Lee's Land Rover Series III Restoration

Axles

After stripping the chassis down and making the decision to scrap it and purchase a new one. The next jobs whilst waiting for the chassis was stripping down axles and refurbishing them. There comes a point I guess for most restorers, is far do you go when stripping down? For me, I had a couple of principles. I wanted to keep the Land Rover true to its original condition as it left the factory (mind you comfort upgrades can be very very tempting!!!). The other was to strip the Land Rover down for rust removal and repainting only unless there was something broken, rusted or leaking.

So……at the time (2005) i was more focused on getting the Land rover refurbished than maybe looking at the proper health of the parts. So i stripped down the axles to a point but didn’t pay enough attention to leaks which Im having to deal with now in 2019!

start stripping down the freewheeling hubs

Cleaning original parts and fitting new swivels and bearings

Not enough pics on before and after. To busy getting stuck in!! I used hammerite paint here and now learning that this will now to be painted with a more robust paint!

New Chassis delivered, etch primed, painted black (later to be changed for silver many years later) The rebuild included the addition of a new fuel tank. Looks cool, but should have kept it cleaner!!!

The breakdown continues

For some reason it felt quite sad slowly dismembering the land rover. This was still 2005 when passion and interest were abound!!!

One of the things I regret about the early stages of the project was not taking enough pictures!! At the time i thought? that i would be very quickly getting back into the items i had stripped. So for anyone out there doing a project, take loads of pictures, it helps so much when you start eventually rebuilding!

What have I bought? and start the breakdown

My initial thoughts were to take lots of pictures throughout the breakdown as would need these during the renovation and rebuild. Another lesson I should have learnt 😦

Makes it look like the Landy has been maned!!! First real view of the chassis and discovering in certain parts, the rust has eaten through and making it more value as scarp.

So the start

So the project started like most by a trawl through ebay. At first we all have good intentions with any purchase, I promised myself I would do research on which vehicle to purchase. Series I, II, IIa or III. Consider a 88″ or 109″ Petrol or Diesel, Van, pick up or canvas back. Consider prices and valuations of the Land Rovers and complexity of the project, but no!!! My enthusiasm got the better of me, I started bidding on the first night I looked and by the morning I was a proud owner of a 1972 series III petrol 2.25 Land Rover Van for £400. The Land Rover was kept off road with no MOT, but that matter as it was going to be restored to pristine condition. I was also a little naive about where the Landy was located, thinking it was only a two hour, I had my works pick up and borrowed trailer and off i went, the trip ended up being a seven hour journey. Lesson one, look up route finder and find out how far places are!