Death Valley 2011 page 2

It was cold and crisp when we awoke! the potty chair was even colder! After breakfast and packing up it was off down Warm Springs Rd. through Butte Valley and into Death Valley proper. Warm Springs Rd. is lots rougher than it looks from a distance making for slower going than I had thought. One last pic of the Striped Butte as I went by.

As we wandered into uncharted(for me) territory we came down to the warm spring itself, described to me by Linus as a small puddle in the ground. To our astonishment there was a Defender 90 parked at the spring. It belongs to a fellow from Socal(Dave?) and his daughter, Victoria.

A quick chat and photos then it was off to explore the springs.
I was amazed to find there are several buildings(one had a walk-in refer) here and a swimming pool, presumably filled by the spring. There is enough room to park probably 40 rovers and camping room to spare. One building has a screened in porch and a fireplace in the main room.
We hiked to the spring and Chris went back to the car soon followed by Linus. I then got into the spring. It is about 12'x7' and about 8" deep with a gravel bottom at about 99F. Very comfortable!

The Indians used to winter here. I soon was relaxed in my private corner of the world, a fissure in the cliff filled with warm water........
After a while I realize Linus had not come back an thought perhaps they were waiting on me as I had been so long in the spring. Quickly I dressed and looked at my watch, 20 min had gone by, I had thought more like an hour. I returned to the buildings and Linus had been engaged in conversation. He then took a short dip in the spring.
After the spring we headed on down to Westside Rd and turning left we headed North.
Now this road is graded, a real pleasure to drive after all the bouncing along. We then turned left again at the road to the Queen of Sheba mine. This road was one of the worst I have ever been on! Rocky-off camber for about 3 miles. And I only had 2-wheel drive, but we made it.

There was time to look around before dark fell, the mine is the remanants of a lead mine with lots of stuff still to be looked at. We spent the night in a cabin with no interior walls and only 1x10's on the outside with nothing covering the gaps between.

The woodstove proved very capable of keeping all 3 of us warm. We each had a set of springs to sleep on that night as Chris dragged one in from down the hill for herself. The view was something else from all the windows!

Bright and early the next day saw us packed and ready after breakfast and down the rocky road to the Westside Rd. again turning North. Quickly we passed Galena Canyon Rd. and headed for Johnson Canyon.
We then drove to the end of Johnson Canyon some 10.5 miles. Here there is a camping area with a fire pit across the stream.

Then we undertook the hike to Hungry Bill's Ranch further up the canyon. Hungry Bill was an Indian who was always wanting food and eventually had this ranch with fig and apple trees.
The hike is not easy and goes uphill along cliffs.

I got the chance to try out my ankle and some hiking poles. They helped me to maintain my balance on some of the more difficult ups and downs, as well as relieving some of the weight off my ankle as I hiked.
It took awhile to get there and not much is left, just some stone walls and some trees.

The trees were leafless due to winter but some had old fruit on them. After a look around it was back down the trail, easier this way as most of it was downhill. Just imagining the prospectors and wagons going thru on the way to Panamint City in the 1850's was fun. It shows how the canyon has changed over time as the bottom is now choked with bushes but here and there you can see remains of the walls for the road.
Once back at the cars we exited the canyon and headed North on Westside Road again hoping to camp at the cabin at the end of Trail Canyon. Along the way we stopped at the grave of Shorty Harris.

We were almost to the road for Trail when we came upon a stranded motorist. His rental Ford Tarus failed to start. It had some electical problem as a relay kept on turning on/off about 10 times a second. He had phoned for help and the car would not jump start from Da Snork. He had water and food and the tow truck was on its way so we left him.
Soon we passed a Ranger headed in his direction and we could see a dust cloud coming from the South so we figured he was OK. Then it was up Trail Canyon.
Trail Canyon Rd. is the northernmost road off Westside Rd. It goes 10.4 miles to where it bifurcates and on the left is some buildings from an old mine and a cabin to stay in. The right used to go to Aguereberry Point but is closed now by the Park due to a washout.
I drove about 10 miles up in 2 wheel drive then things got rougher so I locked in my front hubs hoping that it would help. As darkness fell in the canyon I turned on my headlights and lost sight of Linus up the road. Bouncing along I hit one good bump and my 30 amp relay failed and my lights went out. I just kept on going in the growing gloom. Linus warned me of a steep uphill to the cabin over the radio so when I saw it I just hit it hard in 2 low and clambered over the rocks and dirt to the top. As Chris and Linus unpacked I went to work on my headlight and bypassed the relay.
Once again it was a comfortable night with a woodstove and spring beds for all.

We only had one mouse for a visitor and after finding how he came in we covered the hole with a brick.
Early to bed and early to rise. Linus and I took time after breakfast to look around at the mining operation. there is a workshop and junkpiles, old cars half buried, a bunkhouse that someone is fixing up but the new roof was partially torn off. Across the wash we could see a hole in the ground and we went to investigate. It turned out to be what we thought was someones home, a hole with a door and rocks stacked up for a wall. Barely room to lie down in, food tins scattered in the entrance downhill.

After exploring we packed up the Rovers and headed out. Our orginal plan was to do Echo Canyon next but my not having 4x4 meant we would see if we could get to the Inyo mine instead of doing the whole crossing into Nevada.
About 3/4 of a mile after leaving the mine the springs on Da Snork came loose again. This time we lost parts and no amount of searching the trail turned them up. We needed some thin spacers and one thick one of about 1/2 in.

I drove up towards the mine where Chris was on foot looking and together we looked around the junk pile and found some items that might do including some bolted together with 2, 3/4" bolts.
Since neither of us had packed a hacksaw(DUH!) we took turns using my file to cut thru the bolts to free the plates. Chris was a real workhorse on this as she filed away!
After finding a plate that worked and bolting it back together we decided to head to Beatty, NV. for repairs, forgoing Echo Canyon.(Next year!) Jouncing down the road and checking tightness every so often we made it to a side canyon we had seen on the way up. Stopping we hiked in about a quarter mile and oohed and awwed at the rock formations.
Back in the Land Rovers and out the Canyon onto Westside Rd. headed North to Beatty we passed thru Furnace Creek where diesel was $5.31/gal. Hwy 178 leads to the Beatty cutoff and Hwy 190, once into Nevads it turns into Hwy 374.
Beatty is a small town and as we drove thru we took note of the local auto shop and stopped at the hardware store where Linus picked up some U-bolts and other bolts to use as locator pins. I bought a hacksaw! One to just keep in the car. From the hardware store with Chris's urging we went to the Bailey's hot springs about 6 miles East of town to camp and get a hot soak. We booked in and found there was no fire pit available :^(. We left Linus's Rover there and piled into my 88 and went into town for dinner at a BBQ place.
We returned to the auto shop and found it was just a guy working on his car and he would help Linus in the morning by drilling some holes in the damper plate.
Meawhile back at the hot springs we set up camp and used a tarp to block the wind between the 2 Rovers. Then we indulged oursleves in the springs. Man it was COLD that night with the wind blowing and buffeting my 88 througout the night, I slept with the catflap down to shelter some from the wind.
It was 26 inside Ignotus in the morning I am sure the windchill brought it down to the teens or single digits though. We got ready to go and Ignotus wouldn't start???? I've been having an issue with the glowplugs so I thought it was them. We need to eat so we piled into Da Snork and went to Denny's curtesy of Chris. Thanks, Chris! Then back to the camp.
We farted around for quite a while trying to get it to go, even melting 2 of the glowplugs with the jumper cables. I did have spares to replace them with!
Then it was time to go meet the guy in town so Linus and Chris left me to work out what I could with Ignotus. I checked for grounds, opened the dash and checked the wiring and switch,I checked for fuel at the injectors, I moved the glowplugs around. Nothing was making it start but the plugs appeared to be working. I had to come back out of the wind about every 10 min it was so cold and as I sat there in my car I thought what could it be, I should have had about 2 gallons of fuel in the tank at the end of last night. So I checked the fuel guage and it showed MT. That couldn't be right it was bout 1/4 tank when we went into town last night it was only 14 miles round trip. But I dumped in 5 gallons of diesel and primed up the system. Sure enough it started up, boy did I feel dumb!(still do).
I couldn't raise Linus on the CB so I headed into town and came across him just at the edge. A quick meeting and I went to fuel up($3.64/gal diesel) as they went shopping. We met again at the military surplus store. After a look around we headed out of town to do Titus Canyon.

Death Valley 2011

Well It was on again. Last Dec 17th Linus and his Mom, Chris, and I headed to Death Valley. Actually Trona Pinnacles,35 37'03.85N 117 22'05.19"W, home of fabulous tufa pillars.
The Trona Pinnacles are about 380 miles from home and takes around 8 hours to drive there including pit stops so it makes a good place to camp prior to entering the National Park.
We left at the butt crack of dawn 0500 and arrived around 1500 after stopping in Ridgecrest, Ca. to stock up on groceries and fuel. Trona Pinnacles are about 22 miles East of Ridgcrest. We did spy a green 109 in town at a Import repair shop. Ridgecrest is a slowly growing town surrounded by Military bases like China Lake. I feel it makes a great jumping off point to Death Valley.
Arriving at Trona we set up camp in a bowl surrounded by tufa.

I have most of my camping stuff compartmentalized so I decided to sleep in my Rover and not tent up if possible.
In the bed I carried 3 NATO cans of fuel and 2 of water. There was 1 large Rubbermaid Action Packer filled with cut lumber and 2 small ones, one with kitchen stuff and the other with bath/first aid. Added to the pile; the sleeping bag, laptop.
Along the sides of the top of my wheelwells I have old laundry soap plastic tubs. In these were spares parts, food, recovery gear, lubricants, air compressor. A pile of firewood made up the rest of the bed load. All kinda tied down with ratchet straps.
At the roof gutter line in my 88 I have installed a 1/2in piece of plywood that is a full shelf from the seat bulkhead to the back, full width. In this I keep the light stuff, tent, clothes, hiking staffs, repair manuals. The plywood works great but probably needs to be thicker or better braced to keep from flexing. The cutout opening needs to be revamped also as it can sometimes pop open. The next one will be in a jigsaw puzzle piece design.
So with the bed empty and the tailgate down I can put in the sleeping pad and bag and still sit up under the shelf. Which came in handy as the first night was windy and threatening rain!
We'd stopped at Subway for lunch and brought the rest of the sandwich for dinner. That makes it easier after the long drive.
A short look around as night fell, 1630 for sunset! Build a fire and try to be warm. Did I mention that it was WINDY?
Too soon we went to bed, I in my Rover and Linus on his cot and Chris in the ground wrapped like a burrito in bag, pad and tarp. I think it was 1930h. It did sprinkle during the night but not enough to make for mad scrambling back into the vehicles. The wind was ever present though.
Dawn came(0730) and so we all got up and fixed breakfast of oatmeal. It was around 34F. That done we packed up and headed out to see if we could find a 109 in the desert that Linus had heard about while in Ridgecrest.
Day 2 saw us heading north on Hwy 178 through Trona (no gas) and North around the top of the Slate Range. Then just past the Nadeau Trail on the right is a dirt turnoff with a road leading over a rise, here was the campsite of the mystery 109. It's owner is Dave Brady from Winnamucca, NV.

Dave's had his 109 since the seventies and has kitted it out nicely with bed, solar, cabinet, Timm Cooper disc conversion, Chevy engine with Scotty adapter.
After a short visit and address exchanges we backtracked down 178 to the road to the Escape trail over the Slate Range.
The escape trail was used in 1850 when Manly and Rogers left the Bennet-Arcane families and walked to Los Angles resupplied and came back to Panamint Valley to show the Bennet-Arcane families the way thru Fish Canyon to safety. Imagine 1850 and walking to LA........Without a single loss of life!
I scrambled around on the trail trying to find the correct route as I had only been over it once before with Vincent and he was driving. After a brief detour to an abandoned mine we found the way.
The trip over was uneventful but fun as we climbed and decended the hills and ran across along the dry desert ridges. We did however run into a Range Rover going in the opposite direction. The first view into Panamint Valley is wonderful as you overlook from Goler Wash up past Ballerat, coming out across from the CR Briggs mine.
At the bottom of the wash there is a plaque to the efforts of Manly and Rogers. From there you head out down the alluvial fan to the dry lake bed. It is a rocky slow trip. At the "T" we turned right and headed South along the base of the eastern side of the Slate Range. The road winds along between the base and the playa. Here we saw antelope,..er..I mean burros who watched us drive by. After a bit the road drops into a shallow wash and on the other side is the road to Goler Wash at the intersection of Wingate Road.
Linus headed up the road to Goler as Butte Valley was our destination for the day. We climbed up and into the canyon and were too soon at the gatekeeper.
Da Snork took a few tries to get up and after each attempt we restacked rocks. Eventually he drove up. Then it was my turn. I put it in 1 low and hit the rebuilt pile of rocks and got my front wheels up on the ledge and stopped, rocks spitting out from my rear wheels. Linus called out that my front wheels were not turning. I had everything locked in and in gear, it should have turned a front wheel!
I backed down and put it in second low and hit the rebuilt plie again with the same result, wheels on ledge not turning. So I sat there got out the winch cable. Once hooked up to Da Snork with Chris on the brakes I pulled my self up and over the gatekeeper.
There was only one more place along the trail to Mengel Pass that caused me a problem as it did Linus. I had to use the bypass though. The whole time my front end was locked in and kept making these popping sounds like something was winding up and letting loose.
We made it to the pass and started down into Butte Valley, after we got through the tough stuff and almost to the flat Linus stopped as something was not right with Da Snork. A quick inspection showed the right rear spring pack was loose and shims were missing.
Chris walked back up the trail and found the missing pieces. Yeah, Chris!! Meanwhile Linus and I found the u-bolts had come loose and the locater bolt had sheared off. I scrounged around in my kit and found a bolt that was at least the right diameter but too short.

With all the pieces Linus bolted it back together and we went in search of a cabin for the night as it was close to dark.
Russell's cabin was occupied and Stella's dirty so we stayed at the geologist cabin.

Dinner was fixed and packages of food and cans of beans shared. We brought plenty of wood for the trip this time and it was not as cold as last year so it was not too bad. I think it was around 830 when we bedded down inside on the floor.

Land Rover 109, off to the galvanizer

I know that I have been remiss in updating the blog. I have been busy though and it takes time to take the photos, download them into the computer, write some text, insert photos one at a time. I'll let you know at the end of this page how long it took me.
Since the last posting, the parts from British Pacific for the ROAM disc brake conversion have come in. I still have not been able to order the swivel housings from ROAM because they want to have them onhand before taking peoples money. Should be any day now.
Part of the conversion is to get rid of the single line braking system and go with a servo assisted dual line system found on the Series 3 Rovers. It has been difficult to find inexpensive parts. I needed to replace the Series 2 brake pedal box. Just to find a pedal box was hard. Pangolin 4x4 has them for @$200 used or @$300 for NOS. Then you have to get a servo from somewhere. Trevor at Rovah Farm has them for @$180, plus a master cylinder, again Roveah Farm for @$85. That brings it up to around $480 with shipping.
I managed to find a complete used unit in the UK at CWS: www.4x4cws.co.uk a Rover breaker advertising in LROi, for $380 with shipping. I hope it works!!!
Working to beat the rain I managed to wire brush the axle housings and coat with rust converter and about 4-5 coats of black paint. That took a couple of days.

Well, I did get the chassis flipped over and welded it all up and drilled holes in it for zinc drainage. Then I turned my attention to getting my 1959 88 chassis ready. I had to remove all the bump stops, the chassis spring bushes and a few misc nuts and bolts. The hardest thing to take off was the steering relay. It was stuck bad! Now I know why the previous owner didn't take it out. I first tried to persuade it out with some gentle tapping then got out the BF hammer. In this case an 8lb splitting maul. No help. I then chained it down to a metal beam and put a 3 ton bottle jack between them. I thought I was going to break the chain! Even with all the tension and some tapping with a 2lb hammer nothing moved!
I next chained it right to the beam. Then heated up the frame around the relay and proceded with tapping with the hammer. Still no movement so out came the BF hammer, finally with a few great blows it started to move. Apply more heat hit it again and the whole relay came out the other end! The body was still in the frame but the innards were now hanging out! The top had busted thru from the pounding.
But the relay had moved so I removed the bottom plate and then had access to the sides of the body. By using a big drift and my 2lb hammer I was able to move around the edge in a circular motion and tap the bastard out. It took 20 minutes of this tapping to get it out!
A couple of days later I rented a flatbed truck and Brian and I with the help of my neighbor Bob loaded the 2 chassis and the rest of the bits. The next day saw Brian and I off to drive to Oakland and Pacific Galvanizing. It is an 88 mile one-way trip and we had good traffic both ways. There was a tour of the facilities during lunch time. All the bits were photographed and kept together. Some of it still needed to go to get media blasted. That is where it all is now, Oakland. I am not sure when it will be done.

I have kept busy though. Disassembling the handbrake linkage, wire brushing and painting. Doing the same to the clutch linkage and brackets. Oh and my Rangie has kept me busy too! Seems the fuel level guage wasn't working right so I ran out of fuel. I thought it was the pump again so I had it towed to the shop. Trevor sent me a new pump today(the sender is integral). So now it is in. Last night the fuel guage read 3/4 now it shows almost on the red!
I have the new brake lines from Rovah Farm for the dual brake system. I still need to get a wiring harness. I chose the cupranickel lines for ease of bending and rust resistance.

When I got the parts for the 59 88 from Nevada I obtained 4 wheels, 8x16's. I took those down and had the old tyres removed and found out that one the rims was dented.

After about 3 days of searching I found a place in Santa Clara, Calif. Wheel Techniques www.wheeltechniques.com I sent an email with pics and they said to bring it by and get a free estimate. So on Tuesday I did. They guess for $50 they can get it usable. Then I can get the set media blasted and powder coated.

Ok it has taken me 45min to create the text. Now to add pics,,,another 15 min to upload pics. Total time 1 hour.

109 motormounts

OK now, I have been doing stuff. After we got most of the body painted and the paint dried. I put on the trim for the tub including rear door lock and fuel spout.

I also installed new rear lamp fixtures for stop and turn. I have to get a new license plate light still.
Then I painted the under seat panels and the wiring covers for the rear tub. The only things left to paint will be the bulkhead and radiator support panel once they return from galvanizing.
But first I need to sort out the motor mount. Changing from the 2.25 petrol to the 2.5 Dt is not exactly a drop in swap. The injector pumps are in different positions. On the 2.25 it sits in the same place as the petrol distributor. While on the 2.5Dt it hangs horizontaly off the side of the timing cover on the non-turbo side.
Fitting the different motor requires removing the battery tray to get the pump into location.

Next I had to remove the 2.5Dt engine mount on the turbo side and install the 2.25 engine mount in the forward holes. Many thanks to Richard at Glencoyne Engineering in the UK for his help in sorting this out. He has a great write up on the 200 swap at http://www.glencoyne.co.uk

I had to send photos and he responded to my queries promptly! My major sticking point was the non-turbo side ie, the injector side. I thought I was to replace the 2.5 engine mount with the 2.25 mount and drop it in..Well hold on cowboy,,the rubber mount won't clear the pump to bolt on???

Richard straightened me up, I needed to retain the 2.5 engine mount(it is longer and clears the pump), remove the pump side frame mount. Take the 2.25 engine mount and invert it attach it to the 2.5 engine mount and drop the motor into position on the turbo side mount.

Then I clamped the 2.25 engine mount to the chassis. Another email to Glencoyne confirmed I was in the right place so I welded it up!

With the engine in place I could go about fittin the rad panel and the 2.5 radiator with the integrated oil cooler. Well after much fussing with the fan and the radiator I decided it was too large height wise to comfortably fit. There is only a half inch space side to side and the fan sits on the lower third of the radiator.

So I opted to go with the orginal 3 core radiator and source an military oil cooler for a series Rover.
Now I am putting the pullys on, I don't know why they took off the bottom one. I also had to refit the thermostat housing???the bolts were too long, so I had to get new shorter ones, How does that happen??
I hope to get the motor and tranny out this week and finish the welding, pull the rear suspension off. Then rent a truck and take all my stuff up to Oakland to the galvanizer.
When it returns I get to put it back together!
I have gotten new parabolic springs/shocks from Rocky Mountain (http://parabolicsprings.com/). I am going to get the new Timm Cooper designed disc brake conversion from Roam Offroad (http://www.roamoffroad.com/). In order to install this I need to convert to under the swivel housing steering arms. I am also trying to find a Series 3 brake pedal box for a servo assist.
Then there is brake lines and wiring.........some day I will be done!
Stay tuned!

109 paint

Well this week we started laying down the paint on my 109 Land Rover bodywork. Over the past few weeks I have been doing the prep work and priming.

Monday Brain L. came over and started appling the paint. In two days we have painted all 3 doors, wings, vent flaps, some misc pieces and the interior of the rear tub. Still to go are the outside of the tub and the seatbase, floorboards, tunnel cover, all the underseat and tool box lids. Then there is the roof and roof sides, to be done in limestone.

I wanted a different color paint than the usual Rover colors. Mainly I wanted to be visible both on the road and off road. Having worked in heavy equipment for the last 24 years I knew that the Caterpillar Yellow to be tough and fade resistant. Plus yellow was not a standard Rover color. I like to be different! I was going to have some mixed up at my FLAPS (Santa Cruz Auto Parts) for around $130USD a gallon. While researching the paint code for mixing I found a paint supplier on Ebay. I was able to purchase 2 gallons for $56USD per gallon. Another $35USD for reducer at FLAPS(friendly local auto parts supplier) and we were ready to paint.
The paint I ordered is an enamel made for CAT. CAT has had a few different yellows over the years and it is difficult(at least for me) to tell which is which on a computer screen, so this is the one I wound up with. Paint code is 4C-6129.

So here are some pics from the 2 days of painting.

109 teardown- engine fitting

Hey there,

Well got the petrol motor out and set off to the side. Moving the hoist around on my rock drive is a bear, even with plywood.
Over the week I recieved my door bottoms that were slightly dented in shipping. It's a shame but Oh well. they came from the UK by post and spent 9 days in Customs(?).
I also recieved my springs and shocks from Rocky Mountain in Canada. ( www.parabolicsprings.com ) My house is piling up with parts.........
I can't wait until it starts to go together!

So Brian came over and we put down more plywood and screwed it together. It is better but a flat drive would be nice. The hoist wants to roll downhill with all that weight on it. The motor was duly lifted into the space above the engine bay. Once into position we could see that the pump side of the motor the 2.5 engine mounting bracket was too long. So removing it and installing the 2.25 we could see that this was too short.

It also interfered with the injector pump making the engine bracket unmountable.

Well this is why we test fitted it prior to galvanizing! So we could make any fabrication modifications.
So what to do? We thought of a couple of ways to modify either the chassis mount or the engine mount. After wrestling with the problem I decided to check online with more experienced professionals in the UK.
I sent an email with photos to Richard at Glencoyne Engineering ( www.glencoyne.co.uk ) He responded overnight with clear directions as to what to do. Of course I didn't understand them so I replied again and he straighened me out. His instructions were to; remove the 2.5 turbo side mounting bracket and install the 2.25 exhaust side bracket in the forward holes in the 2.5 block.
On the other side of the motor, the injector pump side, leave the 2.5 engine mount in place and add the rubber mount. Onto the rubber mount install the 2.25 engine mount upside down.

Cut off the 2.25 chassis mount on the injector pump side.
After this is all done, lower the motor into position and bolt up to the transmission and have the turbo side mount in the chassis bracket. Hold it there with the hoist and level it out. Then weld the old 2.25 pump side bracket to the chassis.

I have all the brackets assembled and the chassis bracket removed. Brian will be over on Monday to help lower it ino position and line things up. Then I can weld it up.
Next will be test fitting the radiator support panel and radiator, which I will probably have to make bottom brackets to mount onto the front crossmember and brackets for the top of the rad panel.

109 engine removal

Well let's see; I think I have most of the paint removed from all the various bits. I am still working on the top half of the rear door. I want the door I'm thinking because of the visibility factor, as it has a larger window than the liftgate. While removing the paint I found my rear door has been re-skinned on the lower portion with steel of some type. I'm just going to leave it.
Brian came over last week and we removed the 2.25 petrol motor. That came out easy since nothing was attached or in the way.

Both the motor mounts were broken the rubber had separated from the steel disc.

Because my driveway is sloped and rock and dirt we had to put down some bits of plywood that I had left over. It worked out OK but was quite the struggle moving the loaded hoist around. Eventually we resorted to a lever to push the front wheels into position and/or lift them up back onto the wood. It was about 95F that day so it was sweaty work!
I think all that pushing affected my foot so I had to take off the next couple of days 'cause I couldn't walk. I broke my ankle in 1975 in a motorcycle accident and in the last 10 years have had 2 surgeries on it for bone spur and arthritis removal, the last being in 09.
After that cleared up I removed the front prop shaft and the handbrake linkage.
After consulting the internet and some measurments I decided to remove the battery tray. I cut it off with my angle grinder and a thin cut-off blade. I left about an inch of tab sticking up and drilled them for a 1/4" bolt incase I can put the battery back in there.

I have ordered engine mounts from Rovah Farm; Rovahfarm.com ,and when they come in it will be time to test fit the 2.5DT. I will need to make sure the motor will use the existing mounting brackets, test fit the radiator and make modifications to the radiator support panel and ensure that it all clears the steering relay.
Then pull the motor, radiator, radiator support panel, steering relay, transmission. Remove the springs and spring bushings. Flip the chassis over and fix any defects, finish the welding on the rear cross member.
The rear crossmember is at the welders now. I am having sleeves put in the bolt holes for the mounting of the trailer hitch plate. I just want to make it stronger and not be crushing the xmember when bolted in.
After that it is off to the galvanizer!!!
This week I ordered new door tops and parabolic springs from Rocky Mountain; http://parabolicsprings.com/
I talked with Jeremy and we decided on the 2 leaf fronts and the 3 leaf rears. I also purchased the recommended Procomp shocks. I still have to get bushings as RM was out of a complete set.

Well I think that's it for now,,,back to the salt mine!

109 tub paint and rear crossmember

Well I have been busy, the rear tub is stripped of paint and now I am working on stripping the seatbase after a small repair above the tunnel.

There were 2 vertical slits in it cut by a scroll saw, who knows for what purpose.....I fashoned a patch from an old piece of Birmabright and fastened it with pop rivets. That really stiffened up the seat base!
On the front line I have removed the holy exhaust system and the rear check straps. Made a trip to the dump to recycle alot of metal such as the bulkhead and lots of empty primer and jasco cans. The bonnet has been primered and lots of stuff awaits the galvanizing trip up to Oakland.
I ordered a rear cross member with extensions from John Craddock in the UK. It cost L87.41 and shipping was L55.00 for a total of L142.41. That equals $144.98USD and $91.30USD, totaling $236.28USD. A popular Vermont supplier wanted $212USD for the cross member and $119USD for the mounting kit(what ever that is)totaling $331USD. Every supplier I tried in the US said they couldn't get them anymore as the manufacturer went "out of business".
To top it off it only took four, count em 4 days to get to my house!

So today I went to Santa Cruz and ran errands one of which was to get some angle iron to make a jig for the xmember. After some preliminary measurements I picked 1 1/2in angle and purchased 5 3 foot long sections. This afternoon I set up, clamped and adjusted and finally welded my jig together.

It is a copy of the one Nitemare shared with me on the Series 2 forum in the UK. http://www.series2club.info/forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=i4veopp0kv7fq1vobp0e3uhe60& These guys have been a big help to me by sharing thier knowledge of Land Rovers! Bravo!
Here is a photo of the finished jig.

Camping trip BISP

I finally got to take my grandson(6) camping! We went to Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park in Central Nevada. http://parks.nv.gov/bi.htm It is one of my favorite parks mainly due to its remoteness and facilities. I think my daughter relented because I had been asking all summer and now it was nearing its close.
I spent a couple of days making sure my 1960 Land Rover bitsa 88 "Ignotus" was ready for the trip. Fresh oil and topped up boxes and swivels.

All my camping and recovery gear was packed along with some spares should something I could fix go south on me.
On a warm Sunday evening I picked him up at his house and headed to Highway 17 to get on the road. Unfortunetaly everyone from "over the hill" was leaving Santa Cruz to go home. It was bumper to bumper all the way to Highway 82. A trip of 20 min took 45!
After negotioating our way thru San Jose and Pleseanton then over the Altamont pass and Tracy we hit Highway 120 and connected with Highway 99 North. I took this way thinking that it would be less crowded as most peoples take 5. Somewhere along 99 I was thinking that my headlights were crap even though I had them on relays to get straight power from the battery.
Braden is asleep by now and I am crusing along doing around 60 by the gps. I didn't want to go over Highway 50 with a less than full fuel tank so I stopped in Elk Grove. The fuel station with diesel was closed(?). As I started to pull out I notice that I had no reflection from my headlights on the windows. I stopped and got out they are not on, confirming that the switch is on, Braden wakes up as I lift the bonnet. A few moments of wire twisting determines that the inline fuse spring is weak and not making contact, so streaching it out makes the light come on! I drove around 100 miles and no one flashed me or cops pull me over!
We drive on to another exit and refuel it is about 2300 now and my goal is Topaz Lake for the night. Orginally I hoped to be there by 2 but now I can see that ain't gonna happen. But I press on.
Braden sleeps on as I drive up Highway 50, I picked it because It has plenty of places for peoples to pass me on the uphills and I should be able to maintain a better speed than going over Sonora Pass where I use first gear at the 9000+ summit. Highway 50 tops out around 7450, I don't think Ignotus was ever lower than third gear.
Because it was sooo late only a couple of cars passed me at all. One memorable incident was in South Lake Tahoe a car quickly came up behind me and then just followed me... I was doing the limit 35mph (gps) and after a few minutes I slowed down to get them to pull around me so the headlights weren't blinding me. Twenty or so seconds later they did just that, It was a local police! Probably running a check on me.
Ignotus made it up and over the Serrias and down into Carson and South on Highway 395 where every hill was a challenge to get up. Nevada has long hills with straight roads and my 62 HP diesel was working hard! Finally We made it to Topaz and I couldn't find the exit so I went up and down the highway a few times until I realized it was in the middle of the construction zone( Hey, it was about 0330)
A couple of miles later and it was me setting up the tent and putting out the pads and bags. Then Braden in the tent and myself followed...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
I awoke about 0730 and packed my stuff away. Braden was out like a light until 1030. I let him sleep because I reasoned that I would rather he was rested than cranky.

If I wasn't rested I could deal with it! He played by the lake as I took down camp and we skipped stones and looked at the fellow campers jet ski. Then it was off to the Topaz Casino for breakfast.
After breakfast we fueled Ignotus and headed North on 395 a few miles to reach Highway 208. 208 took us thru Smith Valley and crops of onions and something that looke like it might have been cabbage. Thru towns of Wellington and Smith, Yerrington and Schurtz on Highway 95. Braden was finally getting to see the desert and he enjoyed taking pictures of the mountains.

Afer a few hours we were passing Walker Lake and into the city of Hawthorne. Hawthorne had a McDonalds so we stopped for an ice cream, it didn't taste like real dairy to me.
We picked up food at the local Safeway and fuel and ice at the Scotties gas station. Filled up all the jerry cans and put ice into the camelbacks(!).
Then we were off, down 95 towards Luna but the turn off to Highway 361 is just before Luna. 361 takes you NE to Gabbs, NV. It was going over these mountain ranges where Ignotus began to overheat on the long climbs, requiring me to stop on a couple of them. Braden learned to read the temp guage.
We rolled thru Gabbs about 1400hr in the heat of the day and turned off onto 844 to cross the Paradise Range. I had to stop 3 times due to overheating and while the bonnet was up 3 vehicles passed us and not one stopped to see if anything was wrong..........Triva; Nevada has more mountain ranges than any othe state.
Soon enough Berlin was insight and we rolled into town, ghost town that is.

We stopped and Braden asked if there were any ghosts so I explained about ghost towns. We stopped at the stamp mill and I told him about how the gold was extracted.

Next we went to find a campsite. Of the 14 sites only 1 was taken so we got the choice and I picked my favorite #11, close to the toilet and water and trees to deflect the morning sun.
Again I set up the tent and pads and bags, got out the kitchen and chairs and the ever important toys! By now it was 1630.
Later I cooked burgers and we had a campfire complete with S'mores. I showed Braden the night sky and how to find the Big Dipper and the North star. Don't think it took but I had fun.

After a good sleep(Braden snored) I woke around 0730 and Braden around 0800 and water was boiled for oatmeal.
While we wee eating breakfast the other campers packed up the RV and left leaving us alone in the campgrounds. After eating and cleanup we decide to check out the other campsites to find the best one. We found one with a leaking water spigot that was like a small sprinkler. We saw a jack rabbit. Taking a break in #7 as we sat on the table we could hear a jet roaring down behind us. I told B to look to the front as I knew it would be past before we could see it. Just as we looked to the front it went just overhead at about 200ft altitude! It was an F16 doing I'm guessing about 200mph, later we both agreed it was the highlight of the trip!
We headed off for the 1000 tour of the Ichthyosaur pavilion. The tour was enjoyed by all, but Braden was shy as usual at first. After the tour he took pictures of the fossils.

We saddled up Ignotus again and headed South a few miles to the ghost town of Grantsville. Here we drove up the tailings pile to the mine site after inspecting the mill and attending bulldozer.

I took the steep downhill and Braden didn't even blink an eye!
Next was a loop drive around Grantville pass to the Reese River Valley and back over Union pass to the park(BISP). Along the way we parked under the shade of some pinion pines and had lunch as we watched the ants on the ground. This is when tailgates are nice!
Once to the top of Grantsville pass we went 4wheeling on a side road, not far but it was steep up and down weaving among the trees. Then back to the road and down to the Reese Valley where we turned North.
A few miles later and I reigned Ignotus to the left up an unmarked road, the road to Union Pass. I like this road it is visually interesting and fun to drive! After a while we came to a turn off to the right where a large tractor tyre has been turned into a pool for a spring. Braden and I watched the bugs swimming around and enjoyed the coolness of the shade from the close bushes.

After this break it was on up to Union Pass.
At the top of the pass I turned left and went up another road until it got soo tight in the trees and a steep side slope that I thought it prudent to turn around. The branches were hitting the windscreen and top all at the same time it was very tight! Back at the pass we dismounted and I showed Braden the view and the cactus growing among the rocks.
From there it is downhill to BISP and after a while Braden asked to steer, so we cleared off the center seat and he sat next to me and did a fine job of steering until we came to the park boundry.
It was back to the Ghost town of Berlin to look at some of the buildings we did not see the other day, like the Assay office and the stage house and stable.

Soon it was time to head back to camp, being very warm we went and played in the "sprinkler" it was very refreshing to splash cool water on your head and torso!
Burgers were on the menu again tonight as was the campfire and S'mores. B had a slight issue with monsters but in the light of the flashlight turned out to be a clump of grass. I told him there are no such thing as the monsters he imagines.
The fire dies around 2200 and we went to bed. I awoke again around 0730 and started the packing up process and checking fluid levels in Ignotus. When Braden awoke there was another round of oatmeal! Then the Rover was packed and we were off for home, some 490miles away.
I was worried about the overheating issue and stopped in Hawthorne at the NAPA store for a new radiatior cap and extra antifreeze. Then we went to McDonalds for lunch.
As we got into the 88 a guy pulls up next to me and says he "has one of those, a short one and a 109" After a short talk we go to see the Rovers. The short one turns out to be a 1951 series 1 in need of alot of TLC and the 109 a 1967 series 2a with the NADA 6 cyl petrol engine. All are for sale as are other vehicles he is disposing for a friend of his who passed.

The tour with Andy took about an hour and then we were off to Carson City.
We arrived in Carson at 1700 and went to In-and-out burger for dinner and to let the traffic die down. After refueling ourselves we refueled Ignotus and headed up the Carson Grade on Hwy 50W.
A wide 4 lane, peoples had no problem passing me as I smoked(it is a diesel) my way to the top. There was not much traffic anyway on this Wednesday evening. Braden finally got to see Lake Tahoe in the daylight and there was nothing eventfull on the drive home. We followed 50 to Sacramento and took Highway 5 South it flowed pretty good but he Northboutd lane was full of construction stops from Sacto to Stockton, making me glad I had taken 99 North on the way over! Somewhere along Highway 5 my speedo cable broke. It is kinda usless anyway being so inaccurate, I use my Garmin gps instead. Plus it gives me all kinds of info and charts!
I dropped a sleepy boy off at home around 0100, then I went to my home and took a shower and hit the hay myself!
I think it was a good trip but too much car time for a 6yo although he slept thru alot of it.
Ignotus did well with the exception of the overheating issue, I think the radiator needs to be boiled out as the antifreeze turned rusty when hot. It was something like 1000miles in 4 days, and about 30hours in the car, including the loop drive. I didn't keep track of mpg.