Is there a place here for modified ex army Land Rovers?

[bobslandies]

I have no idea what the unit is in the top radiator hose, as it has a rad/cap on the radiator???maybe another fill point??, the box arrangement "Dr Who" is the std heater box as fitted to all S3, cheers Dennis

Hi,

It's a TEFBA in-line radiator water filter - has a stainless steel gauze in the chamber below the screw off cap, see here:

http://www.tefba.com/

Bob

[pop058]

The bit in the top hose is an inline filter. There are arguments for and against.


http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/BILLET-RADIATOR-FILTER-FILLER-for-TOP-RADIATOR-HOSE-BLACK-EASY-TO-CLEAN-1-5-/150906220802?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item2322b63102

[navigation]

Yes, it's an inline coolant filter by TEFBA. I run 100% coolant.

It works well for me as I also run an electric water pump with digital engine temp control/thermo fan controller. (Davies Craig)

The "Dr Who" box is the standard heater matrix, rebuilt of course, and is yet to be ducted to the bilge blower fan I'm using to force feed it with.

I also rebuilt the heater plenum in the dash (aside from the rest of the vehicle) and have no problem with getting heat from the heater now, whereas before, the heater was perfectly useless, so much so that a cheeky mate suggested I jam a dried gumleaf into the fan so the noise would at least make the heater sound functional, and he also reasoned that the friction of the fan rubbing on the leaf would perhaps throw off more heat than the heater was producing...

[navigation]

The air cleaner is the located where the battery normally goes.

I relocated the dry cell battery to behind the drivers side fuel tank, kind of like where the FFR vehicles have them, except mine has no access door. I access it from underneath, or lean in through the rear wheel arch.

I lowered the old battery stand and now use it to hold the air cleaner assembly.

The air cleaner assembly is ex Jaguar, modified at the intake side to include a cut down fuel filler section in place of the Jaguar trumpet. This allows me to duct the air cleaner to a brake cooling duct/air intake vent(NASCAR) located behind the grille. You cannot see the air intake unless you look really hard for it.

I run a blind over the radiator now as even when I have the engine temp dialed in at it's highest setting, the engine still runs too cold at highway speeds, thus the blind allows the engine to run warmer. Clearly the engine cooling system is quite efficient.

Even on the hottest days I have no overheating issues and even with the blind in place at highway speeds, it seems to sit where the digital controller says it's sitting, and there's only a couple degrees discrepancy.

That black plastic pipe running from the air cleaner, up and over to the carby, is from a Holden Commodore. The snakes head shaped black rubber 90 degree elbow atop the carby is a high velocity item from a large tractor (believe it or not) and the flared aluminium item beneath it was cast by a mate to my specs.

The carby is a blueprinted 34 ADM Weber.(mechanical secondary)

[navigation]

The air intake.

[navigation]

As you can see, the air intake is not noticeable once the grille is in place.

[navigation]

The blind in place, with a section cut out for the air intake.

[navigation]

I added these badges just for a giggle, thinking nobody would notice or pay much attention, but I've since been surprised to find that many people do read what's on a badge and it seems to encourage them to have a laugh and say hello.

[navigation]

Heater fan, still yet to be ducted to the matrix, but when that's been done it will most assuredly do the trick.

[navigation]

I found the standard wiring loom to be an ongoing nightmare so I removed it entirely and installed a 20x circuit hotrod loom.

I also applied sound deadener/heat shield to both sides of the firewall, both sides of the floor plates, seat box, and anywhere else that I felt could use some deadening. Nice and quiet in there now, and cooler too, much cooler.

[master chief]

I have to Disagree Diana,

Military brushbar, tool holders, heli lift points, not to mention military chassis. all hinting at military heritage!.

Regards
Justin.

[Carzee]

Well, I am also impressed with navigations ex-mil. I think the mods on display here are of a very high grade mechanically, an expert level. Cost was also high, thats evident.

I think the other end of the scale, ie., modifications to make a unreg paddock buggy or fishing troopy (how many unfortunate ex-mil Landies have 'retired' by the seaside? so sad.), wouldn't be of much value here, but a section to discuss and tweak some mods would be beneficial. I can even envy those things. Who knows, we may all be have to go over to diesel one day.

quote "...I've gone to quite some lengths to retain the SIII profile/shape" indicates to me that navigator has a deep down affliction for the heritage and history like the rest of us. This example could easily comeback to join the green one day, who knows?
A separate section or just all in? ... does it matter too much? [digs out speech on youtube] MLK: "I have a dream..." LOL

[navigation]

Thanks for the support fellas, I appreciate it.

Yes, I did go to great lengths to retain the standard shape of the SIII 109 GS, and while it could be repainted back to green, as per how it spent most of its life, the mission to repaint it back would require a total rebuild as it's not just painted outside, it's a full body off, inside and out respray.

I'm not looking to do another total rebuild on it, mainly as the wife greatly dislikes the olive and camo... 

Had I left it green and not powder-coated the brush bar, tool holders and myriad other things, it would still look like an ex army 109 GS, it's really just the blue and white which mask what it actually is.

Stuffing a sensibly worked 202 in there, with 5 speed overdriven gearbox, high speed transfer box and high speed diffs, makes this one very quick vehicle, totally different to the way many other ex army vehicles perform.

I cruise around in this, no need to thrash the daylights out of it to get anywhere, and I normally drop it into overdrive as I hit 100 kph. It will happily sit at well over 100 in 4th, maybe even go to 130-140...but I don't see the point, so I just use the 100 kph point as my shiftpoint into top.

Just because it's geared high doesn't mean it's sluggish down low either, in fact I had to fit a Detroit Locker to the rear diff as wheelspin was an issue in 1st and second.

I've never heard of anyone fitting a Nissan 5 speed to a high speed transfer, along with high speed diffs, and to be honest, many people suggested it wasn't do-able or practical.

I STRONGLY urge anyone considering similar mods, to follow this route and reap the benefits. It pulls like a V8, and hills almost don't exist.

Fuel consumption?

When it was running Land Rover box and high speed transfer and high speed diffs, it delivered 230 klm for 45 litres, religiously. Now? Not saying! But it's certainly over 300 klm for the same ltrs.

It's not finished yet either, for I burned myself out on the rebuild this last time around and as such I've yet to finish it all off.

There is only a HEI ignition in place, the HI6 CDI is still to be refitted, along with the water/methanol injection, then I might tune it, as I haven't even been bothered to tune it yet since rebuilding the engine, just threw it in and went, and never looked back basically.

[master chief]

No worries Diana, We'll agree to disagree!. 

Nav, Well done for keeping it on the road.


Regards
Justin

[Polizei]

Navigation, my first car was a SWB series 3 with a holden 202 and nissan truck gearbox. Sounds similar to your setup. This was a great little car. We also put range rover diff centres to improve the cruise speed. It would easily cruise at 120km/h. It had wide tyres also but even then it would still spin on the bitumen (even in 2nd) without much effort. Broke a couple of axles  .

Unfortunately my photos of it are pre-digital era. I ended up selling it back to the guy I bought it from too!

I think there is a lot to be said for simple discrete mods which enhance a vehicle's usability. That being said I am trying to keep my ex mil 109 GS completely original. If you kept the original gearbox and engine then you cant potentially have these bits with the car when you sell it.