What did you do to your Rover today?

[lighiche]

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As she looked on the flatbed from Montana.

[lighiche]

A bit over a year ago I purchased a 1962 Series IIA 109 Station Wagon that had sat in a Montana barn for over 26 years. It's been a long process dictated by cash flow, but Poppy - named for its original Poppy Red color and for the name my dad's grandkids gave him - will soon be available for public viewing. I can't wait.

She was in dry storage for a long time. Aside from some mice living in the head liner and a few honest and understandable dings here and there she was in great shape. When I get her out on the road she'll be stock original exept for new tires, some power ports, parabolics, a modern fuel head conversion, seat belts, and a Tuffy box painted to match. My primary concern was preserving and protecting the remarkably great shape she was in at 52. Will add an overdrive by Roamer, as well as front disc brakes if I can find anyone still making them.

Today I finished rehabbing the original elephant hide door panels. They look great. Found some of the original "invisible" clips for attaching the panels to the vehicle through help from folks on this forum. Big thanks for that! Headliner is ready to install and the head rails rehabbed by Badger Coachworks will come soon, as will the full Hardura floor covering.

I've dreamt of owning a Series truck most of my life. I drove a '58 Series I in Scotland 34 years ago and owned a '93 D90 for several years but it just wasn't, with all due respect, quite the same. As soon as I can I'll post some before and after photos. I'm just giddy that she's about ready for her debut.

Cheers!

[tmckeon88]

Brake Failure! Always an adventure. We were on our way up into the hills in southwestern PA (to visit my mother in law, which is maybe why I was dawdling) and my left windshield wiper arm came off, which it does from time to time. Those little set screws on the round spindle aren't really up to the job. I pulled over to put it back in place (I had learned long ago to tie it onto the car with a bit of string ) and when I came to a stop I felt the brake pedal mush right to the floor. There was a rupture in a brake line somewhere. I checked the reservoir and it was losing bit of fluid- I topped it off with some Castrol LMA that I had in the back and we CAREFULLY drove it home. Only a couple of miles, but if you know the greater Pittsburgh area you know how hilly it is. I still had a tiny bit of brake power, presumably from the rear brakes since it's a dual circuit, and between that and 2nd gear we got it home.

The next day, after a few inches of snow had covered it, I got it into the garage (after some impromptu snow wheeling since I veered off the hill in front of the driveway- no brakes!) and inspected it- sure enough, the left front line had a hole in it, which I found my having my wife (and personal physician) pump the pedal and watching for leaks. I went with some Kunifer copper-nickel lines, just the left and right front because they were rusty and the rest of the car looked OK. Removing old brake lines is something of a challenge because if they're old (which they are, because that's why you're having to replace them), nothing turns correctly and it's a good thing I was throwing them away because I bent and twisted the lines loosening them. Some PB Blaster and a little heat got them all off- the 3-way T-junction was the worst because of its location. I also had a set of stainless steel flex lines kicking around so I took the opportunity to install those. It's so nice fitting new parts. Then to bleed the lines - my wife (and personal physician) pumped the pedal and kept the reservoir full and I bled them in this order: right rear, left rear, right front, left front. I called RN and asked them to verify this sequence because interestingly the Green Bible says the opposite. The rear lines seemed to have no air in them at all, which was good, since they are on an entirely separate set of pipes from the master cylinder. Front ones bled out nicely. In the past I have replaced the bleed screws in all my wheel cylinders with stainless ones, fitted with some never-seize and rubber caps. (I'm careful to keep the anti-seize glop out of the lines themselves.)

Back on the road- only three days elapsed between the break down and the finished repair, including waiting for ordered parts. Bit of a struggle in the sub-freezing temps in an unheated garage but I was glad to have a flat concrete floor to work on instead of the snowy crushed-rock driveway.

These brake lines had lasted about 14 years- I put them in myself in 1999 during a galvanized frame-over rebuild. I lost one line in Argentina the next year, but that was because the steel line had been rubbing against the canvas check strap and wore a hole through the steel!

My next task- get that wiper arm attached more positively.

Tom

[NDNAJNS]

Complete w/ one side. Except - (1) I accidentally got air into the brake system, will bleed tomorrow; (2) One of my Warn M-11 bolts stripped on reinstall. Need to source some.

Watching for leaks.

[NDNAJNS]

Swivel Ball Overhaul

Got into it this weekend. Having a blast.

On hold pending shop R&R of axle bearing collar
Pretty bad
Mmm, new Timken bearing
New Railko bushing
NOS swivel and bits

[rwollschlager]

added a webasto heater so I won't freeze to death and cameras so I no longer have to use the force to change lanes in Shorland

can you post more pictures and information of your webasto install?
I have the pieces to the same unit it looks like and I am looking to install it soon.
thanks!
-Rob

[alaskantinbender]

Nice roof rack, did you fab this up?

No, not my idea it came with the truck. But you can see how simple it is.
Just right for carrying my canoe.

[siii8873]

Spent the evening in the shop mounting my rover work light and fabbed up a mount for my Garmin Rino GPS.

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Nice roof rack, did you fab this up?

[alaskantinbender]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]8799[/ATTACH]Installed a new aluminum rear tank in my 67 109 that is now 23 gallons. Needed a baffled tank to stop the slushing and wanted to get my fuel pump mounted inside the tank as well.

Nice looking tank. How is it working for you?
I really like the idea of 23 gallons. The my 109 has a rear 12 gallon along with the r/h 12 gallon mounted but more is always good when thinking about longer trips.

[alaskantinbender]

Where did you get those headlight guards?
I like that look.


Toga Rover

I had them on an old Mitsubishi (willys) jeep diesel we drove all over northern japan in the mid 80's. The Japanese where very eager off roaders and had all sorts of accessories on there trucks.

[TeriAnn]

Spent the evening in the shop mounting my rover work light and fabbed up a mount for my Garmin Rino GPS.

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If you spend any time on wash board roads the shaking of the light on the 'L' bracket will cause a fatigue crack in the roof along the edge of the steel bracket. Been there had that happen.

I suggest removing the bracket from the roof and filing a rounded edge along the bracket where the bracket meets the roof panel. When you reassemble add an aluminum back plate to the inside of the roof panel behind the steel light mounting bracket. The back plate should be thicker than the roof panel and extend wider than the lamp bracket. This will keep the roof panel from vibrating with the shaking of the light bracket on wash board roads.

Of course roof metal fatigue usually is not an issue unless you drive long miles on wash board dirt roads. BTW I like your GPS mount.

[alaskantinbender]

Spent the evening in the shop mounting my rover work light and fabbed up a mount for my Garmin Rino GPS.

[Manny]

Don't forget to have the heater on when burping the system.

[NC_Mule]

Hi Lads. New poster but not new here. Just changed the water pump on my 72 series 88. Took off the radiator cowling but the screws were rusted so I hacked them off. I plan on retapping the holes but just finished the job without reinstalling the cowling for now. Took her for a test ride and it fells hot for this time of year. My question is...does that radiator cowling around the fan really make a difference? Thanks in advance, Phil

Edit. Is there an easy foolproof test to make sure the system is circulating properly?

Yes the cowl makes a diffrence. Often you have to park on a hill to get the nose up to burp a bit of air out. Start the truck with the radiator cap off and let it warm up, when the thermostat opens you will see a good amount of coolant rushing past as you look down the neck of the radiator. If you did a straight refill through the radiator then you more then likely have a air bubble.

[rbbailey]

This: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bhcmbailey/11766048603/