After seriously looking for a few days and not months of dreaming i finally found the beauty i was looking for. An Ex Army Vietnam era Landrover. I learnt i wanted a 2a which was the correct period for Vietnam. The visible difference being the inbound front headlights.
After seeing many on gumtree with heaps of coolangatta gold and grass covered chassis i never thought i would find a gem to resotre, nor milspec, nor original working motor as many had conversion motors a popular one being the holden 202 straight 6.
Low and behold, just up road from me a seller had one in a paddock for the last 4 years. Many seem to have found life as a farm truck after exiting the military. The vehicle i had found was a genuine ex army 1969 series 2a lwb 109 GS landrover with original motor and a rebuilt box n' transfer. The box however had not been put back in the vehicle after the seller going through a divorce, his project came to a halt. He had also rebuilt and recovered the seats in od canvas and the landy came with heaps of spares, some new some old.
6 spare wheels with 4 from a 110 (apparently wider offset) 2 spares and 4 on the truck with 90's high mile mil tread 85% . The ute back was full of all the spares and unfortunately for some silly reason the spare screen was layed on the bottom with everything stacked on top. Was just sad to see the glass smashed due to a lack of care. However seeing the price of new parts and glass etc , its not like the glass panels are hard to get nor expensive.
The floor was all out, the motor turned by hand every now and then (said the seller) it wasnt seized.
So i begun reinstalling the box with transfer attached (easiest i have ever done being able to slide in from above. No more bench press a gear box from your chest like my HQ holden). I stood in the tunnel while a mate passed it through the door. Too easy. I begun to go through the boxes of parts hoping all the nuts bolts and washers where still there. Jars and containers revealed 98% of all needed.
A trip to supercheap and $130 later i serviced the Landy with gearbox and transfer oil, engine oil (spares included 2 new oil filters) a new set of ngk plugs and a quick inspection and overhaul of the breather caps. The rocker cover breather had rusted away its mesh inside. A good clean and some steel wool did the job. The airfilter was clean and i was told it nows runs a small holden carby instead of the landy unit. The fuel tanks were drained and washed out with some new fuel, the lines had wasp nest clogging them. The old rubber fuel lines had perished along with the fuel tank filler hoses. One ive managed to cut of the bad end and refit the passenger side needs replacement. I cleaned out clutch reservoir and bled the line, again the easiest ive ever done having a bung hole to stick the spanner in next to the pedal.
I flushed the coolant out of the rad and replaced with water till i fired it up and gave it a cycle to flush out the remaining fluid. All ready to go with the battery out of the ski boat, she came to life via feeding 'start ya bastard' and fuel down its throat also down the fuel line back to the filter to get the lines primed.
Wow ! She fired up and idled away perfectly. A little smoky but i remembered i had topped up the tank after flushing with 50:1 boat fuel. Probably a good thing for the dry engine.
Next i added drained and added coolant and had to resolder the overflow tube back to the radiator top. No leaks. She runs good and with no leaks. Next i couldnt wait to drop it in gear and she if she drives. The clutch a bit rusty i think along with the brake drums she shuddered and nudged its self along my front yard. A quick trip down the back yard it all begun to free up included the frozen suspension.
Rust on this truck is only surface with one door bottom half gone and a pen tip size hole just below the passenger door lower hinge on the pillar. So nothing really. All this truck needs is a clean and paint.
The 2a came with 4ltrs of od correct paint , my son and i armed with a pressure cleaner each begun to blast the old layers of paint away back to the original army od and some areas back to bare metal. And i thought i would be paint stripping and sanding. Cab will have to come off one day to clean and paint the chassis but for now, a few cans of inox had stopped the dry surface cancer. So for now i will just be painting the top until more time and a rotating chasis stand is available.
Rats had made home over the years along with wasp nests so a good clean with disinfectant was in order. Scrubbed the seats and hey presto! The landy is almost ready for rego. The body has been fitted with a hard single civi cab, i was planning to remove and restore back to canvas roof full lenght. I would also like to put bench seats in the rear for carrying more passengers but dont know the legalities as of yet.
I did however find a raeme vehicle in convoy in Nam with a hard single cabin top with white roof. Im guessing they retained a white roof for heat reflection reasons seen on full panel van roofs in Nam. So for now the hard cab is staying until money permits the normal canvas roof.
I have not been able to find the ARN but engine and chassie numbers on the remlr.com site is not showing this vehicle went to nam. Either side of my munbers went though.
Through remlr.com helping me identify white rear stonecutters, earth wing nut above one, and white diff center on the rear and bumpers.
Getting used to driving manual smoothly again, realizing quickly that 1st doest like revs before 2nd change. Also 1st wines of its head.
Cant wait to get it rego'd and out on the open road although i read military had a big dash sticker stating 40-45mph max. Other forums suggest no more than 80-90kph.
So much more to learn, loving the landrover engineering and simplicity and military options. Will post up pics asap.
