No its not broken its just an ongoing resoration project )

[Jabba]

Richard

I've got a torque wrench here so no probs.

When I did my timing belt I needed a gauge type torque wrench to tension the belt. This is NOT a 'click' type wrench. You use the gauge type to apply and hold the tension and then tighten the bolt with the normal torque wrench.

Of course, you can probably get away without using this type, but it's there if you want it.

[Zedman]

Hi Dave
I think Kingson has one, not siad if its the gauge type one but will let you know if I need to pop over and borrow yours, thanks )

[kingsonlim]

Richard, I never did use a dial type gauge to fit a timing belt. So, might be of use to borrow Dave's dial gauge if you wish.

I normally first loosen the timing belt tensioner, then loosen the injection pump sprocket and remove old belt. Then when fitting new timing belt, first tighten tensioner (with the use of an additional 1/2" breaker bar for leverage), then tighten the injection sprocket. No issue so far.

[Zedman]

I must admit evrey time I use a torque wrench (which is seldom, erm only once) I then normaly check afterwards by hand to see if it feels right.

Torque settings seem to be there so they can advise the man in the street what to tighten to )

[Zedman]

All going well so far, but the foot wells of the new Defender have some holes and I am weighing up the pros and cons of getting the welding done or buying a mig and doing it myself.

Again i need some advice, about 10 years ago I had a job as a sheet metal worker, with only Arc and gas welding experience I managed with the help of a friend to get myself a tryout, after the initial chit chat the obligitary session on a mig ensued, never having used one before you can imagine the initail results ended in wire all over the place but a few pointers and another go and all looked good, got the job

First task was to make myself a welding bench, I was in hog heaven, 8x4 1/4" plate for the top, 2" box for the frame and legs, yup they had a circular chop saw for the box, new boss was a little taken aback on the amount of steel I had used but the bench is probably still in service 15 years on.

3 years in the job, never once used anything but the workshop welders, I have very little knowledge of home welders

I still have a servicable Arc welder at home (Oxford oil cooled) that is very handy on heavy duty stuff but can anyone send recomendations for a home use mig for body work ie thin plate, also suggestions on gas types, can I get real gas in small off the shelf bottles as I dont intend to be using it full time just patch work on the Landy, but I like to buy quality gear that will last me.

In a nutshell a good single phase mig that I dont need a contract with BOC for bottles.

[Jabba]

I use a small Clarke 100EN Turbo nogas, with flux cored wire. That way I don't need to worry about gas bottles, or adjusting gas flow (one less thing to worry about). It seems to do OK, has 4 power settings and a dial for wire speed. I guess it's a bit low powered for anything heavy duty but if you have your arc welder for that...

I've had it for around 20 years and it's done a fair bit of work. Parts are still available from Clarke and fairly cheap.

I think the main thing is to get one that has good adjustability for power settings.

I'm not an expert, but seem to be able to get by. I'm sure others here have far more knowledge than me.

[Zedman]

Dave are you in today ? wouldnt mind borrowing the torque wrench just in case we need it tomorrow, cheers.

Tel 01423 547 205 if you are available )

[Zedman]

Today went fairly well.

New HD steering rods are fitted, thanks Dave W for the removel tip ( blow from the medium adjuster in the correct place worked a treat ), also one of the holes for the grease nipples wasnt threaded but it is now
And another tip, the split joint was siezed up and wouldnt unscrew from the ball joint to the steering arm so cutting disc on a dremel extended the split the full length of the threads with no effort, prised it apart with a screw drive and it was off )

New wheels and tyres are on, some of the nuts on the alloys were a bugger to get off, T bar with 2 12" extensions for leverage worked (I must get some scafolding pole). I will list the alloys, spacers and tyres in the want to get rid of section at some point but need to check them out first as I noticed side wall cuts in at least 2 tyres.

Dropped the winch bumper off for shot blasting (had a stab with blow lamp and wire brush and guestimated it would probably cost me more in gas than it would to pay someone to do it properly )

To do list (and I'm sure it will grow)
1. New rear discs and pads
2. New filler cap that locks
3. New set of door locks (seems they are only £9.50 for a full set)
4. Reposition the tow bar directly onto the bumper so it does not act as an anchor.
5. Buy a welder and patch up the footwells, this link seems okay, has anyone used them before ?
http://www.yrm-metal-solutions.co.uk/
6. The bucket seats are annoying me already so a trip to the scrappers to find new ones is planned, Landy Zone offer lots of options from MR2, Subaru to your more run of the mill seats at scrap yard prices.
7. 12v 48 LED strip ordered from china for interior lighting, 99p each so I ordered 2.
8. Hub nut spanner as I already had to adjust one loose bearing, hate to admit I used a hammer and screwdriver, would it be worth replacing all the wheel bearings so I never have to worry about them again ?
9. Full service oil, filters etc.
10. New wheel arches - Driving down to visit Rob tomorrow am )
11. Possibly a synthetic winch rope if I can get the winch working.
12. And if I get time would like to mount the spare internaly above one of the wheel arches along with the high lift jack, less pinchable, more visibility out of the back, and less strain on the back door.

[davew]

YRM are very good, all their parts seem to fit pretty well.

I have a pair of Range Rover front seats at the back of my shed, already fitted with adaptors so they will bolt straight onto a Defender seat box. They came out of Pam's 90 when I rebuilt it.

Not as good as standard seats IMV but an improvement on the bucket seats that are in yours at the moment.

[Rod]

You may as well change all the wheel bearing just to get the practise in, you will have to do it again at some point but lose the oil seal like Dave and Mathew preach so they are lubricated by the axle oil

[Zedman]

Thank you to Rod for the the Defender arches, very much appreciated.
and a big thank you to Kingson for spending most of his sunday changing my timing belt, I reckon I could probably manage it on my own now but I dont think i would have figured it out working from the Haynes manual.

I did find one strange thing on the ride over there, it wont change from 5th to fourth ???

Its okay from 3th to 4th, and if I keep the clutch in and go from 5th to 3rd then immediatly to fourth without letting the clucth out in between that works fine, any ideas please.

[tecnick]

R380 by any chance, my disco used to do exactly that, apparently you may also find it difficult 2nd to first. Land rovers eh, who'd have 'em

Cheers Nick

[TwoSheds]

Mine is an LT77 but exhibited similar problems (albeit not on fourth gear) and I got a HUGE improvement merely by putting the correct lubricant in there.

The stuff that came out wasn't straight hypoid, but definitely had that tang about the smell so I changed the fluid twice a couple of weeks apart just to make sure.. I didn't go for any of the fancy lubricants you can get - just plain old ATF.

Now I find that apart from having to be a little sedate on changes (ie it doesn't quite snick through like a Ford Bullet box) all changes work like they should.

Roger

[tecnick]

As we are all in the habit of thread sniping, my current motor is making a horrible whine, I assume from gear or transfer box, the noise has got louder over the last couple of months. It is definitely speed dependant not rev dependant as I can drop a gear and the note/volume doesn’t change. Just to add more mystery sometimes the whole lot is totally quiet for a few minutes but then the noise comes back.

Any ideas from description, gearbox, transfer box, diffs


Cheers Nick (sorry about thread snipe)

[Zedman]

Does pressing the clutch have any effect on the whining noise, possible clutch release bearing ?

And please feel free to snipe the thread, its all good technical knowledge that people can refer to later )

I rang Maddison 4x4 about my gear issue, they suggested it may be something as simple as the bias plate being worn or badly adjusted, so I'm now browsing the net for info on this before I start pulling bits off, failing that I got the following quote.
New gearbox £425
fitting 6.5 hours @ £38 an hour
up side is if it comes to that at least I can get a new clutch fitted at the same time for next to no labour charge.

Any tips on the bias plate part would be welcome, I will also give Mathew a call if it comes down to a new box )