Old Land Rovers and aluminium construction.

[David Paste]

I have been watching a series on youtube about a kiwi fella restoring an old mark 1 Land Rover Discovery. There is a bit of rust he has to deal with. My question is why weren't older vehicles like this made from aluminium? I know some cars are now, but Land Rovers seem to be kept going by loving owners. It would seem that replacement parts made from aluminium rather than steel would be good for them for the elimination of rust problems, and possibly a saving in weight? Some parts could surely be made from fibreglass, I know there are cars which have been in the past.

Obviously you know now that I have a very limited understanding of these things.

Thanks in advance.

[Andy Burns]

I believe older land rovers were made from

[Adrian]

In message [e-mail], David Paste [e-mail] writes

As memory serves, aluminium (duralim ?) was used for Land Rovers (when it was a model, not a brand) because back in 1948 it was more easily available than steel.

It was not without its problems as the aluminium / steel interfaces were prone to corrosion. When I rebuilt my IIA, I ended up applying a layer of glass fibre over much of the Al where it met the steel, partly to repair, and partly in the hope that it would act as an insulator.

Adrian

[Colin Bignell]

In the post-war era, steel was in short supply and its use was regulated by government, so Land Rover bodies were made from aluminium. As so much aluminium had been required for the aircraft industry, it was far more readily available than steel. Steel had to be used for some parts, but aluminium was used where possible. This also resulted in a low centre of gravity, as the chassis and bits attached to it was where most of the weight was.

[Bob Eager]

Indeed they were. Steel chassis (and some of the upper frame), and the panels etc. from Birmabright. As I recall, this was partly because of the post-war steel shortage, and also for lightness and lack of corrosion (in comparison).

I had a 1952 Land Rover back in the early 70s.

I used to have a book on Land Rover history too.

[Bob Eager]

Back when I had my 1952 Series I, I use to drive down a particular road a lot. It was narrow and winding. I knew a petrolhead, and he followed me down it once. He nearly lost it on a corner because he couldn't keep up. That thing went round corners really well.

I had to tone it down a bit when I got a more conventional car (it was a wallowing Humber Hawk). I have since driven that road over 20,000 times and I still have to remind myself what I am driving.

[Colin Bignell]

When I bought a Discovery, many years ago, LR offered a winter driving course in Austria, which was great fun. The course uses wet plastic to simulate ice and is used by the Austrian emergency services for training. When we were there, the course was also being used by some BMW drivers. The LR rep told us that, because of the steel chassis and aluminium body the Range Rovers were were chucking about had a lower CofG than the BMW series 5s the other lot had. Difficult to tell whether the difference in performances on the course was down to that or to the different types of drivers who would buy each vehicle.

[Max Demian]

Could you make a monocoque body of aluminium?

[Joe]

More relevant today than ever. If your car has alloy wheels (and how many don't?) take them off regularly. The longer you leave them on, the larger the chunk of wood you have to hit them with to break the corrosion.

[Andy Burns]

I did have a lump of wood in the car last time it happened to me, and a lump hammer, but not big enough, I had to leave the lug nuts a bit loose then drive up and down a supermarket car park doing heavy braking to break the wheel free ...

[Colin Bignell]

Like the Supermarine Spitfire?

[The Natural Philosopher]

Been done in the 60s witht racing cars

[mm0fmf]

He was telling you what you all wanted to hear to confirm you had made the right choice in your purchase.

[Tim Lamb]

Indeed. Apprentice pal made and fitted a monocoque body to a Riley 9 chassis.

Lots and lots of Pop rivets!

>

[Colin Bignell]

1923 - the Voisin C6 Laboratoire, but I thought more people would have heard of the Spitfire.

[SteveW]

Yes. The Jaguar E-type was a monocoque construction and they built 12 lightweight aluminium bodied cars.

Indeed you can buy an aluminium E-type bodyshell now:

However, one of the originals sold for £6m in 2017.

[Brian Gaff]

Some of the very square looking Land Rovers were made of something not very magnetic, as I used to play with magnets as a kid, and they did not stick very well on those old military looking squared off Land Rovers. Discoveries were rust buckets though, and intended for the yuppie market I'd guess. Brian

[Brian Gaff]

Anyone remember the car called a Trafalgar?, It seemed to be made of flat panels and the designer seemed to gain inspiration from those multi sided solids like dodecahedrons and the like, so all the pannels were flat. My magnet never attached to those either. Where are they all now? Brian

[Brian Gaff]

Talking about rust bucket cars. I strongly remember one from my youf called the Jowett Javelin, which was not very javelin like, but after about 6 years they rusted away from inside the body. Of course later cars had these problems, most of them due to lack of protection of the steel in the places you could not see or easily get at. Mk 1 Cortinas, Old minis, Vauxhall Vivas and Hillman Imps and of course those Morris and Austin Alegros and Marinas and 1100s. My dad had a Consul Classic and an Austin Maxi. The latter was far better for rust than the former. As for Land Rovers, well, The point is that if you made a wing out of fibreglass, it would be in shreds very soon if you used it over the terrain it was supposed to be used on. Look at the Relients, most of them fell to bits or caught fire. Mind you I saw a fibreglass Lambogini go up like a torch once. Goodness knows what it was made of, but it burned well as did the alloy wheels. B Brian

[Andy Burns]

Think yourself lucky you don't have to look at the tesla cybertruck, it also has pointy flat panels like the wireframe ships in the game Elite