Harry Butler's Land Rover

It will need more than a bit Allan.....lol


Cheers



Stephen

Hi

Not sure what the plan is but he is obliged by written contract to maintain it in its current condition. Not sure how that would be policed but sure he will do his best.

Yes I have dvd set of his series...converted to digital now for safe keeping. ABC had the dvds for sale not that long ago.(3 years)..appears to be discontinued but not sure.

Cheers
Greg

The Explorer, Greg,
Does that mean not even a valve grind? I see a new looking brake drum in the back.

Not sure what he has planned - he has restored one before so knows what he's in for.

Cheers
Greg

Old Defenders don’t die, they just fail to proceed.
Dave.

Get it right, it's continuously replenishing under body rust proofing. Had a '75 Range Rover for 35 years and know all about the joy's of leather oil seals.

Anyway, wasn't he known as Hairy Battler and described Kakadu at the time as clapped out Buffalo country?

just want we all want ,oil leaks
on the concrete LOL
mechpete

Don't know about a new rear axle, but that axe needs a new handle, looks like someone has been driving steel posts with the back of the axe and missing getting the handle. Should be pinned to a meat ant nest for doing that, there are proper tools made for driving steel posts, axes were never made for that job. my opinion anyhow.

Yep, she'll need an axle for sure, at least one will have twisted splines and be ready to screw off!

Having said that - the old Landrovers were proper 4WD's with low range grunt.

When I was in my early days of earthmoving contracting, my old Inter R190 truck broke an axle pulling my Cat D6 on the low-loader up about a 5% slope on a gravel road.
The entire rig - truck, trailer and dozer - weighed around 28 tons (this was before metrics!).

We only had a moderate distance to go up the rise to a gate in a paddock where we could unload the dozer.

We hooked up our Series 2 Landrover traytop - which had been escorting the float - to the front on the Inter, slipped her into "bog cog" - and with a fair bit of scratching and spinning, the old Landrover pulled the truck, float and dozer up the rise for about half a mile, and then pulled the entire rig into the paddock, so we could unload!

It was quite an amazing effort, one I wish we'd taken photos of, but as with everything when you're working flat out, you don't even think about it at the time.

Maybe if we'd taken photos and sent them off to Rover, we'd have got some world fame! LOL

Cheers, Ron.

Geez!! Ron, What are you doing having it up on blocks,?

Get her going, and show the world just how long they lasted!.(if you spent enough time on them, LOL.)


Cheers Axle.

Axle, I'm doing just that, over time, as projects and money allow. She had a busted gearbox when I got her, I had that rebuilt, and I've recored the radiator, rebuilt the seats, and I'm still working on the motor, ready to re-install it soon.

The chassis was treated, inside and out, with Exit Rust, not long after I got her, to prevent the dreaded internal chassis corrosion.

The rest of the body is in excellent shape, but the thing stopping her from getting back on the road, is some rust in a strange spot in the boxed steel panel that runs under the steering column and dash.

There's a fair bit of work to get to that rusty section and cut it out, it means all the dash has to come out. However, as soon as the engine is done and re-installed, I'll get to that part.

You can't rush these things! - and besides, it has to fit in with the 23 other projects I've got running at the same time! LOL

Cheers, Ron.

Looks like a 2A with the luxury bonnet.

Yes - a bit weird considering the traditional roof rack using roof rails is absent. What I found most interesting is the two jerry cans (of petrol) hanging off the roo bar in the last picture - would have been interesting in a head on.

Cheers
Greg

.
It's possible that those jerries contained water?

With the roof rack I think you will find that it was easier to stand in the open door frame to load and to stand on the bonnet to get at gear. If the rack is over the rear body gear is harder to get too.

The jerries would have been for fuel (but obviously could have carried water if needed) - quite common back in the 50s and 60s.

Assume that's where he used to live....He retired to Ludlow down near Busselton.

Cheers
Greg

Harry Butler lived in Wanneroo, W.A. for a considerable period, before moving to Ludlow.
The Wikipedia article says he was born in Perth - but he wasn't, he was born in a remote, unnamed railway construction camp in regional W.A.

No stranger to family tragedies, Harry's Mother died in childbirth with his younger sister - and he lost his second wife in the mid-1970's, in another family tragedy.

The Butler Bequest came about as a result of his wifes early death, and the W.A. Museum is the major beneficiary.

One of the newer Northern Perth suburbs is named Butler - but it's not named after Harry, it's named after one John Butler, the first explorer of the Wanneroo area, in 1834.

Harry did a vast amount of work on Barrow Island, working with the oil and gas industry.
In the article below, he gets a mention 40 times, plus a great photo of him with a big, fearless, goanna.

DPAW article - Barrow Island

Harry died in December 2015, and the W.A. Museum staff wrote up a short biography on him.

Vale Harry Butler - W.A. Museum

And the SMH did an obit on him, too ..

SMH - Obituary - Harry Butler

Here's another obituary from the ABC.

Conservationist Harry Butler dies - Dec 2015

The Butler Bequest -

Harry Butler Research Centre opened - 2017

Harry didn't fit the mold of the classic conservationist, he was a practical bloke who knew that development had to be accommodated, along with as much conservation, as was practical.

If he hadn't added his voice to being in favour of Barrow Island being allowed to proceed as a major gas plant site, we would possibly have no natural gas exports today.
The EPA refused to allow the Barrow Island development, yet it was finally over-ruled.

Today, Barrow Island hosts one of the worlds biggest gas plants, yet the whole island is an "A" class nature reserve, thus proving it is possible to have tightly controlled development, and conservation as well.

Cheers, Ron.