The 'Rover Project
This, and following pages, will be devoted to the long-term restoration of my 1969 Series IIA Short Wheel Base (SWB) Land Rover Stationwagon. I've been wanting a good four-wheel-drive vehicle for years now, and of course, one of the most coveted of them all is the world-famous Land Rover. Unfortunately, the vehicles are few, and far between, and usually, they command prices fitting to such interest. So you can imagine my suprise when, back in December of '96, on an errand, I and my wife spotted one in the parking lot of a local factory, with a "For Sale" sign in the window, with the notice "Runs good, no frame-rot, needs TLC: $4000 ". A week later, she was mine, an early Christmas present from my wife. It does in fact need a fair bit of work. The window-channels are rotted, all the rubber has mouldered away, the brakes need to be done, and the parking brake is seized in the "off" position. The seats are pretty ratty, and the interior panels are somewhat beat-up. However, the engine runs smoothly, the gear-box is fine, and the drive-train seems to have no problems. Also, over her 28 years of service, she seems to have only been hit once, and that only hard enough to slightly bend the panel around the front directional light. Since the vehicle seems to be in suprisingly good condition, and almost completely original, I decide to restore her, as best I am able, to her original condition.
January, 1997: The 'Rover has been officially dubbed "Colleen" after the character from the "Road Rovers" cartoon. The restoration process has begun with the contacting of the good folks from Rovers North, in Vermont. From them I purchased "Land Rover Series I, II & III: Purchase and Restoration Guide", by Lindsay Porter, and the Owner's Manual for a Series IIA. First order of business will be installing a rearview mirror and the repair of the directional lights, to bring her up to New Jersey DMV spec. This is my first snag. One of the light fittings dosen't work because the rubber seal that keeps water out has split with age. Water got into the light fitting, and it's solid rust. The problem? Land Rover no longer makes the part. And the "reccomended replacement" is almost two inches smaller in diameter, so it dosen't match the originals anyways. The solution: cut appart the ruined fitting, and install the newer, plastic (won't rust! Yay!) fitting inside it. Perhaps not the best or most elegant solution. But it looks good and it works.
February, 1997: The installation of the mirror and an hour in line at the Inspection Station nets me the proper sticker for Coleen, and now she's road-legal. The drive to the Inspection Station reveals two things to me: 1) Drive with the Fairey Overdrive in gear if you want to make any speed at all. 2) Land Rovers are noisy, but they're not supposed to be that noisy. My own inspection reveals that the door-hinge bearings are shot, which contributes a little to the noise, but that the biggest culprit seems to be the rear windows, rattling in thier rusted-out tracks. A handful of hinge-repair kits from Rovers North solves the door problem, but the windows channels are staggeringly expensive for what they are (little "U" shaped metal tracks covered with rubber, and a sort of felt-like material inside).
March, 1997: Salvation! A friend of mine in the UK, who happens to be a fellow Land Rover enthusiast, sends me a catalog of spares and parts available in the UK. The window tracks are considerably less expensive, even counting in postage from England.Parts are ordered, and mailed, and the restoration continues. Two days later, I have the pleasent suprise of finding out that new window channels cut down the noise inside Coleen by about 30%. Not to say she's quiet. Just quieter.
April, 1997: Considerable driving reveals that Coleen's brakes, while functional, are nearing the end of thier useful lifespan. Since I suspect that the brake-pads are more than ten years old, not too suprising. Most of the problems I've encountered thus far have been simple wear and tear, and the degradation of materials over nearly three decades. Fortunately, most of the work on these older Series 'Rovers can be done with a good set of wrenches, a set of screw-drivers, and some pliers. The brakes, however, are a job for a pro. I wonder what the local 'Rover dealership will say when I drive this in?