Hello from Yorkshire

Introduce yourself and your vehicles and post (or link to) photos
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Geoff
Posts: 599
Joined: Sat Oct 29, 2011 2:21 am
Location: Leicester UK

Re: Hello from Yorkshire

Post by Geoff »

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Last edited by Geoff on Mon Nov 09, 2015 1:09 pm, edited 2 times in total.
2 1981 Stage One 109 V8 SWs
Image
disco2hse
Posts: 1637
Joined: Sun Apr 27, 2008 3:51 am
Location: Auckland NZ

Re: Hello from Yorkshire

Post by disco2hse »

CaptainSlow wrote: Image

All around the old girl stinks of petrol and looking at the tank its evident that the lower edge seams have blown and the whole bottom of the tank is wet with petrol. So I got one of those ordered asap along with all the seals, washers, rubbers etc and a few service items for good measure.
Far out, is that what they're supposed to look like :lol:

It is a common problem because water gets in between the protecting plate and the bottom plate of the tank. It might be a good idea to run some silicon around the bottom seam.

The other thing is the paint. That stuff will not protect your tank. I strongly advise painting it with some decent water proofing paint before fitting.
Alan

1983 ex-army FFR 109 Stage 1
2005 Disco 2 HSE TD5
disco2hse
Posts: 1637
Joined: Sun Apr 27, 2008 3:51 am
Location: Auckland NZ

Re: Hello from Yorkshire

Post by disco2hse »

Don't leave it too long to replace the grommets on the battery. Lot of chafing there.
Alan

1983 ex-army FFR 109 Stage 1
2005 Disco 2 HSE TD5
CaptainSlow
Posts: 63
Joined: Sun Oct 04, 2015 6:16 pm

Re: Hello from Yorkshire

Post by CaptainSlow »

The tank will be suitable treated before I install it :wink:

Brushable seam sealant around the joins then painted in black stonechip. Inside treated with POR15 fuel tank sealant treatment http://www.amazon.co.uk/POR-15-petrol-S ... or-15+fuel

That should last a few years!

Re the battery, I'm not driving the Landy at the moment - its too dangerous what with the leaky fuel tank, wayward steering and very weak brakes. It sounds nice though :lol:
CaptainSlow
Posts: 63
Joined: Sun Oct 04, 2015 6:16 pm

Re: Hello from Yorkshire

Post by CaptainSlow »

Managed to bag another LT85 at the weekend - fitted with an overdrive too :) I reckon the one in the Stage 1 is toast - the noises it was making were painful and sounded terminal - it'll need a full overhaul before being usable IMHO. I'm undecided whether to keep it for spares, or strip off any decent parts and weigh in the rest.

So I'm going to ask a friend to recondition the new one and the overdrive (he's a skilled LandRover specialist which helps) and then I'll swap the gearboxes over. The replacement box is from an early 110 and so has the higher final drive ratio too - that coupled with the overdrive should really help the economy. Not sure if its going to be too high now!!! :roll:
disco2hse
Posts: 1637
Joined: Sun Apr 27, 2008 3:51 am
Location: Auckland NZ

Re: Hello from Yorkshire

Post by disco2hse »

Sounds like a plan
Alan

1983 ex-army FFR 109 Stage 1
2005 Disco 2 HSE TD5
Alicerover
Posts: 172
Joined: Wed Nov 16, 2011 10:34 pm
Location: Leicestershire

Re: Hello from Yorkshire

Post by Alicerover »

Hi.
This is a pic of the heater valve on Alice
Image20151106_090329 by Spencer, on Flickr

and here is another

Image20151106_090329 by Spencer, on Flickr

On the heater front, I made a mod which replaced the matrix with a Renault Espace matrix, which is the same size, but made from aluminium for a greater heat transfer. You just need to slightly mod the box as the pipes are on the top of the matrix. Works well, plenty of heat to the extent that I'm too hot. I also used some closed cell foam to make a gasket for where the heater box fixes to the bulkhead and on the other side where the the air distribution box mates to the bulkhead.If you stop all the air leaks, the heater works very well.
As mentioned before, the valve doesn't seem to stop the flow of hot water completely, if I push on the operating arm before I set off it seems to seal and you get cold air. Must be that the cable can't apply enough pressure to completely close the valve. Just one of their quirks you have to live with!

Image20151106_090506 by Spencer, on Flickr

Re the air box.
This is what your looking for

Image20151106_093131 by Spencer, on Flickr

and yes it is up for grabs.
PM me if your interested.
CaptainSlow
Posts: 63
Joined: Sun Oct 04, 2015 6:16 pm

Re: Hello from Yorkshire

Post by CaptainSlow »

Thanks for that - I definitely haven't got the valve then :cry: Looks like I'll need to start digging to see if I can find the correct part and bracket/s etc.

Re the airbox, I actually managed to get one of eBay last week, complete with the elbows, but thanks for your kind offer - if I hadn't bought one already I'd have been very interested!
disco2hse
Posts: 1637
Joined: Sun Apr 27, 2008 3:51 am
Location: Auckland NZ

Re: Hello from Yorkshire

Post by disco2hse »

Heater valves are made from unobtainium and are therefore expensive. I better route is to get a shuttle valve and repurpose it. Mostly people just take it off or leave it permanently open (as in my case) and let the hot water route through the matrix.

You would want something in brass, one inlet and two outlet and with a lever action. Has been done on the forum here before.
Alan

1983 ex-army FFR 109 Stage 1
2005 Disco 2 HSE TD5
CaptainSlow
Posts: 63
Joined: Sun Oct 04, 2015 6:16 pm

Re: Hello from Yorkshire

Post by CaptainSlow »

Thanks Alan. I'll have a look at other cars fitted with the Rover V8 3.5 and see how they controlled the heater. I'm thinking of Rover SD1, TR8, TVR, Rangie Classic etc etc. I'll report back on any solutions that I find.
CaptainSlow
Posts: 63
Joined: Sun Oct 04, 2015 6:16 pm

Re: Hello from Yorkshire

Post by CaptainSlow »

Sadly, due to work and family pressure, I have done absolutely zip on my Stage1 :cry:

I did however fire her up last night as I'll need to move her tonight. I was amazed that the battery had enough charge left in it as I haven't run the engine for many many weeks! Bad I know. The carbs had drained of fuel so it took a fair bit of cranking, but once she caught she sounded wonderful. It made my day - that unique Series landy smell and the V8 burble. I really need to crack on!

On the plus side, my mechanic has said that he'll be looking at the replacement gearbox over the Christmas hols, so hopefully that'll be ready for fitting by the end of January - if I haven't had a chance to do anything by then I'll use the workshop access to swap out the leaky fuel tank and maybe swap the steering relay over too. At least I'll be able to start using the old girl, and then I can sell off the Disco Tdi - yippee ! :D
disco2hse
Posts: 1637
Joined: Sun Apr 27, 2008 3:51 am
Location: Auckland NZ

Re: Hello from Yorkshire

Post by disco2hse »

I normally let the fuel pumps run some petrol up before starting. Turn the key onto "On" wait for about 10-20 seconds (you'll hear the pump tapping) and then turn the key to "Start". Spins the bendix and karoom. Fires first time, usually. No "cranking" required.
Alan

1983 ex-army FFR 109 Stage 1
2005 Disco 2 HSE TD5
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Geoff
Posts: 599
Joined: Sat Oct 29, 2011 2:21 am
Location: Leicester UK

Re: Hello from Yorkshire

Post by Geoff »

Agree with Alan - from cold, I usually just turn the key first to light the ignition lights and set the pump to start pumping fuel, then pull the choke, after which they generally fire right up - first time, last spring, even after standing outside unused for 3 months while I was out of the country :)
2 1981 Stage One 109 V8 SWs
Image
CaptainSlow
Posts: 63
Joined: Sun Oct 04, 2015 6:16 pm

Re: Hello from Yorkshire

Post by CaptainSlow »

Great tip, thanks guys, I'll do that next time :D
CaptainSlow
Posts: 63
Joined: Sun Oct 04, 2015 6:16 pm

Re: Hello from Yorkshire

Post by CaptainSlow »

Finally got a quick half hour to take a look at the fuel leak around the fuel pump on Saturday... it turns out the rubber hose has perished and has numerous cracks in it - the pump itself seems ok, so at least that one thing I don't have to worry about immediately. I went to the Donington 4x4 Show on Sunday, so managed to pick up some fuel hose at a good price :) Sadly, thats all I bought as the show was very much focused on Defenders and shiney new bling... but I later had a quick trawl on eBay and bought an OEM oil temperature gauge and the matching sender, so they'll join the oil pressure gauge in due course.

We're still thinking about the camper conversion and to be frank we're quite undecided, which is why that part of the build has paused. The missus wants to keep the roof tent and leave the vehicle internal space for storage, cooking and seating, but I'd like to go down the Dormobile or rigid pop-top route and have the whole roof open up to give us more headroom inside, plus sleeping space inside. We intend to fit a FoxWing type awning when the build is finished, so we don't need the roof tent for the annex space underneath - we'll get shelter from the awning. So that means the Safari/Tropical roof acquisition is also on hold til we've made a decision...
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