Stage 1 V8

steering - longitudinal link Moving on, it's time to sort the steering link. From previous experience refurbing the drag link, I went straight in and gave the tube surrounding the end joint threads a good whack with my hammer, I then applied heat. https://i.postimg.cc/VNNS2gn5/IMG-20200708-164641.j...

The new brake flexies finally turned up. It seemed a bit farcical to have taken so long to get a pair of short flexible brake hoses, but happy now. So, 2 hoses, fixing nuts, the 2 ready made Cunifer pipes supplied with the calipers, some replacement metric female unions, pipe flaring kit, and ready ...

Clutch pedal box and master cylinder Next task was to sort the clutch pedal box. Like most parts of this 1981 Stage 1, there is a fair amount of corrosion to be dealt with, fortunately the majority is surface rust with only some localised rot in places. https://i.postimg.cc/v8f0kkvg/IMG-20200701-18...

Disassembled brake pedal box and master cylinder. It was sunny day so worked outside for a change. It gets very hot inside the tent garage so nice to get out of the heat. https://i.postimg.cc/MT4g5BxC/IMG-20200626-102805.jpg https://i.postimg.cc/5yCTRt26/IMG-20200626-102819.jpg Soon had it in its co...

Repainted the vent flaps and waited for the paint to cure properly this time. https://i.postimg.cc/HLkKCzLG/IMG-20200701-180419.jpg Reassembled the vent controls and fixed them in place https://i.postimg.cc/59Cr16ft/IMG-20200630-162803.jpg ... and stuck on new rubber seals https://i.postimg.cc/Dzx9W...

Craddocks have gone right down the pan of late, not heard a good word about them. There are other parts suppliers, for example, Blanchards have them in stock.

I seem to working for hours on end but seeing little progress. Definitely takes some self motivation to keep going at times. Anyway, "one bite at a time". I couldn't live with the corroded steering column support cover so made a replacement. https://i.postimg.cc/fbBP6Zbz/IMG-20200619-16461...

Yes. Funnily enough I was thinking that myself. I'm going to take it off and service it (if I can get the seals). I hadn't realised how much a replacement costs; another remortgage required!

Now that the bulkhead is back in place it's time to start reassembling; restoring stuff as we go. I started with the accelerator. Like most things it needed a good clean and a lick of paint. https://i.postimg.cc/Y2VKCVVC/IMG-20200618-120800.jpg The steering box support bracket was also attended to a...

And another short video.

https://youtu.be/SppDiZEnIrg

Finished off the bulkhead painting. I didn't try for dead flat finish as it is a series landy after all, and my first time spray painting a vehicle. I did flat back the top corners, A posts, and the visible part around the vents as these are the parts that show when it's all back together. I'm reaso...

Had a crack at making a YouTube video this afternoon. It's rubbish, but does show where I'm at.

https://youtu.be/NlnKnbf3Tw0

Think I saw it on FB. If you want to upload photos here then I'd recommend registering on https://postimages.org/ You then upload your photos and then share the photo here by copying the hotlink for forums url and pasting it into you posts here. The photos then appear, no big image file issues.

Personally IMHO, I think you should restore it to what it was or allow it to die gracefully. Bits of old Defenders and Discoverys are ten a penny so if you want to build an hybrid, then do it with Defender parts. A restored Stage 1 will be so much more satisfying (and valuable). Not the easiest unde...

Time to paint the bulkhead. Supplies arrived a few days ago so rejigged workbench and setup as paint bench. https://i.postimg.cc/QtPrQk4X/IMG-20200602-132624.jpg I sprayed on first coat of dark grey undercoat and realized I'd overdone it with the thinners, so let it dry and then flatted back. It was...