Frame rebuild

I got extremely lucky with my frame, fellow Series fan here in CO had a Series 88" frame that was in excellent, rust free condition.  It was a complete rolling chassis.
I rented a small lawn and garden trailer from the Air Force Academy and drove up to Evergreen to get the frame.  A quick pull with a come-along and it was loaded.  Backed it into the garage when I got home and got it unloaded.

I removed the front and rear axles and the suspension.  The steering relay came out in multiple pieces.  I am going to have to do some repairs to the front cross member.
I built a jig that bolted to the rear mount of the front springs and the front mount of the rear springs.  I knew I was not doing any 'stretching' of the frame between these two points.  I made the jig so that the frame was level to the floor.  I then welded two legs onto the rear cross member and two more where I planned on cutting..  I did a lot of measuring, then cut the frame just ahead of the shock mounts.  I then just slide the cut off part back 12" and started welding in the new metal.  After completing the new frame rails in the rear I repeated the process in the front.  I made the front cut just behind the cross member and moved the front horns forward 5",

I didn't take any photos of the frame stretch, but here it is still on the jig as I attach all the body panels to make sure everything lined up correctly before doing all of the finish welding

After completing the stretch, I started working on the engine mounts.
First I welded the front axle to some 2" blocks on the frame.  This placed the axle at the full compression position so I could check for clearance.
With the firewall, seatbox, and tub in place and the engine and transmission hanging off the engine hoiste I started trying to determine the proper location for the engine.
I need to modify the firewall slightly to fit the engine as far to the rear as possible.  I drilled out all of the spot welds that hold the center section to the reast of the bulkhead.  I kept jockeying around the engine until I had it where I wanted.  I needed room for the cooling fans, radiator, oil cooler, and transmission fluid cooler at the front, room for the intake and fuel lines on top, ensure the oilpand didn't hit the axle, and rooms for the exhaust.

When all was said and done, I had the engine in the perfect spot.  I had to make a slight mod to the footwells to avoid the exhaust, but was otherwise able to weld the center panel back in and have no other mods to the firewall.  The seat box clears the transmission and transfercase.  And it looks like the center tunnel will fit without modification.

I cut of the transmission crossmember and added brackets to it to create a removable mount and then positioned it under the joint between the transmission and transfercase.
I also cut out the cross member under the engine.  I will have to build a new one of these that works with the front axle.  The 4L60 and NP/241 combo is going to require some trickery to get the front drive shaft set up.  I might need a 2-piece shaft with a pillow block.

More next time...

One Hundred and Five Inches

If you are still with me and a fan of the Rover family you are probably think "WTF did 105" come from?"

In the beginning there was the 80" soon followed by the 86 and 107.  Over time these became the 88 and 109 that most Folks think of when they think Series Land Rover.  With the change from leaf springs to coil the trucks grew to 94" and 110".  After some time we also have the extremely long 127".  Most people know these as the Defender 90, 110, & 130.  Two other very popular coil sprung Rovers are the Discovery and the Range Rover Classic.  The RRC was introduced way back in 1970 (same year as my Series) and had a WB of 100".  The Disco was built on the same frame.  I guess I can't forget about the 101" Forward Control.

No what is very common on the other side of the pond is to take a Series body and plop it down on a RRC 100" rolling chassis.  To be honest this probably would have been the easiest path for me to follow.  I have coiler axles and all the suspension parts.  A sound RRC or Disco frame would be pretty easy and cost effective to find.  But when it came right down to it, I just didn't want coils.  It's very silly I know, but to me Series = Leafs, period.

One of the things I am attempting to do with this build is to keep the truck as Series looking as possible.  Other than it being a little longer, from the outside its going to look like a Series Iia, split windscreen, two part doors, sliding windows, recessed radiator, galvanized body caps, and leafs.  Even on the inside I am trying.  I will have stock floor boards and transmission tunnel.  Yes there is a Disco auto trans shifter there, instead of the Series stick.  But it looks good.  Defender seats, Series III dash, Defender handbrake, RRC steering column.  OK so maybe it will be too plush and cozy on the inside 😀.

The other thing, with the recessed grill, I am pushing the engine back as much as possible to fit the radiator, oil cooler, and trans cooler.  Plus the auto box and NP241 (even with the SYE kit) is still longer than the manual 4speed and Dana18 in the current 88.  I need to move back my axle so everything fits.

So the 100" idea was still my starting point.  I only needed 12" in the tub.  This gives me more room for a rear seat, and the room required for the drive train.  So that is how I started, by creating a tub that was just 12" longer than an 88".  I stretched an 88" frame 12"' basically adding some metal between the seat and the axles.  Simple.  But as I looked at the rear suspension, I realized I could move the leafs back more and reduce the amount of overhang.  By moving the rear mount back to the underside of the rear crossmember I have reduced the overhang as much is possible with leafs.  This ended up being 5".  So my body is only a foot longer overall, but the WB ended up at 105".

Now the other thing I did was to totally rebuild the front end, and I have installed the longer rear springs up front.  Yes this decreased the approach angle a bit, but I feel the increase in suspension travel is worth it.

So there you have it, the reason the new Rover will be a 105"

So here is the plan.

• Increase the amount of space inside the vehicle so I can better fit a second row seat for the kids
• Increase the wheel base of the vehicle to improve on-road ride comfort and off road performance
• Accomplish both of those with out effecting the approach and departure angles
• Reduce the engine noise
• Reduce engine operating temps
• Maintain similar power and fuel mileage

So to achieve these goals I am going to

• Build a 105" frame.
• Modify a 109 tub to fit the 105" wheel base
• Install a GMC LS engine

In conjunction with the frame stretch I am going to place longer rear springs up front, and I am going to use wider D-110 armored car axles front and rear.  These are the Salisbury (Dana-60) axles.
The engine I found is a 2007 5.3l aluminum V-8, 70k miles and came with the automatic transmission and transfer case.  I pulled the engine myself and got all of the computers/sensors/fuses/wiring/etc.

I also acquired an old Series 109 safari roof, tub, seat box and hard top, a S-III bulkhead, 88" roof sides with sliding windows,  and a S-II bonnet and radiator support.  Disco seats, RRC stearing column, S-III dash components.  Power steering using a Scout box and GM pump, hydro-boost power brakes, discs up front (maybe on the back axle, have the parts), stronger axles, auto-trans w/5-spd O/D, lighter frame, long parabolic springs on all 4 corners, yeah I like where this is going.

A friend here in CO helped me with the frame.  This is a IIa 88" frame that I am lengthening and modifying for the suspension.

Gathering all the bits and pieces

In the beginning or shortly there after

I figured it was time for me to start this, the tale of a 'new' Rover.
I have owned my 1970 Land Rover Series IIa 88" for almost 17 years now.  It was an insurance write off when I got it having lost a battle against a guard rail.  I got it for a good price, but the front axle was bent and the frame was twisted beyond repair.  I pent about a year building my own frame from rectangular tubing, replacing broken bits, and basically building a daily driver.  This was in '98/99 while we were living on Oahu (thus AlohaRover).

This is the truck after one of our outings on North Range on central Oahu.

The 88 with it's stock 2.25l 4-cylinder engine was the perfect little island cruiser.  But shortly after returning to the mainland I grew dissatisfied with the engines performance.  Heading East on I-90, climbing up the mountain pass was just a bit scary, just barely able to maintain 25mph, getting passed by logging trucks, not a fun trip.  So in 2002 I placed a GMC 6.2 diesel engine in the truck.  Tons of performance, but also tons of noise.

On the Naches Trail in Washington

I am older now, obviously, and am just tired of having to wear ear plugs everywhere I go.  The kids don't like riding in the truck, and honestly no matter what mods I have made, it gets too hot on climbs.  So I have begun the process of replacing the engine and am going to do a complete rebuild, from the frame up and will use this blog to record my progress, or lack there of.