I found one (or three)

Success! The unobtanium dash is now obtanium. Don't ask what I paid. Shipping was as much as the parts.
In a strangely smart way the Rover has a 3 piece dash. The top piece is just for decor/ holding the defroster vents, theres a middle steel piece that holds up the top piece and contains the vent controls under the front window, and the bottom piece that is just a big air deflector for the "climate control" fan. It has holes in the top that the tubes go to the defrost vents, or you flip the control to blow lukewarm air on you ankles. Thats it.

These will go on temporarily because...Remember the burnt brake wire from several posts ago?... well theres more wiring to do, a windshield wiper system to bolt on first, along with the washer tubes, the defroster cables, and wiring to run. As Barney says "the fun- the fun"




The aluminum monster comes off:










The bottom piece goes on temporarily:










The top piece goes on just for grins:
















Aaaand wait. Somethings wrong.

Das Neurenburg ring

inside of the "clean" gastank







After putting the seatbox and seats in, brakes, clutch, & wheel bearings tightened it was about time to take it around the block. The radiator had been patched to the tune of $60 and the waterpump changed. What could go wrong? It started quickly and idled down good.

The first trip was good, the clutch was smooth, the steering was tight, no obscene noises from the drivetrain. With only a slight stumble after takeoff.
It accelerated like, a 70hp Rover. Good times.
Then on the way back rounding the turn the Rover up and dies.
Wouldn't start to the point of battery failure. Sigh. The fuel bowl has some sediment in it but not enough to kill it. What gives?
I tow it the mile home and clean out the fuel bowl, and drain the fuel from the tank.
Even though the tank was chemically cleaned and pressure washed, there was varnish and sediment from somewhere in there that clogged the pickup tube. (the screen disenigrated when I first pulled it- who needs a screen?) point taken.
The next trip was much smoother. Why? I put some newer radial tires on it.
Built a new bumper for the front. Who knows what happened to the original. Anyway, its going to get some tow rings welded on, and probably make some overrun extensions.

Axles

The front axle was in a protective wrap of dried up grease and oil. Thus it was in good shape underneath. The back axle needed love. Enough said
Cleaning off this mess with a pressure washer is guaranteed to get black, tarry funk all over you and everything around you. The end result is worth it though. Once again the angle grinder came to the rescue.




axle accessories:











A little cruddy:













Some of the previous owners new in package parts that he never got around to:















The lonely axle:










While I was there I took off the springs, took them apart and cleaned them.
Also- the clamps around the springs got the tops of them cut off so they can flex.

Poof. Its done.

By the magic of photograpy the tranny is done. Lots of degreaser, brake cleaner, and a pressure washer.
There was no cursing or bloody knuckles involved in doing this. :O

More tranny carnage

The layshaft teeth were chipped, reverse slider was missing several, 1st/2nd synchro cage had a messed up alignment clip on one side so it was engaging crooked and thus wearing crooked.
Another gear off the mainshaft was missing a tooth.
These were in the oil that was drained:

Those were originally attached to these:

Note the upper right of the synchro cage versus the lower left. Its worn down and burnt.

It may be aluminum... but the guts are steel. (the beer is not to scale)


Ever wondered what fred flintstone sees?

Stop! Tranny time!

This could be a book but I'm not going there.
Step one: prep the patient.
Step two: rip its guts out.
Step three: try to figure out what that round doohicky is thats broken.
Step four: call around to find new doohicky.

Parts is(n't) parts.

Trying to track down some parts for this thing are easy, not any harder than finding Jeep parts. Actually some parts aren't any more expensive than any other car /truck /suv on the planet, some are. It didn't share parts in the USA across 3 different brands like Buick, Olds, and Pontiac. Dang.
A couple of my favorite places for parts are Rovahfarm (yes its spelled like that, and also a great website to identify parts found under the seat), Rovers down south in Louisiana, British pacific (yea they're from California - but at least they like rovers),& D.A.P.
 They have quite a few of whatever you need. Some of the other Rover places know what you're talking about, but cater to the new Fru-Fru bolt on double carmel machiatto Range Rover crowd. (Come to think of it, MAYBE I DO need drink holders in it.)
Some parts though are in the unobtanium section. Such as- a series 3 dash.
"Got one?" (insert hysterical laughter here ) "No."   - Heard that 5 times in one day.

This is where ebay UK comes in. These parts are seemingly laying on streetcorners over there. You just have to wait for the right part to come along and strike when you can.
Usually, unlike the US vendors, they are used and not exactly used lightly. Just ask questions before bidding or you'll end up with a diesel right hand drive part (very common) instead of a gas left hand drive part.

Starting out

The engine runs, bonus! Theres a lot of cleaning needed to happen to find the problems. Out came the pressure washer to get out the varmints and dirt. After 3 washings I found metal in some places. Note: A 4 1/2" angle grinder with a wire wheel is your friend. Get one.
The drivers seat was fumagated to kill the ants which showed the dry rotted seat wood.
There were wasp nests and mouse nests up in the fuel fill line area.

The loose fender was removed to start accessories, brake work, and clutch work.
When the top of the transmission came off there was definitely carnage that happened at sometime. Teeth were missing off of a couple of gears. Note upper right of picture.
Yep, she had to come out.

Keep the engine?

Yea, I think it'll stay. At least for now. I dumped some Marvel Mystery Oil down each spark plug hole and hand rotated the engine over a couple times over a days time. Changed the plugs, oil, filter, and rebuilt the Rochester carb. The electric fuel pump is shot, so I'll have to improvise. The people out in Weatherford supposidly had the engine and xfer case rebuilt in the mid '90s before it was parked. The wiring is 'good' (for a 70's British vehicle) except for the immediate dash area and the cut wires at the front fenders. I think the reason the original dash is gone is that the power wire for the brake lights is melted to a couple other wires. After clearing the mouse nest out from under the dash, I could see that I had my work cut out for me. The clutch master had a crystalline mess in it and was frozen, the brakes weren't far behind. The master was crystalized and dry rotted. Steering, except for the dust boots, was Corvette tight. Weird. The radiator holds water, but the pump is a little whiney. Dang, its leaking water now.
Ok, tried 3 time to add video of it actually running. Trust me it does.

Getting it home

We set a price. The dad wanted it out of the yard after 14+ years, and the son needed some cash. I put a couple of rollers on the rear and the next day they dropped it off on my driveway. Mighty nice of them. Half of the "neighbors" came by to inquire if it was going to set there for very long.

They're just jealous.

Hey, theres a Rover under there

We went out to look at it and ... uhh... Yea it looked pretty complete from what I rememberd from reading up on them. The dash was replaced with a piece of aluminum, someone left off the drivers side upper door so the drivers side was dirty. (It had carpenter ants coming out of the seat.. really ) The steering wheel had been replaced with a weld on model. No rear seats, a LOT of parts, including the snapped rear axle shaft that problably caused the rear diff to grenade, in the bed.
The front tires were still inflated, the rears flat. And there was no rear differential. No problem. Buuuuut the rust in the under seat storage area was the worst on the entire vehicle, and it was just surface rust. The bulkhead is rust free, the frame isn't swiss cheese like a lot I saw on the internet, and the body panels are pretty straight. Coolness.

History:
The vehicle was sold new in Fort Worth, It was re-sold couple times in Fort Worth and then it had been a hunting vehicle out towards Weatherford, TX before the current owner. The neat part was that the owner had amassed several Rover-brand-new-in-the-box parts for the vehicle... but had never tried to put them on.

The beginning

We moved to East TX, and I started missing my 4x4 that I sold about a year before. Especially since I was an hour closer to Gilmer.
So I started looking at carlots, in fields, and asking around. No luck for a couple months. A lot of worn out cheap vehicles or expensive decent vehicles.
A friend was driving around with me when I noticed a metal roof sticking out of some weeds behind a shed. I noted a couple dozen hungry dogs between me and the owners door, so I left a note on the gate. About a week later I got a call to come look at it The owner said "I'll have to mow around it first"

Hey! Is that a Scout?

This is my attempt to revitalize a 1973 Land Rover 88 that I found in a field about a year ago. (now year and a half- but who's counting?)
Why a Rover you ask? Wouldn't a Jeep be easier in the US? Why yes it would. Parts are plentiful and advice is just around the corner.
I've HAD a CJ7, a CJ5, a '47 Willys, a full size Cherokee, and a XJ Cherokee. Along with a 460CI bad *** '79 Bronco. They served their purposes, but I wanted something different this time. As one magazine wrote,' there are a lot of CJ me toos on the trail'

So the benefits were:
+ The Rover has full floating axles. Front and rear.
+ The Rover has shackle reversal. Stock from the factory.
+ The Rover has military wrapped leaf springs. Stock from the factory.
+ The Rover sat in a field since around 1994. It didn't rust cause its mostly aluminum.
+ The Rover was inbetween size of the CJs and the Full size vehicles.
+ It has seating for up to 7 people (although this would be a ball buster for the front middle passenger)
+ The Rover was -almost- complete - I thought..
+ The Rover was based off the Willys which I had rebuilt in 2003/2004. If you understand the Jeep, you'll understand most of the Rovers "logic"
+ And foremost- the price was right.