John F Posted May 6, 2015 Posted May 6, 2015 I found some time to start spannering my unwise ebay purchase LT camper today. First job: replace the front springs, both of which were broken according to Mr MOT man. There's almost no info about this job online, and I wasn't going to trust the HBOL (not that I have one anyway), so I popped a couple of brave pills & got to work. LT just about fits on the ramp... Starting on the nearside... not a lot of room to work here... you can just about see where the spring is broken. No way I'm going to get spring compressors in there. But eventually: The first one took me 4 hours to remove since I didn't have a clue what I was doing. But I eventually worked out that the brake calliper had to come off, then the anti-roll bar, then the bump stop, then the radius arm that extends forwards from the front of the bottom wishbone, then the track rod end. After that, shove a bottle jack underneath the bottom wishbone to take up the tension & the top ball joint can be unbolted from the upper wishbone, allowing the hub to drop. Then it's just a matter of unbolting the damper (top & bottom) and the whole lot pops out The trick is, the vehicle needs to be supported far enough in to allow the bottom wishbone to drop far enough for the spring to come out. I might have saved an hour if I'd realised that before everything was balanced on the wheel-free with not enough clearance to do the job. Meh. Anyway, on to the other side. This time it only took about 90 mins, I knew what I was doing now And the buggers are out The new springs (£45 each) are arriving tomorrow, let's see how easy it is to get them in... mat_the_cat, Vince70, Bren and 8 others 11
mat_the_cat Posted May 6, 2015 Posted May 6, 2015 How are the upper wishbone bushes? They tend to squeak over bumps well before any play is felt and seem to be a fairly common problem. If you loosen the upper wishbone at all, make a note of the pivot shaft position as that sets the camber...
michael1703 Posted May 6, 2015 Posted May 6, 2015 Hang on, you removed old springs before new ones turned up? OMG KAOSS!
gordonbennet Posted May 6, 2015 Posted May 6, 2015 Nice reminder of what a neat van the LT was, lovely engines nice drive. Hope the springs are short enough to pop in the same way they came out without having to compress them.
John F Posted May 6, 2015 Author Posted May 6, 2015 How are the upper wishbone bushes? They tend to squeak over bumps well before any play is felt and seem to be a fairly common problem. If you loosen the upper wishbone at all, make a note of the pivot shaft position as that sets the camber... I haven't had any squeaks yet, and the bushes didn't get flagged up in the MOT the previous owner had done, so I guess they should be OK. Ta for the info on the camber though, I suspect the offside wheel needs adjustment so I'll have a look at that whilst I've got everything apart. Hang on, you removed old springs before new ones turned up? OMG KAOSS! WCPGW? Nice reminder of what a neat van the LT was, lovely engines nice drive. Hope the springs are short enough to pop in the same way they came out without having to compress them. Absolutely. I've got a large stock of expletives ready if they don't go in easily though, so I'm well prepared. gordonbennet and Cavcraft 2
Des Posted May 6, 2015 Posted May 6, 2015 Why not kak-handedly hack a couple more coils off those springs and sling them back for some awezome stance action? Get with the pineapples dude. Sigmund Fraud, gordonbennet, michael1703 and 3 others 6
John F Posted May 7, 2015 Author Posted May 7, 2015 Yeh man, stance yo! Pimpin' I'm picking the springs up in one hour. But I went climbing last night for the first time in about a month, and this morning my arms are hanging off to the point where I can barely lift a cup of coffee. This does not bode well for today's spannering
mat_the_cat Posted May 7, 2015 Posted May 7, 2015 Come on, where's the update? Brake pipes/hoses look pretty fresh from the photo which is good news; might be worth keeping the bleed screws free as with their length they seem more prone to shearing than any other vehicle I've worked on!
John F Posted May 8, 2015 Author Posted May 8, 2015 Come on, where's the update? Brake pipes/hoses look pretty fresh from the photo which is good news; might be worth keeping the bleed screws free as with their length they seem more prone to shearing than any other vehicle I've worked on! I got the springs in OK, no photos 'cos I was covered in grime for most of the day. I only needed to use my stock of expletives right at the end of the day when one of the solid brake pipes by the calliper decided to split as I was re-attaching the n/s calliper, I fitted a new bit of pipe & left it for the night as it was well gone beer o'clock by then, I'll bleed it up in the morning I sincerely hope the bleed nipples don't shear on me. Handbrake repair is also scheduled for tomorrow, and MOT is booked for Saturday 10.30 am... mat_the_cat, KruJoe, alf892 and 1 other 4
Des Posted May 8, 2015 Posted May 8, 2015 Those are proper bleed nipples, somewhere to hang your coat, and hat. This climbing, not up the side of the LT was it? With an armful of oilcans and old suitcases? Can't wait to see the post-nitromors and brothel creeper tyres pic update, get your scene on Brah. John F and KruJoe 2
barefoot Posted May 8, 2015 Posted May 8, 2015 That looks like a very nice van. They look lovely nipples too.
John F Posted May 8, 2015 Author Posted May 8, 2015 The nipples were ace, they twisted beautifully. I'm genuinely impressed at the quality of fasteners, etc. on this old bus. No photos again, but the LT is now MOT-ready. I drifted the pawl out of the handbrake and re-profiled it, handbrake is now behaving as it should. I thought I'd finished everything around teatime but tonight's fecking awful weather revealed a plethora of dodgy earths in the rear lights which, coupled with the gallons of water I emptied out of the caravan-tastic additional back lights, ensured that fun & games continued until long after dark. Normal lighting service has now been resumed. MOT at 10.30 tomorrow... mat_the_cat and KruJoe 2
Mr_Bo11ox Posted May 9, 2015 Posted May 9, 2015 Good luck JohnF!!! Good looking van these LT's. John F 1
John F Posted May 9, 2015 Author Posted May 9, 2015 Update: The MOT Man From Del Monte he say YES! mat_the_cat, Bear, Twiggy and 5 others 8
John F Posted May 10, 2015 Author Posted May 10, 2015 In celebration of its MOT pass the LT has been treated to a posh new DAB radio, a check-over of its gas & 'domestic' electrics (courtesy of Zippy aka 'gdhaydock' of this parish), and an accident. The accident happaned when returning it to its place of storage. The usual gate was locked so I had to reverse out of the gateway & use another gate, and whilst carefully avoiding scraping the nsf corner during the reversing manoeuvre I stuffed the mahoosive towbar beam into the side of a 57 plate VW Scirocco Damage to the Scirocco was deep scoring of the driver's door skin & a scratched door handle, the LT only suffered a slightly cracked fibreglass quarter bumper - which will mend easily. Could have been worse I suppose.
mat_the_cat Posted May 10, 2015 Posted May 10, 2015 Bugger There's an eBay seller doing pattern rear bumpers for £40 a pair - apparently OK but thinner than the originals. I suppose it depends on the damage and how tidy the rest of the bumper is (and your priorities!)
Noel Tidybeard Posted May 10, 2015 Posted May 10, 2015 could've been worserer could've been a nice car you hit! Twiggy, JohnK and tooSavvy 3
John F Posted May 11, 2015 Author Posted May 11, 2015 Bugger There's an eBay seller doing pattern rear bumpers for £40 a pair - apparently OK but thinner than the originals. I suppose it depends on the damage and how tidy the rest of the bumper is (and your priorities!) It's OK, I can patch up the existing bumper with fibreglass. It doesn't even look bad as it is tbh. could've been worserer could've been a nice car you hit! Haha! I hope you drove away at high speed! LTs don't do high speed... barefoot 1
purplebargeken Posted May 11, 2015 Posted May 11, 2015 An LT and a Sheerocco, what kind of bastard love child would that produce. LT ruulz.
John F Posted June 29, 2015 Author Posted June 29, 2015 Right... the LT has just arrived back from this weekend's European roadtrip from Yorkshire via the Operation Dynamo museum in Dunkirk to Düsseldorf in Germany then back via Ypres in Belgium. We found this toy giraffe in Dover, it now lives in the van Weather was good for the crossing Operation Dynamo museum at Dunkirk Some things became clear about the LT in the course of the trip: 1. It isn't fast. OK, it is capable of a GPS-confirmed 82 mph, but this is daft for two main reasons: firstly, fuel 'economy' - not a thing that happens at the best of time, but with the van's block o' flats aerodynamics it really goes to pot when a heavy right hoof is applied. One fast* tankful returned a mere 16 mpg although it will manage mid-20s mpg at a cruising speed of about 60 mph. Secondly, the handling* isn't great at speed* due to the aforementioned aerodynamics* and the fact that the LT is equipped with a steering box like a tractor. I can't do much about the aerodynamics but I can possibly find a more modern (and ideally more efficient) turbo diesel engine to replace the 75 bhp boat anchor that's currently installed, with the intention of giving an unstressed 70+ mph cruising speed with some reserve for overtaking. Tidy Ascona on the B8 between Duisburg and Düsseldorf Crap picture of a crap car... a tidy example of the mighty Renner 4. 2. It is loud. More soundproofing will be required to reduce the excessive engine hum, although brick shithouse aerodynamics mean that it'll never be quiet. The Northern European Plain is FLAT. 3. It is big. There was plenty of space for 4 people and a shitload of furniture, beer, cheap continental cigs & other gubbins. Also, there was more than enough space for 3 people to sleep in it in comfort. Plkenty of space for 3 adults. Zippy stayed in the hotel this photo was taken from, the soft bastard Numerous glasses of König Pilsener were harmed during the making of this roadtrip Did it break down? Technically, yes. The window lifter thing kept dropping out of its track when the door was slammed / window wound down too quickly etc., so the door had to be stripped down ... er, five times, I think. I got quite good at doing this job before the end of the trip Also, the van supped about a litre of oil over the 1,100 miles we covered. I suspect it pissed most of that out into the clutch bellhousing through a leaking rear crankshaft oil seal, judging by the small oil wee it did whenever it was parked up after a run. But other than that it soldiered on nicely & gave no indication of leaving us stranded. The Menin Gate at Ypres WWI French Hotchkiss field guns are for licking, apparently mat_the_cat, stillOrange and skattrd 3
gdhaydock Posted June 29, 2015 Posted June 29, 2015 You've forgotten about the dashboard fire in Dover skattrd 1
John F Posted June 29, 2015 Author Posted June 29, 2015 Ah yes, I knew I'd forgotten something. Didn't we also have another small fire when the front passenger seat shorted out the battery terminals as well? Or was that just sparks?
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