, I removed it with a bristle brush and a scraper and then rinsed with water. After a few coats I had the finish down to a gleaming bare aluminum. I was at first worried about using a sander on the metal, but after some research and debate, figured in the end it wasn't going to matter too much if there were some fine imperfections - this wasn't after all a concourse restoration and some of the smaller dents and dings in the body were going to be left in situ for character.

I didn't want something showroom perfect, because I think Series trucks that look immaculate look unused. Shawna and I saw a Series with perfectly straight body panels and paint in North Carolina a few years ago and I remarked it had been abused. Shawna asked what I meant, and I replied that the truck had never been used for it's intended purpose, and therefore, was being wasted by the owner. That's just my opinion though.

I can say without a doubt though, the Tal-Strip is toxic. Use in a well ventilated area and cover your entire body! I got some on my forearm and it burned something fierce. I bought mine at a local auto parts store though so I'm sure you can find it anywhere. Once that smaller jug was gone though I asked some questions and found another product, Tal-Strip II which is environmentally friendly, a little less toxic, but much easier to use.

Here are some pictures of the passenger side top after all was said and done. One panel down as far as the paint stripping is concerned, stay tuned.

Fourth of July; while the rest of the country was gearing up for backyard barbeques, anticipation of firework displays and get togethers with friends, I was standing alone in my garage at 0630 with a cup of steaming hot coffee in my hand. I'd left the lights on in the shop the night before, and Sam sat there looking sad in the gloom beyond the bumper of the RRC.

We'd known this day was coming for a while, we just didn't see her being pulled from the daily driver slot so quickly. I was anxious to get started on her, but even more anxious to make sure everything was done right so we wouldn't need to do this again.



As an aside, I fully welcome any and all input.

This is a new experience/adventure for me, so I know I am bound to have my successes and my failures. I'll figure out how to do things the right way, and I'm certain I'll figure out the wrong way to do them. I have enabled the 'comments' feature on this blog, so please feel free to provide opinions and input.

The link section, albeit vacant for the most part at the moment, will be filled with suppliers and advisers as the time comes.

Thanks again for your interest.