Land Rover left side fuel fill install

I put in the filler tube for the extended range tank. I had a spare fuel filler cowl so I matched it up on the inside of the body and using a 3/16" drill made 2 locating holes in the body. then I made a paper template of the ID and taped it in position using the locating holes I had drilled. To protect the paint I covered it with painters tape.

Then using a pilot hole I used my jigsaw to cut out the hole

Using my spare cowl and a file I refined the fit of the cowl.

I put the same 3M sealant used on the windscreen around the cowl and after removing the tape pop riveted it in place using 3/16" rivets.

That is my spare fuel cap in the pic.

Next was to figure out the plumbing on the inside. To the best of my knowledge Rover never made a LH side fill system. I have a spare rear 109 5 door fill tank hose and thought I could make it work.

First I tried making a tube set up with some stainless steel, but after 4 hours of fitting I knew there had to be an easier way. I like KISS stuff(keep it simple stupid)

So I took a close look at my RH side hose. Part of the problem is it goes from 73mm down to 42mm so a straight hose won't work.

Taking the RH hose and putting it on the LH to see if it would even remotely fit gave me an idea.

IF  I cut the hose in the middle and rotated the bent section would it reach?

Yes!!!!!  It fits great once clamped in place.

I am going to order 2 new ones as my original is 56 years old and kinda soft. Then I will have only 1 to cut and put on the extra tank! I put the old hose back on the RH side.

I have the stock twin tank switch but it is for petrol and does not have the return line option needed for diesel nor does it switch the gauge/sender from tank to tank.

Land Rover extended range fuel tank install

OK got the time and had enough coffee so I mounted the extended range fuel tank which was part of the group buy from the Guns and Roses forum. To do it I used my floor jack to raise and lower it and hold it in position. The biggest issue was the filler neck.

The hole for the neck was marked while the tank was held up under the 109. I drilled a 1-1/2" hole where indicated with a hole saw. Unfortunately I lost track of my camera and only have a couple of pics. Anywhoo I figured out where the front mount needed to go and put it in with 2 large sheet metal screws in the top and 3 in the side. I had a long 1/4" drill bit which I put between the frame and the tank to keep  consistant distance. I would raise and lower the tank while elongagating the filler hole. This was a challenge due to the tube being on an angle and the higher the tank was raised the more the tube hit the side of the hole. I think I wound up using the Dremel to remove 1/2-3/4 of an inch to get it to fit. It is bolted in with 2, 1/4x1 bolts in the front and 3 in the back. The rear holes in the frame had to be drilled as my frame was lacking them.

Still have to do the filler neck in the body and a tank switch.


Another thing I did was install the low range shift lever. For many years I have driven Series Rovers and the anti rattle spring on the lever ALWAYS falls out! So at first I thought I would use silicone and glue it on, so I did but to hold it on while the silicone dried I safety wired it on. When I did this I realized that that was all I really needed to do.

So I put it in and found that the top of the lever was too close to my heater duct.

I wouldn't be able to put on the knob, so I used a propane torch and heated up the bend in the lever and bent it a little more, you can see where the heat was applied;

Now the clearance is good!

Disco 200TDI to Series radiator

Well the other day I got a step closer with the mounting of the radiator and fan. Next up was the hoses. This is simplified by the fact that all the coolant ports are the same size 1-1/2"  or 38mm. After trying all the hoses I had sitting around, I took some pics and went down to my FLAPS and tried to find shaped hoses.

Looking down on the top, the ports are covered in blue tape;

The side view of the bottom ports;

First we could find no shaped hoses remotely similar. So we started looking at flex hoses, the thought being that an easier to fit design but in a less desireable package..ie..the spring inside tends to rust away and clog radiator tubes.

First tried out a 25" flex hose, but it was too long. Then next day tried out a 20" flex hose with a built in 90 on 1 end. Part # is 25804 and was used on lots of 70's and 80's cars.

bottom;

top;

They only had 1 in stock so I had to wait another day to get a second hose, and a third and fourth for spares.

Here they are installed;

I also put on the K&N airfilter and hooked up the vacuum line to the turbo.

Plumbed in the power steering res after getting a longer hose to reach the new placement on the different pump, and filled the PAS and the coolant.

Disco 200TDI into 109, fan issue

It always has to be something , right? Check out where the fan on the Disco hits the radiator for the Series.

All this time working around the motor I didn't realize it was offset. Now if you have been following my blog all that work I did to make a new fan shroud is negated. So after pondering the situation for a while and looking at options I decided on an electric fan. I bought a Hayden 16" reversable, #3700 and mounted it to the radiator.

I tried offseting it to make for more clearance with the motor fan pully/mount. The 200 has the big plastic 7 bladed fan with a clutch so it really sticks out. I test fitted the new setup;

Only to find that it wasn't going to be easy.............so I cut off the threaded portion of the pully and refit;

Each step was slightly better but now I realized I was going to have to remove some of the fan shroud to make it all work, so I did it in steps as to not take off too much all at once.

result;

and again,

result;

Now I've had to take part of the shroud edge to make it clear, but the below pic shows the final carnage.

The fan is made reversable by flipping the fan over on the motor shaft and reversing the wires, normally black would be ground and blue for power, in this orginal configuration it is a "pusher" fan and can mount to the front side of the radiator. Because I have a military oil cooler in front I needed to have a "puller" mounted on the backside, therefore my wiring will be black to power and blue to ground. I am looking into a thermostat control for the fan. I don't want to rely on me remembering to turn it on or have it on all the time.

109 going back together

So I wanted to put the xfer case on the gearbox, I ordered a gasket from Rovah Farm and when it arrived I started the job only to find the gasket was wrong. I informed Trevor so he knows and he checked his inventory only to find the NOS from 56 were all bad!

Here's a pic of the bad fit;

I tried to make holes larger and off set but it was too distorted so I decided to make my own. I am trying this kinda plastic foamy stuff I found hoping it seals well. I used the bad paper gasket for a template to cut out the center sections as they seemed to be the right shape.

cut out

then I had to hold it on the gearbox and using the hammer technique I made the outside and hole shapes.

the following pics show how bad the paper gasket was off and the new gasket in place;

Once this was sorted out I put on the transfer case, and eventually the parking brake and rear drive line.

As you can see I also have the Roamerdrive re-installed, as well as changing out the straight Series 2 parking brake handle for the curved late 2a-3 one. I like to rest my leg against it whilst driving and prefer the easier reach.