![[View of corroded chassis]](lr_old_chassis.gif)
In 1984 I bought a 1970 Land-Rover Series 2A 12-seater. I can't find a picture of it as it was then. This was then the top-of-the-range model, with a 6-cylinder 2.6-litre petrol engine. At first it managed only 11 miles per gallon, but a lot of tinkering raised this to 14mpg. It managed 81mph on a level motorway.
Its engine met its end after a friend drove it along the M25 motorway at 60mph for 20 miles in low-ratio. An exhaust valve head snapped off and punched its way through the piston. I decided to replace the engine with a diesel unit. I found a very tatty 1971 series 3 for sale, with new chassis and bulkhead and a Perkins 4.203 engine. As I knew my chassis and bulkhead were none too good I bought it, transplanted the engine, and saved the chassis and bulkhead for the day when mine gave up. I replaced the original 4.7 diffs with 3.54 units, and carried on driving. The new engine gave it tremendous torque, but the top speed was only about 67mph (good enough, and it stops me wearing out the tyres too quickly); fuel consumption was a much healthier 24mpg.
Eventually the chassis gave up - the right longitudinal rail bent above the front spring. It had corroded in so many places that further repair would be a waste of time, so a rebuild was required.
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The corroded chassis where it buckled. (Click on the image for full-size picture.) |
I dismantled it completely. The engine and transmission parts were in good order, needing only a good cleanup. On the body, there was some corrosion of the aluminium panels needing patching, but the worst part was the door frames, which needed extensive rebuilding. I had every steel chassis and body part galvanised.
![[View of rolling chassis]](lr_chassis.gif)
The rolling chassis. |
![[View of engine]](lr_engine.gif)
The engine mounted in the chassis. |
![[View of footwell]](lr_footwell.gif)
The passenger footwell area, showing the galvanised bulkhead, door pillar & frame. |
All the wiring was replaced with a new setup I designed. The long runs are done in 7-core trailer cable and 3-core flexible mains cable. All the fuses and relays are mounted in a sealed box in the engine bay.
(More to come...)During early 1997 the engine developed some kind of fault - it was difficult to start, and produced copious quantities of white smoke until it warmed up. This looked like a failed head gasket, but once in bits it proved to be more than that. Read about this as yet unfinished job here.
