back lights and Birthdays
Main
Posted by min200 Tue, September 02, 2014 09:20:33


Have you seen the weather out there today? It's glorious! The sun is shining in a clear blue cloudless sky. Can you imagine having this sort of day to do as you please no work a days holiday booked, I can imagine it and I can also tick most of those boxes but my there is some fuss on in the house today because my eldest daughter is turning 18.

You would think that it was an important event the way they are all going in this house and the fuss that is coming form me posting this picture on her facebook page is unbelievable!




Cant see what the fuss is about myself?

Anyway the best thing about today is that the women in my household do like a lie in when they get the chance (lazy gits really) so I walked the dog and then got stuck into having a look at my number plate light housing. The old one was a bit broken and rusty.



First I had to remove the protective cover cunningly held on by a single 8mm nut



This exposed the back of the old housing so a quick turn of a couple of nuts




and its off with the old




then on with the new part. I did think about replacing this with a genuine Land Rover part but after costing it all up and deciding that that small mortgage could wait for another day I "acquired" the bit I fitted from a mechanic friend for the price of a cup of tea...that I made with his stuff

I did have to drill a new hole but hey that's a small price to pay for saving some cash.




just need to fill that little hole and touch up the paint work and all is good.

Well apparently we are going out for brunch I have just been told and there is some threat of shopping going on as well god help me. Why oh why could I not have had a whole brood of sons?

Do I line them up?
Main
Posted by min200 Sat, September 06, 2014 20:23:31


I am in a bit of a quandary this evening. One Land Rover does always lead to another BUT I didn't think it would happen this soon. There is maybe an opportunity to acquire an 88" model as well at a good price that would need nothing more than a few hours work to get back onto the road.

This would have me charging around off road this side of Christmas and leave the 109" on the drive for a more leisurely rebuild...

Oh what to do?

Come on folks throw a little advice my way here!

Buy it!

Buy it

You can never have too many Land Rovers.
Especially series ones at that.

Well I missed out on it anyway
But then someone has told me about another 109 so maybe there will be another lol

min200 said:

Well I missed out on it anyway
But then someone has told me about another 109 so maybe there will be another lol

Click to expand...

Yes, Because 1 Landrover is just never enough

well, firstly, belated birthday wished to your daughter...
my eldist girl is twice yours age, with another not far behind.
my sanity (oh rearly) is held together by my "little boy"
hes 44 now........lol
he leads me astray on all things motor scooter and aircooled VW`s..

ok, yep, you have the landy bug big time now my friend..

Not alot doing.
Main
Posted by min200 Tue, September 09, 2014 08:42:17


I haven't really had a chance to do much this past week because of the way the wonderful new shift pattern falls at work to include Saturdays. This shift pattern is so good it is already failing leaving trunks with no drivers at all times of the day and we did point this out before it was implemented but we were just "moaning drivers who don't like change".

Don't get me wrong we are moaning drivers and we don't like any sort of change especially if it includes making us work weekends but we are not thick and we can see what's in front of our faces even if the kids fresh out of Uni with a bit of paper that says they are transport managers cannot. Bless em 22 years old and know it all, they can't drive a truck everywhere is half an inch away on a map "Birmingham to Carlise only an hour or so" and still struggle to find their own asses whilst Mummy does their washing because they still live at home with mounting students debts BUT we drivers are the thickos with no idea...you have to laugh!

Still enough moaning I have had a chance to spray up the old Jerry can I bought in my specially designed spray booth...



It's come up quite well I think. I did consider using some of my left over nato green paint but then found out I did have any paint brushes so a black spray can that was kicking around it was!

Land Rovers are like buses and I have been offered two more in the last few days but after much thinking and worrying and cursing to myself I decided to buy one. The first an 88" had been sold and the second a 109" was in being stored in Lancaster so that put an end to that. For the best really as I have come too far with this old motor to get distracted now!

I'm making a list of parts I need for the Land Rover Show in Peterborough in a week or so and the primary bits will be the rest of the brake system rebuild along with a couple of nice defender seats that I will find for a tenner....oh no that was a dream I had last night.

A weekend off is looming so hopefully I can get a bit of the brake rebuild started.

Just turned 40.

happy birthday for just being 40 - a milestone....

thinking back 40 years (how long) is when I bought a brand new yamaha DT175.
was working days, lived on the very outskirts of north romford and could ride half way to work through forest and open common land....
was just 26 years old then, and raced mini rods - min
thinking back even more, I could fit in them then too, and get in & out through the glass less window holes ala General Lee style..





have a problem getting in any car at the mo, got a leg that dont like bending - such is life..

I turned 40 last year but just called the blog it when I first bought the webspace...thought it had a nice ring to it

The big 41 is fast approaching but hell age really is just a number and it took me some time to get that through my midlife crisis!

Time to live well and we do do that now. There is always something to do at the weekend and there is so much to see! 26 years old...just a memory now lol

Postage & Steering
Main
Posted by min200 Sat, September 13, 2014 17:54:54


I love the internet. I love being able to hop on it and order what I need knowing it will turn up a couple of days later and I have not had to drive around to a few different places talking to teenage pleb ends who have no interest in what I want to buy or in giving the correct product let alone the time of day.

I do try and box clever with delivery though. I order stuff aiming for it to arrive when I am around the house to save that nightmare trip to the local sorting office to be met by a grown up pleb who will not be able to find my parcel amongst the piles of them they have hidden out of eyesight in these places.

My family don't share the same view on delivery they just order their crap normally from the other side of the world and then miss the delivery and moan like bloody hell until they have it in their hands and promptly forget about the tat they have bought in a couple of hours. My eldest daughter has done just that. She missed a parcel she just "HAD" to have today but she was at work all morning and the sorting office would be closed when she was done so the inevitable "Daaaadd" came out and I was forced to go and pick the bloody thing up this morning.

The thing is I had ordered a tank bag for the motorbike as I would need it for the charity week that's fast approaching and I had to collect some bits for the Landy this morning but "no great panic" I thought to myself as Wifey and the youngest will be in while I am out so all they have to do is answer the door and take it off of the postman.

No great task that is it?

Well I picked up a replacement fuel tank along with the funnel fittings and a set of steering bars then headed for the sorting office. All was going well and I was making good time until I arrived there. There were a few folk queuing all the way down the side of the building of course so my marathon 45 minute wait for a parcel I didn't want or need started. The one single pleb serving seemed to be illiterate which is a handy trait a post office building and seemed to look at pictures on his phone more than peoples collection cards. Stating my annoyance in a civil manner of course is probably why he took 5 minutes to have a cup of tea/collect my daughters parcel but I had it soon enough and escaped home to find a big red parcel collection note on my front door mat and my wonderful family still snoring in bed.

They still wonder why I am ****ed off! Back to the sorting office pleb on Monday morning for my tank bag it is then.

Still I had the chance of a couple of hours on the project today so firstly I had to spray up the new steering bars ready for fitting as the rust colour wasn't that fetching




Then I cleaned up and sealed the replacement fuel tank




The reason for changing from twin tanks to a single is because I want a filler neck. The idea of taking out both seat bases when I fuel up really is unappealing so while I am doing the rebuild of the fuel system which was everything but the fuel tank a little extra work is not a problem.

Then it was onto the steering bars. The original ones were banana shaped and god only knows how they ended up that way! I can only presume some monkey decided to strap it up on them or lift them with a fork lift!



The bends were pretty severe so much so the front wheels were facing inwards. The smaller bar came off easy enough but the longer bar decided it had to have the usual blood and pain sacrifice to the Landy gods before giving up.

One set of the replacement track rod ends were in reqally good condition but I will need to replace the ones on the longer bar but I have fitted the bar into place to keep everything in the right order and nit confuse myself!

They look well though and yes I know I am sad liking how my new steering bars look!



The wheels are straight now which is nice! I managed to swap these bars for an old wing skin I had kicking around which is always better than having to pay for them!

Of course then the Wife started shouting about how I had to get clean because we have to go and do something dull somewhere else so the tools were packed away and I took solace in the mental list I have of whats left to do.


***I have just realised that my costing list has not taken into account the refunds of money for the bits I have sold off of the Landy. I shall tot up what I have made and then add it as a credit to the costing's***


Landy Project Costs

Land Rover £375

Sanding Discs £11.70

Ignition Barrel £20

Heritage letter £21.75

2x Batteries and rear 1/4 light £35

Pair Battery Terminal Clamps £3.99

Floor pan nuts & bolts £6.50

Grinding disc £2.25

Under Seal £8.99

Complete set of lights £85

5 Litres Primer £24.99

4 Discovery Wheels £10.20

Rear Door £21.00

Front Door £20.00

Handbrake spring £1.50

2 Discovery wheels

Two seatbelts

Wing Mirror

2 Headlight surrounds

2 headlight frames £60

2 Front Doors £60

Nato Green Paint £36

Rear Window Seal and insert £9.99

Wiring connectors £3.00

2 tins of silver metal paint £7.00

Fuses & Sandpaper £4.50


5x tins black spray £5.00

5x more tins black spray £5.00

Clutch fluid

Exhaust putty

WD40 £8.49

Car Boot Bits £13

Front & rear shocks £59.45

Front & rear brake rebuild kits £81.62

Fuel tank & filler £40


TOTAL £1039.92


Just turned 40.

Sickness sunshine & shock absorbers
Main
Posted by min200 Sun, September 14, 2014 17:54:55


A full weekend off is a rare treat these days as work in the modern world takes no distinction from the days of the week.

Our plans for the day were to head off into Derbyshire on the motorbike as we were kid free as well for a change which gives us a chance to be Nick & Lian again instead of Muuuum and Daaad but as I opened my eyes I knew that Autumn was coming and long with it a batch of new bugs to have a go at the system.

I felt like someone had removed me from my slumber during the night taking me outside placing me in the middle of the road just in time for the nearest bus to hit me.

Sore throat sick stomach and a pounding head...not a good mix for a day on the bike. Wifey soon awoke as well complaining of the same and I knew she must be ill because she was awake and up before 9am on a weekend day off.

I am not one for sitting about and feeling sorry for myself when a bug hits home in fact I have dragged myself to work more than once when feeling bad only to be turned around as soon as I got there by the staff quoting some health and safety bull about driving when you look like crap! so seeing as the sun was out and the kids had done a fine job of buggering off we popped out to a car boot sale where I picked up a towball, bottle jack and a water container for the Landy for the grand sum on £5.40. Should be useful on trips out!

When we got home Wifey collapsed on the sofa and I have to say I was tempted to join her but the weather was good and I thought a potter on the project was a good idea. I decided to see how hard it was to sort the shock absorbers.

The front ones were pretty rusty..



I set to taking the split pin out which came ok considering how long its been there and was still in a usable condition. The top bolts came out no bother at all.



Now folk have been telling me that when you fit a new front shock its a bitch to get the pin back in because the new rubbers need compressing so much and the ideas and tools folk had made made the mind boggle!

I found it was just easy to first clamp on side down with a g clamp tp put the pin in and then clamp the other side and push the split pin through.



Looks better with the new shock in place




I was still feeling ok-ish so I tackeled the other side as well!

Then onto the back ones. These were a bit more of a pain because the rust was so bad on the back ones.




I ended up having to grind them off but please take note here and be mindful of the axle straps because if you don't you will end up having to buy new ones...



I fitted the new shock no bother and again it looks good under there



I did the other side to but I then admitted defeat to the bugs in my body. The rest of the day will be spent eating chocolate drinking tea and maybe a strong bit of something medicinal later on this evening.

Just turned 40.

does 1988 have a ring to it.... lol
I was 40 then.
think my midlife crisis came home in the 1970`s via small oval racing.
a brand new DT175 came in 1974 too, as I could cut my work journey in half by riding through a forest & common land....
never got caught, but did get shouted at by a horse rider (legal yamaha ) ??
the DT`s love affair lasted 3 years until I sold it.
My small oval racing lasted till 1986 until a banger world final in a mk1 granada that was a gutless 2 1/2 litre piece of ****e where I sat and thought as I urged the thing to go faster but unsucesful - doing the laps I just thought --- WTF am I doing here or wtf am I doing with my life.....at that point and the end of that race, I loaded up, went home, put the almost undented grannie away, and never went back to it nor the other two garages full of my racing gear - gone - finished......
I then turned full bore into work - work and more work....
LOL....
that lasted till my (propper job) nightwork running two HM3 machining centres poping out bits that flew - but the job flew instead via Insolvency..
I then thought - yep - WTF am I doing now....lol
a 55yo, fully trained in aerospace componant production, able to operate and run any machine shop equipement - but no job - nor no pay - nor no chance to sign on or claim a penny from the gov.com as my dear mrs was working her socks of too..
WTF to do.....
year later - big house sold - tiny seaside home purchased outright,
said boll*x to it all and we (me & mrs) both retired 10 years early..
money was tight, we got through, our hard earned state pensions kicked in...
happy days....

So, my "mid life crisis" turned out much longer than yours, but its been a fun roller coaster all along the way.

appollogies for spelling - length of drivel - living so long - but being a LZ member its my thing

Nor drivel and chat away! How can you live too long chap lol.

I love my life, don't get me wrong there is still a hell of a lot to do and I cannot wait to get out of this city but we have it good compared to many folk out there.

Count my blessings and all that!

The landy will be around for a long time and the next thing will be another motorbike!

Shows Parts and Pennies
Main
Posted by min200 Sun, September 21, 2014 16:05:50


Excuse me if this gets a little disjointed the Wife is chewing my ear about some nonsense that A) doesn't effect me and B) I am not the slightest bit interested in but I must pretend I am listening and grunt in the right places or she will just talk for longer.

Yesterday was the Land Rover show at Peterborough and I have been looking forward to it. As a Land rover show "virgin" I was under the impression I would be able to buy all of the bits I needed to complete my little project and took enough money to do so after pricing the parts up online. How mistaken I was.

If you wanted to buy a winch bumper or spend a small fortune on a flashy interior that was the place to go. If you wanted to pay more than new prices for old bits of scrap at the auto jumble stores this was the place for you! I mean one bloke tried to charge me £30 for a series indicator stalk....THIRTY BLOODY QUID for a £12 part???? yea ok mate would you like my pin number as well in fact have the wife while you are at it!

Now don't get me wrong it was great looking at all the different motors I was quite in my element with that but going for the normal rebuild parts is obviously a bad idea and now I know so next year I shall go prepared and buy a winch bumper.

I particularly liked this stand...



Anyway when I got home I jumped online and ordered loads of new bits in fact enough bits to hopefully finish the Landy off apart from anything the axles need and front seats.

I then found an old advert for 24v bits near my parents place so I called and bought all manner of bits off of the chap including a rear bench seat so something else ticked off of the list.

Then there was the wheels. You know I spent ages deciding what colour to paint my wheels and ended up with black which was all nice and good now only needing new tyres. I found some tyres. They were really good tyres. They were on the same rims as I had already done up so I am not going to be taking them off of one set to put them on the other same type of wheel set like was suggested by the wife who couldn't see the issue with spending the money to swap them over onto exactly the same wheels.

So she told me to paint them again.




But I am far too tight to go and buy more spray paint. Why would I when there is perfectly good NATO paint in the shed so I thought I would try that first and the results are pretty good even if I do say so myself.




Bugger the black NATO green it is then!

The fuel system strip out was next on todays list so I jumped to it and it took all of 20 minutes to remove both tanks and the change over switch.










The Chassis had a quick rub down and was under sealed again. No pictures of it painted black you have seen all that before! I did clean up the twin tanks and they will be on Ebay later today along with the set of 5 steel disco wheels I no longer need!

There was one last buy at the Landy show that dear Wifey made me get. Apparently I am a bit of a git for wrecking clothes when working on the project so a babygrow was in order.




This way I am told I can wear what ever I want to work on it and never ruin anything but it doesn't matter that I look like I am about to pay some expensive hooker who deals in extreme fetishes a large amount of money.

I like a challenge.....

Landy Project Costs

Land Rover £375

Sanding Discs £11.70

Ignition Barrel £20

Heritage letter £21.75

2x Batteries and rear 1/4 light £35

Pair Battery Terminal Clamps £3.99

Floor pan nuts & bolts £6.50

Grinding disc £2.25

Under Seal £8.99

Complete set of lights £85

5 Litres Primer £24.99

4 Discovery Wheels £10.20

Rear Door £21.00

Front Door £20.00

Handbrake spring £1.50

2 Discovery wheels

Two seatbelts

Wing Mirror

2 Headlight surrounds

2 headlight frames £60

2 Front Doors £60

Nato Green Paint £36

Rear Window Seal and insert £9.99

Wiring connectors £3.00

2 tins of silver metal paint £7.00

Fuses & Sandpaper £4.50


5x tins black spray £5.00

5x more tins black spray £5.00

Clutch fluid

Exhaust putty

WD40 £8.49

Car Boot Bits £13

Front & rear shocks £59.45

Front & rear brake rebuild kits £81.62

Fuel tank & filler £40

Wheels complete with tyres £250

Fuel pump

Fuel hose

Indicator stalk

Bonnet strap

Brake switch

Fuel pump gasket

Fuel line clips £67.74

24v Wiper motor

24v flasher relay

24v heater

24v front loom

oil cooler

Door tops x2

Rear bench seat £67.50


TOTAL £1425.16

Is this the Landy I drive past on the ring road most mornings?

I expect so if its between Mansfield Road and the City Hospital roundabout

"This way I am told I can wear what ever I want to work on it and never ruin anything but it doesn't matter"
Ideal work gear mate..

finding one pair to fit my frame is a challenge
so I make do with my "john boy" bib & brace overalls, and ruined T shirts on the shoulders..

Yep I was supposed to wear "old clothes" but you know getting changed is just such ahrd work!