A Landy is reborn

Post pictures and stories about your cars both present and past. Also post up "blogs" on your restoration projects - the more pictures the better! Note: blog-type threads often get few replies, but are often read by many members, and provide interest and motivation to other enthusiasts so don't be disappointed if you don't get many replies.
Message
Author
tractorman
Posts: 1399
Joined: Mon Feb 21, 2011 11:22 am
Location: Wigton, Cumbria

Re: A Landy is reborn

#171 Post by tractorman » Tue May 19, 2015 4:14 pm

Well, the bank account is £400 lower now! The new pins, bushes and bearings have arrived already (a full axle kit on eBay was cheaper than individual bits), the swivel housings are in the post (Fed Ex I think) and a brake cylinder and linings are coming from a well known Land Rover specialist who has been on Salvage Hunters and IIRC Car SOS. That supplier is also sending some freewheel hubs (I saw those on eBay!): another improvement that seemed sensible to do while the "axle" is stripped.

I managed to spend an hour or so with the Landy this afternoon and had a fight to get the brake shoes off (it would have been wise to take them off when the hub was on the axle) and took the wheel cylinders off. It was predicted that the copper brake pipe would stick to at least one of the unions, even more so after I had decided not to change these last two copper pipes. I was just glad that the unions were free in the cylinders! All four studs come out though - none of the nuts would move. That was expected too (I had a Rover 60 with bad brakes about forty years ago!)

After a hunt, I found the car shampoo (the Halfords stuff I used to use) and, as I hadn't any detergent for the pressure washer, I used that after giving the hub a good going over with Gunk. However, I got sidetracked - I've been meaning to clean the windows for ages (I did the inside of them last week), so the back windows are nice and shiny and the paving flags are a bit cleaner too! The hub looks a lot better, though I should spend several hours removing the rust, priming and painting them. I suspect that a bit of Waxoyl will be all that they get as I have some knocking around the shed - I use it for the extended hydraulic rams on the tractor and digger when they aren't in use).

tractorman
Posts: 1399
Joined: Mon Feb 21, 2011 11:22 am
Location: Wigton, Cumbria

Re: A Landy is reborn

#172 Post by tractorman » Fri May 22, 2015 4:04 pm

I am almost at the point where the hubs can be refitted, having had a couple of decent sessions in the garage. The housings have the bearings fitted, though the Railko bushes were 0.5mm too big and needed a little attention in the lathe (I suspect the restoration would never have happened without the lathe!). I didn't take much more than the surface off (if that - there was still signs of it showing), but it would have been enough to stop the bushes fitting if I hadn't skimmed them (I did try the press first). I think I did well with the bolts that held the housings to the axle - only had to cut one off with the grinder (though it might have come if I had taken the damper off).

So the next job is to clean the n/s hub and then I will try to make them look a little less "weathered" before I start putting things back together. I want to change the oil in the front diff while I am doing the front axle as I suspect there isn't a lot in there. There was more oil from the outer end of the hub than out of the drain plug on the nearside!

Nell inspected the brakes, they are well worn: you can see the good bit in the photos - most of the rivets are just about to mark the drums! However, the little dog is confused - she didn't know that some vehicles had drum brakes on the front!

Image

tractorman
Posts: 1399
Joined: Mon Feb 21, 2011 11:22 am
Location: Wigton, Cumbria

Re: A Landy is reborn

#173 Post by tractorman » Fri May 29, 2015 3:41 pm

I had hoped to get a lot done this week. I should have known better!

The first of the two new swivel hubs is more or less fitted, though I have left the half shaft (third shaft?) out because it is nicely in line with my shin if it is fitted!

Image

I spent a while with the pressure washer and various forms of detergent and got these rusty items for my efforts. One has been treated with two sorts of rust remover, the other is untouched since washing:

Image

Both need more work before I can spray a bit of stone chip on the back and a little primer and black around the outer edge of the front face. OK, I didn't intend to clean them so thoroughly but the three "good" wheel cylinders weren't good after all - four new ones to be fitted - and, as the backplates have been stripped down, it seems sensible to get rid of the dirt and rust and give it a coat of paint.

The brake drums have had that treatment, but the camera settings were wrong :oops:

Image

The hubs will be stonechip on the outside and just ordinary black on the inside - I will save the blue calliper paint for the back drums (and probably need to give the front ones a second coat. I did wonder if I should paint the Golf's callipers blue but sense will prevail!

User avatar
Grumpy Northener
Posts: 1637
Joined: Sun Apr 03, 2011 8:26 am
Location: Hampshire UK

Re: A Landy is reborn

#174 Post by Grumpy Northener » Sun May 31, 2015 6:10 am

I did wonder if I should paint the Golf's callipers blue but sense will prevail
Awe go on, then you have an excuse to fit a galvanised bucket back box to the exhaust and fill the boot and rear seat with speakers - a few stickers on the rear window and wickied init - :lol: - you will get even more street cred if you fit some wheels that don't fit in the first place and lower the suspension a tad - just enough so that the tyres get grooved by the wheelarches and the floorpan gets taken out everytime you go over a speed hump :o
1937 Jowett 8 - Project - in less pieces than the Jupiter
1943 Jowett Stationary Engine
1952 Jowett Jupiter - In lots of peices http://Jowett.org/
1952 Jowett Javelin - Largely original
1973 Rover P6 V8 - Original / 22,000 miles

rich.
Posts: 6804
Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2011 9:18 pm

Re: A Landy is reborn

#175 Post by rich. » Sun May 31, 2015 6:46 am

:lol: :lol: :lol:

tractorman
Posts: 1399
Joined: Mon Feb 21, 2011 11:22 am
Location: Wigton, Cumbria

Re: A Landy is reborn

#176 Post by tractorman » Sun May 31, 2015 6:48 am

Slight problem is that half of those suggestions are already done! When I looked at the Golf, it had 15" steel wheels with nearly new nitrogen-filled Michelin tyres. When I went to collect it, it had 16" alloys and rather worn tyres (three makes!). As it's a Bluemotion, it already had the GTI suspension (to lower the car) and has a plastic undertray more or less from the front to the back wheels! the undertray now has one or two holes :oops: The front mudflaps scrape on anything that's more than a couple of inches high (like the bit from the gravel to the concrete in my friend's yard).

I've got four speakers to go in the Landy (when I get as far as fitting the radio...) but I suspect the unused Warfdale speakers from the unused domestic stereo in my bedroom would be more suitable. There are some Dogs' Trust stickers on my desk (I'm sponsoring a Springer spaniel), but I haven't put them in the car yet (and don't intend to either!).

On a more productive note, I got the grinder and wire brushes out yesterday and did the hub assemblies and the steering link rod (that goes between the front wheels). Considering the amount of cleaning and rust remover I had used, there was a heck of a lot of rusty dust coming off them! Even more came off when I used my Powerfile (1/2" belt sander thing)! Sense prevailed - I have painted the hubs/backplates with XHT paint and not stonechip; though I couldn't do the backs of the backplates while the hubs were on the bench, so today's first task is to turn the things upside down and do those. I had the thought that the stonechip will probably clog up the brake adjusters and various threads and I haven't any BSW taps to clean them out. OK, I know there's little difference between those and UNC, but I get pedantic at times! The link rod will be sprayed with cold galvanising spray and possibly some stonechip but more likely, brush-painted with some satin black that's left over from doing the waste pipes around the house.

User avatar
JPB
Posts: 10319
Joined: Fri Jan 07, 2011 3:24 pm

Re: A Landy is reborn

#177 Post by JPB » Sun May 31, 2015 9:54 am

Benfield wanted a substantial sum of money to supply mine - not a Bluemotion model, they all have that badge these days - without the "Blue Motion" badge :x , so I took it off at home and a careful scoosh of Deoxit removed the glue without paint damage.
Well would you want to smoke about in a car named after the contents of an aeroplane toilet?
J
"Home is where you park it", so the saying goes. That may yet come true.. :oops:

tractorman
Posts: 1399
Joined: Mon Feb 21, 2011 11:22 am
Location: Wigton, Cumbria

Re: A Landy is reborn

#178 Post by tractorman » Tue Jun 02, 2015 10:26 pm

I suppose most diesels have their equivalent of "Bluemotion Technology" these days (as does a petrol-powered Polo!). However, mine is a different beast to a standard Mk5 in that the GTI suspension was used to lower the car and the underside has a plastic tray under the passenger compartment - and the gear ratios are different (the BM can out accelerate a standard 1.9TDI). However, the USP with mine is the £30 tax (the ordinary ones were somewhat more expensive to tax)! OK, newer ones are less to tax, but the DSG Mk5 at the place where I bought mine was either £170 or over £200 to tax - it might have been a two litre one - which was rather more than the last Mk4 and so too expensive for me (I hate paying VED!)

True to another post, I have only had half an hour (at the most) with the Landy over the last couple of days - I sprayed the steering link rod and drag links with stonechip this evening! However, Sunday was quite productive: the hubs have had a second coat of black paint and the n/s swivel housing has been fitted. I had to use some aerosol "red oxide" primer on the steering bits - I must have used the last of the galvanising spray on something more important!

Next job is to fit the new wheel cylinders and make some new pipes for them. Then it can all go back together again and I can take the back brakes and the "handbrake" apart and I expect to spend a fair bit of money there too!

User avatar
JPB
Posts: 10319
Joined: Fri Jan 07, 2011 3:24 pm

Re: A Landy is reborn

#179 Post by JPB » Wed Jun 03, 2015 8:29 am

I remember the last time I opened up the parking brake drum on a Land Rover, a friend's completed S2 Station Wagon which had been booked for its MOT by her without my being asked whether the thing was ready. Needless to say, putting the transmission drum back on, I'd noticed that there was a weep of gear oil from the oil seal and the parking brake shoes had begun to look a little oily. But the testing station was 18 miles away, the test had been booked and I wouldn't have another day off for the rest of that week and the next so off I went, an hour early, and parked on a flat road a couple of blocks away from the tester's premises. There I removed the drum, scooshed the shoes with a very unhealthy dose of brake cleaner and wiped away the resulting mess before building it back up, at which time it was bang on for the appointment so I parked the LR right outside the tester's doors and went in to announce my arrival.
The road outside the garage was on a 1 in 7 slope so he always tested parking brake efficiency out there on vehicles - like the LR - that mustn't be tested on the rollers. Seeing it parked there and not rolling down the hill was enough, the parking brake passed as did the rest of the 'orrid old sack of pooh, as I affectionately named the thing after driving it back to Nath's place with her test certificate to present to her. Sadly, the oil seal never did get replaced as Nath had seen a classic Toyota 4x4 that she liked and poor old Landy was sold on to some other masochist though in fairness to Nath, she did at least admit that the oil seal needed to be done so the buyer wasn't having the wool pulled. I don't remember whether she also confessed to the catalogue of wiring issues that had been top of my list to see to when next I'd got my hands on the vehicle but that was 17 years ago and the evil old thing's still running about, as is her Land Rover.
8-)
J
"Home is where you park it", so the saying goes. That may yet come true.. :oops:

tractorman
Posts: 1399
Joined: Mon Feb 21, 2011 11:22 am
Location: Wigton, Cumbria

Re: A Landy is reborn

#180 Post by tractorman » Fri Jun 05, 2015 11:02 pm

Heck, I hadn't realised that a transmission brake actually did something! There again, most of the Land Rovers I've driven were rather ancient farm vehicles - with the exception of the 6-pot 109 that the David Brown agency had as a "handy tow vehicle"!

I mentioned in another thread that I intended to fit the bleed nipples in the top wheel cylinders (it has twin leading cylinders from a LWB model). I spent a while trying to get tight enough bends on the pipes to clear the "drag link" that is also the bottom "king pin" (so to speak). There is very littl espace for the pipes and, even at a 1/2" radius bend, the pipes will foul the link! I have the thought that I could have moved the backplate round the hub a little (it has six holes, so 60deg would be the minimum movement). I didn't try as I suspect the bolts would be rather tight and, knowing my luck, the hub bearings would collapse when I started "messing" (even if they can't!).

A slightly better picture of the brake drums:

Image

Just to prove that both swivel hubs have been replaced:

Image

Note the axle stand is under the chassis. That's not my favourite place to put them (they are called axle stands for a reason!), but I was working on the axle and had thought of taking it out to clean and paint it. Then remembered it is a Land Rover, so not a "Chap Foose" restoration!

The new pipes in position:

Image

You can just about see the (red) pipe and jack brackets hanging from the drill table. I have plenty of red paint left over and a bit of colour makes things a little nicer to look at!

I have a proper pipe bender, but it makes rather large bends (and it's minimum size is larger than the pipe!), so had to make my own - but the bends are still too big! Though you can't see it in the photo, the flat bit of wood has a groove in it so that the pipe isn't flattened on the outside of the bend.

Image

I might get an hour or two's work done over the weekend and, with luck, both hubs will be refitted by Monday. Then I can get the pipework finished and make a start on the other brakes!

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 16 guests