Spot the Difference.
The 110 Posted by Nicky Smith Sun, March 06, 2016 15:35:12
It was time for the bike to come out of storage. OK I know it's still cold and damp along with the odd snow shower but I missed the feel of the wind and the fun of the ride so out it has come. It's taxed insured and back for a bit of fun.
I cleaned it then got it started after an initial bit of a sulk on it's part as it pulled fresh fuel through. A quick titivate with a dab of paint here and there had it looking well so this morning I hopped on and set off in no particular direction to have a play.

Before I parked it up for the winter it felt like the bike was trying to kill me but after today's ride I realise now that a big part of it might actually be me. You see today I had a good think about my riding style whilst on it and once I stopped trying to ride it like all of the sports bikes I have owned in the past and started to ride it like the tourer/adventure bike it is, it stopped trying to kill me and cornered very well indeed!
After a good few miles were under my belt I pulled over to stretch my legs and get the blood flowing through my fingers again and took time to have a good look at it once again.


I was home soon enough with the bike tucked up for a few more days sleep and I stood there wondering what to do with the rest of the day between the snow showers.
I had put up the 110 and Disco for a possible swap yesterday but seeing as the offers are not coming in thick and fast of a brand new 110 for my two old knackers I will put the 110 on the back burner just grabbing some work from time to time.

This afternoon was a "Time to time" so I got out a couple of tools and did a little on the back end of it but lets play a game. Can you spot the difference?

Yes. You've turned it on its side. I assume this is to make welding the chassis easier?

Lol yep you've got it

Damn, I thought you'd taken the Land~Rover oval off!

That would indeed be another one One more thing left though...

its got more crap inside?

You've moved it further down the drive?

Well both of those things and one more!

Somebody's tidied up a bit underneath it.
There's a sticker in the driver's side rear window that seems to have gone in the lower photo.

I give in.

Brown said:

Somebody's tidied up a bit underneath it.
There's a sticker in the driver's side rear window that seems to have gone in the lower photo.

Click to expand...

That would be it then The dog has gone!

Axles & Angles.
The 110 Posted by Nicky Smith Sat, March 12, 2016 19:45:05
Well what a week. To say it has been busy is an understatement. Work is flat out with lots of retraining of drivers then add to that the fantastic fun that is buying a house well it's been a real blast of late.
The best thing I have had to prove to my solicitors of late is that I have the deposit for my mortgage. So I went to the bank to get them to copy my account passbook to give that to my solicitor who could then confirm to my bank that I hold that account with them so that the same bank that I bank with can then authorise a mortgage with themselves after the confirmation from my solicitors that the money is in an account that I have with them. Does "Jobs for the Boys" ring a bell for anyone here?
Best to leave them to get on with it all eh!

Meanwhile in the real world I had more than my usual number of chores today because I have been working well into the evenings all week my little tribe had a long list of things they wanted help with when I woke up this morning. But the day had a most definite hint of spring to it when I looked outside so I was determined to try and find some time to do anything I could think of on the 110. Turned out that that was much much later than I expected but I had noticed that the rear salisbury (I think that's right) was very very rusty so I wanted to grind it all back to see if it was still viable.

When I say very very rusty I really do mean so rusty that I would not of been surprised if I worked my way through to the inside of it by the time I was finished...


I chiselled it off as well as grinding it off and much to my disappointment more and more rust fell away in big chunks. Then it stopped just before I had hit the far side of the axle it felt lie! There were no leaks which surprised me but I had convinced myself that the diff must be empty of oil so I cracked it open for a quick look. What I found was crystal clear oil so someone at some point must have looked after the mechanical side of this old motor even if they did not look after the rest of it very well.
Seeing as the worst of the rust was sorted I took to spraying it all back up into black.


The axle looks ok and probably is good for now but seeing as I have to rebuild all of the rear brake drums including back plates as well as changing all of the bearings at the same time I am left wondering whether or not it would be a better idea to replace the whole thing with a different axle along with disc brakes.

After getting Wifey to fish the rust out of my right eye I realised that I had plenty of daylight left so seeing as I had the tools out what could I do next?
I decided on cutting the rusty bits off of the rear tub capping's as they bug the hell out of me each time I look at them!



Ideally I could replace these capping's eventually but I wondered how far back I would have to chase the rust so I could see if something could be fabricated up instead of spending money. The nearside was not too bad but the offside was rotten quite away's along though.




I am looking forward to get stuck into the mechanical rebuild now but that will have to wait until the house move is done and I am running out of little jobs to do! No swaps were forthcoming so I have been putting some serious thought into what I can do with it as a more long term project. I am leaning towards more of an overlander feel so if and as this has become more long term I suppose I really should go down the TDI route as well.
www.nickysmith.me ©

I wouldn't put discs on the back just for the sake of it, mud gets trapped and acts like grinding paste. On road go for it though I had thought that off roading was part of the remit, just don't write drums off per se.

Off roading was originally part of the remit for it but if I do more of an overlander theme with the 110 I can then make an off road monster out of the Discovery seeing as it is now a bit "crunchy" in quite a few places. What would be the best axle to use for a disc conversion?

Spring Sunshine.
The 110 Posted by Nicky Smith Sun, March 13, 2016 18:55:10
Spring is most definitely on its way and today it made it's presence felt through the blue skies and sunshine that had some warmth to it.
So what better way to start it off than popping off up into Derbyshire to have a good nose around a car boot then after grabbing some sandwiches and a cake hiking up to the top of High Tor so we could sit down enjoying the view whilst we ate...


I cannot wait to move closer to this area so we can explore it fully without the ridiculously long drive to do it. There will be plenty of hiking, cycling as well as canoeing and quite frankly I cannot wait for it!

The thing with all of that fresh air though is you end up quite yawny so we headed home for a relaxing afternoon which for me meant soon standing next to all of the motors deciding on what I could do first.

I changed over a knackered intercooler pipe on the Discovery then it was onto fitting new clips that a friend had dropped off onto the 110's air filter. That went on easily finally giving the old 2.5 N/A engine it's air the way it was supposed to. A quick turn of the key and it fired up into life without missing a beat even though it has been standing for quite some time.



Whilst I was stood there looking into the engine bay I was trying to decide if it is possible to move the battery in there to save buggering about modifying the new passenger seat I have lined up so I can remove the base of it to access the current battery box. But where would you mount the battery under the bonnet? It already looks crowded under there so any advice on that would be much appreciated!

After checking over the doors, all three of them, it does indeed seem they will all need extensive work on them so they will have to be replaced. I have the bottoms of the front doors but will need a rear door as well as both door tops...best get bargain hunting again then.

© www.nickysmith.me

Either leave the battery where it is and fit something like an Anderson connector or fit/make a side locker and stick it in there or even a quick release seat mount, personally I wouldn't bother sticking it under the bonnet

Jam you are the second person to talk about a side locker in as many minutes and this is a really good idea that I had not even considered! I may well have to have a hunt around the internet for one now

Nuts & Needles.
The 110 Posted by Nicky Smith Sat, March 19, 2016 13:44:28
I'm stuck with the 110 as what to do before we move. I circle it most days in my mind looking in and around wondering what odd job could be completed so it can be ticked off of the long to do list and I am struggling to find much of anything at the moment except spending money that I simply do not have at the moment.

So I found myself once again online looking at what I cannot have when I came across an old vinyl record called "All Aboard!" that was given to me when I was around five or six years old as a Christmas present. Since getting a record player for Christmas I have seen this record from time to time but it turns out that it has become quite rare so the price was always out of my league.
This one though was in my range and with a best offer option so on a whim I sent a cheeky offer through which was instantly accepted!
A few days later it turned up in fantastic and with the most childish of grins on my face I set it to play whilst I settled down onto my comfy chair.



The memory cascade that came from hearing these tunes played in their original format took me back over the decades to childhood to see the house I grew up in listening to it in fantastic detail. The songs themselves though well, they would not make any playlists in today's world due to the nature of them and the fact that back then there was no political correctness in any form!
The simplicity of it though makes me feel that we were lucky to grow up back then away from the wonders of our modern technology. I am so very glad I did all of my stupid stuff without fearing that the pictures of it all would turn up more or less instantly on social media!

Still it was a nice buy but yet another week had passed with the 110 getting little more done to it so as I stood there looking into the back door wondering "What next?" I noticed the new seats I bought for it. They needed the bolts buying for fitting and securing them so I dug one out and headed off to the iron mongers to see if I could get some to fit.
I guessed at 10mm bolts but the chap at the shop popped out and measured them to confirm this. Eight bolts and the grand sum of £1.20 later and the seats are now set for fitting when the time actually comes around. It makes me wonder how these little places make a profit at all. They do seem to be becoming harder and harder to find now!

www.nickysmith.me

Rust & Rust
The 110 Posted by Nicky Smith Sun, March 20, 2016 17:54:18
Can I just say that if you ever end up in a position where you have one or two Land Rovers in really good condition do not make the mistake of selling either one or both of them. Don't get me wrong here I know hindsight is 20/20 but really folks just fix up any landy you have if it is on a good solid base.

The 110 has stalled because of the upcoming move which is quite frustrating. So I set my sights upon the Discovery boot floor that was looking a little ropey in the odd place so I set to removing the carpet and insulation to inspect the full extent of the problem there.
I wish I hadn't.
I started by pushing my fingers through the boot floor just about anywhere I wanted to. Then I checked the rear inner wheel arches and quickly wished I hadn't done that either.

Crawling underneath it I was horrified to find the extent of the "Hidden" welding that I had missed when I bought it on the chassis. There is patch after patch under there I mean the bloody thing must of been a rot box well before I bought it so here we are back again in rusty city.
The front inner wings are held together by the thickest layer of under seal I have ever seen!

So what to do with it. I can repair it again but that will involve a couple of hundred pounds worth of repair panels and home made patches with at least two days worth of work to do it. That is just the boot area not the chassis. The chassis itself is solid enough for now with it's many patches but that does look like a quilt under there. At best I reckon there is a one more year on the old boy tops before anything more terminal sets in providing can find at least something semi solid to weld to.

With moving house and the amount of work still needed on the 110 I guess that I should get saving for those repair panels...

www.nickysmith.me

Paint & Floors.
The 110 Posted by Nicky Smith Mon, March 21, 2016 13:34:25
I was feeling fed up this morning because I had a large chunk of time before work as I have the pleasure of back shifts this week. The problem with me when I am fed up is that making any sort of decision seems next to impossible. Shall I make a brew? or have some juice? Cheese on toast for lunch or beans on toast?
Sort through the sheds again or have a good look through the 110?

The 110 won out in the end but only because I could not decide what to do with myself so I wandered around to the driveway. I nosed through each of the windows and noticed that I had not yet refitted the front floor pans properly so it was back to the sheds to see if I had the nuts and bolts I needed. Turned out I had a far few kicking around so I set to on the floor pans drilling holes in the new foot wells.



It turned out to be an easy job really and quite enjoyable to boot. Funny how something so simple can make you feel a whole lot better about the progress you are making.
I dug out what was left of my grey oxide primer and gave the floor pans a good coating.



There was literally just enough in the can to do the floors so that has been added to the "Need to buy it" list.

I am getting more and more tempted to strip down the front axles, replace the radius arms and then rebuild them all before we move. I shall keep an eye on the weather and decide as the week goes by.