1970 IIa 109 ex mod build thread

[masonater]

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.

Good idea, i had it on a charger for about half hour while i was figuring out what prongs do what. Being a beginner, i wanted to see how it worked too. Ill do that again for longer and see if it heats up.

[masonater]

Ive been attacking the wiring on and off for the last couple days, along with a bunch of other smaller things. Got the floors, seat box, and tunnel covers put on.

Got my used fluid reservoir in the mail (thanks Pete!) powder coated and installed it then took on the fun task of bleeding everything.

After painting the dash tan, felt it was too much of one color and changed it back to the original black color.

Found a mystery leak on the transmission housing. It looks like there was a repair done at some point in its life. Hard to see in picture but pretty much in center there is a small amount of fluid seeping out. Not really sure what is going on here...

Also tried to fire her up today, with no luck. Set points at TDC, have spark coming from the coil but nothing going to the plugs. Will check to see how strong the coil spark is tomorrow. 5 days and its going on a trailer back to the island!

[badvibes]

Also tried to fire her up today, with no luck. Set points at TDC, have spark coming from the coil but nothing going to the plugs. Will check to see how strong the coil spark is tomorrow. 5 days and its going on a trailer back to the island!

Looks like from the pics you have the dome topped distributor, I think its a 25D. Check the low tension lead from the dizzy "deck" to the body of the distributor. If the ground isn't good that's what you get. I had one that looked intact but wasn't. Was a real head scratcher to diagnose.

Jeff

[masonater]

after almost the entire day head scratching...found my issue and she started right up after 3 years in 2 cranks! I couldn't see it when it was installed but the condensor had a break in insulation that was grounding. Had a new one handy. Let her run for a little to make sure there were no leaks and took it for a spin around the airport. Got some weird looks and had one of the best days yet! Those 255/85/16 BFG muds are sure harder to turn than my old baby tires. Now i have to focus on the wiring mess...

[Momo]

Hey what type of fasteners do you have there on the dash? Dome head machine screws? I can't tell from the pic.

[masonater]

Hey what type of fasteners do you have there on the dash? Dome head machine screws? I can't tell from the pic.

yup, #10 stainless. First had AN3-4A aircraft bolts but was not a fan of hex head/dash combo. Used #10 nuts on back with exception of insanely hard to find (local) acme bolts for the vent screen nut plates already in there.

[Momo]

Did you consider rivnuts? The PO of my 109 SW installed them on the dash and they are terrific. I'll be using them on my project 88.

[masonater]

Did you consider rivnuts? The PO of my 109 SW installed them on the dash and they are terrific. I'll be using them on my project 88.

Wow, no i did not until you just said it. Great idea. Will be doing that for sure. I love rivnuts....

[Cutter]

very cool connector, I didn't know about those!

[masonater]

Did some more bleeding today and got a little better pedal. Brakes are all new but seems like there is still some air in there somewhere. I adjusted the 4 wheels to they were dragging and then backed off a little. Then bled each wheel until i got just fluid. Still have to pump about 2 times to get anything to work. Clutch still needs some attention as well, works but only almost against the floor. Let the engine run for about 15 minutes to let the thermostat open so i can fill up the coolant to proper capacity. Only got about 2 gallons in before it was full, bible says about 2.75 gallons i think...
Pretty neat having it outside and running for first time in years...

Did some work on the truck bed. First gave it a steam bath to get the crud off and old oil and grease that had been thrown all over it for years.


After a bath

And a coat of Waxoyl i got from RN last year to finish the bottom off. Man that stuff is messy! Probably should have worn gloves.

Left the 109 out in the sun for a while to warm things up as prep for the cavity waxoyl. Didnt make it to that today, huge thunderstorms rolled through

[Momo]

You can modify the front brake configuration so that the cylinder with the bleed screw is on top. Search the forum, it's been discussed before. I will sheepishly admit I have never gotten a system with the CB mast cyl to be pump-free. Early on in LR ownership I got so fed up I took my 109 to a mechanic and he couldn't even get it dialed in. I've since converted to a boosted system, and using a power bleeder, it's now a ten minute job. It might be worth it for you at this stage to take that plunge...

[masonater]

Spent a while taping off the door tops then painted them. Didn't try too hard as after the summer is over im going to buy some RM ones. Mine are pretty rusty and not worth much effort. Also masked off the bed and had planned on painting it tonight, again more thunderstorms. Too big to fit where i have been painting everything else and i really dont feel like setting up a ghetto paint booth in the hangar. Going to try early this morning when the wind is calm and see what i can do.


Too much fun driving it like this. Although i wouldn't mind if it was together...thats for tuesday.

[SafeAirOne]

Coming right along and looking pretty good . Just be careful on the test driving:

[masonater]

Well it has been a long time since I have done anything rover. I had to be back East for Memorial Day weekend and still had a body-less rover. Then i took over a restaurant and my computer crashed, so i was off the grid. Posting was put on hold while I worked straight for 3 days and nights so I could put it on a trailer and make my ferry boat home.

Anyway here is a recap of how my build came to a finish (almost)

Painted old beat up door tops with rattle can. I plan on buying RM door tops pretty soon to replace.

Got a little wild and stained a sheet of oak plywood a bunch of times. Im going to attach the metal strips i painted on top of this and see how i like it. Always loved the look of old American pickups with wooden beds.

[masonater]

Took me and a buddy 2 solid 5am nights to wire the entire truck from scratch. I am so happy and shocked at how well it all came out. Very simple, safe, and no key. Just what i wanted, and it looks pretty cool i think too. I was in such a panic to get this done and leave i didnt take many pictures which im not that happy about. Here is a shot of the finished dash. No more fuses, I used aircraft breakers and 2 bomb switches to arm the car. One switch lights up everything but ignition. The second charges the ignition system and the button starts. I have 2 accessory plugs, one on either side (still need a driver side one).



During wiring i still was putting stuff together as paint dried. Got the bed painted outside hanging from the fork lift around 3am just as a thunder storm rolled in which was pretty intense. But it came out great. Put doors on and lined up pretty well considering i had everything apart.


Hoops back on! Started looking like a rover again.

Windshield and door tops. I think I had about 36 hours until I needed to be 1000 miles away on a ferry at this point.