Yikes!! Update

Well, I purchased the studs from Timm Cooper, regular Series 3 studs, part #576825 made in Great Britain and are 10.9 grade steel. They came in last night's post so today I got up and swapped them out.

I had to remove the halfshaft which I did by removing the flange and pulling the whole thing out. Then with the lug nuts loose I jacked up the corner and put a jackstand under it. Next off was the wheel and then the brake caliper which was tied up and away.

Quickly I undid the lock nuts for the hub and removed them and the lockwasher allowing for the hub to slide off. Popping it in the vise I was able to undo the bolts attaching the brake disc to the hub.

At this point I futilely tried to remove a stud with my vise but we weren't up to the task. So it was off to the auto shop where it cost me $3 a stud to get them R&R'd. But the job was done!

So coming home I reinstalled the disc, hub to axle and caliper to disc. Adjusted the wheel bearing and temporarily put on my spare wheel.

Everything laid out;

Used a new lock washer;

The old studs;

Spare on but still jacked up;

So after cleaning up I called the rim supplier and they do not have an idea of when the new run will be made other than it better be this year!. Oh, well that will give me time to get new lug nuts...........

Have a nice Thanksgiving!

Sand Ladders

     I've been keeping an eye out on Craigslist for some sand ladders/mats. Earlier this Spring I found some of the plastic ones from Smittybuilt, a score(to me!) for $50 and a short drive to pick them up. They came with a black canvas carry bag too! I don't want them in the 109 taking up valuable space though so I figured I'd throw them up on the roof rack.

     Then this Summer I found some of the old aluminum ones like they used in Viet Nam to make airfields. Another deal, $75! These are 48" long and don't fit too well up on the rack and my 109 is so tall I'd have trouble getting them off without going up on the bonnet.

    So I started dreaming and looking at how other ladder/mat mounts were made and attached. I was also informed that the ladders once locked on will prevent entry into the windows if placed right. So one night as I was going to sleep it hit me what to do.

    By now you should know I'm a fan of KISS(Keep It Simple Stupid), what could be simpler than a mount where holes were drilled in the roof sides and flat bar used to stand off the ladders with round rod used to support the ladders and the ends bolted to the roof side.

   So I made a pair of them and put them together and set the holes up for the ladders and drilled them;

  But YUKK! I am loath to drill holes in the body if I don't have to.  Had to dream up something else.



    What I wanted was something which would clamp to the raingutter and hold to the tub. Maybe rivenuts? No, more holes.....  Having removed the paint and doing the whole rebuild I had intimate knowledge of the construction of the tub capping and fitment. I knew there was a gap between the capping and the tub side. Once I realized that I could take advantage of that gap as a holding point I set about planning a turnbuckle type of set up to clamp between the raingutter and the capping. Too costly and complicated so I scrapped that idea.

    I do my creative thinking just before I go to sleep, usually I don't remember that great idea in the morning and try to write things down before sleep. I tried to make a clamp out of flat bar stock but getting the tension between the top and bottom was way more difficult than I thought. I still needed some kind of turnbuckle thingy to get it right.

     The next night; WHAM! It hit me I can use a hook at the bottom connected to a rod with threads at the top and if it is the right length it will hold the tension keeping it in place. Simples!

    So using some stuff I had laying about I set about to build a prototype. 3/4 tube, 1/8" flat bar, 1/2" rod. Then it was a couple of hours heating and bending, drilling and welding, fitting and grinding.

 I welded a nut in the tube at both ends to center the tube and hold it tight. The tube is welded to the bottom clamp;

Here is a pic of the prototype;

I had to center the holes for the rod to hold the ladder off the predrilled holes for the flat bar mount.

Yeah, It worked! So then to make 3 more........Starting with obtaining more tubing and flat stock and cutting;

And bending;

Drilling and filing and tack welding;

After they were all made;

I got another idea,,,,,,,,,,,,,I wanted a lower part to the top clamp which will fit under the raingutter and hold the mount even better and hopefully foil theft attempts.

This required a "Z" type bend with small size and close tolerances beyond my home hammer and heat skilz. I had taken the mounts to my welder(cause he does a prettier job) so I took my new idea down and explained it to him. Since he has a sheet brake he is going to make them for me and weld them all together.

He was so busy that I wound up making the bottom raingutter clamp myself.

 It took some figuring out and even the welder was impressed when I took them down for the final welding. I wanted him to do it cause my welds look like.............

So after 2 weeks waiting I got them back and  cleaned up the welding debris and re rust treatmented them and then coating them with good  ol" Duplicolor spray on truck bed liner I put them on.

You can see from the pics that they will provide fair coverage from breaking and entering.

Here's a look at the top of the clamp, using 3/8-24 stainless bolts, inside are welded grade 8 nuts.

And how they are installed on the passenger side for the aluminum ladders(?). Don't know why they are called ladders......

They went on pretty easy using a tape measure. I wanted them centered in the panel/windows but the roof rack clamps got in the way so they are a little off.

Yes, I know I need more locks.

 A couple of things to think about;
1) The top brackets have an extra length with a hole drilled in them for tying, clamping something on them like maybe a tarp.
2) On the bottom I have a 3/8-24 bolt in just incase I want to attach something there, who knows what, just options.
3) I need some foam or springs on the inside to push the ladders and keep them from rattling.
4) Look at the top lock, I don't like it upside down the top hole needs to be horizontal not vertical because the rib in the ladder gets in the way of closing the lock. Not an issue with the plastic mats.

Yikes!!! Loose lug nuts......

Can I just get a frelling break!!?

Drove to my daughter house and on the way back something was rattling in the back at certain vibration/speeds. I thought it was my tools which are still loose in the tub.

Today I go to drive into town and only get about 3/4 of a mile and decide I need to stop and find the rattle. thinking now that it is maybe a u-joint in the rear. I get out of the car and walk back to check it out and see ALL the lug nuts loose on my drivers rear. I can tell that the wheel holes are f**ked already. I get out the easily accessible tools and remove the wheel only to find;

I was able to put the wheel back on and tighten up the lug nuts(after checking the other ones) and drive home.

Nobody to blame but myself. I can't remember when or why I last had that wheel off.

I have new studs coming and have ordered a new rim. The studs are Series 3 press in style.

If it wasn't so typical it wouldn't be funny! Now I will have a deep dish portable campfire pan.

BUGGER!

Friday update,  Being told the rim is not in stock new batch being produced "in several weeks"

I need some VooDoo to protect me from Murphy................

Cup holders for Land Rover 109

I made some cup holders while it was raining the other day. I modeled the brackets off of some I had seen on Guns and Rovers. Using some scrap  aluminum sheet I had laying about I made a right and left hand version. I think the metal might be too thin and won't hold up in the long run. I don't tend to use cup holders so who knows. The cup holders themselves came from West Marine.

Now on to the glorious pics;

Putting on the 200TDI head

So I waited for a day and contacted my son in law to use his borescope(again) to look inside the ports to see if I could ascertain what the devil was going on. I finally got it on Friday evening.

   Saturday morning when it warmed up enough to work outside I plugged in the battery for the scope and piddled around waiting for it to charge up. It wouldn't take a charge.........story of my life, right?!

   Despondently I mentally said fuck it and started to put it back together. Mounting the manifold gasket and the intake manifold then following with the exhaust manifold. Taking care to bolt everything up in sequence so I wouldn't have to remove it to put the other thing on first. Something I'd learned in earlier replacing sequences.
   The exhaust manifold was on then I put the turbo on using a new gasket and hooking up the oil supply and drain lines and the boost hose. Next I had to crawl under the 109 to fit the exhaust down pipe. I did this carefully as there have been quite a few black widow spiders in the neighborhood this summer. I killed 2 on my front porch and 2 on my 88, my cross street neighbors had killed 3 in the garage and 1 in the front porch and yet another behind the living room drapes.

     Once everything was hooked up and the oil level checked there was nothing left but to start it up and watch it leak.

    Or so I thought.  It started OK and warmed up I could see oil on the turbo from when I pressure checked it to see if it was leaking. I had forgotten to wipe the exterior clean. At first that gave me a start until I figured out where the oil had come from.

   So I waited,..................and waited,.................................................and waited. but no oil showed it's ugly black face oozing past my gaskets.

    The temp gauge read normal and no oil leak. I took my neighbor down to the mailbox and back for a test drive. Popping the bonnet and a flashlight showed,,.......no leak! I was amazed(still am).

    I put away tools and transfered them to the 109, then I drove 1.5 miles away and back at around 40mph. At the turn around point I checked.....no leaks!!!
    Returning to the driveway,.........no leaks!!!!!  Had the leaks stopped by themselves? Had I just sealed the gaskets tight enough so the oil is now traveling down the exhaust pipe and has yet to reach the end?

I don't know.

    I was going to go get a celebratory beer in the 109 but before I left I checked the exterior lamps to see if they were all working as darkeness was approaching. The tail lights were not functioning. So I popped open the dash hoping for a loose wire but it was more complicated than that.

   Today was spent sorting out the wiring at the combi switch. Putting in the separate starter/glowplug switch complicated things and I had to sort them out in the rain.

Fingers crossed!
The completed engine;

As an aside I can hear the turbo spool up when outside the vehicle and slow down when shutting it down. Not something I noticed with the 2.5DT.

   Next up a series of short runs of increasingly longer drives to check things out.

Cheers!