This is the thread I didn't want to start so early into life with my Series 3 88" but you know how one thing leads to another....
For those who may remember, about four or five months ago I decided to drain the fluids from engine, gearbox, transfer and the overdrive to refresh everything, give it a general service and tidy up in preparation for my first full year of use. There was a bit of rough running which was sorted by an exchange distributor, an exhaust that was on its last legs having been patched with an old tin can and a length of scaffold tube with clamps. The brakes were good and it drove fine but it was obvious that at nearly 50 years old it had been kept alive rather than 'preserved' to any great extent by the previous owner.
Draining the gearbox presented me with a little gift in the drain plug, a couple of straight cut teeth, possibly reverse or first gear and from that point on I didn't use it again, a decision was made to pull the box to rebuild it. Trouble was this is one of a couple of old classics in the garage and I didn't have room to start work on the Landie until I had built a new shed / workshop to store the bits from it as well as various components from other vehicles. This was completed in October, new racking installed in the garage followed and the strip down could begin.
The lower dash panel had already been removed highlighting some minor rust in the heater trunking that runs through it, this was repaired but highlighted a further problem with parts of the wiring loom that had been cooked at some point. The wiring was a mess with add ons for rear fogs, work lamp, reversing lamps, tow bar, interior light all wired from the battery with inline fuses alongside the existing but frail loom.
The bulkhead had always been a bit suspect, lots of filler skimmed or rather 'trowelled' over the mounting plates for the clutch master and the heater housing, obviously from water ingress through the windscreen bulkhead seal, the ends at the top of the 'A' posts were also full of pug and it all looked like this had been done a few years ago just to keep it on the road.
As I say, one thing led to another, with the loom in a poor state and the gearbox coming out I thought there wouldn't be a better time to address the bulkhead issues.
Further inspection whilst removing the front end revealed a couple of holes in the chassis, mostly confined to the offside front dumb iron. This has been repaired before judging by the state of it, there are holes on top, side and bottom and although it doesn't seem to have affected the front spring hanger this needs doing also.
As I say, I was hoping to get two or three years use out of the series before getting involved in any of this but having been
a) pressed into this through circumstance, and
b) inspired by others on this forum
I thought I'd give it a go. I was also posting updates fairly regularly on things I had completed or was doing some days and thought it better to write my musings, post some pics and share experiences and frustrations. I am not a professional, my experience is with classic car interiors, this is certainly not going to be a concours resto with everything farmed out for powder coating, painting etc etc, indeed I plan to do as much as I can myself. Life is one big lesson and my philosophy is you only get out what you put in with learning and besides if I cock anything up I've got you guys for help and advice!
For those who may remember, about four or five months ago I decided to drain the fluids from engine, gearbox, transfer and the overdrive to refresh everything, give it a general service and tidy up in preparation for my first full year of use. There was a bit of rough running which was sorted by an exchange distributor, an exhaust that was on its last legs having been patched with an old tin can and a length of scaffold tube with clamps. The brakes were good and it drove fine but it was obvious that at nearly 50 years old it had been kept alive rather than 'preserved' to any great extent by the previous owner.
Draining the gearbox presented me with a little gift in the drain plug, a couple of straight cut teeth, possibly reverse or first gear and from that point on I didn't use it again, a decision was made to pull the box to rebuild it. Trouble was this is one of a couple of old classics in the garage and I didn't have room to start work on the Landie until I had built a new shed / workshop to store the bits from it as well as various components from other vehicles. This was completed in October, new racking installed in the garage followed and the strip down could begin.
The lower dash panel had already been removed highlighting some minor rust in the heater trunking that runs through it, this was repaired but highlighted a further problem with parts of the wiring loom that had been cooked at some point. The wiring was a mess with add ons for rear fogs, work lamp, reversing lamps, tow bar, interior light all wired from the battery with inline fuses alongside the existing but frail loom.
The bulkhead had always been a bit suspect, lots of filler skimmed or rather 'trowelled' over the mounting plates for the clutch master and the heater housing, obviously from water ingress through the windscreen bulkhead seal, the ends at the top of the 'A' posts were also full of pug and it all looked like this had been done a few years ago just to keep it on the road.
As I say, one thing led to another, with the loom in a poor state and the gearbox coming out I thought there wouldn't be a better time to address the bulkhead issues.
Further inspection whilst removing the front end revealed a couple of holes in the chassis, mostly confined to the offside front dumb iron. This has been repaired before judging by the state of it, there are holes on top, side and bottom and although it doesn't seem to have affected the front spring hanger this needs doing also.
As I say, I was hoping to get two or three years use out of the series before getting involved in any of this but having been
a) pressed into this through circumstance, and
b) inspired by others on this forum
I thought I'd give it a go. I was also posting updates fairly regularly on things I had completed or was doing some days and thought it better to write my musings, post some pics and share experiences and frustrations. I am not a professional, my experience is with classic car interiors, this is certainly not going to be a concours resto with everything farmed out for powder coating, painting etc etc, indeed I plan to do as much as I can myself. Life is one big lesson and my philosophy is you only get out what you put in with learning and besides if I cock anything up I've got you guys for help and advice!
I ran it (badly) for a few months and then it dawned on me that I had paid too much as the problems were rather deeper than I had been led to believe. And the rest, as they say is history. I still struggle to believe I actually did a complete rebuild myself - I got there in the end and now I have something really rather nice. Yours certainly looked good when you bought it and, just think, when you've finished, how superb it will be and, better than that, you will know it inside out and know that the work was done properly. So, good luck and enjoy the journey, take plenty of photos which you can look back on from your arm chair afterwards (as well as getting the fun from driving it, of course).
