Jack Dobson
Dobbo Dow n Under
Abig year for Land Rover with its 70th birthday but also a big year for my Series IIA, as she reaches the grand old age of 50. The longevity of these vehicles is incredible. On my way into work this morning, top down, windscreen folded forwards (mainly to wind up my partner as it wasn’t particularly warm), I studied the other vehicles on the road and I don’t think any were over ten years old. I wonder how many of them will reach 50 years? I also wonder, will Old Girl still be gracing us with her presence and what will she be powered by? Perhaps people will be raiding scrap yards (or are they called recycling centres now?) for old Tesla electric motors and battery packs? Can you imagine a ghostly-silent Series Land Rover? Crazy talk indeed.
Writing this month’s column is a bit of a challenge. Over the weekend whilst working on the rusty carcass of Grandma (otherwise known as a rolling chassis) I managed to nearly slice a finger off. Yes folks, you have guessed it, I was operating an angle grinder. I rate these as the most dangerous of tools and think they should only be used as a very last resort. In my case I was cutting through seized exhaust bolts (now, of course, I wish I had persevered with the socket and spanner). Was I wearing the right protective gear? In all honesty, my gear was more suited for a day at the beach. Be under no illusion: flip-flops and bare hands offer no personal protection. Am I the only one that seems to forget Health & Safety when at home (and especially so when working on my Land Rover)? There really is no excuse, I mean, in our working lives we comply with all sorts of Health & Safety measures. Indeed you only have to mention a potential hazard and your employer swiftly hands you a hard hat, safety glasses and the obligatory high-visibility vest.
Anyway I have learnt from my experience ( by the way I do not cope well with the sight of blood – and as I stumbled into the kitchen leaving a stream of it in my wake I very nearly fainted). From now on I will be wearing gloves, safety glasses and steel toe cap boots whenever I bring out that grinder and might I be so bold as to suggest you should, too? Who knows, I may even stop wearing flip-flops entirely when working on the car. I mean no one wants to spend their weekend in A&E looking at a sea of fellow fools.
High-visibility vest off, and now an update on Grandma. Since my last words on this, unfortunately I must revise my condition report. Her chassis is really in a terrible state. So far, both front dumb irons have been replaced, the fuel tank outrigger has been repaired and a new rear quarter-chassis has been fitted. Initially I thought the back end was going to be okay, requiring only a minor repair (an awful patch that needed tidying up), but glimpses of daylight above the rear spring hangers soon changed that prognosis. There is more: it turns out both bulkhead outriggers also need replacing. Or at least they need to if I want to be able to shut the drivers’ door without resorting to physical levels of violence – it turns out the drivers’ side outrigger is not square with the chassis and drops by nearly 200 mm. It is clearly not going to be a particularly cheap exercise getting this chassis finished.
At least with the chassis away I have been making the most of the extra space between sobbing over the chassis repairs. Focus has been on rejuvenating the other bits. My Land Rover Reborn production line starts in the garden, migrates through to the carport, has a brief pit stop in the kitchen and concludes in our study. My current weapon of choice is that dreaded angle grinder again, but this time fitted with a knotted wire wheel. It sounds aggressive – and it is – but it does a great job of removing rust (and no doubt limbs, too). Maybe I am getting more pernickety but it seems to be taking me an awful long time to clean up each item before painting. I am really relishing this project though and there is something so satisfying about giving old parts a fresh look with new paint and fittings. I might go as far as to say that the clutch and brake assemblies are now things of pure beauty – but whether I will maintain this opinion when it comes to fitting them and attempting to bleed the systems remains to be seen. Over the last few days I have been working on the body panels. Fortunately the number of dents are few ( by Land Rover standards at least) but it is still taking repeated frantic activity with various sanding methods. In fact, I have been sanding so much my fingertips have all but lost their prints! But by goodness they are smooth.
Finally, if you see me driving and it looks like I am giving you the finger, I promise it is the bandage.
“My Land Rover Reborn production line starts in the garden, through the carport and kitchen, and concludes in our study”
When Brit Jack Dobson emigrated to Australia in 2010 he brought his passion for Land Rovers along with him.