The 110.

Well ok then I will Prepared to be bombarded with houseworky DIY disaster stuff!

Bits & Bundles.
The 110 Posted by Nicky Smith Sun, April 24, 2016 16:37:57
To say I have a little bit on at the moment is an understatement so as I sat on top of the car port yesterday in the morning sunshine happily picking a couple of decades of mud out of the guttering the last thing I was expecting was a phone call from my eldest daughter especially as she was at work.
Now I get called for one of two things. Either she wants something or her scooter has broken down. This time it was the latter and it went something like this...

"Dad"
"yep that's me"
"Umm there's lots of petrol coming out of the bottom of my bike"
"Well you best put something under it to catch it then"
"I HAVE Dad but it's leaking and it needs fixing"
"Call the RAC then. they will do it"
"I can't do that Dad"
"Why not?" I asked "I told you to get cover when you got the bike"
"Well it was an extra £20 and I didn't want to spend that, and I thought "Well I have a Dad" so no need to"
As I took a deep breath to calm myself a touch I knew what was coming next so to pre-empt it I said "I am on top of a roof fixing the house we are moving into in a few days so I can't drop everything and come over to fix it"
"Dad I am at work and they want the bike recovering home asap as it smells really bad of petrol"
"And you expect me to do what? Chuck it in the back of my car so it can leak petrol all over it?"
"But I don't know how I am going to get it home Dad"

Now I am a Dad and yes this sort of thing comes with the territory but not at the drop of a hat I am afraid so she had orders to drain the fuel off so I could collect it later in the day. She promised this would be done but after I man handled the bloody thing into the Discovery and drove for a few minutes there was a rather alarming running fuel onto the boot of the car sort of sound so a quick stop to stick another container under it to catch the flow before heading home in quick time.
Turned out to be a quick and easy fix once the panels were stripped off just the fuel line severed by some road debris but after yet a another chat with my daughter about getting breakdown cover after I had fixed it she seems to think I am on standby to do this for free for her.
Wrong I am afraid as lessons need too be learnt here, I am happy to fix the bugger for her to save on bills etc but I am not going to be collecting it for her at the drop of a hat! Maybe a big fat recovery bill would open her eyes? Time will tell!

So I finally got around too emptying all of the sheds and I was surprised at how many Land Rover bits I found in the deepest darkest corners! I was a bit miffed to find a full Land Rover supplied steering arm and track rod ends that I had bought for the 110 "just in case" then went off and bought another set when I needed to replace them!
There were diff, shafts, panels, service kits, hinge set to name but a few things! These are now just stacked up in one place and will be set out in the new shed so I can see exactly what I have got.
I fired up the 110 as it needed moving and it works perfectly well on the off road course that is my new front garden driving up and down the large piles of mud left behind by the last owners after a half hearted attempt to turn it into a proper driveway. It's now parked up in such a way so we can get the caravan on there as well when the times comes.

I have broken the back of the painting in the new house and I am at the "If I never see another paint brush ever again" stage with it all but it will be superb when it is all sorted.
New door tops have been sourced so all I need now is a set of series style door lock/latches and the new doors can be fitted! I am getting there slowly but surely.

You miserable auld bu@@er. Don't you know it is a privilege to be at the beck and call of your little darlings. It's in the job description, page 10, paragraph 4, part 2b "A father shall at all times be available to run to the rescue of his mechanically inept offspring and his/her partner"
Didn't you read the contract before gettin your pecker out? It's part of your punishment for causing them in the first place.


















You didn't expect sympathy here did ya.

LMAO Sympathy?...nope It was such a long contract I got bored and didn't read the small print!

Nearly In...
The 110Posted by Nicky Smith Fri, April 29, 2016 19:53:21
Today I booked myself a nice holiday day off of work because you know I just deserve it. The plan was to just do as I damned well pleased just plodding along playing with Land Rovers until I had had my fill. Once that was done I was going to have a big fat steak cooked medium rare served with boiled and buttered Jersey New potatoes along with a nice side salad. The beer was to be cold served in a tall glass that glistened with minute water droplets on it's outside...what a day it was to be!

So what really happened with my "Holiday" was collecting the Luton Van first thing then loading it to the hit to run over to the new house. After dumping that lot we returned to the rental house to load up my eldest daughters belongings into the van and move her to her new home. I cannot believe how much stuff that kid had managed to pack into a small room and her bloody bed fought me for over an hour to actually come apart before it could be removed from the house!

Once that lot was delivered it was home again to the old house to load up everything out of the back garden and then run that to the new home. I swear to god I will never be moving again after this one.

I did get a chance to actually look at the 110 for a brief time and the parts that I have in the garage ready to fit and I will get around to a bit of selfish Landy time because I want it on the road by my Birthday at the start of October ready for tackling the winter head on.

I have been a little quiet of late due to making the house fit for living in but I will be quiet just a little longer as we lose the internet tomorrow for a week or so but normal service will be then resumed whether you all like it or not!

Ah, but we like, so you carry on !!

Good luck with it all

My back is arguing with me about finishing the move at all lol but hey ho it must be done!
Normal drivel service will be returned shortly!

We still haven't seen too many pictures of the new house. I want to see painting, plumbing and putting shelves up.

Well Good Morning World!!
The internet has finally been connected so I am back online! There will be more pictures and updates later today so prepare to be bombarded!
First up though I have a bit of an "I want" if you would indulge me...

"Ok then folks my brother and Dad are running the Edinburgh Marathon for a couple of reasons...
The first is that they are quite quite mad but the second makes a bit more sense. My Uncle Dale Pritchard has been diagnosed with terminal cancer (type his name into facebook or click on the link further down to read his rather frank and funny blog about it) so they are sending all the money raised to Macmillan cancer.
The target is £1000 so dig deep folks and lets get them there!"

Obviously any amount donated will take them a little bit closer so if I have made you smile or laugh over our time together please chuck them a pound or two


Davy Lewis
3 May at 11:30 · Dublin, Ireland
A little while ago, a month or so, I was informed that my Uncle Dale had been diagnosed with incurable cancer.

This is obviously the kind of news that everyone dreads to receive. There's no easy way of delivering or receiving news like this.

My Aunt Melaine, Dale's mother Joyce (my nan), his daughters Cara, Stephanie and Georgia (my cousins), his siblings Joy, Martin and Sandra (my mother) have all had their world turned upside down.

Dale being Dale, has been extremely strong and accepting of this bombshell and is somehow maintaining his supportive nature for his entire family.

Dale has started a blog. This is updated every day and is an inspirational insight on what it's like dealing with terminal cancer. He hopes that it might possibly help anyone also trying to deal with this destructive disease, as well as putting an humorous edge on it. You can read it here......
https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1396412042

My Dad and I signed up to run the Edinburgh Marathon at Xmas. At the time I thought of a few charities to raise money for. Now, it seems obvious that we should run to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support. It's a fantastic charity that provides support and information for not only the diagnosed but loved ones too.

Donating money to charity can seem risky, sometimes you don't know if the money is going where it needs to. But with the following link below, the money goes directly to Macmillan and is completely safe and secure in regards to credit card payments.

Will you please donate what you can afford to this worthy cause?

We were going to attempt the marathon and have a nice weekend in Edinburgh. We now have a personal reason to kick the marathons ARSE. And we will complete it, even if we have to carry each other over the line.

Please share this regularly between now and 29th May. And please donate what you can afford.

Thank you so much.

Dave Snr & Dave Jnr.


https://www.justgiving.com/marathonfordale

Never ever again!
The 110Posted by Nicky Smith Sun, May 08, 2016 17:21:52
Never again, ever.

I solemnly declare that I Nicky Smith will never ever move a house using my own hands back or legs ever again. Don't get me wrong if I win the lottery I will happily move home again but I would not be doing a stitch of the packing lifting or shifting, no that would be left to people I would pay. In fact I would not even be interested in the unpacking at the other end either!

It has been a hard long slog but we are now settled into our new home with everything up and working for now. The internet went back on-line early yesterday morning but we were out having a good long walk in Derbyshire with some friends so getting around to doing any sort of web surfing was pushed to the back burner until this afternoon. I have to say that I have not missed the internet at all over the last couple of weeks in fact being restricted to the limited data I have on my phone as well as being in a poor signal area has freed me from the sucking in factor the web sometimes has. In fact the one person I thought would miss it (the grumpy teenager) did not but Wifey on the other hand was chomping at the bit to get it all back on-line and up and running to watch the music videos she so loves on You Tube.

My main chore this week has been to dig out the front garden well what was left of it to turn it into a driveway that was not set over three different levels. I did this the old fashioned way by hand and all of the clay (not soil because the last owners dug all of that up and head it removed??) was then wheel barrowed around to the back of the house to make up the un-level ground back there.






The Land Rovers now have somewhere to stand and once I get a few more pennies together the whole area will be gravelled and made to look nice once again.

I had to start and move the 110 for this chore so it soon came to my attention that it was listing very badly to one side once again so I think I have handed springs that I have fitted incorrectly. The target to get it back onto the road is still the start of October so once I have fitted the new kitchen I will be taking some time out to get back onto him.
After re concreting the back quarter of the garage floor the bike now has somewhere happy and safe to live in...






The dog seems very pleased with this new set up as she can now follow me around to her hearts content annoying me by being in the way where ever she decides to stop as all dogs seem to do!
The best stop though that I seem to find her in whenever she gets the chance is the passenger seat of the Discovery. Maybe she is trying to tell me something...




You may have noticed a link I posted up for my Brother and Dad raising money for Macmillan Cancer support by running the Edinburgh Marathon (Nutters). They are doing this as we have recently found out that my Uncle has been diagnosed with terminal cancer and these good folks do a hell of a lot of good work for those in this situation. Now my Uncle Dale Pritchard is not one to sit around wallowing in self pity oh no he has taken it upon himself to write a blog of the whole experience of his limited time left on this mortal coil and it makes for some straight forward frank and often amusing talking. If you are on Facebook just search his name and you will have access to it all and it is indeed worth a read as he is trying to remove the taboo's associated with terminal illness.

So there you go folks just a brief overview of what has been of late and there will be more coming up in detail shortly...

Breakdowns & Bits.
The 110 Posted by Nicky Smith Tue, May 10, 2016 11:34:45
It has been a sods law sort of 24 hours if I am honest but I suppose the piper had to be paid for all of this happiness that has come my way of late in the shape of our new home.
This house really has everything I could need and a few hours spent each day on it gets it more and more into the place I can live on for the rest of my days.
The outside and garage electrics are now in place making life far easier without the need for extension cables plugged in through open windows and doors each time I want to do a bit of work on the Land Rovers making Wifey moan about cold breezes.

I have my garage to play with where the bike now lives but the cherry on the cake really is the car port but I am getting ahead of myself here a touch.
I rolled out the bike yesterday in preparation to go to work only to find a rather large screw slap bang in the middle of the now flat rear tyre. Luckily enough for me though I had got the bike out early for some strange reason on the sunny morning that was maybe it was some sort of insight of what was happening away from my eyesight.
So with a sigh I resigned myself to the fact that I was now going to have to grab lunch on the run while I got the puncture repaired.
Another problem as it turned out was that the Discovery was about the throw a wobbly with yet another wheel bearing but hey ho what can you do? I limped the bloody thing all the way to work getting the punctured tyre fixed along the way then I limped it all the way home after work again as well.
You have to love the fact that an old Landy will hold itself together even when it shouldn't but a little before one am I had both back home again.

So first thing this morning I was up earlier than I should have been not being able to sleep again but with this extra time I jumped onto getting the rear wheel back onto the bike.
This went surprisingly easily with only minimal moaning and grunting from me.
Then it was time to tackle that Discovery wheel bearing but the rain had decided to start to fall at this point but I wanted it sorting this morning so I had back up just in case anything else happened to the bike so what to do?

It was now that I realised that I had a car port that the Disco should sit underneath quite nicely! It really is the simple things that make me smile and I was grinning like a big kid when I started to strip down the offending wheel.


An hour saw it sorted and road worthy once again. Thankfully I had a back up restored until it's MOT runs out anyway because I think I will then use it as a doner for the 110 rebuilding the 300tdi lump that sits in it now.

When I moved the 110 a few days back it seemed like it was leaning very badly to one side leading me to think that I had fitted the new springs incorrectly but today I fired it up again and drove it up onto the top of the driveway where it is flat. Low and behold it sits flat once again???



Now this is indeed a bit odd so I suppose it must of been the place upon the driveway I had parked it before but I am not complaining because it is now one less job I need to do.
With us now settled into our new home I will be able to grab a few on the 110 with my goal being October to have it running and road legal once more. With that in mind I have ordered new door locks and latches with a view to getting them fitted next week.
This will be a nice big step towards getting it ready for painting.
I think I am going to like it here...

Looks like you've got a bit more space than at the old place. Plus somewhere undercover to work, which means you can keep out of the rain and be more comfortable, and can keep rainwater out of the mechanism, so it's even better.

Yep Brown it is bang on chap we are really happy with it
Just need to sort the sheds and garage out and it will really feel like home!

Ah, sheds plural. So you've got that concrete one you've put up a picture of, what others have you got?

Two wooden standard garden sheds full of who knows what at the moment! One is going to be my Landy parts store though so I have some idea of exactly what I have in stock...and so I can find what I know I have somewhere!

Doors & Doughnuts.
The 110 Posted by Nicky Smith Thu, May 12, 2016 20:41:19
Lets start with the doughnuts because yet again folks that would be me, but we will get to that in a bit. You have to love the springtime with the long light evenings and so far apart from the odd couple of days it has for the most part been quite nice warm and dry which makes pottering around outside an absolute pleasure!
With a bit more done on behalf of the house when I got home I decided it best that I should do a bit for the 110 in the early evening sunshine so I dug out the door bits and pieces I have been collecting for it over the last few months.
With them all assembled in one place it was time to take stock on what wanted putting together...



I lay out the smaller bits to make sure I would not end up in my usual stance of having something half together that I cannot let go of whilst trying to figure out how I am going to get twenty feet to my left to pick up a nut I need to stop it all falling apart!


Lets face it these series type doors are not hard to put together you just put the rubber strip on top of the door base then slot the window top through the holes onto the top of the rubber and fit a washer locking washer and the nut onto the threaded bar that now sticks out of the door base...but of anyone could make a mess of it it would be me. Not this time though but I did WD40 the threads up before fitting as they were second hand with a little coating of surface rust.
These doors so far have been cheap and cheerful buying the parts as they came up for sale and not rushing but I have had nothing but time of late luckily for me.
So less than ten minutes after I had started the doors were put together less the glass on one side as I need to buy some new runners for it.


Now back to the doughnut point. Yes yes it is me yet again because I have bought nice shiny new locking and latch mechanisms for the doors and well the locks are in the wrong place...


I don't have any of the bolt strap things to fit them either and if you look at the pictures the latch is completely different to the doors that are fitted so new striker plates will be needed too.


Hmm these cheap doors keep going up in price you know! Hey ho no rush it will get sorted soon enough.

I have to tackle the Discovery front wheel bearing issue yet again as it came loose over the grand total of 12 miles. Now if I had done this up any tighter the wheel would not have turned at all and after some research the actual cheap bearings could be to blame along with the stub axle being rather worn on some way so rather than mess around any more I have bought everything from the stub axle forward to replace on Sunday morning. If that doesn't work the problem will obviously be the doughnut that keeps fitting these bits...

Recent experience of D1 front wheel bearings not holding adjustment got me buying new nuts - granted its only done about 40 miles since, but it seems to be working ( touch wood!) hope you have them in the bits you have bought.
IME, only Timken bearings are worth bothering with. everything else is rubbish, sadly.

Good Luck.

Yep I have bought Timken sets and I think theres some new nuts in there as well as it was a "kit".
Hopefully it will sort the issue!

Tools and Tiredness.
The 110 Posted by Nicky Smith Sat, May 14, 2016 21:19:45
Have you noticed a change in the larger DIY and electrical stores of late? Now I do not really frequent these places very often as it tends to mean more work for me that I probably don't really want to do so it has been a number of years since I last darkened their doorstep. Today though was one of those days I found myself in them buying appliances and paint ready for my weeks "Holiday" refitting our kitchen form top to bottom.
Imagine my surprise when instead of staff consisting of spotty uninterested teenagers I found loads and I mean loads of positive and engaging people all wearing the uniform colours of their store offering help and assistance every couple of minutes or every isle when you started to move around it.
Now this reminded me of American DIY stores and quite frankly is a step up from what us Brits are used to because these good folks are not only happy to help but seem to know what they are talking about to boot! That may just some spiel to sound impressive without them having a clue but hey it made the dreadful experience I was expecting all the more pleasant so everything has a bonus!
Soon enough the bank account had been drained with the products bought to redesign and build our bespoke kitchen so home it was still with plenty of light left in the day.

I stood looking out as the king of my castle trying to convince myself that the Discovery did not need the near front axle and bearings rebuilding but soon gave that up and grabbed my tools out of the garage ready to get set up to start this all too now familiar strip down to begin. One final elongated look around to see if any of my new neighbours would like to stop me for a chat proved fruitless so I began once again in earnest to do this chore for the final time because if this last ditch repair was ineffective I was going to just break the whole thing for parts.


Instead of just replacing the bearings with now better Timkin ones I have decided to throw a bit of money at it and replace the whole lot from the stub axle forward bar the actual disc itself. The strip now being old hat took less than ten minutes in which time the sun decided it was time to come out in force with some heat so I found myself down to my t-shirt enjoying the spring heat on my back.
With the hub off I set to knocking out the bearing races and then cleaning up and refitting the replacement bearings along with yet another new rear seal. So there we were all greased up and ready to fit into place when Wifey came walking up the driveway with two cold water beaded bottles of beer in hand. I bloody well love that woman she seems to know exactly what you are thinking and how the hell I ended up with her or why in Gods name she settled for me I will never know but I am damned glad she did.

After sitting down for a while enjoying the company on this warm late spring afternoon with that cold one hitting just the right spot I figured it was about time I put the poor old Disco back together again. This took next to no time with the usual amounts of grease escaping up my arms and ending everywhere it shouldn't be in fact it all went so smoothly I sat looking at the whole hub set up wondering if I had missed anything before finally deciding I had not and then popping the wheel back on.

I then drove around for a few miles on the new to me country lanes surrounding the village taking in that multi coloured greenness that comes only in each fresh springtime ushering in the promise of yet another lazy summer. When I got home I then gave the wheel a quick shake by hand and much to my disappointment felt a small amount of play in it. With a sigh I jacked it back up and gave it another test only to find it all solid so I can only presume there is some play in a joint bush or the suspension but I will keep another close eye on it. If it does decide to mess me about again by giving up the ghost I will be throwing my hat in and breaking the damned thing for parts.

Now I did get a nice new toy in the post today which should make the 110 rebuild a bit more cost effective. I got me a brake flaring set! The fact I have no idea how to use it yet will not dampen my enthusiasm though as life is nothing if not a long learning curve. Would it be easier to just buy a set of new pipes for the 110 well yes it would but where would the fun in that be?


Turns out I have a whole weekend to myself next weekend so hopefully I will get the chance to do more than a bit to the 110 then

Little Bits...
The 110 Posted by Nicky Smith Sat, May 21, 2016 21:23:13
As I keep harping on about there is more than a little to do with the new house and this is taking more than most of my time. This leaves not a great deal of time for the 110 but with each job that is done I manage to try and find something small that gets the old Landy a bit closer to being back on the road once more.

My main focus over the last couple of weeks has been to level off the front garden from the unlevel mess that is was to something workable as a driveway. Seeing as the land rovers like to leak a bit of oil gravel seemed to be the best idea especially as I was working with a rather tight budget!

The work was back breaking levelling off the clay based earth but after four or five days after work I was about there including moving around the hardcore that had been dumped down by the last house owners!

I then ordered the gravel and matting needed to make it look a bit nicer (all 6 tons of it) for Saturday delivery so on Friday I got to getting everything ready. The landy's were fired up and moved onto the existing driveway...


Before long with the help of a neighbour the matting was in place and weighted down ready for the gravel to arrive..,



With that done I set to playing with the 110's steering box. There is play somewhere in the steering but after adjusting up the box as well as filling it up with oil it made bugger all difference so I suppose the box is either worn or the problem lays elsewhere.


This car port is turning out to be quite handy when the rain sets in as well
Saturday morning came along soon enough though and the truck turned up bearing the six bags of gravel I needed. Getting it in though took some serious height with the Hi-ab!


Once it was all delivered my neighbour turned up unannounced with a wheel barrow spade and rake in hand offering to give me a couple of hours to get it all sorted. Now this is one of the many many reasons I already love living here on our little cul de sac. It did only take us a couple of hours to get sorted but the beers afterwards took an extra couple as well...

Looks good though!


It could do with another ton or two to top it off but once the edges are all trimmed down I can get the Land Rovers back into place leaving just the top wall to finish off.
So with that done as well as the new bathroom door fitted it has been a bit of a busy day but the house is coming along now in leaps and bounds.
I have ordered some more door parts but still need the bits to fit the locks onto the doors themselves but forgot to head off today to buy them so will have to order them online. I will build up the door windows this week and hopefully fit them onto the 110 next weekend.
As I said before getting there slowly...