Ratel

[loose gravel]

S**tpart.....

[S3ute]

S**tpart.....

Gene,

That fairly eloquently sums it up……

Cheers,

Neil

[S3ute]

Hello again.

I put the floor sill supports back on the truck the other day and trial fitted the floor panels - no big issues encountered with the fit.





They won’t be finally installed until the gearbox etc has gone back in. That’s away with a specialist getting a front to back overhaul using a raft of NOS and new componentry that I picked up from various quarters of the globe over the last few years. I also arranged for them to fit the Roamerdrive and transfer case plate that I’ve had here on a shelf for a few years. I had intended to do that work myself but decided to go with outside assistance late last year in order to have the truck back on the road by April and the Cooma anniversary bash. As it was they only got started on it in early August which defeated the purpose to some extent.

I also replaced the lower door seals (along with all the other seals previously) while I was about it. These are handed and, in this case, one was packaged by Allmakes and the other by (gulp) Britpart. Both listed the country of origin as India which is pretty much where all the rubberware on the trucks including the fuel hoses comes from these days. It was hard to see any noticeable difference between the two brands and happily they fit OK.

I have a sheet of aluminium chequerplate that could be used for floor panels but I’m no real fan of the stuff on the older vehicles. Also, I’m fitting ExMoor floor mats which would make the replacement panels a bit redundant.

Cheers,

Neil

[loose gravel]

Good lord, Neil! You've gone from a snails pace to the speed of a banana slug! You'll be driving it this Summer! Looks good!

[S3ute]

Good lord, Neil! You've gone from a snails pace to the speed of a banana slug! You'll be driving it this Summer! Looks good!

Gene,

Hello again and thanks.

Yes, there’s been more progress on the project this last ten or so months than in many that preceded them. In fact, at various times in the last so many years it had many of the hallmarks of another failed project - long periods gathering dust with minimal work done on it other than order, reorder and/or lose the odd part.

I was genuinely keen to get it moving again and up and running for the 75th anniversary bash in Cooma in mid April, having previously failed to get it to the 70th event in the same place. Unfortunately, back in December I dropped the transmission in to a Land Rover garage with some recommendations from a few other owners and a completion date of late February was agreed to. This deadline was missed as was March. By early April it was too late and the momentum that had been building up pretty much fell away.

Anyway, I’ve been at it fairly frequently of late although never for prolonged periods. I have replaced most of the original wiring loom with a set of new components from Autosparks, but have found the process a bit tedious - there are some subtle differences between the standard UK layout and what applied for Australian assembled trucks. Plus I’ve incorporated quite a few electrical upgrades that weren’t standard on the Series 3 trucks and figuring out where they fit into the standard loom hasn’t always been straightforward.

I’m getting there and I do think it will roar back to life sometime before the end of this year.

That’s the (latest variant of the) plan.

Cheers,

Neil

[loose gravel]

Neil, looking forward to that happy video of it trundling down the street!

[S3ute]

Neil, looking forward to that happy video of it trundling down the street!

So is my wife and also the family……

Cheers,

Neil

[S3ute]

Hello again from the workshop.

In order to progress the wiring of headlights, sidelights, washers etc I trial fitted the front LHS mudguard this morning. A bit of a tedious job single handed, especially when you manage to drop the same nuts and washers multiple times and crawl around the floor finding and then recovering them.





Anyway, it’s really looking a little more like there’s a Land Rover under my house.



That’s a reproduction 1972 to 1974 Ford Falcon washer bottle. I mentioned previously that different manufacturers used a few of each others parts to meet the local content rules that were part of the import tax regime at the time. In this case Leyland took a few bits from Ford Australia. Once installed I’m guessing that it will probably be the first time the truck has had working washers in forty or more years.

This afternoon I’ll attack the RHS guard and hope not to encounter anything more challenging than the LHS one threw up.

Cheers,

Neil

[S3ute]

Hello again.

No longer one-eyed.



Just needs the reinforcement stays and sills to go back on to finally square it up.

Cheers,

Neil

[cnfowler]

Your truck is beautiful. Truly top notch work, Neil.


Colin

[S3ute]

Your truck is beautiful. Truly top notch work, Neil.


Colin

Colin,

Hello again and thanks for the compliment - appreciated.

It’s coming up well and I’m fairly pleased overall. A few aspects of the bodywork here and there could be better but that would have involved replacing a few panels whereas I opted to use all of the originals - other than the tailgate and bonnet which came off wrecks.

Cheers,

Neil

[rover03]

all I can say is WOW!!

[series guy]

Definitely one to be proud of.

[50 wulf]

Looks stellar!

Was the little Leyland badge originally fitted above the grill like that? Was that an Australia only thing?

[S3ute]

Looks stellar!

Was the little Leyland badge originally fitted above the grill like that? Was that an Australia only thing?

Hello again.

The small Leyland badge above the grille was a feature of the earlier run of Series 3 trucks sold here after Rover was absorbed into British Leyland.



There were another two of the same fitted on the doors just aft of the top hinges.



It may have been a Leyland Australia thing but could have been wider than that. They also changed the optional mudflaps by replacing the Land-Rover logo with the British Leyland logo.

Later in the Series 3 run they dropped the three Leyland badges.

Back about that time British Leyland changed a few other makes names to Leyland - e.g. the Morris Mini became a Leyland Mini and so on.

Cheers,

Neil