F913 PUY Restoration (2000)

This the second page of the rebuild 'diary' of F913 PUY. Even though I had GCSEs that summer, progress with F913 PUY was very good, thanks to my Dad who was invaluable all the way. The August 2nd entry was the last in the rebuild diary for F913 PUY. Who knows what'll come next!

Another month and a bit goes by, but this time a LOT of work has gone on. The rollcage is back with the crossbar removed and a now very thick coat of paint on, so that's good news.

But the best news is that after two, nearly three weeks of endless flatting down, etch primering, drilling out, sanding, reriveting etc etc etc, F913 PUY has now gone off for painting at Southam Bodies and will return after I get back from holiday in a nice shade of dark blue Aegean Metallic (hopefully...)

Here are the last known pictures of PUY in 'Autumn Sky' camouflage (click the pictures to enlarge):

The last picture is of the half Safari Door that my Dad and I have manufactured up including bracing in the back of the door for strength. The door looked completely shot when it came off the vehicle but prepped up reasonably well.

Other things sorted over the last month: NAS lights (large indicators, sidelights, brakelights etc) and general bits and pieces, including real door seal, rubber mats, side repeaters and some badging were  bought from Yarnold's Land Rover in Stratford-upon-Avon. They were very helpful in sourcing the NAS lights (cheapish too - £8.70 each + VAT, I was expecting more like £20), with a two day delivery (I was worried because I had seen reports of 2 week delivery times), and have been very helpful sourcing parts and offering advice. Top marks guys!

I also went to Billing on the Saturday and had another spending spree, getting the A-Bar, a new bumper, some new badges, bumper endcaps, new mirror glass, security box, front mudflaps etc etc etc from various places. A great day out, only marred a bit by the slightly cool weather (I usually bake at Billing) and the fact I had to carry a Discovery Steel wheel across the whole site. How heavy do they need to be???

Unfortunately my Landy was no where near ready for Billing, and so we went in Dad's V8 powered Series 1, which was literally loaded to the roof with stuff, poor little thing.

I've also had the alloys (and the new steel spare) shod with BFG All Terrain 265/75 R 16 tyres like on the NAS 90 and the Td5 90's. They are massive and make the standard rims and 205 tyres look like wheel barrow tyres :o) Mind you, they weren't cheap (£575 for 5, eek).

So the waiting begins, and the ordering of more expensive stuff - rear step, rear seats, spotlights, hood etc and it should finally come together - and with less than 2 months to go it's starting to get a bit tight - but at least it made the deadline for the paint shop.

Well that's about what's happened - except we've fitted the new springs and dampers, and waxed them all to stop the rusting (hopefully). And we got some cheap brand new front doors - but I can't tell you about that. If really want to know mail me.

That's it for this month - I think the next instalment will be in two week's time after I've collected it from the painters and I can tell you all how fantastic it looks. Here's waiting...

Wahey! Exams are over!! That means I can have 3 months of solid work on PUY in order to drive it in September... Anyway, whilst I was slaving away over exam papers, the people down at Frog's Island 4x4 took PUY away and fitted an NAS-spec full-length rollcage, and cut the middle bulkhead between the cab and the rear tub away to open the vehicle up a bit. However, the mysterious appearance of a centre cross bar from behind the driver on the right hand side to the behind the passenger's head on the left hand side was worrying - I wanted one without it, so that I could move my seat back further (I'm 6ft 2). That was Thursday 15th June.

One Rollcage, Sir... (click for larger image)

On Saturday I decided on a change of scenery and went to the MG Car Club annual meet at Silverstone (about 20 miles from here). Bargain of the day was a £10 square of charcoal grey Volvo-quality carpet that was enough to cover the entire cab of my Landy. That'll come in handy then.

Sunday was the annual Land Rover Heritage Run/Cavalcade or whatever it is now which congregated at the Heritage Motor Centre at Gaydon (5 miles away - isn't Banbury convenient??). After a quick trawl through the stalls, I came up with a £2.50 switch for turning on the soon-to-be front spotlights. Dad bought a few (i.e. loads of) Whitworth spanners and sockets ("You can't buy them new you know") from the same stall. But the best buy of the day was undoubtedly the pair of genuine boxed Recaro front seats for £130. Apparently the MoD ordered the wrong colour...

Monday came and a phone call to Frog's Island asking about the odd cross strut ended with them agreeing very generously to collect the cage, remove the cross bar and recoat the cage free of charge. That meant that the cage would be perfect and would also not interfere with the painting (which will happen in the next 8-12 days hopefully). So I've got every panel to flat down, and then I've got to choose a colour..

Well, two months work boils down to quite a lot when you step back from it. My Land Rover is back from the garage, with a basically as-new engine (rebuilt by Norris Bomford Engineering near Alcester), and the new(er) gearbox. First thing was to remove the hardtop, and dissemble it for storage, as the rollcage is being fitted soon. I also got a £60 sheet of waterproof sound deadening matting from BJ Acoustics (to compliment the rest of the kit I ordered), and fitted that to the underneath of the seat box. The seatbox is now back in the Landy, having removed the innovate computer case battery box, and the floors have had the sound deadening treatment, plus they've been sealed down to the seatbox and front footwell. I re-fitted the exhaust after it had been wire brushed and sprayed with heat resistant matt black paint. I then drove the (very, very smoky) Landy out of the garage, round on the drive a bit and back in. Wow! The engine sounds great, and the gearbox is fantastic, even at 3 mph... The drivers seat is back in, in order for some secret testing to take place, before the engine is tweaked to cure the clouds of unburnt diesel smoke. 4 Months 11 Days...

07th March 2000

Well, F913 PUY is now down at the garage awaiting the engine rebuild which I've decided to have done. It's only £200 cheaper than a full 200Tdi conversion, but the Tdi engine being a transplant would mean immense insurance costs (not really fair, as my Dad's V8-enhanced Series I (see Photos page) is only £60 a year for him :o( ). So the 2.5 TD engine is getting completely rebuilt as new. Which might mean I can get up *some* hills. And it's just over 6 months to go.

Hopefully I'll be going to Billing 2000 in it, with just the 'extras' to buy at Billing (like seats etc) and fit before 24th September. I can't wait...

Where do I start?? During the last three months I have done so much stuff to my Land Rover. Unfortunately it now looks like this (click the preview images for a full-screen photo)

The first picture shows the front devoid of bumper, grill, small lights and bonnet. The second shows the replacement LT77 gearbox + transfer box (bargain at £350) and the third photo shows the passenger side floor (or lack of it, and the seat box, transmission tunnel and seats and doors and sills......).

The reason the battery is still connected (and placed inside a defunct computer case) is that my dad has driven it down to the garage at the bottom of the village (in this condition!!! - note the seat squab perched on the fuel tank) in order to have the engine sorted and the new gearbox put in.

The complete list of what has been done in the last 3 months runs to:

• Removal of bumper, wheel arch eyebrows, mudflaps and grill.

• Removal of sidelights, indicators , brakelights, fog light and reversing light.

• Removal of headlamp surrounds, aerial, intake grilles and rear corner cappings.

• Removal of all three doors, interior headlining and bonnet.

• Removal of all three seats, seatbox, interior floor, sills and transmission tunnel.

• Preparation of some exterior bodywork.

• Purchase of 1995 LT77 gearbox and transfer box (£350)

• Purchase of 4 new Bilstein gas dampers (£200)

• Purchase of 2 new front turrets (£30) and securing rings.

• Purchase of a full set of blue polybushes (£150)

• Possible purchase of two Discovery axles for fitting of alloy wheels (£?)

• The discovery of a ratchet socket fused to a bolt on the chassis (from the factory??)

• Completion of chassis painting and the first wax injection into the chassis.

Well.. I said I'd done a lot..... Hopefully now I should now start hurtling through getting stuff done. However, saying that I've got a lot of coursework to do for school in the next month, and then language speaking exams, then we get into the exams proper. So it might be the end of June before I get anything done (although I doubt it...). I hope to get it painted and the rollcage and hood fitted before going to Billing in the summer, leaving the seat and wheels and 'sundry items' to be completed before September (when I can drive.. woo).

Oh yes, and to answer Richard's question F913 PUY is my Land Rover, and not my dad's. Just to make that absolutely clear.... :o)

14th February 2000

I was going to write what I'm going to put up tomorrow up now, but I'm going to get some pictures.. check back tomorrow!