Clutch 2

The problem with the Land Rover clutch on North American models is you have to take the front wing off in order to get to the master cylinder.  The only upside is that the front wing is relatively easy to remove on these Land Rovers.  I am pretty confident that this front wing has not been off for a very VERY long time, perhaps 56 years.  There are 6 bolts that hold the fender to the radiator shroud.  I broke 5 of them attempting to take them off.  The last one I had to crack.

Once those were off, there was some additional bolts to remove and with the help of a can of penetrating oil I managed to get the wing off.

Now that the clutch master cylinder is in sight, you can see from the picture that it has not been looked at in a long time (56 years).  And it looks like it has been leaking for a while.  That beautiful highway yellow paint has been pretty much stripped off the bulkhead. (Note: I am desperately trying to convince myself its a nice color.)

I ordered a new seal kit for the master cylinder from Pegasus in the UK.  Once it arrives I will rebuild the master cylinder.

Clutch

I am pretty keen to get this Rover running again.  It will turn over, even attempt to fire, but there is no clutch.  It wouldnt make much sense for me to get it running in my garage without being able to put it in gear to drive it out!  First things first, I tried to bleed the clutch with a simple gravity bleed.  The original metal reservoir has been replaced by a newer plastic reservoir.  And where the original was a combined brake / clutch reservoir, each master has its own reservoir.

The bleeding didn't fix the issue.  Every time I push on the clutch the fluid level in the reservoir goes up and fluid tries to shoot out the breather hole on the cap.  That looks like a master cylinder problem to me.  The trouble is the master cylinder is under that left front wing.

Certificate

With so many different layers of paint on the Rover, I was curious to know what it looked like when it came out of the factory.  The possibilities included silver, brown, red, blue, yellow, bright yellow and black.  My money was on yellow.

The only way to find out the true color of the vehicle is to write to British Motor Heritage with your chassis number and ask them.  I received the official copy of the original factory certificate in the mail.  Now believe me, this thing is official.  It's laminated with this thick acrylic, which hardly bends.  You could mount this thing on the front grille of your Rover as you play in the mud and then just hose it off at the end of the day in true Land Rover style.  If you get stuck in the bush, you could use it as some sort of weapon, or foraging tool. This certificate was obviously built to last as long as your Rover.  If you are ever interested in finding out more about your British car, and need a new place mat for the kitchen table, its worth the money.

Here it is, in official, laminated bold type font; Highway Yellow.

Pictures

I managed to find some more pictures I took of the Rover when it was still in Steve's garage.  You can kind of get a sense of the shape it is in, including the multiple colors that were used to paint it from these pictures.  It looks like the original color is yellow.

Capture

Today is the day to pick up the Rover and move it to my garage.  We will be renting a car hauler to move it so are taking the opportunity to move a few other vehicles.  The first trip is to move my MGB out to Bragg Creek so we can paint it.  The B, we call her MeG, is stripped down to the rolling chasis.  It needs a bit of body work but we are taking care of that, check out progress at 78mgb.blogspot.com

Once that was delivered we moved Dads 1951 Chev half ton to the garage in Calgary.  This truck is a beauty.  My dad did a complete frame off restoration on it, polished it right down to the last nut and bolt, this truck has to be seen.

Once the truck was delivered it was time to pick up the Rover.  The Rover doesnt run, so we had to winch it on to the trailer.  This caused a bit of grief as we were completely blocking the back alley and the neighbor was late for work.  I don't think I have ever cranked a hand winch that fast before.  In all the chaos I didnt get a picture of it on the car hauler.  Here it is, after the fact, resting in my garage.

The roof and doors had to be removed to get it out of Steve's garage and into mine.  Since I will be taking it completely apart anyway, I decided to leave them off.

Purchase

I bought another English wreck.  This one is a 1959 Series 2 Land Rover.  I am not sure about my fascination with taking junk and making it beautiful again.  There seems to be an overwhelming sense of duty when I look at these things.  Perhaps its because I can see the potential; That or I am blind.

There is a plan for this Landy.  The plan is for a low cost frame off restoration.  Thats right, low cost.  I am going to try and save, salvage and rebuild every part I possibly can.  The only exception to this rule will be seals and bushings.  That will be her treat.

Stay tuned while i attempt to take apart this diamond in the rough and put her back together again.