Author Topic: Is there a place here for modified ex army Land Rovers?  (Read 94171 times)

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Re: Is there a place here for modified ex army Land Rovers?
« Reply #165 on: February 02, 2020, 01:56:25 PM »
Front lights are wired up and looking good.

Took the time to check the front hub oil levels.

L/h side was down about 250ml and the r/h side was down about 150ml.

I’m thinking that’s pretty reasonable since they haven’t been topped up since the rebuild, which was several years ago now.

Just got to wire the rear lights up, then load up the whipper snipper and go.

I noticed the lights appear tinted from afar, unsure why but I suppose it’s just the colours of the glass.

Not going to pull the back of the transfer case off to shim the output shaft today, simply not enough time.

That can wait.

Did curse after I refitted the front wheels and put the jack and stands away as it then dawned on me that I’d forgotten to fit the new brake drum screws.

Oh well, they’ll have to wait till I get another couple of spare hours.

Next major job on the list is to fit the l/h side fuel tank.

Anyway, enough waffling on, time to wire the rear lights and head home.

Pretty warm day, 34 degrees, thank goodness for the cooling vest.

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Re: Is there a place here for modified ex army Land Rovers?
« Reply #166 on: February 02, 2020, 09:39:58 PM »
The rear r/h indicator wires gave me grief and cost me about an hour.

After finally figuring out the problem, the darn indicator still wouldn’t work so I changed out the new globe and that did the trick.

Drove the 109 home in 35 odd degree heat, and found the heater is jammed on.

It’s in need of some fine tuning as horsepower wise, it’s not as quick as I remember it being.

It’s a truck of course, an old truck at that.

Certainly not as comfy as my SS sedan which is the vehicle I initially sold the 109 over, as I couldn’t justify having 2 cars at the time.

Anyway, it drove well enough, but needs a tweak to get the herbs back.

I’m happy with it.

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Re: Is there a place here for modified ex army Land Rovers?
« Reply #167 on: February 04, 2020, 06:06:45 AM »
In the coming days/weeks, I also hope to address the warped brush bar and buckled bumper bar, which all occurred when my brother parked the 109 in gear at his work car park, then proceeded to lean in after work and hit the starter without first checking the gear stick.

Apparently the engine caught instantly and away it went, defeating the hand brake and the cyclone fence ahead of it.

From what I was told, it wasn’t stopping and was simply climbing the fence, till he somehow managed to reach in and shut it down, and from the story he told me, that was quite a mission as he’s only short.

I know of a truck repair business which has a massive hydraulic press, and I might as them how much they’ll charge me to straighten the brush bar.

I think the bumper is beyond hope though, so might have to buy a new one of those and try to get it re-powder coated.

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Re: Is there a place here for modified ex army Land Rovers?
« Reply #168 on: February 04, 2020, 01:01:48 PM »
Loving reading all the work you've been doing for some time and look forward to hearing more! Would love to be as mechanically able as you clearly are. 

Moral from the last post... don't lend your Landy to family  ;D

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Re: Is there a place here for modified ex army Land Rovers?
« Reply #169 on: February 04, 2020, 01:34:45 PM »
Thanks for the encouragement.

I don’t think I’m a gifted mechanic, for that’s not really my area of expertise. I’m a Marine Seismic Navigator by profession, but I’ve done many varied jobs over the course of my life, whereas with cars etc, it’s just a hobby.

Ive built many cars, trucks, motorbikes etc through my life, and I used to enjoy it as it’s quite a distraction.

Anyone can do this stuff, it’s more about finding the motivation to apply to it.

My present occupation has me repairing vehicles and machines of all different types, not just in keeping them operational, but cleaning them up to enhance their value etc.

I’m never short of things to do, for every day sees me tackling a dozen different jobs.

I like the variety.

We don’t spend much on parts as I recondition everything myself and rarely need outside parts.

I just fix/remodel whatever it is that’s broken.

It’s gotta be pretty bad before I throw my hands up in defeat.

This morning I was greeted by a 6x4 heavy prime mover which I jazzed up last year and put back on the road, and today it decided it was going to freeze the starter motor and not play the game. Tricked it into starting and the problem disappeared.
I think the driver may have left it in gear and shut it down, locking out the ignition when the air pressure dropped below a certain value.
Pesky new age vehicles, they’re  electronic nightmares. Too many secondary circuits bussed into the primary circuits I think.

It’s not like the old days where one could overcome a problem in a very basic way, these days you need a degree in computer engineering just to turn the key.

Send him on his way, then did a bit of tidying up.

Now I’m rejuvenating a Manitou, specced up as a plaster board lifting machine.

I’ve already jazzed one of the 3x we have, and it’s down at the auction yard for sale, as will this one be in a couple more days.

I build trucks too, or rather, restore them and put them back into service.

It’s just a spin off from my hotrod and race car building days.

It’s a job.

I can’t return to oil and gas exploration, or interstate transport, so this suits my current circumstances, though I have to confess it tires me out.

It keeps me out of strife I suppose.



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Re: Is there a place here for modified ex army Land Rovers?
« Reply #170 on: February 04, 2020, 03:34:29 PM »
I did notice an anomaly with regards to the electric water pump and thermo fan controller in the 109 on Sunday.

It was 38 odd degrees outside and the digital controller threw a hissy fit in heavy traffic causing me to pull over and lift the bonnet to look at what was going on.

It appears to have launched into some kind of safe mode, throwing on both the electric water pump and thermo fan.

I noted the fuse was a bit hot too, while the engine operating temp was only at 90 degrees.

This leads me to suspect that the power feed to the water pump and thermo fan may be inadequate.

I’ll make up a jumper lead and run the power for those directly from the back of the battery isolator and see if that stops the problem.

It only did it the once but I’m paranoid about it causing the engine to boil so best I try to figure out at least a basic plan to bypass it.

Davies Craig gave me a new loom for it years ago as the problem was evident not long after I installed the system, and it certainly appeared to have been a loom related issue back then.

Roll forward to now and the incident of the system tripping into some kind of safe mode warrants further investigation.

The blind across the grille was fitted to allow the engine to get hot, as without it the engine runs too cool, but that was when I lived in Victoria. I might have to rethink it.

It’s still only reaching 90 degrees on a 38 degree day so I don’t think the blind wants removing.

I’ve got the digital controller set at about 90 I think, so all that appears normal, it’s just the incident where it trips into safe mode that has me scratching my head, along with trying to remember how I wired it up all those years ago.

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Re: Is there a place here for modified ex army Land Rovers?
« Reply #171 on: February 11, 2020, 07:44:50 PM »
I think I might have figured out why the 109 doesn’t go as well as I thought it should, and it’s not the 109’s fault, it’s mine.

I initially sold it because I wanted a modern sedan with the usual creature comforts like power steering and aircon etc, just a get in and go affair, easy to drive, quiet and comfortable.

The vehicle I ended up with wasn’t new, but was a 2002 VX SS Commodore, with the Gen 3 LS1 5.7 litre engine, Pacemaker extractors and twin system, along with the 6 speed manual. It had 91,000km on the clock and was a 1 owner from new.

That’s why the poor old 109 got flicked, and why I now feel it to be underpowered.

It’s not underpowered at all, it’s just that I’m accustomed to driving a healthy 350 Chev as my daily and am used to scooting around in that, so when I jump in the 109, of course it doesn’t pull that well, it’s only got a worked 202 in it.

Why I never realised this before is a mystery, must be getting old, but it just goes to show that you don’t have to have a long neck to be a goose.

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Re: Is there a place here for modified ex army Land Rovers?
« Reply #172 on: February 13, 2020, 08:34:56 AM »
The weather has been extraordinarily wet these last couple of weeks, such that it hasn’t been practical to drive or even work on the 109.

It still only has the single speed windscreen wiper motor, and it really does need the 2 speed motor for when it rains in Brisbane, it doesn’t muck about.

I do still have a couple of other pressing issues to address before being wholly confident in driving it, namely the excess movement in the transfer box output shaft, and I’m not altogether delighted with the steering.

The steering is precise with virtually no excess play, but it still feels a bit too stiff.

I know I’m spoiled by having power steering in my other car and maybe that’s all it is, but I wouldn’t mind checking out the steering relay just to see how freely that’s moving.

It’s a Land Rover series 3 of course, and you always have to be mindful of the poor turning radius, like start making your turn 3 streets back from the one you’re hoping to turn into.

That was another reason I fitted the Detroit Locker, truth be known.

I used to drive the 109 in occasional rallies undertaken by the collectable vehicle club I was once a member of, and they had a nasty habit of arranging to meet in small cafe type car parks, like McDonalds car parks etc, and the 109 isn’t designed to navigate those.

I mean, perish the thought of ever navigating through a Maccas drive through, it’s a nightmare, but luckily I wouldn’t eat that food even if I was starving.

To navigate those car parks in dry weather is a hassle, but in the wet they’re easy, just load it up and pop the clutch and powerslide your way around, easy.

Nobody expects a big old ex army series to powerslide/drift very well and yeah, they’re not really suited to it but you can drift them in a pinch if you’re careful.

Well the rain has just stopped so I better get cracking to do my job, at least until the next downpour.
« Last Edit: February 13, 2020, 08:50:09 AM by navigation »

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Re: Is there a place here for modified ex army Land Rovers?
« Reply #173 on: February 15, 2020, 12:58:36 PM »
I took the 109 for a quick spin to the nearby pistol club yesterday and aside from the chirping tyres it went well.

The day before, I was tasked to look at a senior gentleman’s ride on mower, which has reportedly never performed properly since the day he got it, and has never once fired up under its own steam by turning the key.

It had been stored away in a shed for ages, all the tyres were dead flat and it was covered in a thick layer of dust.

Apparently it was simply rooted and showed no signs of life, turn the key and.... not even a tick.

It’s been a long time since I worked on a ride on, so I went in blind and presumed it had a bad battery, thus I approached it with jumper leads and a truck battery in the hope of jump starting it.

I ran the multi tester  probes across the terminals and hmmm, it was reading 12 volts.

Tried the key, nothing.

I placed my hand atop the flywheel cover and tried to turn it over and it turned over freely, so it wasn’t seized.

Oil looked clean, got me buggered, so try jump starting it...nothing, totally dead.

Hmmm, something wasn’t right and my brain was screaming at me that I’d seen this problem before.

I then sat on the seat, thinking the pressure switch might still be functioning and still nothing happened.

Then I saw it, the bloody hand brake wasn’t engaged. I quickly pressed in the brake and reset the little lever and hit the key and...tick. It wouldn’t crank but at least it showed signs of life.

I dragged it out of the shed and force started it by hand winding it up to top dead centre and then hitting the starter and away she went, then idled it around the yard and up to the workshop by putting it in a low gear and walking along beside it. I would have rode it but the tyres were dead flat and so old that I reckon they’d have fallen apart, so care had to be taken.

First things first, inflate the tyres and then take it for a mush...

I did a couple of laps on it and it was performing perfectly and just then the employer’s nephew arrived and was scratching his head over how the supposedly stuffed mower was now working again and he asked me if it was any good as it looked like crap and they’d already decided to sell it and buy the old fellow a new one.

I reversed up to him and said “watch this”, popped it into 5th gear, applied full throttle and popped the clutch.

It launched alright, lifting both front wheels about 10 inches off the ground, and away she went, flying down the driveway at full speed.

I held it flat in top gear and went up and down the long driveway for about 10 minutes and it never missed a beat.

Then shut it down and left it to cool, before giving it a clean and hucked a bit of polish on it before calling it a day.

Overnight I pondered the lack of cranking power and reckoned it was probably a bad earth or connection somewhere, so upon arrival to work yesterday, I set about removing the battery and battery cables. Yep, that’s how pathetic my life has become, I actually think about work matters in my own time.

Attacked it the next day by attaching the fancy new, you beaut, battery charger to it and hmm, after only 1 hour it reported the battery as being good and was fully charged, which of course was partially supported by the multi tester reading the day before, so yeah, lets look for a loss via the battery cables.

Noticed red electrical tape on the positive cable, meaning somebody’s been here before, and meaning they’ve probably been on the same quest as I was now on, yet they’d obviously failed to find the problem and flicked the mower instead.

The positive cable was sound, all the way up to the starter motor, but the moment I tried to undo the nut holding the power cable to the starter, it spun...hmmm

Pull the starter and remove the bottom plate, below the carbon brushes and bingo, I found the lug which spun wasn’t connected to the internal wires, but they were just sitting against the lug under their own weight.

That was the crux of the cranking problem right there I reckoned, and I was going to strip the starter down and solder the wires to the lug when the boss said no, he’s got a mate who does his alternators for him who is set up to do this type of repair, so I happily handed over the starter and off marched his nephew to get it repaired.

Better him than me I thought, I mean, I could have done it, in spades, and quickly but no, their mate was given the task, so that I could do more pressing repairs on other vehicles, fair enough.

So when the bosses nephew returned from delivering the bodgy starter to the repairer, I kidnapped him and we both knocked off work and snuck off to the pistol club in the 109, and that was that, the mower didn’t get finished.

I strongly urged them not to flick his mower as all it really needs is a bit of love.

We sent them images of how it came up once cleaned and they’re suspicious, thinking we sent them images of a different mower entirely, just to do their heads in.


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Re: Is there a place here for modified ex army Land Rovers?
« Reply #174 on: February 16, 2020, 12:13:43 AM »
Another ex army vehicle in the family.

My older brother also has an ex army vehicle.

He’s had it for many years and it’s finally nearing completion, or so I believe.

It’s certainly not standard and would have to be regarded as totally modified.

It was picked apart at the seems and refinished by hand, chopped and channelled and the body has been raked over the hand fabricated chassis. The idea of raking the body over the chassis is a trick he’s applied in order to give the car a lowered at the front stance, but retain full travel suspension.

The number of hours he’s put into this vehicle aren’t measurable, as it’s been an ongoing project for perhaps 25 years.

It’s all steel, heated and shrunk to massaged to insane tolerances.

I was told that the amount of body filler that will be required to rectify minor issues wouldn’t be more than a small handful. That’s mostly on the underside of the body I think.

The outer panels are crazy straight.

It’s been bare metal for about 20 years now and the paint when done, will be a purple called “plum crazy” I think.

Engine is a mild 350 Chev, Turbo 350 and 9 inch diff. Fuel is dedicated LPG.

Not sure if he’s air bagging it but it was on his list of things to do.

Those flames are embossed in the steel.

I believe it to be ex army as it’s a 1939 Ford Coupe Ute, and the army scooped those all up due to the war I think.

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Re: Is there a place here for modified ex army Land Rovers?
« Reply #175 on: February 16, 2020, 12:22:33 AM »
My younger brother also has a hobby car, and while it’s green, it’s not ex army.

It’s a 1951 Mercury Sports Sedan.

All original, even has the original paint job.

It’s a very nice car for its age, drives well too.

The flathead V8 still goes like a scolded cat too.

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Re: Is there a place here for modified ex army Land Rovers?
« Reply #176 on: February 16, 2020, 12:29:37 AM »
We got our car hobby traits from mum.

Our mother has always had high performance cars.

This was her last car, which was only sold recently.

It’s a 1979 Corvette, 350 Chev with Turbo 400.

It had less than 80,000 miles on the clock when sold.

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Re: Is there a place here for modified ex army Land Rovers?
« Reply #177 on: February 17, 2020, 12:50:13 PM »
I’ve removed the brush bar in order to have it straightened in a press.

The bumper bar is warped in too many places for me to feel confident in it ever being straight again, so I’ll look at getting a new one somewhere down the track.

The paint is coming up slowly but will need some serious elbow grease applied.

I’m being heavily persuaded to leave the brush bar off for good but I really like having it on there.
« Last Edit: February 18, 2020, 05:05:13 PM by navigation »

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Re: Is there a place here for modified ex army Land Rovers?
« Reply #178 on: February 17, 2020, 01:35:44 PM »
Bye bye stone guard.

I’m going to try driving without that for a while.

The spare wheel can stay off the bonnet for a while too.
« Last Edit: February 18, 2020, 05:05:48 PM by navigation »

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Re: Is there a place here for modified ex army Land Rovers?
« Reply #179 on: February 17, 2020, 08:29:49 PM »
Finally, the 109 is again being used as my daily driver.

I’ve got to get used to driving it of course, but so far so good.

I decided that today was going to be the day but first I had to sort out a temporary speedometer as I still haven’t gotten the Jaguar speedo and tacho reworked to suit this vehicle, so I was looking for a temporary gps speedo to get by on when a mate offered to loan me one until I could source one.

Simple solution was to buy the exact same one as he was loaning to me and just give him mine when it arrives.

I’m very familiar with gps and was astounded to read in the literature that this device will display erroneous readings at times and I thank the manufacturer for being so honest. I’m over gps equipment providers lying about basic facts. It’s refreshing to find one, and just a basic and really cheap one, that speaks the truth.

Sure glad I fitted it as I found myself clipping along a bit quicker than I should have been on several occasions, so yeah, I’ve got to adjust to driving it again.

It cruises really well at 110kph.

I think I might source a standard diff though.

I also might have to get fair dinkum and tune it up, along with the refit of the Crane Cams Hi6 ignition system etc, and the 34 ADM Webber could probably use a kit through it if it’s going to be punting me back and forth to work.

The weather will be a factor too, if it’s too hot or looks like crazy rain, I’ll take the SS.

Tomorrow I’ll be swinging past a truck rebuilders yard to enquire about straightening the brush bar.

Oh yeah, after grabbing the gps speedo I helped my mate out by pulling 2 trees out of the ground in his front yard. They looked pretty big but came out really easy with just a few light tugs.

Didn’t wheelspin on his lawn either, so all good.

I still can’t get over the number of people who check out the 109, and wave etc.
« Last Edit: February 18, 2020, 05:09:59 PM by navigation »