====== 1: Joining the HOFS ======

In [[eddie:rebuilds:1st_rebuild:start|part 1]] I described how a crusty but functioning 109 had been dismantled, found to need a //new everything//, and then vast amounts of time & money had been spent with not a lot of progress to show for it. Things were looking bad.

<WRAP center round box 530px>
{{ http://fuddymuckers.co.uk/gallery/s/w500/eddie_rebuild_pt1/2005-10-09-14h49m40.jpg }}
It Is Things. Looking bad.
</WRAP>

**Then I had an e-mail.**

A friend in the [[http://www.shirelrc.com|Shire Land Rover Club]] was [[https://forums.lr4x4.com/topic/5822-moglite|building a buggy]] using Unimog portal axles, and was in contact with another guy who was building a "big, stupid car" in Basingstoke. He was up against it and needed some help with the wiring.

It just so happens that I can do wiring, and was young, free, single, and stupid enough to feel it was worth driving to Basingstoke just for the interest.

And so I fell in with //The House Of Flying Spanners//.

That is a separate story in itself,but the short version is that having helped Jez and co get Petal up & running in time for Ladoga, the mad fools said "When we get back, bring your 109 up here & we'll help you finish it". //I'm pretty sure none of us really knew what we were letting ourselves in for.//

===== Rip it up and start again =====

Taking Jez and co at their word, I arrived with my <del>vehicle</del> collection of parts at The Lab, full of optimism;

{{ http://fuddymuckers.co.uk/gallery/s/500/eddie_rebuild_pt2/2006-07-08-14h04m48.jpg }}

After a bit of a walk round and appraisal, and despite best efforts at diplomacy, the consensus was "nice idea, f'ing awful execution, start again".

**So we did.**

The story that follows is in pure chronological order based on timestamps of the photos - so if it's a bit all over the place, just imagine how all over the place I was at the time!

===== The Good Bits =====

In the over-a-year I'd been failing to make progress with the 109 I had been accumulating parts, some via eBay, Sodbury Sortout, or club members, and some by doing work on websites in exchange for Land Rover parts - yes I was blagging a fair bit, but by crikey did people get good value out of me in return! Young and hungry and stupid...

The inventory of parts was at least quite promising;

  * The brand-new R380 I'd originally bought
  * An almost-new LT230 I'd bought through a friend in the club
  * A 4.6 V8 short-block plus the heads & Megasquirt EFI setup from the old 3.9
  * A bargain pair of Volvo C303 portal axles from a dead C303
  * A Gon2Far leaf-spring suspension mount setup & looong ProComp shocks
  * The original T.I. Console parabolic springs
  * A Fairey H14W hydraulic winch setup including PTO (bought at Sodbury)
  * The original body of the 109

===== 1st, find a chassis =====

By now I was not flush with spare cash, so buying a new chassis was not an attractive option, especially given the required modifications which would effectively rule out galvanising (or mean building a vehicle on a plain chassis, then dismantling it, galvanising it, and re-re-building it).

So, a bit of scouting round eBay and £100 later I had a good 2nd hand 109 chassis with a (//not good//) bulkhead and rear tub thrown in:

{{ http://fuddymuckers.co.uk/gallery/s/w500/eddie_rebuild_pt2/2006-07-14-08h02m42.jpg }}

**Onwards to [[2_grinding|Page 2]] - The Grindening**