LOCK DOWN WITH BEX
I’m sure many of you have similar stories of restoration or general mechanic fix ups between March to June this year! For myself, lockdown was an opportunity to finally spend some well overdue time on the old girl!
Having owned BeX for nearly 10 years and with next to no maintenance in that time (whoops!), she was running on 3 cylinders, had no brakes, and was ready to have a bit of a spa month!
Dad - Dennis - and I got stuck in by sorting out the brakes which had completely seized up. After threatening her with a drill, she finally let go of her drums (first time in 20years we reckon), and we took each brake apart. We replaced a few shoes, replaced the slave and master cylinder seals, and did a general clean up. 3 recycled flexible brake lines, and what felt like 20 hours bleeding them later the brakes we in action again.
Next up was a full clean with (much to dads disgust) a water blaster. We prayed the Gisborne clay - that had been stuck to her underside for god knows how long - wasn’t the only thing keeping her held together! Luckily the old bolts seemed to be doing the trick.
We drained and cleaned the petrol tank. A lot of sediment was sitting in the bottom on the tank, so we decided to replace the pickup, filter and gaskets. We flushed the fuel lines and filled her up.
The original plan was to just change the oil, but once we had done that, we realised how bad it was and pulled the whole sump apart for a petrol bath. As you can see in the pictures, this was the right decision. Not sure how any oil was getting to the engine at all! A new filter, gasket and oil went back in.
We cleaned out the oil bath air filter, and fuel sediment bowl.
We took the carborater to pieces, cleaned it, rebushed the spindle, and replaced all the seals and the membrane - which was completely destroyed.
The points and timing needed doing, a few spark plugs needed replacing, and the engine bay needed a bit of a clean.
We oiled everything up and popped her wheels back on. A few tweaks later, she turned over and ticked away as she should! A happy outcome for all!
I would like to give a shout out Uncle Leon, and my brother - John - for supplying bits when we needed them, Covid rules applied at all times of course! And a maaaaassive thank you to my darling father for all of the time and effort he put into helping and teaching me, and for putting up with my attitude on occasion throughout the experience!
I have made an Instagram page - 1958_landy - which has more detailed content from lockdown. Go give it a follow. I also plan on posting semi regularly once the actual
restoration of BeX begins (watch this space....)!
Rosie Barraud - Land Rover enthusiast
