When you do finally get round to it, and you melt all that dinitrol with your welder and its running out like water and sticking to everything in sight, that will make your wait worthwhile.

Good work there Min, I wish I'd just bought a similar rear chassis, instead of weeks of messing around with what I had.

Brown said:

I've always wondered how the wiring looms fare through all this recreational chassis welding one sees on Landyzone. Not just the wiring looms either. All those little rubber tubes for things like fuel and brake fluid must get a bit hot sometimes too. I feel a bit left out because I don't have great gaping holes in my chassis, because rather foolishly I selected one which was at the time still fairly new and wasn't too rusty. Unfortunately now with all the Dinitrol I've slathered all over it, I could have to wait years before I'm merrily hacking the crossmember off. Of course, I entertain myself by replacing bearings, bushes, seals and the like, but there's nothing quite the same as a big chassis job.

Click to expand...

Sure and look at all the fun the rest of the trattors have tracing all those intermittent faults caused by said overheating. You really are missing out.

Well, with a bit of luck I might be able to ignite the Dinitrol with the welder, as it says in the safety sheet that it has a low flashpoint. So I could be in for an experience that warms the cockles of my heart or at least enables me to be overcome by fumes.

Brown said:

Well, with a bit of luck I might be able to ignite the Dinitrol with the welder, as it says in the safety sheet that it has a low flashpoint. So I could be in for an experience that warms the cockles of my heart or at least enables me to be overcome by fumes.

Click to expand...

Would make a change a trattor setting his car on fire. It's normal procedure for us Freelander boys, especially those stupid enough to buy a K series.
But never mind our stupidity, Min is doing a crackin job there and still loving the updates.
Keep em coming mate.

Poor you having a solid chassis must be a nightmare!!!! What do you donwith your days off??? Lol
On the chassis replacement there are two vertical bars about 50mm in so I chose to set up the loom in place so that it was not resring on any metal at all because there was no way I would have been able to feed the wiring through properly atfter it was welded up. Hopefully this will be enough to see it through. We will find out over the next couple of days....
And thanks folks for the praise but honestly I just fumble through most of the time!!

min200 said:

Poor you having a solid chassis must be a nightmare!!!! What do you donwith your days off??? Lol
On the chassis replacement there are two vertical bars about 50mm in so I chose to set up the loom in place so that it was not resring on any metal at all because there was no way I would have been able to feed the wiring through properly atfter it was welded up. Hopefully this will be enough to see it through. We will find out over the next couple of days....
And thanks folks for the praise but honestly I just fumble through most of the time!!

Click to expand...

I was just so naive when I started. I read all this stuff all over the internet about checking carefully for rust damage when you're buying one. I thought this meant it was a bad idea to buy one with rust so I looked at several locally that I decided not to proceed with because of holes or poor patching, and then went some distance away and got one whose chassis had only very minor surface rust and still had original factory paint and sticky labels on it. Of course, what everybody meant when they said check for rust was to select the one whose chassis most resembled an orange doily so you can spend three or four years intensively welding it and then spend the best part of £2k on a galvanised jobbie anyway.

Yes yes that's it Brown! When reading advice on the internet on buying a used Land Rover you must always do the exact opposite!
Oh you daft bugger fancy buying one that needed no work doing to it what so ever, I mean that only leaves you to spend your time and money fitting new toys and enjoy driving it!
At least you will know better now next time...

Lazing & Loitering
The 110 Posted by Nicky Smith Wed, January 20, 2016 16:31:13
My body has caught up! I woke up early around 4:30am needing to pee, which in itself shows the years are marching on because I never used to have to wake up and pee during the night but it is now becoming an all to regular occurrence, then I hopped back into bed thinking there was no way I would be able drop back off but drop off I did not waking until Wifeys alarm jolted me out of a very nice dream involving working in my own very large garage on the 110 at 07:45.

Bright eyed and bushy tailed I hopped out of bed made a cup of tea then thought "Bugger this" and hopped back into bed with me brew to watch the news. The news was crap but relaxing with a little internet time in no rush to get up or do anything was just what the Doctor ordered.

But I could not be doing this all day so after a while I was up and about again looking what to do with my day seeing as it was wide open before me. I started by putting the freshly charged battery on the eldest daughters 125 which fired up a treat and then I grabbed my little tin of Hammerite to give the Disco's nudge bar thing another quick coat of paint as the last one I put on was a bit thin in places showing a little rust through it.


That done I remembered the 110 fuel tank could do with a lick of paint and seeing as I had the kit out now I may as well give that a quick once over before I put it all away.



It looked a lot better once done.



The pick up pipe broke off in a rusty mess when I removed the tank so I have spoken to Paddocks who have one in stock so I will pop over there in the morning to collect that and a couple of other bits I need as well.
Seeing as I was out and loitering on the driveway I decided to sort out the wiring under the chassis for the rear lights.
This started with trying to fish out the rubber from inside the chassis that protected the wiring loom and after a few rather blue minutes I had managed to get it all the way through.



I did not mean to leave it on the wrong side of the chassis in the first place but hey I am human and forgot before I welded the lot up! So once I had it out I could then set it right which took all of thirty seconds with two flat headed screwdrivers.



Then I looked at the wires realising I had taken sod all notice of what went were before I removed them in the first place and thought "bugger this" again and decided to get the dog and go for a walk in the woods. Much to my surprise my daughter even came along for the 3.2 mile stroll which pleased me no end as we had time for a good catch up.






The sunshine was stunning today through the trees and considering I was not going to do much of anything Land Rover wise I managed to get quite a bit done!

Scrap & ****e Traffic.
The 110 Posted by Nicky Smith Thu, January 21, 2016 16:22:21
Well it's Thursday already to all of you normal folk but Saturday for me again! The week has been a bit funny time wise I feel like it's Thursday/Saturday already! but also it's onlyThursday/Saturday and I have got loads done!

Either way it is what it is, with the winter frosts still holding fast as I woke up at stupid o'clock again to a world of white in fact it was that white this morning I did a double take to make sure it had not actually snowed overnight but thankfully no it's just freezing. The week so far has been a touch on the fresh side working on the driveway but today we had a bit of wind as well that really cut through you as you lay under the Land Rover.

I am getting ahead of myself here though so lets back track to first thing when the garage collected my daughters 125cc bike to take it away for it's first MOT. I have not heard from them so far so hopefully all is well there and it will be dropped back off tonight.
There was quite a pile of scrap metal amassed in the back garden so I dragged it all onto the front of the driveway as there are lots of scrap metal folks who drive up and down the ring road so it never hangs around long.

There was just a small pile so I set a little note on it reading "Scrap Metal (not the Land Rovers!) which always seems to attract a bit of attention.


There was going to be a quick trip to Paddock Spares this morning for a few bits so I could get the tank back in place and the 110 running again before tomorrow and the predicted rains that should be coming. I needed to get a pick up pipe thing for the top of the tank (I forget the correct name now), a tank cradle because mine never came with one and I am informed they should really be fitted along with another rear spring base.
No problem I thought to myself just a quick pop there and back again not forgetting the jubilee clips that I needed from Halfords on the way home.

08:45 I left my house for what at worst should have been a 90 minute trip all in...
11:50 I got back onto my driveway.

You may think I stopped for some kind of fun along the way or got distracted by something pretty and exciting but oh no dear reader it was the typical "Nick is out on his own driving so lets send out the "Delay Him and Wind Him Up Squad"
Honestly you could not make it up! As soon as I got into to Derbyshire on lanes with no chance of overtaking for ten miles I came upon a learner bus driver.
Now this in itself is not an issue we all have to learn and start some where, oh no the issue was the fact the bus never went faster than 20 mph STOPPED every time traffic came from the opposite direction and took every corner at approx 4mph...have you ever been to Derbyshire? there is a corner every 30 yards! The instructor needed a slap because there were many places to pull in and let the tailback of of 30 plus cars pass by taking pressure off of the learner themself and the frustration of all of the people behind them away.
You could see the panic on the learners face as he looked in the mirror every 10 seconds the poor bugger! So no where to pass for ten miles and that's how far it was behind the bus.

Still no problem I enjoyed the scenery then when the time came up I passed the bus quite easily rounded two bends and hit a long line of traffic waiting at temporary lights that let through three cars at a time in either direction. Trying not to lose my cool now I looked again at the rolling hills of frozen white and went over my order list again in my head. My turn to rush through the lights came and soon I was stood at Paddocks service desk all keen to buy the parts I needed and head home, the problem was I was the only person stood at the service desk. I rang the bell and waited, rang it again waiting some more, then I rang it again a bit more insistently and still no one came. After ten minutes of this crap I just rang the bell...constantly. Funnily enough within 20 seconds someone popped their head through the door and asked "Are you being seen to?" to which I replied with my nicest smile "Nope".

All of the parts showed on-line as in stock so of course I only managed to come away with the pick up pipe thing some nuts and bolts along with the spring plate. Maybe it was payback for sitting on their bell. Never mind I was in no rush for the tank cradle I could just bolt the bugger back into place like it was when I bought it for now.
I had to get back home first so sod going back the way I had come in I was going to go through Matlock & Matlock Bath instead.

Yea, that was a mistake.

To cut a long story short we will just go with multiple road works, temporary road surfaces, several temporary sets of lights, three tractors with trailers and a horse riding school that must have been out on a charity event to see how many horses they could get in a line two wide whilst riding from Matlock to Nottingham.

I nearly forgot to get the jubilee clips but remembered at the last minute!

Right then I was home and hungry now which was not surprising as it was now lunchtime so refuelling was done first then I got the fuel tank out to fit the new part to it.
All 5 screws easily came undone on the old pick up pipe part then it was replaced along with the new gasket and off under the 110 I went. When people ask me next week where I went for my holiday I will reply with "Under my 110" because I know just about every bit under there now!

Soon enough the tank was in place with the fuel pipes attached.


At this point I did wonder to myself whether I had the fuel pipes the correct way around or not so que me chasing the pipework back from the front to check but everything looked good..I think. Once the filler and return was plumbed in I set my attention to the nearside spring seat, this was ok-ish that's why I had not replaced it at the same time as it's opposite but then I thought if I am going to do this I may as well do it bang on right.

It took just minutes to undo the shock pop the spring out grind the old bolts off and put it all back together again. I then took away the axle stands the whole chassis has been resting on for weeks and weeks and for the first time since changing all of the suspension for new it sat on all of it's own rubber....lopsided.



It does not look much in the pictures but there is a definite lean to the near side of an inch or two. It may be the spring or shock but both are new and I fitted it as it should be done with the correct spring on it's labelled side.

So if anyone has any ideas or if I have done something glaring obviously wrong please feel free to rip the mick out of me but shout up with what it is too please

In all honestly after the type of day it has been I was not surprised or overly bothered either so I popped off to the Petrol station and grabbed six litres of Diesel and chucked it into the 110 to see if I could get it running once again.

I did not prime the pump, I did not bleed the fuel system either because I had taped up the end of each fuel pipe as I removed it from the tank so other than a little bit of air I figured what the hell lets just go for it and fire it up using what was already sat in the lines.

It has been a few weeks since it was last started up so I turned the key to the preheat setting for a good 20 seconds then clicked it forward once more and it fired into life! After a few seconds I increased the revs a bit so that if any air in the system did work it's way through hopefully it would keep going until the diesel hit home once again self bleeding as it went.

I need not of worried as it ran fine and true with no hiccups and very surprisingly no smoke when cold. There is only clean fuel in there now so maybe the fuel I took out of it was really old...you remember that fuel...I put it in the Discovery...best top that up then eh to thin the old stuff down a bit.

So there I sat happy as a pig in poo until I got out of the drivers door to see a small puddle of diesel on the floor under the bulkhead.



That was soon traced to a small split in the brittle fuel line that must have happened when I was messing around with the tank at the back pulling pipes in all directions as I worked on the chassis. No worries I just taped it up for now which is holding and I will replace all of the fuel lines from front to back before I am done.

It has been a good week on the old boy, all of the major rebuild structural work is now done so the road ahead now lies with the more enjoyable mechanical rebuild bits. I still have to finish under sealing the whole chassis but the rot has been dealt with and the rest will be plain sailing because I now have a good base to build upon.
I bought this 110 thinking it would be a quick "patch it up & play" motor but it would appear that I was very wrong. My heart sank at the thought of another rebuild I did not think I had it in me again so soon but as we have got to know each other I have started to enjoy myself once again. The old boy is growing on me.
What this says about me God only knows but there is no rush to be done with this and it will be done right, it is being rebuilt for me and only me not a sympathetic resto like the last one nope I am thinking of what I want to use it for and what I want to do in it.

So far I have no idea...

Some springs are handed to accommodate driver weight and tbox etc and cause a tilt to nearside when empty (i.e. without driver)

Thanks Jam

Looking good, mine smoked when I got it, it had half a tank of red! All new fuel system and I get no smoke at all now which seems very odd. And halfords? You must be richer than you're letting on!

lol Halfords was the closest place for teh clips and with the trade card they are cheap enough in a pinch. Rich??? I have three daughters and a Wife mate need I say more?

I almost understand, I have 3 kids but we're still living in sin

min200 said:

lol Halfords was the closest place for teh clips and with the trade card they are cheap enough in a pinch. Rich??? I have three daughters and a Wife mate need I say more?

Click to expand...

Sorry mate, didn't you mean a Wife, three daughters and TWO BLOODY LANDROVERS!!!!!

Upon reflection yes Alibro..Yes that is exactly what I meant lol

Discokids said:

I almost understand, I have 3 kids but we're still living in sin

Click to expand...

I remember what living in sin was like...fun

Wet Dogs & Downpours.
Musings Posted by Nicky Smith Fri, January 22, 2016 11:31:20
The rain came hard and fast about twenty minutes after I woke up this morning and Wifey asked "What are you going to do all day today then?"

"I will find something" was my reply.

I am not averse to a bit of weather so once I had finished doing a couple of chores around the house I threw the dog into the Disco sent Wifey a text telling I was off to the riverside to which she replied "Only you would not let the weather get in the way of what you want to do" and do you know what she is quite right!

As I drove towards Hoveringham with my daft dog whimpering with barely self controlled excitement in the back I cast my mind back to a conversation I had had with one of my offspring about v-logs or vlogs or some other stupid name they called videos of yourself put up on the internet saying interesting things.

Now being a chap who has many many interesting things to say I thought to myself "I should have a stab at this so once I got out of the Disco with the dog running around the riverside like a loony I set to trying to figure out how to use my phone like a big boy and set it to video (see I still use retro words like video instead of film so I am certainly very interesting in my mind and not a forty something embarrassing Dad at all) and this quickly ended up with me taking a picture of myself looking directly up my own nostrils.

Ha! I had now turned the camera on so I was half way there. Now all I had to do with the rain starting to really hammer down well more sideways really was to turn it to video... This I figured out in ten short minutes and I made a little film clip all of my own...



As you can see the cinematic experience is astounding along with my verbal diarrhoea I mean commentary and the positioning of the microphone so it catches the wind just right obscuring my voice completely!

So at this point I felt like a grown up with hacker like skills it was like watching the old film War Games but condensed to my mobile phone, hmm if only I could time travel back and show off my super modern technology but knowing my luck I would just be arrested then tortured and dissected on suspicion of being an alien.
But such thoughts were short lived as I remembered that these on-line V-log vlog whatever people video'd themselves. This was the start of another five minutes of me trying to figure out how I took that photo of myself and my nostrils earlier again.

Now not to blow my own trumpet or anything I managed to do it whilst walking in the rain and simultaneously not falling into the river but I am bloody sure the old bloke in the second clip is not me because I am young and dashingly handsome and dear people I do not sound like that!



I don't know who that fella is but we will let him stay for now. The dog then decided that she was no where near smelly wet or muddy enough so she started to jump in and out of the river, a quick bit of fumbling (steady..) and I had the video camera facing the right way around again to capture this priceless moment to bore you all with...



You watched it didn't you...go on admit it it's ok I wont tell anyone...as long as you paypal me a fiver a week for the rest of my days that is Nah don't worry about it I would have watched it as well.

I really had taken the Discovery and have a picture to prove it...


I bloody love that motor I really do and I have not the foggiest idea why? It was supposed to be a winter car that would be disposed of in a few months but each and every time I drive it it brings a big smile to my face.
Early onset something gone wrong with my head maybe? or the Land Rover bug has got me harder than I thought.

So there you have it av-log vlog thing-ish. Maybe I could do one when I am buggering about under the 110 but I am not sure if I could work all of those fancy touch screen button things in the right order with a welder in my right hand...

www.nickysmith.me

Steering Wheels & Sewing
Musings Posted by Nicky Smith Fri, January 22, 2016 13:42:27
As I sat eating my lunch after such a strenuous morning the postman unceremoniously dumped a few parcels through the door. Now this is not unusual as my darling daughters seem to keep Ebay afloat with the junk they buy on there and indeed there were a few packages from far flung countries but just one had my name on it.

Now before Christmas I was looking for a steering wheel cover on-line for the Discovery because the back of the steering wheel itself has not fared well over it's nearly 200,000 mile life.

Each time I touch it I think of all the other peoples grimy hands that have been on there causing it to wear out so badly, well either wear out or react with...jeez I think I am going to be sick. You may have guessed by now that I am a bit of a germ freak and I needed something to fit on there that covers all of those nasty bugs up, well the package for me in the post today was my nice new steering wheel cover.



I opened the wrapping to find it sat there complete with sewing needle and cotton...hang on needle and cotton?? Right then looks like I am doing a bit of sewing I mean I have been playing with a welder all week so what could go wrong?


I eagerly got to the Disco and offered it up to wrap around the wheel but it was at least 5 inches too short! Now this does not surprise me at all because the only other thing I have bought from another country was a spare wheel cover and this too came up small so why this did not cross my mind when I ordered this I don't know!
Not to be beaten when I was so close from being away from the nastiness of the steering wheel that has had me wearing gloves when driving it since I have owned it ( I am not that mad honest the Doctor said I was fine) I just cut the cover and decided to sew on what I had for now until I bought something else after pay day.

Well it has been many many years since I have had to sew anything but a button and this soon showed with me getting the cotton tied up in knots, caught on all of the levers it could find and sewing my thumb up with a practically blunt needle...twice.

The finished product though well what a sight to behold it was! No seriously what a sight it was I mean a blindfolded toddler peeling a banana could have done a better job than me!


I am not convinced that it will even stay on but I managed to use all of the thread so fingers crossed for now. Hopefully it will come off quicker than it went on.



Here's another v-log/vlog I need something to call these thing as well. Feel free to rip me apart because that cover is just well.....

Dangerous? I can just see you driving along, turn a corner and your cover comes off! Turns eith your hands but the wheel stays still. Now if you had welded it on..........