Practically Classics Forum

Started around the rear side window, the rear corner had rusted through on the inside and outside so all of it was cut out and new metal let in, then ground down.

This is what the front end looks like and the same area with the rust cut out.


Finally I started on the gutter around the door, I removed the gutter then the L shaped panel which links it to the inner roof, this was all completely rotten, fortunatelly the roof skin is not to bad, a couple of small pin holes over the door and a section which will need replacing down the A post, For some reason the whole body seems to be covered in 3 or 4 mm of filler, I was expecting horrors but most of the metal under it seems fine, looks like someones idea of a restoration in the past.


Next step will be to get the wiring out of the A pillar repair the last bit around the side window /B pilar and then fold some metal up and repair around the door

made some further progress in the last couple of weeks, most of the gutter and the step panle which goes to the door seal lip have been replaced, just down the A pillar to do now, the upper B post and around the rear side window has been finished and we have cut out the rust in the front floor and most of the rotten A pillar.

One of these pictures shows how bad the car is structurally, it has been repaired "to mot standard" ie patches welded over the rust, this means that the seams are no longer connected and panels not joined, I pushed this joint appart with my hand, the floor to sill is much the same.

We also started on the boot lid, the plan is to use a fiberglass skin I puchased cheaply and bond the steel inner from the original bootlid to it with PU, fortunatelly the inner was in pretty good shape, but the outer had rusted across the bottom, the top and at the seams around the edges, the pictures show the inner cut out and resting in place, it has also been painted now, ready to bond together.

Also did a couple of jobs on the land rover, I fitted the new front propshaft (the original had very worn splines), no vibration now, and waxed a few areas of surface rust onthe chassis.

I also started to work out how I was going to fit a booster pump for the heater (Pump pictured), As I have LPG at slow engine speeds (most of my journey to work) the heater does not much flow, I plan to fit his into the feed before it T's off to the LPG mixer.

made some progress on the minor, we bought a really solid second hand door which only has some surface rust from years of storage, this led to rapid progress on the floor and a pillar and fornt whhelarch areas, many of the parts are only tacked in the photos, seam welding has followed.

and a few more photos There is not much more to do on this side now, a small repair to the boxing panel, the remainder of the A pillar, the lower rear wing and the remainder of the front wing, I hope to be able to turn it round and start on the other side over christmas, while I am moving it around we may get it on the ramp and clean up / paint all the underside areas already repaired as well.

Been away for a week, but there is some progress on the minor before we went, the door post is now on (needs final welding) and it's amazing how such a simple thing can seem a great step, just the action of being able to open the door without it it droping on your foot is satisfying.

Next steps are to fit the lower rear wing, finish the welding around the A pillar and then think about some sort of paint to protect it before I turn it around and start on the other side, plan is to try and get it on the ramp over xmas and clean up and paint the underside..

For the others I was using the TR every day for about 5 weeks before the holiday and the Landie is now back home as well, now the weather has got colder it has got me thinking about further heater improvements, I have made the auxilary mounting brackets for the coolant pump and need to find some way to get warm air to the drivers footwell from the smiths round heater.(probably will, add somethng like the demist hoses).

a bit of time over the weekend, I fitted a new master cylinder to the TR clutch, it has been leakin for ages, so time to fix it, it is a bit of a fiddle as it is held in by nuts and bolts but with my son's help we manged to get the bolts out and removed it. This was when I realised there was a probem, when I fitted the V8 I had changed from the original easily heat damaged plasic pipe to normal brake pipe and a flexi hose, despite the smaller bore this has always worked fine, this though meant there was an adaptor sleeve screwed in the cylinder I needed to get out,
I couldn't turn it and heating the alloy up did not help, so I cut down the side with a hacksaw, which worked fine, once I had this out it was an easy matter to put it all back togther, then 20 or 30 poump and it self bleed as well, cluthc now works fine and is much lighter.