1970 IIa 109 ex mod build thread

[masonater]

the thumb sliding lock does not line up with the holes in track so it just slides back and forth.

Silly question but have you checked that the little "pin" is still inserted in the lock mechanism? About 3/8" long, rounded on one end, pointed on the other. They are easy to loose if the lock is taken off or falls apart while driving around. Ask me how I know.....

Jeff

Yea, checked that, both are there. One looks like it was made with cutting a bolt down and grinding a rounded point.

[masonater]

Installed the wiper assembly today and got the steering column tightened up.

Did more work on getting the heater back together

Need to reattach a wire that broke off. This will be the beginning of a complete rewire of the 109. I'm pretty scared i must say.

Took the tape off the windshield and truck cab that i painted a few days ago, real happy with my 2 hour tape job i did.


Here is a shot of the window track on the cab, not sure how or why it is not straight?

[masonater]

Got the Smiths heater installed last night and started plumping the washer jets. Also ordered 2 gallons of Lucas gear oil and picked up some coolant and motor oil from the store. Getting ready!

[rejeep]

just a quick question..
what are you running Lucas in?

[masonater]

just a quick question..
what are you running Lucas in?

The whole rover is dry now so i figure ill put the heavy duty 80/90W lucas stuff in everything. Steering box already has some type of red grease in it so im not sure its a good idea to add gear oil to that. But everything else. I have all brand new gaskets and seals so we'll see...

[masonater]

Been a few days since i could work on the 109. It was derby weekend and things get pretty wild in KY. Today i started work on the truck bed. Lots of corrosion around the frame mount holes and where the seatbelt brackets are. Not really sure what im going to do about it at this point. Since this 109 was an ambulance in its previous life, the shop that put the bed on did not do a great job. Instead of fitting the bed properly they just drilled new holes right near the old ones and bolted it down.

2 weeks left until she has to be shipped home to the island, done or not.

[masonater]

Finally figured out a way to hook up the capillary oil temp gage in a good location. I thought about putting it in the extra hole in oil pan but it was too close to the drive shaft for comfort. I got my spin on adapter in the mail and used the adapter for the original oil filter along with it. It almost looks like it was ment to be in there and no fabricating needed. Still have plenty of room to take off filter for oil changes this way too.


Started some wiring the other day. 2 solenoids installed, one for the master switch and one for the starter. I will run a large copper bus bar between them soon. Im not going to have a key just switches to run everything.

Powder coated my brake and clutch lines, last ones!

Trying to figure out what to do about my door tops...bottom 2 are what i had (junk) top red ones and brand new one were junkyard scores but not much better than mine. I am planning on getting RM door tops in the fall so i think ill see if i can make 2 semi good ones out of what i have to hold me over.

Drilled out the rivets and removed the runner strips in the bed. I will paint the whole thing tan except galvy stuff which ill try to bring back to life a little. Im going to get a sheet of 1/4 inch oak to stain and varnish then put that down as the floor of my bed. I will screw the runner strips to the wood and hope i dont get splinters.

Did work on dash and gages. Bead blasted and then primed the panels this morning and will put tan on later today. Painted the gage trim rings and got them as clean as i could. I put them back together and am pretty happy with the results.




A gasket on one of the gages was dried up and showing on inside of glass. I took some gasket sheet i had and cut out a new ring to seal it. Worked pretty well after i painted it black to i couldn't see it.

[Terrys]

What is the extra solenoid for?

[masonater]

What is the extra solenoid for?

I'm starting from scratch with wiring and have some help from folks who build planes. It will be to bring power to the circuit breakers and will be on its own main switch, separate from ignition. The lower solenoid is for the starter that will also have a main switch to power the ignition system.

[masonater]

Started putting dash back together. I think i need to make a thicker gasket for one because the glass is not tight and can spin around. I also noticed some finger prints on the inside, oops!

Got a piece of oak veneer plywood that i stained to make a new floor for the truck bed. After many coats of polyurethane i will attach the metal strips and have a cool looking floor. If i ever need to load stuff that would beat it up, i can just slide it out.

Got the seat box parts back on.

Also filled all fluids yesterday, i really hope i dont see any puddles on the ground when i wake up...

[stomper]

maybe you meant to do this, but your speedometer and auxillary gauges are reversed from the original set-up.

[masonater]

maybe you meant to do this, but your speedometer and auxillary gauges are reversed from the original set-up.

I did mean to do it, thinking it would be nice to have the speedo on my side since the truck used to be RHD. But after i put them in realized i need the smaller hole on far right center for the trip knob. I already switched them back but forgot to take a picture. Still thinking of something to put where the old 2 pin 12v plugs were.

[Terrys]

Also filled all fluids yesterday, i really hope i dont see any puddles on the ground when i wake up...

Whenever I pull out from a parking spot, I check to see if I 'marked my territory'. If I don't see a fresh spot, I check my fluids to see if I even have any.

Why not just put the red and black connectors back in? They can be pretty useful, and to me it's one of those iconic land rover things, like the scuttle vents in the bulkhead. Maybe my memory is playing tricks with me, but didn't early MGBs also have those? Was you dash panel originally tan? I've had a couple exmods, and along with every other later truck I've had, they have all had black panels. The change was made when they went to Negative Ground, and purportedly was done so the truck wads immediately recognized as 'negative earth'. The last positive ground truck I had still had it's body colored panel, and I never could get used to looking at it. I converted the truck to negative earth, but did'nt get around to 'converting' the panel.

[masonater]

Terrys,

I dont mind my rovers marking their territory but after replacing every gasket and seal on the truck, it would be nice to see the floor dry for once. If it is dry, i'm sure it wont last for long.

I probably will put the red and black connectors back in, though i cant think was can be used in them these days. I think i have a plug somewhere that fits in the the holes, maybe i can wire a phone charger or something to it.

Dash panels were black when i started, im still not sold on the tan yet. I thought i would really like it but it may be too much tan with everything else. I may strip and powder coat them satin black.

[Terrys]

I had a bunch of those plugs at one time, but gave them away one by one till I nneded one, to find them all gone. It makes plugging in a trickle charger handy. I saw a couple of those nice genuine trouble lights at Metal Dah last year, but couldn't pull the trigger. I can buy a few good maglites for $85.
Every time I visit this thread makes me regret selling my last ExMod.
Forgot to mention earlier; your extra solenoid to feed the circuit breakers is a good idea. One thought though; put your battery charger on it on the bench for a while to see if it gets hot. 'Continuous Duty' isn't what it used to be.