My Landmaster Project

[Steeroid]

This thread is a tracker for my Landmaster restoration project. As some of you may know, the one and only Karlos Deville helped me pick up a Landmaster from Pune last month. This is the car, a 1955 Landy from Pune:



The car is original in most respects except the dashboard + instrument cluster and the engine. It features a very sweet and silent OHV engine in place of the side-valve - so silent that you wouldnt know its on if it werent for the vibrations (loose mounts). The car also featues a larger aftermarket radiator and an alternator. It still has the semaphore indicators, and they actually work partially (they go up, but dont come down and dont have bulbs inside).

The restoration project is completely in-house (Team BHP) on account of the following:

1. Car 'found', bought, paperwork done and transported to Bangalore by karlosdeville

2. Original Smiths meters generously donated by jyobeb

3. Car being restored at the garage owned by Desert fox

4. Engine will be worked on by Psycho

5. Last but not the least, this young member will help by staying away from it all - v1p3r


The car is now at Desert fox's garage in Bangalore and work has already started. His band of merry men will carry out the following bits of work:

1. Strip the car completely, remove all traces of paint.

2. Denting, patchwork, painting, chrome + polishing.

3. Completely leak-proofing the oldie, double-sealing the car with extra beading for airconditioning to work.

4. Retrofit a Weber-carbed Conti engine, transmission and differential. Engine to be tweaked by Psycho in parallel.

5. Fit in the Conti's A/c, completely hidden from sight.

6. Fit suitable power steering.

7. Interiors to be done up in Tan leather, original Landy dashboard to be restored.

8. White wall tyres, Landy Steering wheel and switches to be sourced if possible along with knick-knacks like the old Jwala horn.

We will track progress on this thread - hopefully someone from Motorsmiths will take some pictures (as of now and later) and upload them once in a while so we can view the progress.

This is a unique effort by different BHPians - my role in this is limited as I hadnt even seen the car before the last week in Bangalore. Apparantly the car was good enough to be driven in from Nelamangala to Jayanagar in peak traffic !!!

[karlosdeville]

Originally Posted by Steeroid

The car is original in most respects except the dashboard + instrument cluster and the engine. It features a very sweet and silent OHV engine in place of the side-valve - so silent that you wouldnt know its on if it werent for the vibrations (loose mounts). It still has the semaphore indicators, and they actually work partially (they go up, but dont come down and dont have bulbs inside).

All the best for this great project. That engine was so silent, on a couple of occassions I have genuinely thought I stalled the car at traffic lights. If you are just throwing the engine out, throw it my way

The left side semaphore does spring up straight and light up as well, the right side is a little...er...limp.

[khanak]

Originally Posted by Steeroid

4. Retrofit a Weber-carbed Conti engine, transmission and differential. Engine to be tweaked by Psycho in parallel.

5. Fit in the Conti's A/c, completely hidden from sight.

6. Fit suitable power steering.

Congratulations!!! Cant wait to see pictures once shes done.

The car originally came with a sidevalve engine right? Why not try to find that instead to keep it 100% original.

[payam]

conratulation and allthe best for the project.
I second with khanak why not keeping it all original??

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by khanak

The car originally came with a sidevalve engine right? Why not try to find that instead to keep it 100% original.

A friend of mine (the chap who was looking for a 1962 Mk 1) has a Sidevalve engine. I guess when he finds his Mk1 I may be able to swap the OHV for the Sidevalve, but the OHV is so quiet and smooth that I really dont want to give it away.

The reason for putting in the Isuzu is that the car will be a DAILY DRIVE for my dad. Therefore it will feature original exteriors but modern comforts, mechanicals and running gear to ensure reliability and usability. The original engine will never be able to drive an A/c.

I will keep the originals for later - just in case I decide to redo it back to stock specs.

[iraghava]

Congratulations on the project Steer! Best of luck & if you need any help sourcing any parts from Delhi or thereabouts, give me a shout!

Khanak - The original engine might be quite tough to keep reliable for everyday driving. I think that's the reason that he's going in for the ISZ.

[speedzak]

So, it's here. I thought it's going to be a secret project.

Congratulations and wish you all good luck.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Congratulations and all the best for the rest of the work.

The spirit of team-bhp is amazing. Glad to be a part of this community!

Originally Posted by speedzak

So, it's here. I thought it's going to be a secret project.

Like the 'star' that is still a mystery?

[khanak]

f

Originally Posted by Steeroid

The reason for putting in the Isuzu is that the car will be a DAILY DRIVE for my dad. Therefore it will feature original exteriors but modern comforts, mechanicals and running gear to ensure reliability and usability. The original engine will never be able to drive an A/c.

Ok, makes sense then. I thought it would just be a part of your garage and used on weekends and for shows.

Good luck with your project and make sure you keep us updated.

Cheers

[ajay99]

I am looking for a good condition sidevalve LANDMASTER engine.
Any idea what would be the price of one?

[moralfibre]

All the best for your project Steeroid. Hoping to see a detailed log if possible?

[Steeroid]

The following activities are currently scheduled (quoting directly from scribbled notes):

1)ALL FOUR DOORS PATCH WORK—INNER AND OUTER
2)RH AND LH SIDE RUNNING BOARD (6 PIECES)
3)RH AND LH FULL PLATFORM
4)REAR LH AND RH FENDER CORNER
5)REAR L.H./R.H WHEEL ARCH-INNER/OUTER
6)DICKY BOTTOM PATCH INNER AND OUTER
7)LH/RH WATER CHANNEL INNER AND OUTER CHANGING
8)FULL BODY TAPPING
9)MINOR PATCH WORK
10)TWO SIDE FULL CHASSIS REPLACEMENT
11)FRONT CROSS MEMBER REPLACE
12)ENGINE ROOM PLATFORM REPLACE
13)REAR CROSS MEMBER REPLACE
14)FULL BODY SCRAPING
15)PAINT & CLEAR COAT

Basically we're making a new car

[theMAG]

Nice to see (one of) your pet project(s) take final form so neatly. Best of luck and hope to see some duels with a black Amby with no papers.

[Ram]

Originally Posted by Steeroid

The reason for putting in the Isuzu is that the car will be a DAILY DRIVE for my dad. Therefore it will feature original exteriors but modern comforts, mechanicals and running gear to ensure reliability and usability. The original engine will never be able to drive an A/c.

I thought you wanted a genuine classic.
Getting reliability and usability under control may be more uphill than you imagine. Any reason for gutting out and hot-rodding a period car, rather than just picking a contemporary car with all its comforts, reliability and after sales service?

[Jaggu]

Congratz steer indeed a great project. Keep us updated