NEXT MORNING - INSPECTION TIME

WITH THE car safely transported to the workshop, the first job is to get it on the ramp and fully inspect the vehicle critically. Now is the time to reveal exactly what I’ve bought, and exactly what level of repairs and restoration will be required.

Land Rover specialist, James Holmes, grabs a scraper and heads straight for the chassis, checking from back to front. Tentatively, he scrapes a chassis rail, and reveals black factory chassis paint. He moves forward a metre or so and repeats, revealing more of the same, continuing open-mouthed until we reach the front. That is right, my 59-year-old car that has been parked outside for over a decade has a sharp core to the chassis, with original finish still very much in evidence.

Move out from that, and we knew the usual outriggers were corroded. They catch all the crud, then that crud holds moisture, creating the ideal environment for the steel to corrode. However, the other usual rot spots for Series Is: the front dumb irons, front crossmember and all the spring hangers were in great shape. The story was much better than we would have thought, meaning fairly rudimentary outrigger and rear crossmember replacement should be the main jobs on the chassis. The car had a rear crossmember fitted at a Land Rover dealer in the late 1990s – a Series III Genuine Part, off-the-shelf item. It wasn’t as bad as they can be, but is rusty at the inner face. We were pleased to find it has enough core strength for the car to be towed around on a solid bar to get it into the workshop, but it still has to be replaced. James Holmes fits rear crossmembers to Defenders in a day as a matter of routine, so he didn’t even blink when faced with the challenge of replacement. It becomes just another item on the list.

The rear crossmember is heavily corroded, succumbing in typical fashion on the inward face, then inevitably rusting outwards. 1

Scraping further forward shows black chassis paint, brown undercoat, then under that only a lightly corroded surface to the main rail. 2

Both front axle steering swivels are corroded. Axle rebuilds are called for, and possibly upgrading the front axle to Raiko bushes. 8

The offside front dumb iron has a couple of small holes in, but is otherwise okay. Dumb irons are available, but this is easily repairable by James. 5

Though well used, the rear tub looks okay, too. Those support bars look to have been sprayed with rust protection, though one may need replacing. 7

At the front end, we see more black paint and brown undercoat, and a thankful lack of troublesome corrosion on the lower sections. 4

It’s a similar story around the leading spring mount for the rear springs. For nearly 60 years old, this is in superb shape. 3

Dipping the axle oil reveals green, fresh-looking EP90. This shows the axle gears and seals are in good shape, and suggests the car was well-maintained. 9

The heavily corroded bulkhead outriggers need replacing. They have already been replaced once. The bulkhead brackets are well gone. 6