As Requested...
The 110 Posted by Nicky Smith Sat, July 09, 2016 09:17:01
Well it was requested that I pop up a picture of the back garden and the baby plants that were popped in there so here you go....


It's not much yet but given time will be pretty colourful

Fiscal Frustrations.
The 110 Posted by Nicky Smith Wed, July 20, 2016 19:35:03
Well my healing process is coming along nicely now with more movement less pain and the freedom to look towards getting stuck into the 110 once again.
I finally got around to finishing changing the discs along with the pads on the nearside of the 110, turned it around so I could begin on the nearside only to find that the bolts that hold the brake caliper in place had literally rusted themselves round giving me no purchase to get any sort of socket onto it while still fitted to the hub.


This was more than a touch frustrating as I soon realised that I do not have a brake hose clam in my array of ever growing tools nor did I have anything that I could fashion to do the job. With a bit of sadness in my heart I put the front wheel back on then shortly after heading to the internet to buy one.
The 110 is now parked up once again on the driveway looking all forlorn and lonely desperate for me to spend some time and money on it. Sounds a bit like the Wife as well that...

One of the pleasures of buying a new house is that you get to spend most of your money on it instead of your toys and it has indeed been a tough month. The odd extra bill here and there has seen the coffers a bit low so even though the list of parts for the 110 seems to grow I don't seem to be buying much of anything off of it. Not to worry all good things come to those that wait but I am looking forward to finally having this old motor back on the road once again.

Stubborn Seats
The 110 Posted by Nicky Smith Thu, July 21, 2016 21:49:03
My fiscal flurry of activity on the 110 continued this evening when I found myself at a bit of a loose end around 7pm. It was too late to get stuck into anything big and the smaller jobs seem a little thin on the ground, so armed with the usual cup of builders strength tea I walked to the 110's current resting spot on the driveway.

You see there was one job I have kept meaning to do but not getting around to for one reason or another and that is removing the four rear two seater bench seats that have sat in the land rover probably since it left the factory. I did start with the traditional method of a socket and screwdriver but it soon became apparent that this was not going to be anywhere near good enough to remove the decades old fixings.
I am way past fighting these issues now a days I just went and dug out the grinder making very short work of the nuts and bolts.
Within minutes the seats were free from their restraints and donkeys years of dust dog hair and grime were brought back out into the light of day.

I know exactly what I will be doing tomorrow and that is sweeping out then cleaning up the rear end of my old motor leaving me a blank canvas to finally get stuck into making it just mine.
Oh and if anyone would like a black rear two seater bench or four just drop me a line, I have a few spare ones kicking around in the way...

What are your plans with the back then? And where are you going to fit the other eight people now?

I have been reading this thread avidly over the last year in anticipation of my 110 purchase, which happened last weekend. Have been struggling for the last 2 days to budge the bolts for the seat belt fittings on the benches to put new belts on, but I think you have just confirmed what I think I knew I would have to do all along.

I am glad you are on the road to recovery, slowly but surely.

The other eight folks can catch a bus for me lol I finally decided that I want to turn it into an overlander so we can get some interesting travels in it
As for the bolts Alicetea...good luck!

Haha! I went to work on Friday morning and came home to all the bolts removed, having been 'treated' to a new socket set and very long handle, and a very tired boyfriend! All bolts removed without grinding! Success!
Boyfriend is so pleased with his handy work in fitting the seatbelts that when we went for a drive he sat on the bench in the back, which considering we were on our own in the car and we have a dog guard fitted made me look a little strange to onlookers!

Happy Days at least you both managed it without resorting to my extremes....that have somehow become my standard SOP!

I see there's a rather posh looking seat in the back too. Is that going in the front, or is it part of a project for luxury forward facing seats in the back?

Oh there are a pair of rather posh looking seats fr the fronts
A friend gave them to me when he changed his over, they are out of a Laguna and are half leather!
It is a defender and needs some sort of comfort fitting!

A Long List
The 110 Posted by Nicky Smith Tue, July 26, 2016 20:13:44
There is always a parts list with a Land Rover but this seems to be never ending when you are in the midst of a rebuild. I normally try to keep the long list of I want bits in my head but with throwing in the 200tdi transplant into the mix I decided to have a bit of a walk around today to put down the basics of what I need to buy to get the old boy onto the road once again.
As you all know funds are tight so I am looking at what can be accomplished on the second hand market as well as the bits you always want to buy new.
Now I am sure I have missed a few things here and there so feel free to pipe up if you notice a glaringly obvious short coming on my part.

The list sits as follows:-

Trailing arm bushes x2
Fuel pipe.
Jubilee clips
Wing to bulkhead clips & Screws
Floor Clips and screws
Primer (not desperate but some bits could do with a coat)
Steering column components
Power Steering Box
Rear Brake rebuild kit (Salisbury axle)
The following are all 200 tdi...
Full exhaust
Power steering pump
Water Pump
Extended hoses
Full Clutch Kit
Radiator
All Belts
Cambelt Kit
Service kit

Now that's as much as I can think of at the moment. There may be a brake pipe or two but I have that kicking around already waiting for me to learn to flare the ends correctly!

It is all indeed a pretty pennies worth so if anyone has any of the above for sale please let me know and we shall see if a deal can be struck
Alternatively if any parts companies are kicking around wanting to be part of the continued development of the 110 in a sponsorship capacity I am only too happy to listen to your offers....no takers?? Worth a try I suppose...

nickysmith.me

If I was you I'd get the engine into position first and then start thinking about the pipes you want for e.g. exhaust, intercooler/air intake and power steering. A lot of people seem to find they need non standard items that need making up specially. So with the engine in place you'll know what size, shape, fittings etc you want.

A Few Steps Forward...
The 110 Posted by Nicky Smith Tue, August 02, 2016 20:29:26

Right then for some reason I am having some picture issues on my laptop, in fact I seem to be having all sorts of issues with my laptop hence the silence from me this past week or so.
Just because I have been "off the grid" it doesn't mean I have been just sitting around doing nothing, oh no in fact I have been rather busy to say the least!
You may recall my last post had a rather long list on it, this was not a begging list but a "parts to get it road legal" one so I had a starting point to move onwards with.

If you watch the news it is full of sadness and misery from around the globe, I often get saddened by the hatred segregation and racism that I see in this country but what breaks my heart the most is seeing just plain meanness on most days. I try to make at least one person smile each day generally succeeding in my efforts with complete strangers and I believe that a little kindness can go a long way.
It would appear that I am not the only person who works along this line of life as I got a call from a friend telling me they had a fair few of the parts from my list so did I want to pop over for a brew and have a look?

A day along with time was sorted and soon enough we were having a chat over a brew about what was needed. Soon there was a pile of bits that seemed to keep growing so I had to pipe up that we really needed to talk about prices because my budget is running more than a little tight at the moment. This was soon replied with
"I don't want anything"
"What? I have to give you something there's loads of bits here"
"No you don't they are just lying around here so if you can make use of them I'm happy with that"
"I HAVE to give you something!"
"Sod off Nick you are having them"

Now this is a level of generosity I have not come across before and it has left me dumbfounded! Now I wont embarrass my friend by naming them but you know who you are and I thank you once again for your generosity, there is a thank you in the pipeline in fact I will probably see you over the weekend

So the 110 has more parts now than it did before so progress will once again be made very shortly. The only reason that nothing has been done is due to the fact that the Discovery needed yet more attention from me.
The wheel wobble is awful under breaking even though it has now had new discs and pads on the front along with new polybushes fitted to the pan hard rod. The old bushes were very helpfully pushed out at another friends house who has a hydraulic press. These presses are superb and I will be investing in one very shortly to aid with what seems to be the constant need for bush replacement on the Land Rovers!


I am happy to say that after some messing around getting it all back into place along with checking over all of the ball joints, new brake parts I can report that it has made absolutely bugger all difference.
Quite frankly I am sick of playing with this Disco now and once my motorbike has sold I will be buying a little run around to get to work and back in leaving me to then focus all of my attention on the 110! I would rather be spending on that than trying to keep this Disco on the road which is a shame as the engine runs spot on. Don't get me wrong I will still drive it and even try to MOT it but I will not be spending hours on it trying to make a silk purse out of a pigs ear until something a little more reliable comes along. Then I will off road the hell out of it!

Do you recall me fitting the new doors to the 110? Well the new hinges I fitted got all rusty very quickly which was my fault for not priming them all up properly before fitting so I had to get in a quick coat of Hammerite in case they rusted away before the 110 is finished!
The results were quite nice though and now my work pattern is changing I will get really stuck in to getting the 110 road legal...





nickysmith.me

Canvas Sheets & Seats.
The 110 Posted by Nicky Smith Sat, August 06, 2016 22:08:26
I am not one for watching much television as there is not usually much of anything worth watching but I have to admit here that I have do have a guilty pleasure and it is bad. The acting is awful full of American bravado for the master and chief, as if that was not bad enough this program is now into it's third series and I just cannot break the addiction.
It's called "The Last Ship" and it's just so bad that I love it.
Show after show I merrily kill forty odd minutes of total dead head watching while the rest of the world slowly slips away into the background taking all of it's cares with it leaving me at peace and enthralled in a programme that I know the ending of within minutes of it starting.
The reason I bring it up? Nothing major really just wanted to share the fact that a bit of down time doing what pleases you, whatever that may be, is always pretty good for the soul.

The rear seats of the 110 went off on their merry way early this morning so after the usual running of chores that had to wait for the weekend I decided that I had nothing more pressing to do than clean out the back of the 110 and offer up the front seats into place.
The rear bed wasn't too bad if I am honest but there were lots of dog hairs mixed with dust that would be better off in the dustbin.


Then out came one of the front seats I have had stored in the back for quite some time now so I could make up a template and drill some holes for the seat rails to drop into.
This didn't take long and I was soon offering the template up and drilling the four holes necessary then the seat was popped finally into it's new resting place...or so I thought.


It didn't take much getting into place but one thing soon became very obvious about my new driving position...I would not be able to get into it or steer.

There was a meer five millimetres between the seat base and the steering wheel. Driving with these mat prove a bit more of a challenge than I wanted so with resignation in my shoulder slump along with a slight shake of my head from side to side I set to taking it back out again.
These seats travelled up from Northamptonshire to sit in my 110 for many many moons, got moved from one house to another to end up going to the dump anyway unless someone pipes up that they want them for free.
Hey ho there's plenty more to do anyway so I will keep an eye our for another pair of something that can go in their place.

With that waste of a drill bit (yep I snapped one drilling the holes) finished cleaning the back became my priority and it is a nice feeling knowing that most of the crud has been removed giving you a nicer workplace to potter in.


With that done along with a greenhouse put up, only one pane of glass broken in the move! I thought there would have been more being the clumsy ape that I am, Wifey returned home declaring that we should put up the tent that we bought a few weeks back so "we" would know how to do it quicker/properly when we use it in a couple of weeks.

Now I do not mind camping at all. There is something about sleeping under canvas that is really relaxing being closer to nature and all of that, what I do not like is putting a large tent up and taking it down again, the bit in between staring at the scenery or the stars is just fine.
I did hear what my friend who sold it me said when I bought it "It's pretty big mate" but I had not realised that I had bought what amounts to a portable garage!
Seriously this thing is huge! After putting it up, using the odd stern word or two, then standing back to see the enormity of it I went back to check the actual dimensions on the bag it came in.

Five meters long by three point six meters wide...it is huge! And to think Wifey was worried about where to put a porta loo in it saving a night time trudge across a campsite waking yourself up to use the loo.
Seriously I could park a Land Rover in it if the weather was bad...I wonder if I could get away with that?



nickysmith.me

Can you not strip a lot of the sub frame off the new seats and fit the original runners to the bottom instead?

Nope still too high. Hey ho not a massive worry just one of those things!

Back to the Brakes.
The 110 Posted by Nicky Smith Tue, August 16, 2016 13:35:44
That damned Discovery has been taking up my time and cash once again getting it prepped for it's MOT that should never have been seeing as I bought it as a rot box last year to see me through one winter then strip it for parts. So after extensive welding across the board and new brakes it now has twelve months on it giving me a little breathing room while I sell the bike.
Once a new little commuter car rolls in, after the bike sale, the Disco will become nothing but an off road toy that I need not worry about breaking and boy oh boy am I going to have some fun with it then!

Today the sun was shining high in the sky so I sorted out the wood work that needed painting in the kitchen then my attention turned to the 110 front brake caliper bolt that was rounded off. Now being a smarty alec I had bought myself some of these special "get a rounded bolt out easily" sockets to make the job easy and with a great deal of confidence I set to removing that rusty nut.
After some initial buggering about trying to get the special socket into place finding there was next to no room to put the extension bar on, I realised that I had not turned the wheel onto full lock hence restricting my work space.
After calling myself a few choice names including dumbass I popped my super socket on expecting fantastic things.
I was mistaken.
All it did was chew up the rusty nut some more but not to be defeated on this I kissed the twenty odd quid I had spent on these self proclaimed excellent tools goodbye then went back to my disposable socket drawer to grab a much smaller one than the bolt along with my rather large hammer.

Several rather satisfying whacks later the normal smaller sized socket was fitted snugly into place over the bolt with a couple of extension bars put on for good measure.



I figured I was going to get only one shot on this rusty lump so I wanted as much leverage as I could muster. I applied some right arm strength soon hearing a welcome crack and the nut started to turn.

I knew I would not have the time to change the disc and pads today but getting this nut out now leaves me with a job I can hop onto one morning this week. I did replace all of the caliper bolts on both sides while I was under there so I would not be faced with this problem once again when it comes around to new pads in the future.


Another small job knocked off of the list and I also managed to dispose of my ill fitting seats to a very grateful scrap man this morning who wants to fit them into his transit van to make it more comfy.
Each to their own eh...

nickysmith.me

That Didn't Last Long.
The 110Posted by Nicky Smith Sat, August 20, 2016 14:17:27
Do you recall me saying that that was enough with the Discovery and I would not be spending anymore money on it? Well it proved me wrong in the space of sod all....I think it may well be female.

I got a wheel wobble again, quite badly. Upon further investigation with the help of a good friend we discovered that the hub on the passenger side was no longer round, it was more of an egg shape that allowed the bearing race to spin upon itself inside the hub quite merrily. A quick temporary fix later saw the wheel wobble free for about half a mile then it came back once again with a vengeance.

With a heavy heart along with a fast dwindling bank balance I set off to collect a nice shiny new hub and bearing set. When I got home my youngest daughter started off making the dinner (Spag Bol) whilst I set to changing the hub over underneath the car port so I could shout instructions on how to cook the food as this was her first time having a go at cooking it.

The old hub dropped out no problem at all which is not surprising considering how many times it has been on and off over the past few months buggering about with bearings etc and the new one was soon into place because I had already built it up before starting the strip down. Brake caliper was soon put back on along with the wheel, which saw me hopping into the drivers seat to take it for a quick spin hopefully having fixed all of its juddery braking issues in one foul swoop.
That hope died as soon as I got up to a decent speed and braked. The juddering was still there and quite frankly if I had had a gallon of petrol and a match at this point Blue the Disco would have been no more.
I dragged it home and had the wheel off again, I swear that I will be the first person ever to actually wear out a set of wheel nuts because they have been on and off more times than a whore's knickers, looking into the general hub area seeing what else I could have possibly missed. My youngest shouted dinner was ready and it was then when I was a little distracted I saw the black line between the inner brake pad and disc.

I reached forward and sure enough there was a good few millimetres space there, I grabbed a torch and looked done the back of the pad to see the caliper pistons sat right back in their housing not moving an inch regardless of what pressure was put upon them.
On a plus point the Spag Bol was superb so my daughter has made a rod for her own back here because I think it is now time she learnt to cook a few more meals as she is on her school holidays.

So another trip to Paddocks to get a new complete caliper unit because I was way way past messing around now and with that fitted this morning I got once again back into the drivers seat for a spin. With nothing left but a silent wish that finally I would be able to stop without fighting with my steering wheel to stay in a straight line I set off up the road into the national speed limit building up a good run to 60mph.

I nearly put myself through the windscreen if I am honest. I really didn't expect that it would have worked but it did and very well at that. There's a horrible brake squeal that's developed but I don't really care anymore, folks will just hear me coming. Their eardrums may well explode from the high pitched resonance but they will not miss me that's for sure.

The Disco is set for the winter now along with the quiet collection of parts that I am slowly building up to make it an good off roading toy.

But what has this got to do with the 110 I hear you thinking to yourselves, all he has done is talk about his Discovery.
Well the whole saga has taught me a lesson. I was going to clean up the calipers on the 110 saving myself a few pounds in the process then paint them. That is not going to happen now, nope, I will go and buy brand new calipers to go with the brand new discs and pads that are on it. I am not messing around with what ifs and maybes on the 110 oh no it will be a motor of mostly new parts where anything was needing repairing.
It will cost me a little more as I go along so this will add time to the rebuild but I do not want to be having to back track over work I have already done anytime soon once it is actually on the road.

min200 said:

After a quick poke around under the 110 whilst changing the rear wheel I noticed there is some rot on the tub where one of the out riggers attaches to it and I wondered if any of you good folks know whether or not me just popping a patch in there without welding the ally up is ok or not? If not I am going to have an issue seeing as I cannot weld ally...

Still no point in worrying, if I need to change the rear tub so be it because this 110 of mine is going to be the mutts when it is finished...

nickysmith.me

Click to expand...

Have a look here.

http://www.yrm-metal-solutions.co.uk/epages/BT4822.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/BT4822/Categories

Front Brakes and Fiats.
The 110 Posted by Nicky Smith Wed, August 31, 2016 08:13:37
Yesterday was officially the 11th day of my 12 day holiday, it was also the first that I managed to get anywhere near the 110. What with climbing Snowdon, hiking in the Peak District, visiting family and generally being all round busy!

After I had replaced the bearings discs and pads on one side of the 110 a few weeks ago the calipers looked more than a little shabby so I nipped off to Paddocks to collect a new pair first thing in the morning. That done I decided to tackle the drivers side wheel first as I had not done anything to that. The sun was shining but I was still sat in the shade on the driveway keeping cool and when I whipped off the wheel the sight I was greeted with was a combination of rust, rust, and more rust!



I swear that this motor must have been dropped into salt water at some point in the past and left there for a few months.
I am now a well practised hand at stripping out hubs along with replacing wheel bearings so that job was done in next to no time at all.
The caliper was next so I put on my useless brake hose clamp that clamp nothing at all once I had removed the old caliper so that left me with a finger over the end of the pipe to stop the flow whilst stretching far far away in contortions that a yoga teacher would of been proud of trying to reach the new unit.
That was on soon enough though and the brake pipe itself was in good condition so no need to change that over yet.





I quick bit of copper grease to the back of the brake pads and the final finish looks very well too, all nice and shiny!

Drivers side done I headed around top the passenger side but this was nice and straight forward as all I had to do here was change the caliper over.


With the front brakes now bled through I have a reasonable chance of stopping when I shunt the 110 around the drive which is a bonus as I don't think Wifey would be too pleased with it ending up in the front room!

At this point my mobile rang and it was the dealership calling telling me that the little Fiat 500 that I had bought for Wifey, as I was stealing her Sandero to commute to work and back in now because I am walking away from riding motorbikes for a while, would be ready late that afternoon. Me being the soppy romantic sod I am from time to time then arranged to have it delivered to her at home as a surprise (got to get those brownie points in when you can folks). That done I realised that I would have to play some musical motors on the driveway, so the 110 is now sat in it's new spot under the car port where I can now potter on with it whatever the weather and when I actually get five minutes to myself!

The Fiat turned up, many brownie points to me, and we all have more than we could have ever wished for. Sometimes I step back and look at what the last six months has done to change my life then I realise how lucky I really am...

nickysmith.me