Land Rover tub is on

Ok on Wednesday, Brian and Matt came over and we put the tub on the chassis. It was pretty straight forward. Carry it out of the paintbooth and put it on the chassis. first we moved the chassis forward so we could come over the back instead of lifting it up over the motor.

Thursdsay I took the oil cooler down to the media blaster to get the rust removed from the supports. In the afternoon I bolted down the tub. For this I had made some spacers out of HDPE (high density polyethelene) I used stainless hardware and antiseize.

Here is one of the alli ones and some of the hdpe spacers.

Brian has finished painting my radiator support panel and I put it on. Waiting on the oil cooler to be installed to take some photos. It is still at the blasters at this time.

oil cooler fitment

Sunday, I started fitting the oil cooler and radiator. I knew that I would need to remove some metal from the radiator support panel to allow the hoses to pass by. I just wasn't sure where and how much. I also need to find out how I was going to secure the oil cooler itself and see if I had enough clearance for the fan.
I started by bolting in the radiator support panel, I had to fabricate the rubber support pads for the install. Next I slid the oil cooler into the rad panel and set the radiator into position. This I loosely bolted in to keep it from falling.

Then I checked the fan fitment, it was good so I put it away. I have room for either the 2.25 steel fan or the 2.5 plastic fan. Unless I overheat I'm going with the steel fan.
Then I played around with the oil cooler(OC) placement. I had to have the bottom fitting on the left side away from the steering relay(RHD). One of my brake line clamps was in the way and would have to be changed. I marked the slots for the bottom brackets so I could drill mounting holes. The new hoses were slid into the rad panel and mounted to the oil filter housing. I marked the places where I would remove the material and took everything apart.

Using a flat round disc of the approximate arc I outlined on the rad panel where I need to cut. I cut arcs to try to avoid stress risers from square cuts. I wound up using my Dremel tool to cut the arc out and burned it up in the process. A little time with a hacksaw and metal files cleaned everything up! I refit the panel and checked hose clearances. All's good.
I called Brian up for coffee and gave him the panel to paint for me.

Returning home after coffee I decided to fit the fan belt. I had purchased it last year from Rovah Farm. Try as I might I could not get it to fit it is too small by maybe an inch! It's always something......The lump on the side of the alt hits the block. Then I don't have the spacer for the pivot bolt for the alternator. Now I'm trying to find the part number. It is this kind of stuff that makes it go so slow. I wish I could just go to my nearest Halfords and pick up the parts as needed@@##$@!

I did try my belt for my 2.25 motor and it fits but is a little large. I will go to my FLAPS (Friendly Local Auto Parts Store) and see what I can get to fit. Thankfully I'm not on a deadline!!

Wedding day

Ok so I know you're into other things but THIS IS MY DAUGHTER! My only daughter.

I went over to the Maid of honors house around 2 and my daughter was busy getting ready. So I waited until it was time to go and we started off for the beach where the wedding was to be held(Twin Lakes, in Santa Cruz) A phone call to the groom sent us back to the house as he was not at the beach yet and it would be about 15 min before he was. So we waited......
The next phone call said he was there and the guests were waiting, so off we went! A few short minutes later and I was parking my Range Rover(rover content) at the edge of the beach right in front of the guests.

Missy the MoH got out and Marette and I waited while Missy had a chance to get into position.
Then I opend the door and let Marette out and turned to face the guests. It was at this moment I realized I would be facing them and we proceeded to walk down the sand to the waiting guests. As we walked we talked about not tripping in the sloping sand and seaweed!
I handed her over to her betrothed Andy and as the reverend asked I gave her away. Then I stepped back and as Marette wished I took the pictures I share with you.

Mr and Mrs Towne!

Land Rover military oil cooler

I obtained a ex-MOD Series oil cooler from P.A. Blanchard in the UK.(https://secure.pablanchard.co.uk/forsale.asp)

With the motor in I can now try to fit the oil cooler and radiator. Brian had almost painted the radiator support panel first but we caught it in time cause I know I will have to do some cutting on it.
The cooler I got had some cosmetic damage as some of the cooling loops were bent. So I decided to straighten them out. You can see by the photos how it was done. I have a set of picks for pulling out o-rings and seals and stuff. I used one of these to grab a loop and pull it into position. Depending on the direction it needed to move I used either my right or left hand, not so easy if you are not as ambidextrious as I.

Sometimes the loop was kinda crushed, I found that if I hooked it on the fatter section of the hook I could pull it up and wiggle it side to side and it would take the orginal shape. It took about and hour to do the whole cooler, tedious but I like the result. I also plan on having a smaller mesh in front of the cooler so this kind of damage won't happen.

I have the oil lines from both the 2.25 and the 2.5 but neither would work for the hybrid setup. I need the 2.5 fittings on one end and the 2.25 fittings on the other. So I am going to have custom hoses made up at my local hose shop. Fortunately 1 of the guys who works there has the same setup on his 88.
I am looking for a new top for the thermostat housing. The 2.5 has the outlet going to the side and I need one of the 2.25's that has the vertical outlet. KISS=keep it simple stupid.
So now it is raining, probably for then next 5 days. I will do some reading on the motor as I am working out what hoses and wires are supposed to go where. When they removed the motor they just removed bolts and cut hoses, I got a bucket with loose parts.........
I set up the boost hose to the injector pump and the spill rail hose to the injector pump. I think I know where the fuel line goes from the fuel pump to the injector pump. I don't have a parts catalogue for this motor but have a Haynes and a LR workshop manual. Neither of which is as good as the old Series manuals!
I also have 2 Warn 8274 winches that I need to overhaul. I moved these to my back porch so they are out of the rain. Then Saturday my daughter is getting married.

109 motor is in!

Yesterday Brian and Matt came over to help me put in the 2.5Dt. We got the cars out of the way and were ready to start the hard work but I couldn't find the engine mounts. On one side I had to grind away part of the rubber to get it to fit the mounting position.
So I HAD to find the one I already modified to fit. I knew where it was and quickly searched the garage but it wasn't there. So I looked in the shed,, not here either. How about in the house or on the back porch? I have parts everywhere and will be glad when they are all in one place, on the 109! But no not in the house or on the back porch.
Back to the garage again and sort thru the mess with a flashlight. Not in this box, not in that one. Meanwhile Brian and Matt are catching up with each other. I go thru the stuff pretty quickly but still no joy. So now I make a more detailed search and halfway thru Matt joins me in looking. I've been looking for about an hour now and am totally frustrated. I KNOW I haven't thrown them out. So I search everything I haven't opened yet, still no joy.
I'm tired of looking and now it's getting too late to start the install so I send Brian and Matt home. We end the day with promises of if I find them then tomorrow we can put it in.
They leave and I go in for a late lunch wondering WTF did I do with 'em. Now it is about 1530H when I go back out to the garage with fresh batteries in the headlight and I start a systematic search in a counter clockwise motion. I open every box read the label on every bag and feel the contents. Move the large stuff and look under, in and around everything!
No joy :^(
So I start the same routine on the contents of the shed. I am back in the corner looking thru a box of bits and my neighbor comes over to talk. We chit chat and the topic of my search comes up and I explain what I am looking for. I am about to give up and order a replacement so I can modify it to fit.
My neighbor leaves and I see a plastic tub under my daughters 88, it's been knocked over and is upsidedown. I pull it out and remember it had stuff for the 2.5 in it. So I opened it and there was the motor mounts! I KNEW I had them somewhere!!!
So I called Matt and Brian and told them it was on for today! We met at 1100(well Brian and I, Matt showed at 1120) for coffee in town and after that we headed to my house.
So we had to move the hoist out onto the street where it would roll. Then pull the trailer with the 2.5 in it out onto the street and pick the motor out. Put the trailer back, roll the 109 out so the front wheels were in the street and put the hoist in through the front. At this point we needed to reposition the engine as it was facing the wrong way. Then it was lower it down and put in the rubber mounts. Last was to push the 109 back into my drive and break down the hoist and put it away. All told it only took about 45 minutes start to finish.
Thanks to Brian and Matt for the help!