Restoring my 109

[pgeorgeson]

Since I have been posting (mostly dumb) questions here about putting things back together, I thought I should show the process a little. I picked up a 1966 Series IIa 109 5-door just under a year ago. The prior owner rebuilt the engine and transmission and it was running great. The Chassis is in good shape, but the entire interior needs to be re-done and it needed paint.

Here are some pictures of it when I bought it:

[pgeorgeson]

I then started taking it apart for painting. Here is the beginning of that process:

[pgeorgeson]

I then got her further stripped down and painted her with the help of a buddy who knows what he is doing. I decided to go with Pastel Green on the body with Limestone on the top and wheels. Here are some pictures of the body after paint. I will continue to update as I progress.

This is my first LR and I have really no idea what I am doing. However, I have lots of resources and will rely heavily on you guy's expertise.

[Les Parker]

Looking good.
Great colour choice.
Keep the progress report coming !

[Skookumchuck]

Looking good. When you are done come paint mine lol.

[Momo]

Awesome! Nice straight looking body and I don't see any rust in the usual trouble spots on the bulkhead.

Kudos for removing the galvanized trim to paint it. Most people don't bother. Are you taking the sunsheet off to paint the roof? I'm going to have to do that on a project soon and I'm not looking forward to it. Not hard just a pain.

[pgeorgeson]

Awesome! Nice straight looking body and I don't see any rust in the usual trouble spots on the bulkhead.

Kudos for removing the galvanized trim to paint it. Most people don't bother. Are you taking the sunsheet off to paint the roof? I'm going to have to do that on a project soon and I'm not looking forward to it. Not hard just a pain.

No serious rust that I could find. I understand that the truck spent a good portion of its life in New Mexico before heading to Nevada.

I did not remove the sunsheet, but I did remove all the bolts/spacers running down both sides and then that let us get into those spaces to spray some paint in there. The top is painted and I will take and post pics this weekend.

[lrdukdog]

Nice, keep up the momentum. That's a nice lookng engine and carb.
Jim Wolf

[73series88]

man
that thing looks great
aaron

[smukai]

Gorgeous truck.

[pgeorgeson]

Brought her home after painting and put the galvanized pieces back on then the back corners:

[pgeorgeson]

Then got the roof and wheels painted (now you can see why I started the thread about what tires to get):

[pgeorgeson]

Then, after help from you all about which hinges go where, I put the doors back on (as well as the rear lights and some more trim), so here she is as of today:

[Skookumchuck]

You are doing a great job, a very sweet looking landy:thumb-up:

[masonater]

That is a sharp looking rover!

[Momo]

Looking good! You are definitely in the fun stage. If it matters to you, there are a few things that might be changed in the interests of originality- the roof's rain gutter as well as the windshield frame should be galvanized finish rather than painted, and the roof itself would have been body color with only the sunsheet painted Limestone (just as the truck was before- ie Poppy Red roof/Limestone sunsheet)...did the paint shop overlook this stuff? It's happened to me before.

I only mention it because appears you are trying to stay faithful to the original look and you're not too far along to change it without much work.

Is that a 356B I spy next to the Land Rover? Looks very nice.

[rejeep]

Question for you....
The trim...
So the door trim easy squeeze...
And in all fairness I haven't examined mine very closely, but how do you remove the rear trim (horizontal and vertical pieces)
I am looking to paint my rover this spring and your job has inspired me to do a little bit 're thorough job..

I agree with momo about the paint scheme, but I happen to like the painted windshield and full limestone top.. I think that is where I am going as well..

[73series88]

its making me want to take mine apart and rebuild it.
hmm
someday
aaron

[Dav1550]

Question for you....
The trim...
So the door trim easy squeeze...
And in all fairness I haven't examined mine very closely, but how do you remove the rear trim (horizontal and vertical pieces)..



They are removed by drilling out the rivets (3/16)…By 74 the trim bits were held on by blind rivets so it’s a relatively easy task to remount the galvanized trim with a hand riveter.

Dave
SIII 109 stationwagon

[rejeep]

They are removed by drilling out the rivets (3/16)…By 74 the trim bits were held on by blind rivets so it’s a relatively easy task to remount the galvanized trim with a hand riveter.

Dave
SIII 109 stationwagon

so the rear wagon portion and rear trim is all riveted?
I was worried that the horizontal piece was sandwiched between the body and side window..

[pgeorgeson]

Looking good! You are definitely in the fun stage. If it matters to you, there are a few things that might be changed in the interests of originality- the roof's rain gutter as well as the windshield frame should be galvanized finish rather than painted, and the roof itself would have been body color with only the sunsheet painted Limestone (just as the truck was before- ie Poppy Red roof/Limestone sunsheet)...did the paint shop overlook this stuff? It's happened to me before.

I only mention it because appears you are trying to stay faithful to the original look and you're not too far along to change it without much work.

Is that a 356B I spy next to the Land Rover? Looks very nice.

Thanks. My paint shop is me and my buddy and I realize that it is not entirely factory correct. I am going for a mostly original look but have to admit that I am not going to be a purist about it. There are a few things that may not be purely correct based on some practicalities of doing the build myself. Also, it is going to be a truck for real use in the hills and I will probably keep it forever so I am not worried about what potential buyers might think.

Yes, that is my wife's 1964 356 C in the background.

[pgeorgeson]

Question for you....
The trim...
So the door trim easy squeeze...
And in all fairness I haven't examined mine very closely, but how do you remove the rear trim (horizontal and vertical pieces)
I am looking to paint my rover this spring and your job has inspired me to do a little bit 're thorough job..

I agree with momo about the paint scheme, but I happen to like the painted windshield and full limestone top.. I think that is where I am going as well..

You have to remove the rear corner pieces (the pieces with the windows that sit on top of the body and below the top) to get that trim off. They are riveted on, but they also cap off the body pieces, so the only way to get them off is to take off those upper corners.

I was going to just paint around the galvanized, but I am really glad I took the extra step and removed the trim for painting.

[Terrys]

I'm not sure I would characterize the roof paint job as 'incorrect'. I have had a bone stock S3 109 (marine blue) station wagon with a limestone roof, My son has one now, which came from Kenya, and I know of another S2A 109 close by with a limestone roof, limestone sunsheet, and pastel green body.

[Momo]

I'm not sure I would characterize the roof paint job as 'incorrect'. I have had a bone stock S3 109 (marine blue) station wagon with a limestone roof, My son has one now, which came from Kenya, and I know of another S2A 109 close by with a limestone roof, limestone sunsheet, and pastel green body.

Well, I never said it was incorrect. I was talking about the originality of the North American trucks. The paint scheme depends on the market.

-All North American 109 station wagons from 1958-1967 had tropical tops with Limestone sun sheets and body color roofs. And the OP's truck originally had this scheme as you can see.

-'67 was the last year for the 109 wagon in NA.

-Then, after the 1968 model year, coinciding with the migration of the headlights to the wings, the roofs and tropical tops were monochromatic in either white or Limestone. Wheels to match.

For example, a friend's 1970 Series IIA 109 station wagon is Marine Blue with white wheels, trop top and roof. It's a home market model.

Anyway, I can't wait to see how this resto progresses. Beautiful so far.

[pgeorgeson]

Picked up the tires Saturday. They look great. It is very exciting to see it coming back together. I wish I could spend more time on it, but there are too many other projects with deadlines. However, I will keep plugging away at it.

[rejeep]

I know it’s not original.. and I might be in the minority.. but I like the windshield frame painted the body color along with the pie plate on the deluxe bonnet..
Looks cleaner..

[pgeorgeson]

Thanks. I basically just re-did what was there before I painted it. Prior owner had painted the windshield white (I think it actually might have come off another truck) and the whole hood (bonnet) was painted red.

[Skookumchuck]

SHe is looking great i can't wait to repaint my stage 1

[cousindave]

Looks awesome!! What tiresdid you go with?

[lrdukdog]

I think one can get just too wrapped up in making it look like it did when it left the plant. When I did mine (first time). I just painted it the color the girls wanted ( Rusto International Blue) and the trim was Rusto again but rattle can blue tinted Al. It all has lasted just fine.
So, just do (your truck) however you want and enjoy it, if you want it concurs well make it just that and get really pissed off when it gets dinged, scratched or scrubbed up off roading.
Jim Wolf

[pgeorgeson]

Looks awesome!! What tiresdid you go with?

They are Coopers, but I don't know the exact model off the top of my head. I went with the 235/85/16s.

[GPx]

The restoration looks great.
Regarding the tires, did you use tubes?

[pgeorgeson]

New tires are tubeless.