Longer days and warmer weather means one thing, apart from it being show season, and the dust gets blown off the BBQ. More time to work on the Land Rovers. Between dark nights and work, Harriet has been left languishing in her garage tent for most of the winter.  The better weather brought with it renewed enthusiasm, so I opened up the tent and looked at where I left the project off.

The battered radiator panel needed to be removed first, followed by the roof. The windscreen followed quickly after and then the remains of the dashboard. The floor panels popped up without too much of a fight – after liberal applications of WD40 of course. The easiest part to remove was the passenger side footwell, which had just been slotted in over the old one. It came out with a gentle pull.

The next session saw the removal of the seat box. This gave us a good view of the chassis, which I wanted to inspect before rebuilding everything. At some point, the outriggers had been replaced, and there were several neat patches that had been welded in – hiding underneath the layers of Waxoyl that had been liberally applied. The front crossmember had significant holes underneath, however the front dumb irons were also full of holes. The tin worms had really begun to set in.

Above – “The only part left to remove from the chassis now is the rear tub.”

Finally though, we had reached the stage of removing the bulkhead. This was a huge milestone for the project! The passenger side bolt, fixing the bulkhead to the sill section only needed a bit of gentle persuasion before it worked loose. A few taps with a hammer and it was off. The driver’s side, which was the one with the significant water leak problem needed less. The rust had eaten through the sill and the bulkhead was no longer attached to the car at all! All we needed to do then was lift it off and get it out the way. Success!

The only part left to remove from the chassis now is the rear tub.

So, the big question remains. Do I replace the chassis, or do I leave it and weld up the bits that need patching? I already knew the answer to this question really, but the gentle persuasion of good friends sealed the deal.

I ordered a chassis from Richards while at the show in Malvern. I may as well do. It would be a shame to strip the car back this far only to have to do it again in a year or two. It will make Harriet’s retirement that much longer, and future proof her for many years to come.

Only problem is, now the hard work begins!