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!