Well....I finally came to the realization that the Series was too far gone for me to restore. I found a buyer that has a couple of restored Series trucks, and hence it is sold.
I guess Santa saw this whole thing unfold, and left this in the driveway. Ho Ho flipping Ho!
Its actually a tractor in a Defender body...lol!

 

Well, you must not be on the "naughty" list this year - for a change.

 

Well.....now its time to get the Defender road worthy. It has a head gasket issue, and upon investigation, I found no coolant in the oil, but there is a TON of oil in the coolant. Head set, new hoses and a timing belt have arrived.
From what I can figure, one of the PO's did the head gasket. He didn't bother to go back and re tighten the head as he should have, and hence, blew the gasket again. The truck got driven regardless. Now I have the pleasure of redoing it. I'm thinking the coolant system flush is going to be a bear (any input is welcome).
Other than the above mentioned issue, the truck is very solid. Frame is in great shape (will need a rear cross member in the future), and a bunch of extra parts (rear doors, filters,bits and pieces, shop manual) came with the it, so its just a matter of slowly putting it back together, and doing it correctly.
I can wait to get my "67 angry hamsters" (if you have ever had or ridden in a truck with a 2.5 NA, you know what I mean) cruzing down the road again.

 

Time for a LS conversion......I've seen them installed and they look at home in that hole. I would say that LS conversion give you everything, power and fuel economy (v8 perspective).

 

Glad to see another guy got one for Christmas, I got my 110 a month before as my present.

Funny you are having engine issues right out of the gate, mine has a dead cylinder on the 3.5 and I'm getting ready for a swap to a 3.9. All other alternatives seem to pricey for me right now.

I can't imagine what a 110 is like with the 2.5NA diesel. I thought it was hellishly slow with the 3.5 running on 7 cylinders lol. I'm hoping a 3.9 with a 229 cam will help it out a bit

 

Congrats my Friend

 

I knew it had the head gasket issue when I got the truck, hence the nice low low price. I know it is slow as a dog, but the bottom end is just awesome. I am going to enjoy pissing people off taking a stroll down Rt 20. I have been looking at other power plants, but right now I'm happy with the 2.5. It runs on about anything (has been run on filtered peanut oil after a Thanksgiving dinner) and for putzing around the local area, it will do just fine.
While I have it tore all apart, I am thinking of a block heater, and up grade the glo plugs to NKG Y208T. Next will be some repair to the wiring, upgrade the current glass fuse box to a blade style one, and maybe a run to the Buffalo area for a winch from my buddy Justin (and swipe one of those nice L8 jackets).
I picked up a HD pickup bed mat (found on the side of the road) and cut it to fit the rear, and had enough left over to do extra front floor mats. Now Max, my dobie, has some footing when it gets running again.
After its all said and done, I would "like" to paint it desert storm sand color. Right now it looks like the UN has taken up station in the garage (3 Rovers in there...all white). I have a ways to go before all that.

 

Well....I dove into draining the "coolant oil" (its a Rover term I am told) yesterday...what a *&^$%#*^@ mess. It over flowed 2 buckets ( size was an issue to fit under the truck), and the catch pan I had them in. I took the T apart and the crap when EVERYWHERE! I finally got the mess cleaned up and got the truck back into the shop. I am starting the tear down this weekend while there is a warm trend. After cleaning the motor up a bit with some brake clean, it dosent look too bad. Nice paint job, all the wires/hoses tidy and secure. Even a dual stage fuel filter assby on the right inner fender. Alot of detail stuff was attended to nicely. I hope to have the head off and at the machine shop bright and early Monday AM. The wire to the glo plugs is frayed in a spot, so I will get some new on the way when I order the upgraded glo plugs.
At the current time, I don't think I have to worry about any corrosion in the block coolant passages.
So far....so good!

 

Hey how's this coming along? Any updates?

 

Wow.....a lot has been happening and I have been lax in doing the update stuff.
The head was kinda messed up. The "hot spots" had been replaced, but the pins had been miss drilled and really screwed. The local machine shop made short work of the issues and all was going good. Now, during this my P38 was found to be yard art, so I get to move vehicles around the commonwealth. When I did get a chance (after snow, no power for 7 days, and going back to work 6 days a week), I got the head back on the truck, and just what do you think happened. Snapped a bolt off in the head! DAMIT! So, head goes back to shop, busted one removed, waiting new head gasket.
Well, it being a Rover, I took the RF wing off to repair the inop heater blower and mod the air to cab area. Well....since I'm here, lets do the brakes. Do I need to go on?
I am hoping to have her all back together to go to URE, and she WILL be doing VOT in August.
A ton of the detail stuff has been attended to (fuel filter placement, new fuel lines general clean up) and the motor area got a good clean. RN has been great answering some questions I had about the gasket kits included with the truck. All in all, its doing well. My wife cannot belive all those parts go on one truck...lol! I have some "stuff" I am going to do on the interior for creature comforts, and would like to upgrade the seating. It all takes time. Oh...and in my spare time, did a quick trip to NJ and picked up a nice set of alloys for her, thanks Justin for the spacers, and then an over night stop on the shore to help a buddy on his resto 2a project. I have been known to work for an awesome clam/mussel dinner.
The next "project" will be the wiring, but I will wait for some warmer weather for that.
Well...that kinda sums it all up...for now. Leaving in the am to take the P38 to Lancaster, then go fishing in the GWNF for a couple of days and relax. Monday is back to the grind, and some after hours work on the 110.
I will be better re:updates.
Thanks for the remind....ya'll be safe out there...