John S said:
Sorry guys but I totally disagree with your comments on original spec engines. I've got a 2.25 petrol with overdrive. It's reconditioned Turner engine. I'd never contemplate driving on a motorway with a 30+ year old vehicle that struggles to cruise at plus 50 mph, yeah you can push it harder but it's simply not designed for that kind of sustained speed.
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I used to tow trailers long distance with my bosses 109, just a standard 2 1/4 diesel. On one occasion, we loaded a broken down series on a flatbed in Brum, and towed it to Egham, Surrey.
Foot flat on the floor all the way down, didn't seem to do it any harm at all.
No idea how fast I was going, the speedo was all over the place.
 
suburban said:
I certainly had to do a double take on the sat nav, you can't read the speedo at that speed, tired old thing oscillates like mad :D (I know I could renew the cable etc)

wouldn't fancy doing an emergency stop in a series at that speed on standard brakes, if she is going to keep doing that I may have to treat the truck to a zeus disc kit or similar, at least on the front.

personally I am happy to sit on the motorway at a steady 56 in any car, my days of racing the evo 10 interceptors are long gone :D
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Nothing wrong with the brakes on a series either, if they are set up right. On many old vehicles today, the tyres are more of a limitation on stopping distance than the brakes.
 
We were pulling a trailer full of wool with a 1984 90 with either 2.25 or 2.5 as the engine came out of series apparently and hit a very steep hill it was squirting coolant out everywhere we had to stop for about half an hour for it too cool down
Didn't think much of it few months later engine ran away diesel in oil so suppose head had cracked and was replaced with ex military 2.5td with a broken turbo
 
am hoping head gasket is still fine, no coolant escaped at the lower speed and not that much had leaked out, a flat puddle can be deceptive I think, there looks to be more there than there actually is.

posted a new cap down to her so we shall see how it goes with her pottering about. suspect any issues won't be revealed until the return run in mid December. told her to keep an eye on oil and water levels but I just know she won't :D
 
I don't think there is anything wrong with series brakes either, however, I wouldn't want to test a fully laden nearly 50 year old series against the back of a newish car capable of stopping at 155 mph with discs all round. driving within the capabilities of the vehicle etc doesn't always allow for the knobs or the freakishly unexpected.

remember a test Clarkson did for stopping power comparing a 911, a disco and a ford Anglia (assuming the test wasn't rigged and the vehicles were in a good state of repair) quite an eye opener, naturally the Porsche stopped in a significantly shorter distance than the others
 
suburban said:
took the 3 (2.286 na diesel)' on a long trip to Exeter, daughter at the wheel sat nav showing 65 - i was gobsmacked and bricking it - with od engaged (7.50) wheels.

noticed brown liquid running along the passenger wing top so we hit the hard shoulder.

coolant bubbling out the rad cap.

made her stick to 50 and it stopped, got there hadn't lost much fluid and temperature stayed normal.

so do I need a new cheap as chips rad cap or was she just pushing it too hard?
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In days gone bye, when series Land Rovers were just old under powered workhorses we used to push them flat out everywhere. I never blew a head gasket on either a 2.25 petrol or Diesel but what did used to happen was that the rads would get a bit furred up and they would blow hot brown water out as you describe. Usual solution was to take the rad out and get the jet washer to it, but a new rad was sometimes required.
 
suburban said:
I don't think there is anything wrong with series brakes either, however, I wouldn't want to test a fully laden nearly 50 year old series against the back of a newish car capable of stopping at 155 mph
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Don't drive so close, then.

Clunkbucket said:
the rads would get a bit furred up and they would blow hot brown water out as you describe. Usual solution was to take the rad out and get the jet washer to it, but a new rad was sometimes required.
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I used to take the hoses off, and put a garden hose wrapped in tape in the bottom radiator outlet, tap on full, and leave until the water ran clear. Sometimes it took all night.
 
I used to take the hoses off, and put a garden hose wrapped in tape in the bottom radiator outlet, tap on full, and leave until the water ran clear. Sometimes it took all night.[/QUOTE]

Our "jetwash" back then was a hose with a washing machine pump in series and a length of copper pipe and a adjustable hose fitting on the end. Our method was much the same as yours.
 
I jetwash the rad matrix through the grill too as it gets blocked with leaves and dirt. Of course the rad has to be in good nick, did it to the old rad and it blew a hole! I cruise at 55-60 and find the brakes OK, the TLS self -servo effect realy comes in on a hard stop, they work better than you expect but I do find the drums expand on long down hills and the pedal gets noticably nearer the floor but recovers as they cool down. Obvously I use the gears down hill the but the wide ratios make it hard to hold the same speed as the traffic and I find I need the brakes too, 2nd is too slow and 3rd too fast.
 
interesting vid on stopping distances highway code v Bentley v bmw



here is the one with the ford Anglia in it



looks like lexus' all round if you want to stop quickly :D

poor show by the disco, 88 feet longer than an escort to stop at 70.

mind you wouldn't want to be in a lexus with a disco behind :D
 
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