Stage One refurbishment in Germany

Introduce yourself and your vehicles and post (or link to) photos
Post Reply
udo1-ton
Posts: 33
Joined: Fri Nov 28, 2014 3:59 pm

Stage One refurbishment in Germany

Post by udo1-ton »

Hello, I want to introduce myself and my 1983 Stage One 109 County Station Wagon.
I’m driving Series Land Rovers for more than 20 years now and refurbished 4 vehicles during that time. SWB Diesel with canvas hood was my first Land Rover followed by a scrappy 1-ton. The 1-ton needed a complete rebuilt and it has show room condition since that time. 5 years ago I bought my current SWB HT and restored it. It has been used as a daily driver for five years now.
Last year I found my dream Land Rover in the south of Germany, a Stage One County Station Wagon in Massai red. It had just one owner from new and was very tidy. Just a few small holes in the chassis legs and bulkhead footwells. The gearbox was noisy and had to be rebuilt as well as the engine. It had a worn camshaft and even the carbs were beyond it’s best…
I decided to keep the vehicle in its old look, just a refurbishment under the body. I started with the dismantling, pulled engine and gearbox off the chassis. The welding work took a week as well as the work on the axles and brakes. I renewed the whole hydraulic system, the pipes and tubes included.
During the winter time I rebuilt the gearbox and changed the high transmission gears to Range Rover Classic. I don’t like overdrives and I think the longer gear is the better solution. In my opinion the engine is not powerful enough for the longer gear. I used a more powerful Rover V8 and made a full rebuilt to the engine. In spring time I assembled the Stage One and refurbished the interior.
The V8 is back on the road since June. It drives very good and is very powerful. The longer gear with the higher torque of the engine is a perfect choice, especially the fuel consumption is far better than before with the 3.5l. The ignition system is powered by a MSD box in conjunction with the original points distributor. The MSD box provides three sparks per ignition up to 3000 revs.
Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Regards
Udo
User avatar
Geoff
Posts: 599
Joined: Sat Oct 29, 2011 2:21 am
Location: Leicester UK

Re: Stage One refurbishment in Germany

Post by Geoff »

Wow! Vorsprung durch Technik
2 1981 Stage One 109 V8 SWs
Image
Greenmobile
Posts: 19
Joined: Wed Dec 07, 2011 7:37 pm
Location: Sweden

Re: Stage One refurbishment in Germany

Post by Greenmobile »

Very nice! What V8 did you replace the 3.5 with?
disco2hse
Posts: 1637
Joined: Sun Apr 27, 2008 3:51 am
Location: Auckland NZ

Re: Stage One refurbishment in Germany

Post by disco2hse »

Very nice and impressively tidy and clean.
Alan

1983 ex-army FFR 109 Stage 1
2005 Disco 2 HSE TD5
udo1-ton
Posts: 33
Joined: Fri Nov 28, 2014 3:59 pm

Re: Stage One refurbishment in Germany

Post by udo1-ton »

Thank you very much!
Yes indeed, the bodywork is still in a very good condition. Only the footwells and the c-post covers behind the rear doors had to be repaired and painted.
The engine is a 4.6 from my Discovery 2a, ex US market. I exchanged the engine in the Disco. It had had the common problem with a slipping liner in cylinder 3. I replaced the block for a new one with flanged liners. All other parts are from the 3.5. Sump, front cover, rocker covers, manifolds and carbs have been refurbished and fitted to the modern engine. The only necessary modifikation is a little buckling (5mm) of the flat end of the sump. The throttling has 12mm holes, the power is compareable with a Range Rover 3.5 without throttling. The brakes are strong enough to control the more power.
CaptainSlow
Posts: 63
Joined: Sun Oct 04, 2015 6:16 pm

Re: Stage One refurbishment in Germany

Post by CaptainSlow »

Wow, thats gorgeous. A great job.
User avatar
Mik
Posts: 254
Joined: Wed Sep 20, 2006 10:25 am
Location: Denmark

Re: Stage One refurbishment in Germany

Post by Mik »

That looks super ! Good to have another Masai Red in here :)
Michael
1965 109 FC SIIA
1982 109 V8 SIII CSW Stage One
1982 109 V8 SIII HCPU Stage One
1990 RRC Vogue SE
User avatar
firemanshort
Posts: 378
Joined: Fri Feb 10, 2006 2:42 pm
Location: Loudoun County, VA - near Wash DC

Re: Stage One refurbishment in Germany

Post by firemanshort »

Is there any reason you stuck with the factory carbs and the factory restrictor / throttle plate?

I switched to the Edelbrock 4 barrel carb and it is a night and day difference - and my truck did not have the throttle plates in it when I got it. I have to think that you would get even better results with the 4.6 liter displacement instead of my 3.5 liter engine.

Other than that - you pretty much just posted up my dream, I would love to transition from my 2 door 109 to a 4 door wagon - and left hand drive.
-----------------------------------
Firemanshort
Image
Virginia, USA
udo1-ton
Posts: 33
Joined: Fri Nov 28, 2014 3:59 pm

Re: Stage One refurbishment in Germany

Post by udo1-ton »

firemanshort wrote:Is there any reason you stuck with the factory carbs and the factory restrictor / throttle plate?

I switched to the Edelbrock 4 barrel carb and it is a night and day difference - and my truck did not have the throttle plates in it when I got it. I have to think that you would get even better results with the 4.6 liter displacement instead of my 3.5 liter engine.

Other than that - you pretty much just posted up my dream, I would love to transition from my 2 door 109 to a 4 door wagon - and left hand drive.
I like the original look of the vehicle. That's the reason for the original carbs. The engine has 210-220 BHP without restrictor plates, pretty much for a leaf sprung Land Rover with drum brakes. I decided to keep the limit under 150-160 BHP. The restrictor plates have 4 bores of 12mm not the original 8mm. There is no difference up to 3000 rpm compared to an engine without restrictors.
I wanted more torque from idle speed onwards to compensate the longer gear in high range, not a high speed engine.
I confirm your opinion, it is a dream to drive Stage One even with a caravan behind. No problems on steep hills anymore...
udo1-ton
Posts: 33
Joined: Fri Nov 28, 2014 3:59 pm

Re: Stage One refurbishment in Germany

Post by udo1-ton »

Mik wrote:That looks super ! Good to have another Masai Red in here :)
Thanks, two brothers (or sisters?) I believe... :lol:
harry potter
Posts: 262
Joined: Thu Mar 15, 2007 10:53 pm
Location: Leamington Spa

Re: Stage One refurbishment in Germany

Post by harry potter »

Lovely looking truck.
Very very nice. And a nice shiney transmission.
Enjoy!
disco2hse
Posts: 1637
Joined: Sun Apr 27, 2008 3:51 am
Location: Auckland NZ

Re: Stage One refurbishment in Germany

Post by disco2hse »

The grey box on the exhaust manifold, is that a heater unit?
Alan

1983 ex-army FFR 109 Stage 1
2005 Disco 2 HSE TD5
User avatar
Geoff
Posts: 599
Joined: Sat Oct 29, 2011 2:21 am
Location: Leicester UK

Re: Stage One refurbishment in Germany

Post by Geoff »

It's the air intake duct that is part of the original air intake temperature control system.
2 1981 Stage One 109 V8 SWs
Image
disco2hse
Posts: 1637
Joined: Sun Apr 27, 2008 3:51 am
Location: Auckland NZ

Re: Stage One refurbishment in Germany

Post by disco2hse »

Geoff wrote:It's the air intake duct that is part of the original air intake temperature control system.
Thanks. Generally don't need such things down here.
Alan

1983 ex-army FFR 109 Stage 1
2005 Disco 2 HSE TD5
udo1-ton
Posts: 33
Joined: Fri Nov 28, 2014 3:59 pm

Re: Stage One refurbishment in Germany

Post by udo1-ton »

The air intake temperature control system is useful at temperatures under -5°C. In our region possibly 5 days per year, it's unnecessary for me too. :lol:
Post Reply