109 fuel tank and bad wiring

Well, on Thursday I decided to pull the fuel tank. when We had it running at the PO's we had to put the draw tube in a can of new clean fuel to run.
First I drained the remaining 1.5 gallons of fuel from 2003. Then I pulled the cover off and removed the draw tube. I could not reach the nut holding on the wire to the sender unit so I cut it off. I then set about trying to find the right size wrenches for the mounting hardware. I could get a 1/2 on the nuts for the front and took 2 off and loosened the last one.
The 3 in the rear were much harder to do. first I could not find the top/unseen parts of the hardware. I spent about 15 minutes until I finally found them in a small recess inside the outrigger. Of course the 1/2 spanner would not fit. Oh, I could still use my 1/2 socket on the bottom but the inside ones turned out to be 13mm.
Finally I removed those and then took out the front remaining one of the unsupported tank. I fully expected it to fall to the ground??? Ummm did not undo the fill hoses yet... Set to them with a screwdriver and it still did not fall.......A little shove and WHAM!!! it hit the ground.
Scooching it out from underneath I took it over to a bucket and drained the remains,,,,YUCK! The inside of the tank was covered in rust and a 1/8in layer of rust chips covered the bottom.
Time for a new tank! I have a NOS tank been sitting in the back of my daughters 88 since 1996. So I dragged it out from under the junk and peaked inside. Some light surface rust and I am not sure I can save it. I can use it but it will rust out eventually. Perhaps after I have passed,,....
I then went to work on the heavily corroded fuel sender unit. The float will not move. I cleaned off the corrosion and lubed up the float shaft with some Slick 50.

Then I removed the top and peered inside, nothing looked broken or jammed so out came the Vise Grips and I put pressure on the float shaft. Slowly it gave way to torque and after about a half dozen rotations it was sufficently free to move by itself!
I put it all back together and painted it. Painting tells me I am finished with that job.

Moving on I put my daughters battery in and hooked up the cables. Turning on the light switch revealed that the head lights don't work, There is no horn(in a box). The dash panel was ziptied to the bulkhead so I cut it loose and found the PO had replaced some(all) the wires comming off the ignition with red wires.And Yes the ground wires are white.....

Of course you can't tell where they go to.... They all will have to come out anyway either to replace the bulkhead or paint it. So probably looking at a new wiring harness.
Then I quit for the day.

Today I did some online research for the seal necessary to do the roof and bulkhead. The trouble I'm having is the books and suppliers all list roof seals for a 109 Station Wagon(5door) while my 109 is a regular(3 door). I think they would take different seals as the sides are twice as long. I could be wrong but I dislike making the mistake and having to wait while the correct part is shipped.

109 bought and ready to fix up

So I have always wanted a 3 door 109 Land Rover. Since it is just me now I don't need to seat 4-5 peoples.
I finally got a lead on one about 80 miles away. I called the number and went the next day to look at it, I liked what I saw and made a bid. Two weeks later I was notified that I was the new owner of a 1960 Series 2 109 regular(3 door).
I got it for $800US which I paid 2 days later. I needed to arrange to get it home and thought my daughters boyfriend could borrow a trailer and bring it over but that did not work out. So almost 3 weeks later on 4-5-2011 I finally went and rented a tow dolly with my friend Brian and we pulled it out of the field with my 88 and towed it home with my 93 Rangie.

The next day Wed I spent cleaning it up I started on the roof scrubbing off the moss and mould and in alot of places the thin veneer of paint. Then I worked my way down the sides, the right side was the worst, with most of the moss on the roofside. I did the wings and rear door.
After lunch I started on the inside by removing the rearprop shaft and bumper some rags and plastic sheeting left inside. About 3/4 of the bed was coated in oil this took 3 washings of Dawn dishsoap and rinsing with a hose to clean out.

The next thing to go was the insulation left over from the headliner. I got out a sprayer and wetted it down then used a putty knife to scrape it off, leaving only the black adhesive residue. During the whole cleaning process I must have disposed of half a dozen spiders and lots of webbing.
The 109 was purchased by the previous owners father in 1961. It was last tagged in 2003 and has a non-op on it ever since. It has always been a California car sold in San Jose and living mainly in the Sonoma area then Pescadero and Prunedale. The orginal owner removed the fixed windows and put in aftermarket sliders. That and a crank driven winch are the only aftermarket changes I can see from a stock 109 regular.
On Thursday it rained in the morning so after things dried out a bit I was able to put some lube on the capstan fittings then went to work on some of the dents. I had bought a body hammer that day and tried to see what I could do. The body damage is a big dent in the right rear where it was backed into a log, only bending the corner and side not the crossmember. The right front outer wing had a dinner plate size dent in it up by the front while the left wing was pushed in and down resulting in a v bend in the inner panel and pushed out outer panel and bent up top panel at the radiator panel.

This is after I did some work on it. I still need to have someone help me to hold a brace on the inside so I can further straighten it up.
Then it was on to the dent in the roof above the driver. It looked like a tree branch or some thing fell across it. A few well placed hits with my trusty piece of narrow guage railroad track did the trick followed by some shaping with my new hammer.
Today I was able to remove the Capstan winch. I had to cut the bolts holding it to the front cross member as the rivenuts just turned in thier holes. That was an ordeal in itself requiring my reciprocating saw and 3 blades! I only cut the frame in one spot....... Now I only have to remove the winch drive nut.
So that is where I am as of today. I have plans for it's future and it will depend on money and time of course. Being unemployed I have plenty of the latter.
My dream for it would be strip it down and if the frame is not bad either wire brush and paint/powder coat or galvanize it. I need to replace the bulkhead and windscreen frame as there is a lot of rust on the right hand side. Then I can paint the body and start reassembly. I can drop in the 2.5 diesel turbo I have and put an LT230 transmission behind it. Maybe I can get one from a junkyard Disco or Rangie.
Also get the front and rear axles with disc brakes and 24 spline halfshafts and put them on parabolic springs. Put in my spare overdrive a CB and stereo, new headliner insulation and headliner, dynamat things as it goes back together. I want to put in a rear heater that I have left over from my 88 when I put in a Kodiak mk3 and fix up a removable sleeping/camping set up.
I know I forgot stuff but that's enough for now. Have a great day!