Katy (KTA 939V) military registration # 20 HF 77

I had wanted a Land Rover for many years but funds would always be used for something more important just when I had got enough money together, this went on for about 10 years, Then in may 2005, after being messed about on two occasions over military Land Rovers I decided to book into a show with a Land Rover I didn't have, This was a great incentive, I searched the internet, Autotrader, freeads and any other vehicle sales magazines and papers I could find, after a couple of weeks and with only 2 weeks until the show I found Katy in the Autotrader.

Katy as she is affectionately known is a 1979 Air Portable series 3 Land Rover FFR (fitted for radio) AKA a light weight, I purchased Katy in June 2005 for £700, she was advertised at £1200 but after some hard bargaining got her for the £700, I got a great deal for my money as I also got 1.5 engines, 4 almost new tyres and several boxes of spare parts, Katy was in a poor state when I purchased her, The paint was flaking off in chunks, and she looked terrible, My wife's words were " oh my god what have you done?"  Katy looked a lot worse than she actually was, once pressure washed underneath she appeared to be very solid.

It took 4 of us 2 days to strip back the paint and respray her, Sounds quick when you say it but it was 2 long days, Day 1 was the worst, We were scraping off the paint with woodworking chisels, They were the only tool in the box that actually made a difference, Day 2 was much easier as all I did was mask up and mix paint, My son did the spraying.

This is after just one day

This is the second day

I just had to include this picture, It’s my mother in law who sadly lost her battle against cancer on 1st January 2007

Note the ammo box by the side of Katy, it was the only way my mother in law could get up & in.

For the MOT she needed a few minor electrical faults sorting out, a new brake light switch, wheel bearings, shock absorber bushes, hand brake adjustment, 2 indicator lenses and a couple of bulbs.

Katy’s restoration was a sympathetic job, we did not go for a strip down but more in the way of the military, leave everything on & paint round it, the end result is more authentic.

The first show was Buckfastleigh just 2 weeks after buying Katy.

I later replaced the grill and changed a couple of tyres, The tyres that were taken off were put onto the sankey, The bumper was a bit bent and buckled but I managed to straighten it out with the portapower.

It wasn't until I had begun to show Katy that I discovered she had a very interesting history, She was sent out to Hong Kong in 1980 where she remained in storage until 1985, she was issued to the 7th Gurkha rifles and was with them for 8 months then went back into storage, she stayed there until 1990 when she was sent back to the UK at Blandford & issued to the Queens Gurkha Signals, Later in 1990 the QGS went to the Gulf as part of the 30 signal regiment 1^st armoured division taking Katy with them, I don't have anymore info until 1994 when she entered Warminster in Wiltshire, She remained with the Land Warfare Training Centre Battle group Light Aid Detachment REME until 1997 when she was put up for auction, Katy went to work on a farm carrying animal feed, She developed a problem in 1999 and was sold on, She went to a more adventurous person who spent quite some time and money getting Katy sorted out, The owner off roaded her for a short time before she was laid up in 2002.

Armed with this new information I decided to restore Katy to her former glory as a war veteran, So off I went again for another tin of paint, This time we were going desert, My son had just finished his first year at college doing car body repairs and spraying, He earned his keep during the summer holidays, Not only did he spray the Land Rover twice I had him spray a sankey trailer too.

One of the first things to go were the car seats in favour of originals.

Another part that needed changing was the grill, this had been damaged when Katy was off roaded, I found a replacement on ebay.

The offside door, sill panel & fuel tank were also damaged by the previous owner while off roading, I replaced these in one session.

As you can see a new canvas was also fitted, I was lucky enough to find an original unissued one on Milweb.

The next parts to be added were the TUAAM boxes & home made antennae

Another little job that needed seeing to was a check strap on the near side, it was a simple enough job to do, the check strap is held on with 4 bolts, including taking the wheel off & putting it back on the job was done in less than an hour.

I had been looking for a radio cage & eventually found one on ebay that wasn’t too far away from me, next on my list was radio gear but I had to wait a while for this but eventually acquired it in September 2006.

Recently I have done the following:

Fitted a new pair of original headlights

Fitted a new clutch slave cylinder

Fitted 2 new tyres

On the jobs to do list are:

Change the gearbox (replacement acquired complete with overdrive)

Change the rear crossmember  (replacement acquired)

Katy has a very low mileage, In fact she has less than 17000 on the clock and only about 3000 on the new engine fitted by the previous owner along with a Turner unleaded head.

Ian001