The 110.

Welcome back callisr have you still not done the bathroom yet lol
Thanks I am glad the chassis repairs are done now it is a big hurdle to get over!! Now get back to the grouting so we can see your 90 in progress!!

Gotta crack on.........house going on the soon!
Tbf, the last bathroom I fitted took 3 years to finish! House move forced that one too!

I will be in the same boat soon chap, we are looking at houses to buy at the moment but trying to find one with a garage with it!

Wheels & Work.
The 110 Posted by Nicky Smith Tue, January 26, 2016 20:24:57
Well they say time passes quickly and here we are already at the end of the second day of work. The only problem with being back at work is that it is dark when I leave then when I come back home again so the 110 naturally takes a back seat.

Before this heinous time had come upon me I managed to get one last set of bits done for the old boy on Sunday in the form of starting to sort his wheels out. They were standard military lots of coats of green grey and sand along with some sort of sticky black thrown in just for fun!



Out came the sanding brush that fits in the end of the drill and I took the worst of the rough edges away gave them a good wipe down then dug out the grey oxide paint.
I have not decided on what colour the final product will be on the 110 yet so these will be left in primer for now until that tough decision is made!


Now the reason I am not sure what colour it will be is because I thought it would just be green again and I had a tin of it in the shed and I had a go with it on one of the wheels thinking that would be another job ticked off of the long long list of things to do.

I was wrong. I painted it and stood back to admire my handy work and instantly I did not like it...at all.


I wondered if it was because it was wet, so I let it dry out. I still did not like it so maybe I am ready for my style on this motor, it will be my own design.
No harm No foul I just dug out the sander again along with the grey oxide and soon enough they all looked the same again, sitting there just waiting for me to decide what colour to go with...

www.nickysmith.me

If you look at the bulkhead in my rebuild thread you will see its a different shade of red. I pondered the colour for weeks, looked online, looked at colour charts, went to the shop, ordered me 5litres of paint (stupid I know) and painted the bulkhead. And HATED it! I tried all sorts, 4 different primers, mixing other paints in it, all to no avail. So bought the proper colour which I should have find in the first place. Good work on the wheels btw. I'm not even contemplating rubbing mine down, I think I'll have them blasted, but have all the wheels I have done at the same time.

It seems to be harder to choose a colour than I thought! I see grey and think "I like that" I see white and think "I like that" I see blue and think....you can see the problem lol.
The wheels took a while and afew coats but I am pleased with the results so far

Taking a Look & Tank Guards
The 110 Posted by Nicky Smith Sun, January 31, 2016 08:07:29
It is not often I am stuck for words on how to explain how a day has gone both in my life and on either of the Land Rovers but this morning I am sitting here struggling with it. The fact that it is Sunday morning and not Saturday evening that I am writing also puts play into how hard it is to get the words down onto the paper.
But I have decided to throw caution to the wind by just writing away and then not reading back over it in order to try to convey what has been going on over the last 24 hours!

It started early with yet another house to view. I liked the look of this place on-line so did Wifey so off we went. The house was spot on, there was a lot of work that has been half done but that's half less of the work I would have to do and we like the area a great deal anyway as we have been looking over that way. Good sized rooms detached house with a garage car port and enough land to create hard standing/driveways to put the numerous and growing amount of vehicles we seem to have. It's a dorma bungalow type place at the bottom of a cul-de-sac so nice and quiet and most definitely a place we could grow old in if we wanted to.
I am a big believer in following my gut and we kept the vendor busy for well over an hour going around and around the house checking it over in all the places and ways you need to when looking at a house. My gut told me in a big way this was the house and the price was well within budget leaving us enough a month in our wages to do the place up a bit at a time.
We thanked the vendor and set off into Derbyshire for a walk along the first part of the Monsal Trial then into Bakewell for lunch...


As we parked up at the start of the walk we had been chatting all of the ins and outs of the house we both liked so much so we thought "bugger it!" and called the estate agent with an offer because at the price it was up for we knew it would not be around very long. Of course it was not the full asking price but hey you have to haggle you know it is expected!

With that done we started our walk not expecting to hear much at all for some time.

We were wrong, very wrong. Within 30 minutes my mobile was ringing with the estate agent calling back to say "No the offer is too low" fair enough I thought it was a cheeky offer on a low priced house anyway but before I could say anything the estate agent then said "But she will meet you halfway price wise"
There was only a delay on me responding because I was so surprised! I of course agreed straight away and the house was bought!
To say we were pleased is an understatement as we danced around on the trial like kids whist the sheep looked on at us as if we were mad!


So we are buying a house...our very own once again and Wifey has already planned the next three years work for me on it so I hope it all goes through ok!

When we got back I needed a bit of down time and seeing as I had an hour or so of daylight left I naturally headed off to the 110 to see what I could do to it for a bit whilst I had a ponder over the days events. The first thing that came into sight was the tank guard I had bought, if you remember the 110 did not have one fitted before and in all fairness I had decided not to bother with one at all but this brand new one came up at a price I could not say no to and I thought "why the hell not keep it in good fettle eh!"


It's only four bolts after all so shouldn't have taken too long. I was wrong again for the second time in the day (not that unusual if I am honest) it took all of the day light to shape and fit the bloody thing with the bolts going up and down on both ends more times than a hoar's knickers!

There was some swearing I have to admit that turned into maniacal laughter after a while as I pried pushed pulled and lifted it to get around the mountings it needed to fit on but finally it was all in place with me slowly taking turns to wind all of the nuts up into place.

It looks good though and I am glad I have fitted it as it finishes off the bad end nicely. Yes it is underneath where no one else will see it but I know it's right under there now
So yesterday was a big day indeed that we had no idea was coming, as far as we were concerned we were off to take a nose around yet another house that would not be "quite right" and a walk. We ended the day owning (hopefully) a new house and looking around the one we are in realising how much we have to do to get ready for the nightmare of moving it all again.
Hope fully this will the last one for a long long time....

Great stuff min, there's nothing like owning your own home. I was extremely lucky to be able to buy mine when I was very Young, and I can feel the benefits already. As for the tank guard, they're a bitch to stretch round the tank aren't they! Where did you buy the tank? I got mine from LRDirect and guard was included - much to my surprise!

Cheers Discokids we are looking forward to buying the house very very much! As for the tank well that is the original and the guard came from a friend who had it kicking around

Fair enough. Can't complain at that price!

I'm looking forward to pictures of the house too.

Well the application is all done and submitted so it will just be a few weeks now until anything happens lol

Bashing & Bushes
The 110 Posted by Nicky Smith Sat, February 13, 2016 13:07:10
It feels like forever since I managed to get some time in on the 110 but seeing as I had sod all to do this morning today was indeed the day to play.

Remember not so long ago I was unsure about rebuilding this? well it brought a smile to my face as I opened up the rear door of it this morning realising I had missed the old boy more than I thought and I was keen to get stuck in...funny how things change.
I had one job in mind that I really wanted completing along with a few other little bits that needed finishing off so a potter around day it was going to be.

First of all I decided it would be best to start the old boy up to warm him through so the battery was hooked up with me thinking that it would be flat as a pancake after this amount of time along with the cold weather we have had this week but it surprised me to hear it fire up straight up away after just a few seconds of preheat. With a little smile on my face I patted the dashboard as a well done to it got out and dug the old axle I had bought a few weeks ago.



Now I had no need for this axle or anything on it but it came up at the right money and because I have to change the bushes in the front radius arms I figured it would be easier to do that to a set that was off of the 110 then it would just be a case of changing them over when it came to it.
But before any of this could happen I had to get them off of that axle. WD40 is your friend you know and the bolts have been getting liberal doses of it over the last couple of weeks so the first side came off quite easily after a some gentle persuasion using two spanners to get the whole bolt moving freely first.


The other side took a little more effort but after a few choice words the second radius arm was free. The next job ahead though was to remove those tired old bushes...


Now I don't have a bearing press or any press of any kind so I had already had the forethought to trawl the internet to see what would be the easiest way to get these stubborn buggers out so armed with a chisel, screwdriver and hammer I set to work first cleaning the muck from around the bush edges then slotting the screwdriver down between the bush metal rim and the radius arm itself.
A quick few hard whacks and the screwdriver was down the side forcing the old bush in on itself so with another set of whacks with the hammer onto the bush itself it was free and clear.

"This is easy" I thought to myself as the second bush dropped out as easily as the first.

That was where the fun ended.

Could I get the buggers out of the second arm?? Nope they were stuck fast and did not want to play so I had to get a little creative.
By creative I mean brutal. I dug out the metal chisel then set to smashing the damned things down one side with the hammer slipping off of the head of the chisel on a regular basis and whacking my hand. Trying to keep the air clean I hopped around shaking my hand from time to time but those damned bushes were coming out whether they wanted to or not. Sure enough after about ten minutes they were free and the only cost was a throbbing left hand.



I then took them into the paint preparation area (the back garden) and got out the drill with a brush wheel and managed to get the years and years of rust, dirt and old paint off. Then it was time to put the first coat of Hammerite on it and here's a tip about Hammerite...don't leave it in a cold shed if you expect to use it as it thickens to the consistency of last weeks Sunday dinner gravy and you end up stirring it for ages to get some warmth into it.

It doesn't take long to slap some paint around so while I was waiting for that side to dry I went back to the 110 to refit the accelerator pedal properly after it's foot well re-fit.
There seems to be a shortage of nuts and bolts at the Smith household so the ones I used were a little long but not to worry they were made into short order with the grinder after fitting


That done I ran back around to the painting area (the back garden again) to put a good coat on the next side of the arms. The results look quite good!


When they dried off I could not get the new bushes in for love nor money. I poked sandpapered and scrubbed but all to no avail. Luckily a friend has access to a big press and has agreed to help out after asking "Can you just not do it because you are getting old?" Funny fella he is

Then it was time to play with that mystical realm that is Land Rover electrics. Ever since I replaced the rear cross member and chassis the wiring has just been tucked up out of the way waiting for me to feel brave enough to try and tackle it all because I stupidly took no notice at all as to where it all went when I took it apart.

So I sat there on the driveway like a dumpy little garden gnome cross legged on a piece of cardboard with my multimeter in one hand a hand full of cabling in the other and a perpetually confused look on my face.
I did manage to get the rear side lights working along with the brake lights and the hazards. The hazards work so well that they come on when you try to indicate in any direction so I figured I must have a crossed wire somewhere to match the ones in my head.
My backside was cold by now and I needed to think about returning some sort of feeling to my hands so I called it a day chucking the tools back into the shed and coming inside for a nice cup of tea.

The 110 is coming along nicely now and each job I do seems to be one less off of the list. I am aware that that is obvious but now it feels each step is taking me toward the finishing line which at the moment is getting it a full MOT. There are plenty of plans of what I want to do to the inside and the outside but those are far into the future. Shall it be an overlander? Should it be military? Will it be red or will it be blue? I don't know yet but I am open to ideas for it all if anyone has any.

www.nickysmith.me

Pauses & Patience
The 110 Posted by Nicky Smith Sun, February 21, 2016 07:59:56
There is very little happening on the 110 at the moment and this is not just due to the weather. Because we are in the process of buying a house, which is coming on very quickly, and the fact that I actually have the 110 back into one piece as well as running leaves me loath to start to take it apart again.
At the moment I can drive it onto a transporter trailer to get it over to our new home so I am sat here wondering exactly what I can do with it that wont effect it's forward motion...

The replacement front seats were dropped off by my good friends yesterday and now they are here sat next to the landy I can see that they will look absolutely superb when they are fitted. I don't think I have ever seen half leather Renault Laguna seats fitted to a Land Rover before but I could be wrong there...

So bugger all to report really I will get around to taking a few pics of the seats when the rain stops but apart from that I am a bit stumped on what to do next...

Good thread...but a bit spooky!

Fellow Midlander
Also started off with a Series 3, went to a Disco, now have that dream 110...
...that's also technically a 110 and not a Defender
...and is ex-RAF...
...and has that wierd Coopers thing on the NSF inner wing...
...and we're moving house too (although we're building not buying so you can imagine the stress levels on that one!)

Good luck with the refurb and keep the updates coming!

OK then we seem to have entered a parallel dimension???? That is a little spooky indeed!
As for building a house well the stress must be high! but we will be changing a hell of a lot in ours once its all bought and sorted I will be busy for years lol

Radius and Rumps.
The 110 Posted by Nicky Smith Sun, February 21, 2016 19:14:31
I did get around to doing a couple of bits today after all much to my own surprise!
First things first though, I need to say a very big thank you to my friend Richard for using his rather large press to sort out getting those bushes into the radius arms I refurbished last week.
You sir are a true gentleman and have saved me hours of messing around trying to do it the hard way round so there is a crate of real ale winging it's way to you as a token of my appreciation!

They do look well though...


So that's six sets of bushes sorted out and only all of the rest of them on the 110 to go.
Now in all fairness the back of the Land Rover looks like a bomb has hit it and it was far past time to sort it all out. I am trying to get on top of all of these little jobs that mount up before the move comes on so I set to emptying it all out. putting tools away where they belong as well as having a good sweep out. Then I popped my funky new seats that are going to be comfy for me to stick my ample rump on back in there and covered them all up but not before taking a picture or two first...


I did manage to somehow get both of the head rests stuck in place only just in and I can't figure out how to move them either forwards or backwards now so I walked away before I got too frustrated and broke the buggers.

I did get to thinking on what I should do on the inside of it and I will be going down the trying to get some comfort in there line. I wont be doing any serious off roading in it so comfort is going to be the key with this one...well as much comfort you can get in a Defender anyway.

nickysmith.me

Locked Down.
The 110Posted by Nicky Smith Sat, February 27, 2016 19:39:02
A dry if chilly day greeted me as I stepped outside with the dog for our Saturday morning stroll. It didn't get any warmer as I took down the greenhouse in preparation for our house move that hopefully is not too far away now and this was one of those jobs that usually end up taking more than you expect and with all of that thin glass you don't want to rush it for fear of nasty cuts or worse.
I have to admit I was well dressed for disaster with thick clothes on plus my babygrow to top of it all so I had no fear of slicing and dicing bits of me I should not be.

It's been a proper potter day and I soon ended up on the Discovery's roof to seal up the sunroofs and mid job I looked to my left noticing out of the corner of my eye that both of the 110's front door windows were slightly open but only at the front top corner of both of them?
Seeing as I was up to my elbows in sealant I had to finish stopping the water running into my Disco like I was driving with all of the doors open first before I could investigate.

So after a further ten minutes of stickiness that seemed to end up everywhere but where I needed it to be those windows got my full attention. I don't know who wanted to try and get into the 110 but considering if you threw a wet sponge at the door locks they would open for you they could not of had much of an idea of what they were doing.
Both windows had been forced down about 10mm at the fronts only and one of the door hinges had been slightly unscrewed.
I live on a main the main ring road and my neighbours all work different shift patterns so these wannabe thief's must have been disturbed pretty quickly hence everything still being there. They would have been really disappointed as well because I can guarantee it would not of turned over let alone started and this is still the case.
All these thief's have done is make me lock the old boy down tight as drum along with leaving sod all in it worth nicking.

The irony is that I had read earlier this morning how Land Rover thief's are targeting the Derbyshire area at the moment and I thought to myself that that was getting a bit close and thankfully mine was sat nice and safe on my driveway.

Turns out we are not safe in the city in full view of a major road artery either so make sure you lock them down folks.

nickysmith.me ©

I'm pleased to hear it's still with you despite someone's efforts to tamper with it. If you weren't leaving that house it might be worth concreting something into the driveway that you could attach it to, with a chain and padlock. It would still be vulnerable to someone with a full set of tools, but would slow down the amateur.

I think that maybe they were after the doors themselves but they would have been disappointed there as well as they both need some work doing on them!
It's locked up tight now and as it is going to be more of a long term project I think I will buy a cover as well to keep him dry