I've had to cancel a THIRD tyre order for Cooper Weather Master WSC tyres, each place I've ordered from has they're in stock, only to be told later something along the lines of: 'oh, there will be a 4-5 week delay, can we interest you in these tyres almost twice as expensive'. I'm losing my mind, I'm getting a new VCU fitted on Monday and I wanted new tyres to go with it.
 
Installed the VCU and bearings that I had ordered this summer from Bell. The old VCU was feeling tight and back in May I had pulled it in order to protect the rear end, but couldn't order the part until mid-summer. Once I received the unit I rotated the tires but had to wait until I had driven the same number of kilometers so that the tires had more or less equal wear front and rear. I reached that distance about ten days ago. Using Hippo's excellent guide everything went back together just fine. Glad not to be tripping over the prop shafts in my garage anymore and glad to be back in 4x4 mode for winter.
 
Had a great day out around North Yorkshire dales even if my clutch has started to slip :D Thanks Ian Martinson for letting me pinch your pics.
 

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Failed a WoF [aka MoT] no brake lights. Hmm, checked fuse - OK, checked a bulb - OK but no volts to the bulb holder. Grovel on driver's floor on my back and see a wire off the brake light switch - I must have done that when I was running the radio antenna extension cable a few weeks ago! Not the easiest place to reach into is it? All better now.
 
Just had a recon fitted VCU at Bell Engineering, not a project I wanted to take on myself. Austin and father both very friendly, work done quickly. It was also nice to be able to watch them at work close-up, as a noob with cars it’s nice to see a bit more rather than being locked away in a cold, boring waiting room.

New tyres arriving tomorrow (I hope).
 

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The freelander was treated to a new brake pipe today, luckily OS front so not one of the long ones. I also ordered some new sparkly braided hoses for it as well. The ones fitted are looking tired and rusty and with the turbo engine, it's always nice to have a trustworthy braking system!
 
Oil change time and I took the opportunity to take front bumper assembly off to replace oil cooler lines with braided pipe and AN fittings. Also as I had all that off I used a head lamp restoration kit and restored the head lamps. The UV protective coat was disintegrating and peeling off in patches. It's a bit of a performance but I must say they do look like new!
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htr said:
The UV protective coat was disintegrating and peeling off in patches. It's a bit of a performance but I must say they do look like new!
Click to expand...

Once the UV protection has come off, the lights will need refinishing more often. I have to do mine before the annual MOT.
 
Done a Haldex service on my new (to me) 2010 FL2 - Gen 4 Haldex - followed a good youtube video by a guy that did a Volvo - used the same tricks as him except I just "kissed" the corner of the flange with an ungaurded grinder to let the pump just pop off in my hand - His tip on making a hot spike to flip out the plastic bit in front of the filter worked well too. Biggest problem was some pillock had round off the filler plug - had to cut down a 6 sided socket and weld it to a lump of bar to make a good enough spanner to get the plug out. Hawkeye reported no faults and a bash up and down wet grassy slopes confirmed it's all working extremelty well.
But hey - takes me back to Series Landy days when you could not do anything without the "hot spanner" I used both oxy and Arc on this just making the tools
 
Finally...

...got new tyres on the beast. I can say with certainty that Sunny 3800 tyres are dreadful in every sense. Even got a discount of these new Coopers, despite being as hard to get in my size as unicorn sweat.
 

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htr said:
Oil change time and I took the opportunity to take front bumper assembly off to replace oil cooler lines with braided pipe and AN fittings. Also as I had all that off I used a head lamp restoration kit and restored the head lamps. The UV protective coat was disintegrating and peeling off in patches. It's a bit of a performance but I must say they do look like new!
View attachment 162539 View attachment 162540
Click to expand...
Where did you get the shiny bits from?

You must have had some pretty wild weather down your way the last few days. Clutha up at 2,700 cummecs and presumably a fair bit of snow on your commute. That "this can't be happening in November weather" - that happens most years!
 
GrumpyGel said:
Where did you get the shiny bits from?

You must have had some pretty wild weather down your way the last few days. Clutha up at 2,700 cummecs and presumably a fair bit of snow on your commute. That "this can't be happening in November weather" - that happens most years!
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The AN fittings came from an AliExpress supplier, the thermostat 'plate' came from the USofA. Weather, yes Monday was exciting driving through a heavy snow storm on the way to work! Basically all gone again by Tuesday afternoon. The Kawarau river looked very high and angry, 'boiling' in some places!
 
Nodge68 said:
Once the UV protection has come off, the lights will need refinishing more often. I have to do mine before the annual MOT.
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Some people spray them with lacquer after cleaning up. Not sure how well they stand up after but should be good at the time.
 
Alibro said:
Some people spray them with lacquer after cleaning up. Not sure how well they stand up after but should be good at the time.
Click to expand...
That kit came with 2 pouches of lens protector and careful instructions on how to apply it: do not apply in direct sunlight, once applied allow it to dry/harden for a few hours then, do not allow to get wet, after all that park in the sun to complete curing... and you're ready to go.
 
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