The Landblogger

10,000 cheap miles

After the Range Rover V8 hobbling along on 6 cylinders, and spewing partially unburnt hydrocarbons back into the environment, I'm feeling quite assuaged about the emissions of this diesel. Rather than 12-14 MPG the truck now gets 30-32 MPG (Imperial) and is very drivable. I've been able to use 50% biodiesel for about half my fuel over the past year and hope to increase that as time goes by.

I've taken the truck off the road for a couple of weeks to do a couple of repairs. Primarily, a coolant leak started whenever the pressure was over about 5 pounds, and as usual these leaks never fix themselves. This one turned out to be in about the worst spot possible — between the engine block and the timing cover. This means that the entire front engine has to come apart to fix it. Just my luck. It appears a thin paper gasket failed. It's getting a heavier layer of the Right Stuff this time round. While its apart, I'm going to address a power steering leak by replacing the steering box with a better used one I have from a 1997 Discovery, and I'll likely replace the head gasket as well. Currently it has a 3-notch head gasket, because that was what I had on hand, but its in spec for a two-notch (thinner) gasket which will increase the compression slightly and perhaps the power. The gasket I had on hand at the time of the rebuild was also an off-brand and has seeped a bit over the last year, so hopefully this L-ring brand name gasket will stop that seepage. Last step of this repair job is to fix a small hole on the oil pan, since its off anyway. It isn't leaking, due to some black gunk patching material, but this is as good a time as any to make it right.

Other things I did to the truck over the past year... new springs and shocks all round, 2" lift. New Discovery aluminum wheels. New alternator and starter motor. Madman gauge. TurboSmart boost adjuster.

This is a fun truck to drive so I can't wait to roll it out of the shop again and be on my way.

Range Rover Engine conversion step 1

Well, step 1 really happened over the past 60 days as I busily prepared the shop for the install. It is now freshly sided on the outside with galvalum, thanks Andrew! And the inside has been insulated on all walls and the ceiling and OSB nailed up all round. Also I purchased a 15000 BTU construction heater. Makes a huge difference to working temp which is now around 8°C while outdoors its well below 0°.

As far as the truck itself goes, I pulled it in last week and let it thaw out for a few days. This morning I removed the bonnet, all connections to the V8 from above and the lower transmission crossmember, then the exhaust Y pipe. I've come to a halt at the moment as I have to go into town and get a 3/8 CV adapter, since the two I had were donated to the cause of the CDL shifter on my Disco II. So far, its been fairly easy, although rather filthy.

I took about 20 minutes to do comparisons of each of the engines and their wiring. I've decided to keep the air conditioning even though the fan in the cab needs a bit of work. It does work and a bracket to adapt it to the new engine should be relatively easy. Don't know how yet, but I'd like to keep the cruise control too. Time will tell... I've marked all the wires on the engine as it is going to be rebuilt and perhaps see a new life in an off-road buggy of some kind — or maybe my 80", although thats not likely.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll be looking at an empty engine bay and can then get going on part 2, removal of the transmission.

McGiver Welding

I don't know where I first heard about this, but a few months ago it was brought to my attention when browsing through a South African off-road website.Welding McGiver style using 12 volt car batteries. Numerous other off-road sites can be found with descriptions of it as well.

Well, I just had to try it. And even before trying it myself, I volunteered to demo how its done at the VanIsle Rally on June 11. Me and my big mouth. So, over the past week, between long hours of work, I've collected and prepared the equipment, and this evening I did the testing. I'm really excited about the results. This is a great emergency repair tool and I plan on carrying the kit with me on long trips from now on.

List of equipment:

2 12 volt starter batteries, fully charged. Not Deep Cycle.
4 Lead Battery Clamps
20-30 feet of heavy cable, either from a good quality jumper cable set, or used welding cable, which can be found easily at a flea market, auto jumble, or my shed...
2 Clamps, one end can be a standard jumper cable clamp, but the other end you are best to purchase an actual electrode holding clamp, about $16 or find a used one.
Welding Mask or goggles, full hood not required, as this is only for short term emergency use.
Welding Rods, 2.5 mm general purpose, or "dirty metal", farm use rods will work fine. I used #6011 rods.
Gloves
Fire Extinguisher
Resistor Wire, a foot or two of 8 to 10 guage galvanized fence wire will do fine.

I started out by gathering this all together. In the shop at our place, there were numerous old discarded welding cables from the previous owner, so I used 2 15 foot lengths, and a couple of used ends that were laying around. Also, I was able to find an old hood. I had to go out and buy the welding rods - $10.95 for about 25 of them, a new piece of dark glass for the hood, and I found about a foot of 8 gauge wire, which the hardware store threw in for free.
I assembled 3 well charged batteries on the driveway, about 20 feet from the house in case of explosion or fire. Two of these came right out of my Land Rover, and one was recovered from a vehicle that had went to the wrecking yard recently. [As an aside, never store an unused battery on the ground or concrete. It will have the life drawn right out of it, never to recover. This has something to do with the conductive qualities of battery acid, and the fact that there is a light grime layer of acid adhered to the case of most batteries. This acts as a short to ground and will draw the charge right out. Don't ask me how I know this. Always put a battery to be stored on a piece of wood, instead.] The three batteries were each 625 cold cranking amps. So by linking them together in series -- positive to negative -- the maximum potential amperage would be 1875 amps. Wow, that's pretty heavy duty welding, since 120 to 150 amps is more typical of what's needed for day to day AC welding. I figured I'd have something a bit more like a plasma cutter than a welder.
One of the sites suggested putting a resistor into the curcuit, which reduces the amperage, but, of course creates heat. Remember, you'll be using this for emergencies so you want everything to be really simple. I used 8 gauge galvanized fence wire for this purpose, putting a small U on the end and then attaching a battery clamp on each end. This goes between two of the batteries and you should be very careful that no part of the wire itself touches or comes close to the plastic battery cases, as it can get quite hot.
Trial number 1, 3 batteries. I clamped a 2" by 6" piece of 12 guage flat iron into the ground clamp and figured I'd try to create a bead on its surface just to get the feel for it. Well, in seconds I was digging holes -- I had a cutter on my hands. It cut through 2 inches like butter. Checked the clamps on the batteries, nothing even warm. Checked the resistor wire, it was warm, but could still be touched with bare hands.
Trial number 2, remove 1 battery, keep resistor wire in the circuit. Again I tried to create a bead. This time, it was successful and I was able to run an inch of weld quite easily across the metal surface. The most noticeable difference between regular welding and this was the lack of power behind the current -- lots of zap, but everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. The circlular motion of creating the bead also had to be slowed down. I can still touch the resistor, not too warm.
Trial number 3, still with 2 batteries and the resistor in place. This time I planned on welding together two pieces of 1" square tube, 1/8" wall. I think this would be typical of the work it would take to re-attach a broken spring hanger or other trail carnage. I stopped a couple of times for a few seconds to check the resistor wire. It got hot, but not untouchable. 4 inches of welding later, I have a fairly flat bead, but with deep penetration. There seems to be a fair bit of spatter, compared to the mig welding I normally do, but this may just be a characteristic of this particular rod.
Trial number 4. This time I changed the resitor wire back to a normal thick battery cable. Even with two batteries rather than 3 I had a cutter again. Actually it was quite controllable, so in my kit I'm keeping both the resistor wire and the standard cable.

A few things to note:
--Always make sure all your connections are well tightened on the batteries before you start. Loose connections can result in arcing at the battery terminals, not only causing danger of fire or explosion, but the current going through is very high and the heat generated will melt the head off a battery terminal in no time. As long as all terminals are tight, there is no heat created at the batteries.
--Work about an inch or two at a time and let everything cool off before continuing. Each inch takes about 15-20 seconds which is similar in draw to cranking your starter.
--Always use starter batteries and not deep cycle batteries. The deep cycle ones are not made to take deep amperage draws like that needed for welding.

A small canvas sack to throw your cables in and you have a portable emergency welding kit. Don't forget to use gloves and keep a fire extinguisher close by!

Framed

This is the first of several musings about frames and chassis on my truck. If nothing else, it might help me put things into perspective while trying to figure out what's the best way to go for this big looming repair.
When I bought the truck, now 7 years ago, the rear crossmember was rotten to pieces. Within a month or so of buying it I had a new repair crossmember with the usual frame horns and took it in for welding. For $300 the welder did a half-ass job, but it was pretty solid – just didn't look very nice. And its lasted, except for now the two front bulkhead outriggers are totally shot, and the two crossmembers under the engine and transmission look like swiss cheese. All of this is generally repairable, however, looking in at the left side outrigger, you can also see a fist sized hole in the main frame rail itself. I think its time the frame gets some attention.
Now, like most Rover nuts, I have a list of prospective repairs and customizations, some of which are more important than others. Up until now, the frame has been pretty-much out of site, out of mind. All the smaller things on the list are now done, and three big items remain: overdrive, diesel powerplant (preferably turbo), and new frame.
So several options present themselves...
1. Buy a new galvanized 88" frame from one of the local importers, which appeals only from its shiny cleanness, but really would empty my wallet. I haven't asked for a specific quote, but I'd be surprised if it cost me less than $3000 just for the frame, as of course i'd do the fitting myself. My Scottish heritage forces me to look at alternatives to this route. I'm too cheap!
2. Buy a used or refurbished 88" frame. I've only come across one of these and I'm going to take a look this week. Might be worthwhile and likely about a third of the value of a new galvanized unit.
3. Buy a used or refurbished 109" frame. there seems to be more 109" frames floating around, including a used galvanized one up at Martyns. This is a wee bit appealing, if I could get a good deal on a decent rear tub as then I'd have the larger storage space of the 109. On the down side is I'd have to redo my canvas top, and I may also find the overhang gets in the way in the bush.
4. None of these options, however, furthers the causes of diesel power or an overdrive, so the idea of perhaps finding a wrecked defender 90 piques my interest as well. There are a number of reasons why this could be a less than perfect solution, not the least of which is the fact that the rear tub is 4" longer on the 90, so there could be alot of fiddling to fit everything correctly. However it's an option worth considering because the wreck I'm looking at not only has a healthy frame, but also has both a 2.5 diesel and a 5 speed gearbox, and all for a fair bit less than buying each item separately. Can't tell you the exact price because I haven't made a deal yet.
I'm going to look at the refurbished 88" frame this week, and chew on the whole thing a bit more before deciding which is the best way to go. But its definitely one of those decisions that has advantages and disadvantages no matter what choice I make.
If money was no object I'd buy Aart's 88" coiler galvanized frame, and a 300Tdi, and matching 5 speed, and a Roverdrive to boot. But money is an object as at this time I can still likely recoup my investment – but not my labour – if I was to sell it. Throwing a ton of money at it to do all those improvements isn't likely to pay for itself.
Oh, I'm getting a headache!

Fix it again

Don't you just love it when you fix something and it turns out to cause another problem? Well, after last weekend's exploration for the Trials event, I took the truck in to the muffler shop, because things had rattled loose going over all the washboard. For $25 it was quiet again, but now there's a new rattle underneath – sounds like a bracket is now hitting the frame. But it won't do it while standing still and idling, just when running down the road.
Chasing rattles is endless. There's also a new creak in the top left area of the roof hoops. Of course it won't do it while standing still, either, or when being rocked back and forth. Only when I'm driving down the road!
Well, I fixed the drivers side door latch, which had also rattled loose during the same run. It still was working, but wiggled about a quarter inch up and down when you went to pull it open. So, for the sake of preventitive maintenance I figured I should take it apart, grease it up and tighten all the little screws.
That job done, the door now pops onto the safety latch unless I slam the daylights out of it. Three times adjusted, it still requires something of a slam to stay latched.
Maybe I'll take another kick at it tomorrow, but sometimes I just wonder whether its just playing games with me.

Spider Gears

A photo of the broken gears is worth a thousand words.

Those pesky leaks

The other day hammering away at the left rear frame bushing, several shovels worth of dirt from all over the province fell down on and around me. The only major benefit of the big mess is the dirt nicely soaks up the oil on my garage floor.
I've been chasing oil leaks for some time now. Once one is fixed, there always seems to be another. One would think the system is pressurized so you fix one spot and it pops out another, however I fixed the front diff and then it started leaking out of the back diff. Fixed that, then the engine started leaking. I've come to the conclusion that the only way you can tell if your Land Rover still has any life in it is if its bleeding regularly.
So tonight I chased down an additional engine leak — the distributor seal — and did the rather simple job of replacing it. Not holding out much hope of any less stains on the drive though.

Alternator

Since installing the 2nd battery I've been hearing a whine at 2-3000 rpm, which sounded like it was coming from the alternator. Similar to the whine of a low power steering pump. I took it in to the local rebuild shops. They said it was the Stator, which is a common occurrence when 2 batteries are installed. They checked the charging system and proclaimed it was in fine fiddle, so now I just have another new sound to put up with...

Exhaust

Fixed broken rear muffler clamp. The rubber had torn through. No big deal. $18.99