DIY builds and maintenance. Who works on their own rigs?

[Correus]

I got out of the USN in late July 73, in Aug I bought a 64 Land Rover and got my drivers license. In Jan 73, traded in the 64 for a new 73 at the dealers. Drove it home 45 miles. In the morning there was a puddle of oil under it. Called the dealership and they said "Drive it back and we'll fix it." Though young and dumb I knew that was a bad idea. Investigated the leak to see the cannister oil filter was loose. Walked to the nearest Grand Auto and bought a Lifetime socket set, came home and tightened the filter housing. Next couple of days I ordered a repair shop manual and never looked back.

Now I am on my fifth Land Rover and have done a frame up resto-mod doing most of the work myself, 4 wheel disc brake conversion, petrol to diesel engine swap, power steering, oil cooler, rear locker w/air compressor, paint was done by a friend(cause he wanted to help).

I have tried to keep the original look while upgrading what I can and adding overhead bins and a 2 cot sleep system, made my own roofrack and designed and made my propane bottle holder and sand mat mounts. The lights are all converted to LED except the dash lites and those will be when the time comes.

All in a dirt/rock driveway.View attachment 169441View attachment 169442View attachment 169443

It can all be found in my blog that I started to help those who were looking for help rebuilding their Series Rovers.

Welcome to Genocache!

This is my place to put down the things I like and pictures of where I have been. Mostly it has to do with my 1960 Land Rover 109 ...

poppageno.blogspot.com

Small world... Grover the Rover says "hi".

 

[Dlnuckolls]

I prefer the feeling of doing whatever I can on my own. I strive to only hit up a shop if I get stuck or way beyond my skills. Heck even then I usually try it myself first!

 

[genocache]

Small world... Grover the Rover says "hi".

Hey Larry!

One thing I forgot to say was that with a 60 year old car I want to be able to fix things if they go wrong in the bush, not like today's vehicles that go into limp home mode for some stupid electronic reason.

 

[Correus]

Hey Larry!

One thing I forgot to say was that with a 60 year old car I want to be able to fix things if they go wrong in the bush, not like today's vehicles that go into limp home mode for some stupid electronic reason.

Preach it brother!!!

 

[smritte]

I have it easy. I do all my own mods but, when it comes to maintenance, I have my students do their labs on my vehicle. Yeah, I watch and point but they get dirty and all the boring stuff gets done right. Screw up on the instructors vehicle and you fail the class.

 

[Keith Musaeus]

In exception to welding my rock sliders, I have installed every piece on this rig. I have saved thousands in labor by doing it myself.

 

[Boucher]

So I will spend hours planning my next upgrade to ensure I get it right and it looks professional here are a few examples of items for my H2

 

[KonzaLander]

I do nearly all the build and maintenance work on my vehicles. Maybe I am a glutton for punishment. At least I know the work is done right.

Since I do not have the tools or equipment to do machine work, I always outsource engine boring/boiling/magnaflux/head resurfacing/crank balancing to "the" engine builder in my area. I usually have the machine shop assemble the short block but I install the cam/head/oil pump/etc.

I also do not have the skill set to do body work, but a family friend does a great job:


About 15 years ago I had gears done at the 'local' 4x4 shop that came highly recommended. These gears have been the noisiest and most poorly wearing gear sets I have ever seen. Along side my father, we bought the tools and learned how to properly set up gears since we both had other vehicles that needed gears done. Silent gears that don't fill your gear oil with metal shavings are great! That was the first shop I ever let take my complete vehicle to do work on and I'll never let another shop touch one of my vehicles again.

 

[Sneaks]

I work digital all day, working on an old rig is my zen. I do the work on my DDs too, only warranty work will I go to the shop.

 

[18163.175]

I have done everything to mine myself with the exception of having tires mounted and balanced simply because I dont have the tire machine or balancer. I would pretty much do everything unless its internal trans work, I can do it. i dont WANT to though

I bought the tools for changing tires from Hazard Fraught and didn't balance them. Done several sets of tires and never needed balanced. I just leave the old weights on the wheels. I've had my car into triple digit speeds and never had a vibration.