Project Landrover

Project Landrover is showing you the slow process of building up a Landrover which will be used for the trip.
I will tell you in short words what work has been done so far.
I bought the car seven years ago. It is a 1980 Landrover Santana. This is the spanish version of the english Landrover. The last seven years the car was mainly used as a working horse.
Now the car is 30 years old and for sure to go on a long trip it was asking for work in both,maintenace and preparing.
To start with I went to a scrap yard to buy an engine block which I used as a base to rebuild the engine. The old engine could not be used because it had a hole in the third cylinder. Ok, new pistons and bearings were fitted. And a seal kit was used to make sure the engine stays dry. A second fuel tank was mounted underneeth the passenger seat. It is equiped with an electric pump to fill up the main fuel tank in the rear.
The second big job was the roof rack. There was one on it but too heavy and not nice built. So I´ve got rid of it and welded a new one. The roof rack has to carry a solar panel, a roof tent, a spare wheel and a jerry can.
To have enough storage inside the car a cupboard, the side one especially for clothes, was built.
I am expecting very bad roads or sand. For this reason two sand planks were made out of some old ramps from a trailer. Hopefully with these planks any road conditions will be managed.
Now we come to the spare wheels. One is definetly not enough.On many Landrovers one spare wheel is mounted on the bonnet. I did not chose the bonnet because always when you have to open the bonnet you have to lift up the spare wheel with it. And I tell you, the spare wheel of a Landrover is quite heavy. And with the spare wheel on the bonnet you are not able to open up the bonnet completly. So every time when there is some work to do at the engine the wheel has to be removed. For these reasons I chose the back door and the roof rack to carry each one spare wheel.
The front of the car still needed some work. The old fender and the bumper had to come off. A new fender was welded and the bumper saw some paint.
All the hoses for brakes and clutch were replaced. All the wheel brake cylinders has got new seals and the brake shoes on all wheels were changed. Only the master cylinder stayed in place. This one was overhauled not too long ago.
The roof has got four small openings for ventilation. Two of them let water through. So they had to come off to be resealed and at the same time they were painted.
What I like very much is the roof tent. To find one for a reasonable price took me quite a while. The quality of the roof tent doesn´t look bad. And it was delivered with acces ladder, mattress and a cover when the roof tent is folded down. Only the brackets which holds the tent on the roof rack seemed to be a little bit underdimensioned. So I just had them reinforced.

The dimensions inside the tent are fantastic. For me as a tall guy very important.
The axles were taken apart. Every single seal and gasket was changed. The front axle has got as well new chrome balls. The old ones were just rusty and for this leaking oil. The rear springs were very week. Especially the right hand side one. The car was always leaning over and too low anyway. New springs I was told don´t have any quality at the moment. People I contacted told me to overhaul the old ones. Ok, so I went to the scrap yard again. The owner made me a good deal for the two axles and the four springs. The springs were really in good condition. I took the springs and just put one layer more in there. The extra layer came from the old springs. The result is great. Car is not leaning over anymore and has much more ground clearance than before. Before the springs were put in place new bushes were fitted.
Finally after waiting for more than 3 month I´ve got a second hand Warn winch. It took me quite a long time to decide what winch I want to put on. Thanx to the people from "blacklandy forum" who advised me against buying a cheap made in China winch. Ok, I paid the same amount of money for the second hand winch like a new china one, but it is a good brand and I might be able to get spares for it if needed.

The two fuel tanks have got a capacity of 118liters of fuel. But thinking of the long diatances ahead I decided to take two jerry cans. Jerry can holders had to be made. One on the roof rack and the other one at the back next to the spare wheel. Both holders were made of 25x4 mm steel. A padlock is fitted on both holders to hold thieves at bay.
One of the last jobs to do was the steering box. The old one had just too much play in it. The steering box was a second hand one which was sent down from Germany. Great, the costs were more or less have of a new one.
One last thing I wanted to try. The van is constantly driven by the waterpump. Mostly this isn´t needed . Only in urban regions and off-roading. I fitted an electric van with a temperature controlled switch. Haven´t quite sorted out if it works. But just in case it doesn´t I´ll put the old van in the car.
So, this was more or less the praperation of the vehicle. The only thing left is packing and than take-off. The link underneeth will lead you to the photo gallery on flickr.

• http://www.flickr.com/photos/constructafrica/sets/72157623698554165/