'58 S1 Parabolic Installation

[Buster]

Hi! I just purchased a '58 Series 1 88" from a good friend. (The body is S1. The engine is mid 80's S3 and the trans is S2A) It came with many of the parts he'd planned to use to rebuild, including parabolic springs and poly bushings. The first thing I did was use POR15 to seal the fuel tank, which seems to have gone pretty well. It will be ready for fuel in a few days. Next project is the new springs. Seems pretty straight forward, but any advise will be appreciated!

[leafsprung]

Congrats on the series one. Post up some pics. Springs should be straightforward. Operations are in the workshop manual. Frame bushings can be unpleasant but arent difficult to remove.

[o2batsea]

Got air tools? If you do, then you can use your air chisel to hammer out the old frame bushes. Find a used socket that is about the same size as the outer bushing shell.
Other method is to burn them out. That assumes that you can get the bolt out. If you can then just point your MAPP torch at it until the inner sleeve loosens and then you can dig out or burn out the remaining rubber. With the rubber gon you can sawzall thru the outer sleeve and out it comes. Don't saw into the frame if you can avoid it.

[Buster]

Hey thanks for the help! Ok by frame bushes you mean the ones at the top of the shackles? They do look tough to remove. Haven't started yet. May be a few weeks away. Will have to drive the '58 rover while the 2010 Taurus get a new short block!

[o2batsea]

Yes, frame bushings are the ones located in the frame, or as some may refer to it, the chassis. OK let's call them chassis bushings. They will be the ones you have to remove once the springs and shackles are off the vehicle and out of the way.
There is no law that says you have to put in new ones, but it is a rite of passage for all Land Rover Series owners. Once you complete this chore you will have crossed over into the Brotherhood.

[Buster]

Ha! Well I sure don't want to miss out on that! Having a hard time imagining where the saws all comes in to play, but I'm sure it will be apparent when I start. Another question - I have tube rims, and I want to replace with tubeless and some tires with an aggressive but not over the top tire. Any recommendations?q

[o2batsea]

Sawzall to cut thru the bushing shell along its length so that it is easier to free up from the chassis hole. You stick the sawzall blade thru the hole and cut from inside toward the outside. Just cut the bushing shell, not the frame. It's only a 16th of an inch or so.
The rivet rims can be used without tubes. If you are really worried about it you can add some paint around the rivets to seal them, but it's probably not needed. I just galvanized a whole set, which took care of all that worry. Or buy a set of Wolf wheels, which will solve all your troubles.
You can run 235-85 16 which is roughly comparable to the 7.50x16 stock size or go a little bigger with a 265. If you have 15 inch wheels then you can run 33".
My favorite all around tire these days is the Goodyear DuraTrac. Semi aggressive tread, good street and off pavement performance.

[Buster]

Great tips, thanks. This vehicle has been sporadically driven the past few years, but has been running. I drove it about 5 miles home when I bought it, and it seemed to be killing down a bit at times and lost power climbing a hill. I thought it might be the corroded fuel tank, so I used a restoration kit and replaced the in-tank fuel filter. Now the fueltank, fuel and filter are clean and clear, so I decided to drive it to work. Drove pretty well for about 8 miles and then began to kill down and finally stopped. I could crank it back up, but I couldn't develop enough power to keep it running very far and then it would slowly kill down again. Had to have it towed back to the house. So, I think I will order a new fuel pump, plugs, wires, and points and try to clean the carb.

[o2batsea]

Check first for vacuum leak.