Reliving the good ol’ days
“Back in the day we were dependent on the Haynes, now there’s a wealth of information in the palm of your hand”
DAD has been staying with us for the last two months here in Brisbane. Unfortunately we’ve just one week before he sets off, heading to LA to catch up with my eldest brother. I’m not sure dad would describe his time here as a holiday, because in all honesty he has spent most of his time incarcerated in my workshop fixing Land Rovers. He protests, though I know deep down he has secretly enjoyed it. We have both enjoyed it immeasurably.
It’s been funny working together again. The last time was some 25 years ago when we rebuilt my 88-inch IIA together. It’s not all that long ago, but times have certainly changed and we have both been reflecting upon that. Back in the day, we were pretty much dependent on either the Haynes or
Green Bible when it came to stripping things down and rebuilding them. These days, of course, there’s a wealth of quality, up-to-date information available in the palm of your hand via your mobile phone, thanks to all of the various Land Rover forums. How many times have we done a quick Google image search to confirm correct fitment of things like accelerator linkages and brake shoes? Twenty-five years ago you’d have had to rely on either your handy workshop manual or local Land Rover guru.
It’s a wonder that we ever got anything done. And what about getting secondhand parts? I remember trawling Freeads which had no photos and very little information beyond ‘Old Land Rover breaking for parts, call me’. Now we’ve got Facebook
Marketplace which boasts photographs and even a clearly marked geographic location. You youngsters, don’t realise just how lucky you are!
Beyond our workshop tinkering, our daily commute has been a real blast. I think we both find it slightly mind-boggling that we’re on the other side of the world riding in the same vehicle we rebuilt in Cornwall all those years ago. Even after all those years, the accelerator cable remains the same lash-up that dad threw together. One day it will snap…
I’ve got lots of interesting client projects on the go at the moment, but by far the most fascinating has been one I’m working on with dad – a late 1960s Series IIA tray back ute. Those who follow my column closely may recall this vehicle led to my ruptured Achilles’ tendon some 10 or so months ago. Since then it has sat outside in the corner of my yard, sniggering at me each day. It was time to wipe the smile from its rusty grille and see if it might be brought back to life. The farmer I bought it from assured me it would run with fresh fuel and a new battery. We’ve all heard that before and it’s rarely true. Looking over the engine we found it was missing both a coil and fuel pump. Luck was on our side, as like so many Land Rovers over here it had been converted to a Holden six-cylinder engine. Whilst perhaps not for the purists, the advantage of the Holden motor is parts availability. You can head to just about any motor factor and things like distributor caps and fuel pumps are almost always in stock.
I threw caution to the wind and stumped up A$150 for the cap and pump, conscious that I had only paid A$750 for the whole vehicle. Dad was tasked with getting it running and after much cursing (apparently you need to be a contortionist to fit a Holden fuel pump), he claimed it was ready for us to fire up. A fresh battery was fitted and copious amounts of ‘Start Ya Bastard’ were introduced into the carby. Some signs of life, but it wasn’t sounding remotely interested in firing up.
“Dad, you did clean up the distributor points like I said?” I asked tentatively. “Course I did Jack,” came a terse reply. I don’t want to dwell on what was found when I checked the points gap… But moments later the Holden motor fired up and we had ourselves a running Land Rover. It was all very exciting.
I’m led to believe the Land Rover was last driven around 15 years ago – I was genuinely surprised at how easy it was to get running (dad should probably take the credit there). Amazingly (I say this because this has never happened before), the clutch hydraulics were all good and dad was able to put into gear and drive it away.
Owing to a large hole in the exhaust the thing sounds like a dragster, but up front the engine sounds surprisingly healthy and we were able to drive it around the workshop fairly enthusiastically.
So what’s the plan for this old ute? I bought it on a bit of a whim – the perfectly straight bodywork and cheap price luring me in. Could it be a candidate for restoration with a view to selling down the track?
I think it would need to be converted to a regular 109 with rear seating and possibly a soft top to attract a decent resale price. But I think it would be a bit of shame to change it, so for now the plan is to give it a service, freshen up the engine bay and apply some carefully aged signwriting. Watch this space.