Land (Rover) Reclamation or (Land R)over the Hill! Rover RIP!

[warch]

 

That’s the welding all done, time to put it all back together. I have acquired a posh ratchet tool for electrical connections and my own weight in paint, electrical hardware and fripperies like new lights and track rod boots. The second shot is a work in progress but the welding gas held out until it was fully welded up.

[warch]

Update, mostly painted, just a door, tailgate and 4 wheels left to paint.

Rebuilt windscreen with proper never set putty stuff which cost nearly 25quid but looks good. My mate insisted on rotating the screens to equalise wear, so I humoured him on this.

Interior all back in, apart from painting just got to refit the driver’s side door lock and fit and wire six lights and the tow pack, reattach the roof and put the rest of the bolts in the rear crossmember. Weirdly all the electrics I’ve refitted all work perfectly which is a bit worrying.

Should keep me going for a few more decades I reckon. 

[Merryck]

Looks fantastic!

[warch]

1 minute ago, Merryck said:

Looks fantastic!

Thank you, it's still completely usable, I think you should be able to use a Land Rover without worrying about scratching it. Its a proper Autoshite job too, I spent barely 500quid on parts and materials. I imagine the welding would have at least doubled this but my mate didn't want any money for doing it, so I owe him into perpetuity. 

I was quite pleased to be able to sort a load of other niggling issues out like renewing all the gear oils, both gearboxes, both differentials and both swivel housings, changing some hard to access rubber boots in the steering system, cutting out and replacing some Heath Robinson wiring, fitting a new under seat box and tightening up the gear shift mechanism. 

I've got a bit disillusioned with the classic Land Rover scene, it seems to be infested with rivet counters, matching number obsessives and people who talk about things like patina or provenance. They'd probably hate the modern radial tyres, the silver painted bumper and windscreen and the el cheapo Wipac lights but that's how its looked since the early 90s.

[Rab]

Highland Funeral.

[warch]

2 hours ago, Rab said:

Highland Funeral.

That's in a sad state, it is 30 years old though. Ironically the build quality dipped dramatically during the late 90s, Td5s were usually awful for rust.

[warch]

I've finished!* Ok I haven't actually finished, it needs the other wheels painting green and the passenger side door and tail gate too, but it is now all bolted together and all the wirings done so it I can actually drive it on the road again.

 

[mat_the_cat]

Will it ever be *finished*?

[warch]

Bollocks. Made it all of three miles up the road then I was struck by a low flying Rav4.

Completely obliterated one wing, damaged the bonnet and bumper beyond repair and pushed the bulkhead back a centimetre on the left hand side. 
 

At least no one was hurt.

[LightBulbFun]

1 hour ago, warch said:

Bollocks. Made it all of three miles up the road then I was struck by a low flying Rav4.

Completely obliterated one wing, damaged the bonnet and bumper beyond repair and pushed the bulkhead back a centimetre on the left hand side. 
 

At least no one was hurt.

shit! thats awful to see after all the work you did on the old girl! 

but im glad no one was hurt, and hopefully the damage can be fixed without too much hassle! 

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Damn! I'd have struggled to not have gone completely ape shit after all the work you've done to it. Sod's law, I guess. 

Was the other driver driving like an absolute loon? 

Here's hoping the chassis is still straight after the bulkhead bending. 😕

[loserone]

how the fuck did they do that!

[beko1987]

What? I've not read this thread yet, just binged it all and then wtf? 

Dang, I need a lie down now... Presume you do too? 

[mat_the_cat]

2 hours ago, warch said:

At least no one was hurt.

It must have taken a lot of self control to make sure the Rav 4 driver wasn't hurt.

Shit dude, that's gutting. Although insurance should cover it, given the value (and they might spray the door and tailgate too )

[Landy Mann]

Ouch!

[anonymous user]

What an absolutely shit thing to happen.

[warch]

It'll just give me an excuse to artificially extend the life of this thread. Landrovers are quite old school in so far as the design allows for easy removal and replacement of bits like the front bumper and the wings. I was a bit concerned about the bulkhead but as I think I mentioned further up the thread, the old girl has previous for this sort of escapade, having apparently struck a dustcart or similar due on black ice back in the 70s which bent the bulkhead in a similar fashion. My mate who does all the welding seems to think that he can panel beat all the damage out and bend the bulkhead back into position.

I'm normally quite sanguine about car crashes as I like watching rallying where cars are only ever millimetres away from needing a bit of remedial bodywork with a sledgehammer at the end of every stage. The lady who crashed into me seemed quite reasonable, and it is quite hard to have a go at someone whilst rescuing them from their car.

Should have this all sorted quite quickly with any luck, I think I'll do all the work myself and reach a settlement on the cost of the parts, and time taken to fit them. 

[warch]

 

Right back to work on this. I did find a spare pair of very straight looking wings and a bonnet (the actual bonnet this vehicle started life with) hiding behind my dad's goose shed. I have ordered a new bumper too.

I am doing all the work myself and not claiming on insurance. The whole insurance thing left a very sour taste in my mouth, its all about trying to extract inflated sums of money from other people for things like bullshit injury claims or hire cars.  The main issue is time, I would like to have this all sorted quite quickly and not sitting there for months whilst the insurance people um and aah. Yes this leaves me out of pocket (the woman who crashed into me originally said she would settle outside of insurance and agreed a settlement but then reneged). I can't really see how I would be better off if I went through the insurance, I would certainly be worse off in terms of increased renewals in the short term whilst they sorted out blame. 

Annnywaay, I have the parts and the paint. I need to fit both new wings really, despite the colour, they are off an ex military Land Rover hence the over and under lights. I'm not sure where the number plate will go, military plates are smoller, mine might still fit in the gap under the lights. I could conceivably fill the lower hole (fnagh!) and reposition them but I will look at that before I paint them.

The bulkhead is slightly bent back but will push back out. The eagle eared amongst you may spot that the front nearside chassis leg is also slightly bent. My mate has acquired a 10 ton bodywork jack which will hopefully unbend everything.  On the upside, my mental image of the archetypal Land Rover is this, the nearly new pathfinder Land Rover used in the 1971 Darien Gap expedition. They somehow look rather cooler with the living shit kicked out of them.

 

 

[Noel Tidybeard]

leave the wings odd just to see how many people notice!🤣

[warch]

2 hours ago, Noel Tidybeard said:

leave the wings odd just to see how many people notice!🤣

 

[warch]

Building Back Better!

First job was to straighten the chassis which was bent about 1 and a half cms sideways and about 1cm down. Sorted!

Next job was to reinstate bulkhead in the upright position. Took a few goes but...

Success! The door was no longer rubbing on the bulkhead. The banana shaped door pillar is a remnant of a similar accident 45 years ago. The door actually closes almost flush now which it never used to.

The mangled tinwork on the upper door pillar was unmangled using the spreading jaws and a panel beating hammer

Apart from a slight ripple which won't be visible once painted it is as good as it was before (if not better).

I've test fitted the shineh new bumper, all that need fitting is the new wings and bonnet then its good to go. Might give narrow country lanes a miss for a bit though.

[anonymous user]

Looking much better already. I suggest you fit something like  this to the front to give yourself a fighting chance.

[warch]

Success! Managed a 22 mile round trip to Tesco without anyone driving into me. Note the asymmetrical look because it’s a bit cold out and I couldn’t be arsed to change the other wing.

Incidentally the number plate recognition system didn’t seem to like my number plates.

[Tickman]

32 minutes ago, warch said:

Incidentally the number plate recognition system didn’t seem to like my number plates.

They generally don't like Black and Silver plates.

 

[Minimad5]

Good work getting this back on the road.

I won't lie, I would have lost my mojo for a bit after, so well done for shrugging it off 

[warch]

9 minutes ago, Minimad5 said:

Good work getting this back on the road.

I won't lie, I would have lost my mojo for a bit after, so well done for shrugging it off 

I know what you mean, I’ve still got to work out a cost for all this to submit to the inn sewer ants. 

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Excellent work. I love the fact it just shrugs off the damage and still looks hard as nails. 

[anonymous user]

Good to see it back together. With that registration I assume that, if it is named, it's called baw-bag.

[warch]

15 minutes ago, anonymous user said:

Good to see it back together. With that registration I assume that, if it is named, it's called baw-bag.

It has been mentioned on a number of occasions 😄

[Noel Tidybeard]

eleventy- twelvety bonus points for asymetry! 👍👍👍