Alice to the road!!

Technical questions and answers
Alicerover
Posts: 172
Joined: Wed Nov 16, 2011 10:34 pm
Location: Leicestershire

Post by Alicerover »

Yes they do reside in Holland.
I was planning to do away with the stage 1 swivel's (both corroded to excess) and fit standard series swivels, using defender cv joints with the stage 1 half shafts.
The kit is/was based on the standard series axle, and you could run either uj's or cv's.
It looked like just the right kit, as it uses all standard LR parts, so spares are not an issue and was going to be an effective way to end up with disc brakes.
Still I suppose that with all new brakes fitted, the stopping power should be good.

Whilst on the topic, what are the views of using the defender brake master cylinder, to bias the braking effort to the front rather than the 50/50it has as standard?
map1275
Posts: 1076
Joined: Mon Jul 21, 2008 2:48 am
Location: Brisbane, Australia

Post by map1275 »

You are asking for opinions and that is what you will get. The folly of forums.

If all you want to do is make excuses to justify the end result then you already have your answer.

If you are approaching from an angle of of simple logic; you are creating a home made braking system. Untested, un-proven, based on guess work and not even supported by the maths on paper.
Kippa
Posts: 49
Joined: Tue Apr 01, 2008 9:16 pm
Location: Kent

Post by Kippa »

Lighten up Map1275 ... !

I've got a ZEUS disc brake conversion on the front and rear axle that is fitted with 60/40 bias valve; not sure whether it's from a defender but braking is certainly improved.

Kev.
redtailhawk
Posts: 68
Joined: Wed Nov 05, 2008 9:13 am
Location: Preston England

Post by redtailhawk »

Hi
There is a new kit at www.roamoffroad.com which uses only land rover defender parts the kit is a £1225 but then you need to add callipers discs etc it fits series landrover
Darren
1981 Stage 1 SW
If it's not broken don't try to fix it
Alicerover
Posts: 172
Joined: Wed Nov 16, 2011 10:34 pm
Location: Leicestershire

Post by Alicerover »

The roamoffroad kit is almost identical to what I was looking at, but more expensive and on top of the kit I've still got to get new swivel balls and a cv joint, plus all the rest of the bits and bobs.
Need to sit down with the parts list and a calculator i think to see which is going to be the more cost effective. Still tempted by it though.
The reason I was asking about the Defender Master Cylinder, is when you fit the disc brake kit, by biasing the braking effort to the front axle, you will get a better braking effort. I just wondered if it would have the same effect on the drums. The leightweight that I also run will always lock up the rear wheels before the fronts. All I want to do is to make sure that the braking system is as good as I can make it, given the avaliable parts and options and trying not to spend too much!! (I know, bit of a contradiction in terms when it comes to resurecting LR's) as Alice will be my primary transport vehicle.
Mrs Bingham
Posts: 230
Joined: Thu Apr 30, 2009 12:39 pm
Location: Essex, UK

Post by Mrs Bingham »

If you’ve got to spend in excess of £300 to replace the swivels how difficult would it be to have swivel balls custom made so that the complete early RR hubs assemblies can fit the Stage1 axle – or perhaps something more plentiful like early Disco? Would need to think about how the steering would go together though :?

Anyone know of a firm that could do this or perhaps who makes the replacement swivels for the very cheap kits available for just about any other LR apart from the Stage1?

If you are prepared to use different wheels then for convenience the Zeus kit must be favourite plus you can fit it to the rear axle as well :wink:
1983 Stage 1 V8 Hardtop (Mrs Bingham)
Alicerover
Posts: 172
Joined: Wed Nov 16, 2011 10:34 pm
Location: Leicestershire

Post by Alicerover »

Have looked into this option as well. Appart from making sure that everything remains square and at the correct angles etc. The main problem is the track rod on the coil sprung vehicles runs behind the axle, which means it wants to run straight through the leaf spring on the series vehicle.
I have spoken to the people at Roam Off Road about the disc brake kit they supply which was sorted out by Tim Cooper. I'm looking at the full vehicle kit, front and rear. It is expensive but it dosn't work out that much more than keeping Alice on drums.

Got my money back :D courtesy of PayPal

Will let you all know what happens next!!!
Alicerover
Posts: 172
Joined: Wed Nov 16, 2011 10:34 pm
Location: Leicestershire

Post by Alicerover »

More progress :D
Alice has gone to have her bulkhead repaired, gearbox has been sent for reconditioning and converting. Started work on the seatbox today until it started to rain :cry: again!!
Will post some pics when I can
Alicerover
Posts: 172
Joined: Wed Nov 16, 2011 10:34 pm
Location: Leicestershire

Post by Alicerover »

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Work on seat box. Battery tray has rotted out. New section on order.

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Offending item. Previous owner had tried to bodge a repair which just made it worse.
Alicerover
Posts: 172
Joined: Wed Nov 16, 2011 10:34 pm
Location: Leicestershire

Post by Alicerover »

Got Alice back from the welder on Friday.
Very pleased with the results, even if it has now created a hole load more work.
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https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-GQhY ... ge0745.jpg


All the corroded metal has been removed and repair sections have been welded in place.
Alicerover
Posts: 172
Joined: Wed Nov 16, 2011 10:34 pm
Location: Leicestershire

Post by Alicerover »

Some pics of the now repaired seat box.

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disco2hse
Posts: 1637
Joined: Sun Apr 27, 2008 3:51 am
Location: Auckland NZ

Post by disco2hse »

Some nice work. Feels good, huh.
Alan

1983 ex-army FFR 109 Stage 1
2005 Disco 2 HSE TD5
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wpalmo
Posts: 53
Joined: Mon May 21, 2012 9:28 am
Location: western australia

Post by wpalmo »

Hi Spen,

I have been following your thread and am really interested in your progress. I own a 1981 Stage One Truck Cab and am in the process of reconditioning the motor, gearbox and steering box. Of course I am always finding something else that needs sorting the further into the project I go which seems to be a common trait when repairing Landrovers.

I am also keen to convert the drum brake setup to disks and have looked at the Timm Cooper kit. It does look very well made and I like the fact that you use Defender rotors and callipers. This will make repairs and part availability much easier for me as I am in Australia. My only concern with this conversion is the compatibility with the Stage One front axle as it is not really a Series 3 set up and it looks to me that the Timm Cooper kit is made for the conventional Series 3. Do you think that the Cooper kit will bolt up to the Stage One front axle flanges and if so will the Stage 3 CV's be compatible with a kit that looks like it is designed for the Series 3 UV's?

I really like the look of this kit but am hesitant to order the kit without knowing for sure. What do you think, or am I completely off the mark with my thinking?

Hopefully if I have followed the instructions for posting images there should be some below of my Stage One and motor/gearbox overhaul.

Regards Warrick.

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wpalmo
Posts: 53
Joined: Mon May 21, 2012 9:28 am
Location: western australia

Post by wpalmo »

Looks like I failed posting photo's 101. Can someone give me some advice on the correct procedure?

Regards Warrick.
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Geoff
Posts: 599
Joined: Sat Oct 29, 2011 2:21 am
Location: Leicester UK

Post by Geoff »

On flickr you need to click on the share tab above your photo, then on 'Grab the HTML/BBCode, select BBCode and choose the size you want the picture to be, then copy and paste the code shown (it will be very long) to your compose box on this site. You may have to check you have BBCode switched on on this site. That's how I do it anyway. Don't think you even have to put the code between the [img] thingies but can't remember for sure. Hope that helps, and we can have a look at your truck (although actually I just sneaked a peek by copying & pasting the url s you gave into my browser)
2 1981 Stage One 109 V8 SWs
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