'74 Rover Restore

Current Project

This is a 1974 Series III 88 inch truck that found me, courtesy of the modern marvel of the internet and email.  It is a standard hardtop configuration equipped with a Farey overdrive.  The engine was also fitted with a Pierce manifold and Weber 2 barrel carb.

With about 52k on the clock, it apparently lived most of it's life on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.  There was a sticker under the bonnet that indicated the engine had been rebuilt at 45k by a place (that no longer exists) called MotoEuropa in the Raleigh area.  The chassis and bulkhead were toast, and the radiator fell apart in my hands.

I prepped a chassis from the Thatched Roof Garage by rebuilding a rear axle and adding a remanufactured 109 front axle to a set of Rocky Mountain parabolic springs and gas shocks.  

The disassembly process yielded a bad windshield frame that was cleverly hidden by plumbers putty, of all things.  George Laird of Roversdownsouth provided a replacement frame, and David Gage sourced a nice used firewall from the UK.

The next major stumbling block ended up being a bad lower dash panel.  After shopping around, Gavin Tookey of Rovers Unlimited produced the needed part at the best price.  Last but not least, the blower motor on the heater was swiss cheese.  George came through on that one, producing a replacement.  The question is, can I remember how it all goes back together?  

After two separate false starts, the painting process finally begins.  Greg Davis, fellow Rover owner, provided the name of a painter who's specialty is street rods and custom design work in the Monroe NC area.  He was kind enough to take the project on.  The most difficult part was convincing him to NOT fix the Land Rover's body, and to apply a "B" grade paintjob, instead of his usual show quality work.

Jeff applied two part epoxy primer and Dupont bronze green to the body, and limestone to a new set of 16 inch rims and the hardtop.  I decided the easiest way to bring the large parts home was to haul the chassis out to Monroe and bolt the tub, seatbox, and bulkhead on for transport.

The reassembly process begins!  I did some work on assembly and fitting of the front wings and radiator support.  After getting the new 16 inch rims mated to the recycled 265x75R16 BFG's that came from the Defender, the truck seemed to take a whole new stance.  The wheel well gap produced by the parabolic springs was filled rather nicely.

WooHoo!  I finally have somewhere to hang my BKP badge.  The next task was to get the galvanizing redone.  Most of the local galvanizers didn't want to touch such a small job.  I ended up taking 166 lbs of parts (enough to do three 88's) to South Atlantic Galvanizing in Travelers Rest, SC.  It's a shame they have a minimum order of 700 lbs, because the cost by weight would have only bee $49!  I've got to work on a better source for this in the future.

This weekend.... I've got a date with 500 closed-ended pop rivets.  My plan is to get the galvanized cappings and corner pieces attached.

11/04 Update then all Done!