1967 Series IIA 109 Station Wagon Restoration
Coil sprung, 4.0 EFI V8, 5 speed, Full time 4x4
This 109 Wagon is being built for a customer who resides in Japan. ECR will be transforming this sad looking donor 109 into a beautiful coil sprung 109 with a 4.0 EFI Rover V8, R380 5 speed gearbox and LT230 full time 4x4 transfer case, as well as all the options like a galvanized frame, upgraded heater, full roof rack, heated windscreens, CD player and more. It will also have safety items like inertia seat belts for 4, halogen headlamps and much more to be the ultimate 109 Station Wagon: Vintage looks, with modern power and road manners, what could be better. If you hear the word "restoration" thrown around by some other Rover companies, ask them to look at the ECR restoration process, and see if there work is as detailed. When we say restoration... we mean it. Keep an eye on this web site and the progress of this 109, and you can see first hand what we mean when we say "restored".
The first step in any restoration is to tear down the 109 and start over from the frame up, new galvanized coil frame up in this case. Here the 109 is being taken down to its smallest piece. The pieces are then evaluated for restoration or replacement. Body panels are sent to the paint and body department to be stripped and repainted in the correct Marine Blue and Limestone color combination.
In this image you can see that some of the major panels have now been rebuilt, the rust removed and they have been painted. The newly painted parts are set up on the galv. coil sprung chassis (painted black in this case for an original look) and the 109 starts to take shape again.
Restoration means everything is correctly done. Here you can see that the body trim has been re-galvanized and installed with all the proper rivets, and on a 1967 109" that means hammer rivets done with the correct vintage tools, no pop rivets are substituted here, that wouldn't be in keeping with the vintage exterior of this 109 Wagon.
In this image you can see that we have installed the new body panels and the basic body shell is starting to take shape. The doors, door tops and T supports are all new, and painted inside and out for long life.
Inside the shell of the 109 you can see the attention to detail. Every surface that will be covered by "hardura", the factory interior fabric, is first covered with a layer of soundproofing to make the 109 quiet on the road. Every nut and bolt is replaced with new, and even the gauges are fully restored.
The rear of the 109 shows the correct '67 tail lights as well as some upgrades. The larger rear bumperettes replace the factory grab handles and a heavy duty towing bracket is installed onto the rear cross member. Remember that this isn't your average 109. It will have an electronically fuel injected 4.0 Rover V8, so it will be able to tow a good sized load.
Here you can seen that the roof and windows have been installed on the 109's shell. In a restoration we go so far as to re-galvanize the roof's drip edge and install all new headliners and insulation. You can also see that the new 16" rims have been installed with the BFG Trac-Edge tires.
In this image you can see the nearly completed body from the front. Notice the correct vintage sun shield, a great vintage look part. The front clip, of "nose" of the 109 is being test fitted to make sure all the doors and body lines are perfect. everything is adjusted so that doors close easily, and then new door seals are installed with the correct factory style crush rivets.
Inside the 109 new door panels are added to the new doors. These were made by Badger Coachworks and are superior to the old units as they are made from marine plywood, covered with the correct deluxe trim. The originals were made on cardboard and sagged when they got wet.
In the rear of the 109 you can see the new rear door trim, as well as the restored jump seats. New upholstery as well as a newly galvanized seat frame make these units look better than they did in 1967.
The new headliner, roof vents and new rubber seals, as well as the re-covered rear bench seat start to show off just how nice this 109 will be. Lots more work to go, but a true vintage restoration takes a lot of time.
Now for the fun stuff... This 109 was originally an NADA (North American Dollar Area) 6 cylinder. This was a hopped up version of the Rover 2.6 that had a Westlake head and a different carb and intake. The engines are very problematic, hard to source parts for, and don't have much power, so we are going for a new 4.0 liter EFI Rover V8, mated to an R380 5 speed and LT230 transfer case. These items combined with the disc brakes of the coil sprung chassis mean that this vintage Wagon will be able to pass you on the highway and still have power on tap. In this image you can see the built up 4.0 being test fit into the 109. Modifications are needed to the bulkhead, steering system and just about everything else, to fit the V8, but once installed it beats any 2.25 or 2.6 by a wide margin. Notice that we converted the 4.0 to run with a distributor to maintain both power and simplicity. You can also see the coil chassis' dual power brake set up, running the disc brakes in front and the drum brakes on the Salisbury rear axle out back.
Mated to that 4.0 EFI V8 in front is the latest generation R380 5 speed and LT230 transfer case. In this image, with the floors removed, you can see the combination that gives this 109 full time 4WD as well as all the gears on one lever.
Here you can see the 4.0 V8 install a little further along. Notice that the Mansfield heater has now been installed, as well as a HD alternator, all the fuel lines and the new brake system. A custom made, but stock looking EFI wiring harness comes next as well as a custom radiator that will mate to a stainless steel radiator support. The stainless steel radiator support, rebuilt bulkhead and galv. chassis mean that this 109 won't have rust issues any time soon.
In this image you can see the 109 is nearly complete, and is waiting for the front body work. Remember that this 109 will appear as a stock 1967 on the outside, so that you'll have to look closely to see the EFI V8 and 5 speed when we are done. After the engine is test fired and the drive train is checked, we'll move inside the 109 to install the Clarion sound system and 6 disc CD changer, as well as the 4 Rockford-Fosgate speakers.
Here you can see the stock look front body work taking shape. The full stainless steel radiator support has been painted an installed. These stainless units, available for your Rover from ECR, are exact reproductions of the now no longer available early IIA support, and with it installed the customer will never worry about a rust in that area. Also notice the Hella H4 vision plus headlights for better vision at night.
Now in the final stages of production this 109 is really starting to look complete. There are a number of things still to do, but it is really starting to look like a show winner. Here at ECR every detail is done to perfection, right down to the correct parking lights and turn signals. Most shops will replaces these units with cheap plastic units, at ECR we install the correct glass units, with the correct color wiring codes (as seen above). You may think it is "over the top", but that is exactly what our customers demand, the best, with the staff of ECR worrying about every detail so you don't have to,
So here it is, a new 4.0 liter electronically fuel injected Rover V8, custom installed into a stock looking 1967 Series IIA 109 Station Wagon. This not only gives tons of extra power for this 109 to motor around at any speed it likes, but it also gives trouble free operation due to the addition of fuel injection. Only from ECR can you get such an amazing vehicle. Other restoration shops want to say they are our "competition", we'll let these images above speak volumes about our work compared to theirs.
This Series IIA 109 not only gets engine power from the 4.0 V8, but it also gets sound power from a Clarion head unit with a 6 disc CD changer. For ease of use we mounted the changer in the new cubby box so the driver can access it while driving. In this image you can see the custom installed head unit (AM/FM tape) and the 6 disc changer in the cubby box.
Here you can see the Rockford Fosgate 6" speaks tucked nicely into the new front door panels. Also notice that on the bulkhead at the left of the image is the 14CUX EFI computer. When the 109 is done the computer will hide under the stock looking footwell cover and no one will know this 109 hides an EFI V8 until is either passes you on the highway, or they pop the hood.
The rear speakers in this 109 are fitted behind the rear bench jump seats. We made custom metal covers to replace the stock light covers and painted them to match the body color for a nice clean original look.
Below are some shots of the completed interior:
