You can sometimes get what you want - Land Rover 90 Now Alvis TA14

[xtriple]

I am still jealous. Think how far into overdrive my OCD could (would) go if I owned some thing like that! But I still want it. Unfortunately, as Panhard alluded to, owning one Crewe product is ruinous two would surely lead to bankruptcy and destitution.

 

But what a way to go....

[Guest Hooli]

That MkVI is bloody wonderful, well done for buying such a sensible daily driver!

[Bucketeer]

The bonnet spaniel is the last piece of evidence confirming that you're the eccentric uncle I've always wanted.

[anonymous user]

Nothing much to report on either, however I have now got a service manual for the Bentley

 

And been doing a bit of Vulgaloring; no, not extreme cleaning, but starting to replace the missing items in the tool-kit, before sorting out important things like the brakes. Ebay has provided a lovely tyre-pressure gauge.

 

[The Moog]

I had missed this. What an ace car... and the fact it does tip runs. Almost like. 1950s Picasso..

[xtriple]

Mines got a tool kit as well. So na-na!   Mines also got a accident warning triangle, and some other stuff I haven't bothered looking at yet. I am most healous of the fact you got the book, I cannot get one for mine for love nor money (not strictly true: I CAN get one but for about £500 so fook that!).

 

I really want a go in your car.... it's lovely.

[wuvvum]

My Renault Novaquatre had a gearbox-driven servo (combined with cable brakes).  It took some getting used to - hit the brakes at 30 and it'd put you through the screen (quite unexpected in a 1930s car), hit them at walking speed and you were bracing yourself against the seat and heaving on the pedal.

 

That Bentley is just perfect in every possible way.

[eddyramrod]

Since I last commented I now have a Cadillac, similarly patinated, which I absolutely love.  And I'm still insanely jealous!

[strangeangel]

I had missed this. What an ace car... and the fact it does tip runs. Almost like. 1950s Picasso..

 

This somehow passed me by too! Brilliant car, well bought

[garethj]

I'd missed this thread, but just wanted to add that it's an absolutely perfect purchase.  You are a total hero.

[Slappy]

Me too!

 

Tip run stories brought out a big grin.

[Junkman]

A friend of mine in Belgium had a relatively orderly one as a daily driver and a Lancia Gamma saloon for occasional use/tinkering with.

He refused to take my Imperials seriously and often asked me when I would grow up, stop living in Disneyland and start buying real cars.

[alf892]

Alf senior had one of those in the early seventies.......taken in px from a bloke at RAF Cardington who had taken the head off and couldn't put it back. He got a Hillman Minx and dad got the Bentley.

 

It was soon rebuilt and I remember it getting steam cleaned (black magic back then) and was painted dark blue. I loved that car and one has been on my bucket list ever since......

[anonymous user]

As mentioned yesterday in News 24 I ran out of petrol. I have noticed a few times the smell of petrol by the car and the bottom of the tank has damp patches.

It has a patch on it already so this has obviously been a problem before. The damp patch had developed into a drip (perhaps it's not used to having lots of petrol in it). I stupidly thought that I'd try some of that petrol patch putty. I crawled under the back of the car to give it all a wipe over, big mistake as I obviously disturbed whatever was plugging the leak, so instead of a damp patch and a drip I had a nice stream of petrol. I had put about five gallons in it yesterday, the drive home probably used at least one of those. I didn't want to shove a plastic bowl under there in case it melted so ended up using a saucepan and decanting it into a petrol can and then chucking it in the Land Rover (which I had only filled up earlier) After decanting probably a couple of gallons the leak stopped, so I assume that it isn't quite at the bottom of the tank. I didn't mention that I had the car running to try to use some of the fuel up, fortunately neither I nor the car exploded in a ball of flame.

 

I shall have another poke around tomorrow or Sunday as unfortunately crawwling around underneath has locked my hip again so I'm not going back out there today.

 

Bonus pic of it run out of petrol (sent to me by the kind chap who rescued me)

 

 

I know how much a new tank will cost off the shelf, so will be investigating getting this one repaired properly, or possibly a new one made.

[Tickman]

.....

 

I know how much a new tank will cost off the shelf, so will be investigating getting this one repaired properly, or possibly a new one made.

http://www.frost.co.uk/por15-basic-car-tank-repair-kit.html

 

Worth a go?

[xtriple]

There's a chap on eBay selling a few MK6 bits, worth a search? I would tell you his name but of course, I've forgotten.

[Tayne]

Apparently chewing gum sets like concrete on contact with petrol.

[anonymous user]

I have started giving the petrol tank fixings a soak with penetrating oil (which stings on skinned knuckles) I also did the bumper mounting bolts.

 

Removing the rear bumper and petrol tank are not covered in the service manual and the nuts and bolts used appear to be very old school.

 

Fortunately I have some old school spanners, I think the penetrating oil helped, but at one point (just before the spanner slipped off) I felt I was lifting the weight of the whole car. Some skinned knuckles later (as I get older my skin seems to be thinner and more easily removed) the left one came undone, I ended up having to swivel the bumper vertical to get a better angle on the remaining nut, which did eventually give in. I have slightly chewed that one up which is a shame as they were very nice chromed, domed cap nuts.

 

 

The chap who made my gates is going to have a go at pressing the dent out. You may notice rust on the bootlid and spare wheel door, these are steel and may even be the same as the standard steel bodied ones, I will need to get some treatment on them to stop them rusting further. The main bodywork is aluminium so less of a worry. The only wood rot I can find (other than lifted veneer inside) is a ply panel below the rear window inside the boot. The rear window has been leaking for some time and the ply has turned into bran-flakes, I have now sealed the rear window, it could do with a new seal, but I will need to find out whether it is the same as on the standard steel ones or something else, I'm sure Woolies or similar will probably be able to match the profile.

 

I have also sealed the windscreen, it could do with new wiper and aerial grommets, I still get a bit of a drip from behind the dash which I think is from the scuttle vent. I have no idea how this opens and there is no reference to it in the handbook, so if all else fails gaffer tape will be employed.

 

For such a large car it has a surprisingly small boot; although you can fit most of the essentials into it.

[danthecapriman]

Good stuff.

 

You've got most of the essentials there but from experience I'd suggest you take a bag or two of lime too. Should get rid of any incriminating evidence.

[anonymous user]

For the moment I have given up trying to get the fuel tank off the Bentley myself, I really want somebody else to do the crawling around underneath; although if I don't find someone soon I may have to do it myself after all. I daren't drive it, as at the moment if you put too much* fuel in it, it leaks, I have no idea how much too much is, as the gauge just randomly points at things which may or may not have some relation to what's in the tank. I think it does about 10mpg, but I can't check as the mileometer isn't working either. To address this I have bought, and am waiting for, a new old stock speedo; if nothing else it will fill the hole in the dash while the original is rebuilt.

 

The MOT is due on the Land Rover in about a month, so I have started making sure everything is working. The rear fog-lamp wasn't, the bulb was fine, the fuse looked fine so I thought it might be the switch. Dismantled the column shroud to get at it and found it wasn't the switch, checked the fuse again and found it was dirty contacts on the fuse, so have cleaned all of them up. The bonus being that I appear to have fixed the headlamp flasher, which has never worked before, I think disconnecting, cleaning and reconnecting switches, fuses and plugs is something I should do more often The only other obvious thing I could find was a blocked washer jet which was cleared with a pin, once I found one. It's going in on Thursday, hopefully there is nothing major that I haven't spotted.

[scruff]

Minging fuse boxes are the No.1 cause of electrical mayhem on 1980s Landies IMHO (closely followed by mong "Repairs" and "Modifications") !! 

[John F]

anonymous user, on 02 Jun 2016 - 5:27 PM, said:

 

For such a large car it has a surprisingly small boot; although you can fit most of the essentials into it.

006.jpg

 

Is that a single-barrelled .410? That at least would explain to some degree its state of absolute neglect...

[Skizzer]

I appreciate all the goings-on might be a bit trying from your point of view vis-a-vis daily transport, but I'd just like to say this is one of the most entertaining threads OF EVAH.

[Guest Hooli]

Tank sealant of some type. Several are popular in the classic bike world, I can't think of the names. Might need a couple of kits to treat such a big tank but they seem to work & last forever if done right.

[anonymous user]

I have thought of tank sealant, but to get it to work properly you still need to get the tank off, so if I'm doing that then I may as well get it cleaned up and repaired.

 

I have now got hold of the chap recommended and spoken to him (rather than his wife) and he has said he will call in tomorrow evening, to look at it. My new old stock speedo has arrived and I have swapped them over, yet to see if it works as I can't be bothered until tomorrow. Changing the speedo was easy, undo five screws on the centre dash unscrew the top of four switches (I think I've put them back in the right order) undo a tiny screw to get the top off the heater rheostat and the front panel comes off. Another three screws undo the speedo fron the sub-dashboard. Then it's undo the threaded outer for the trip-meter and get your hand behind the dash to undo the speedo cable. then the speedo can be withdrawn after undoing the dash-light.

 

A quick swap over of the bezel and trip cable and reassembly is the reverse of the above. Total job time about 40 minutes. I dread to think what that would cost in Bentley Cardiff. I shall probably get the original speedo rebuilt (about £160 at Speedy Cables in Swansea) but if the new one works then it's not urgent.

 

The extra good news being that while fiddling under the dash I have finally found the elusive lever for the scuttle vent, so can now have a look to see what I need to do to stop water getting in through it.

 

As part of the motoring yin and yang the Land Rover failed its MOT, on rear shock absorber bushes and rear axle oil seals weeping onto the discs. Nothing major, but a little annoying as I have been trying to keep on top of it and if I'd known before they would have been done. They did also say about play in the front wheel bearings, which were only done by the same garage a short while ago. I just hope they didn't use Britpart.

 

[anonymous user]

One of the things which doesn't work on the Bentley is the quick-lift on the driver's window. The other windows have conventional winders but the quick-lift is meant to put the window all the way up or down with about a three-quarter turn of the lever, suffice to say it doesn't; you can turn the handle but nothing happens, if you turn it enough you can slide the window up and down by grabbing hold of it.

 

Well it can't be that broken then, perhaps something has come loose was my thinking, so I thought I'd take a look.

 

First unscrew the door capping, then the quick lift handle, then get the retaining pin out of the door handle and the arm-rest screws out. (There are only the screws, no arm-rest). Ok what's holding the door trim on? Well a row of screws at the bottom of the door, these came out reasonably easily, despite all being slot headed ones. Hmm doesn't seem to want to come loose.

 

What about this leather bound finisher on the edge of the door, that seems to be nailed on with hidden nails under the edge, I will need to be careful with that. What else is holding it at the top? More wood under the leather which seems to be nailed again. A peep down inside the door and shoving my hand up behind the trim at the bottom (in the manner of James Herriot) reveals that even if I do get the door trim off there is another metal plate covering the inside of the door underneath. Not wishing to get to a point where I have buggered it up I just put it all back together for now. Sliding the window up and down isn't that hard and it's not as if I'm not used to it from the A35. To make up for my failure I wound the clock and put the time right on it.

[anonymous user]

The tank is finally off, I'm glad someone else did it as it was a bit of an ordeal. The mounting straps are not in a good way and have gone very thin so will be replaced. Happily the tank itself seems to still be quite solid so hopefully won't need too much repair. I shall take it down to the repairer in Swansea tomorrow or Monday and see what they say.

 

While the tank is off I shall give the area normally concealed by it a wire-brushing and get some paint on there.

[anonymous user]

Obviously thrashing the Land Rover up the motorway to Shitefest didn't agree with it. Today it felt like the steering was fighting me, a symptom of losing the power assistance; I'm ashamed to say I ignored it until I got home before opening the bonnet. The bracket which should hold the reservoir for the power steering fluid has sheared, the reservoir had fallen and most of the fluid appears to have escaped. I have cable tied the reservoir back to the bracket for now, and stuck all the fluid I had (not enough) in the reservoir but will have to sort out a bracket and top it up tomorrow.

 

The Bentley fuel tank is having a new bottom and they are making new straps, hopefully I'll have them back for the weekend.

[anonymous user]

 

The Bentley fuel tank is having a new bottom and they are making new straps, hopefully I'll have them back for the weekend.

and I still haven't had it back.

 

The firm doing it is highly recommended, but their main business is radiator repair, mainly for commercial plant, so my job keeps going to the back of the queue. I was again promised it for this weekend, but will now give them a call tomorrow. The poor old thing has taken root on the drive now and is getting covered with moss which rolls off the roof of the house.

 

The Land Rover now has a slightly less worse bracket holding the power steering fluid reservoir on and the steering is back to normalish, as it has now developed a shake in the steering. It was doing it when slowing down from 50ish, I had the wheels rebalanced but that didn't make a difference. I took it to the garage and they thought it was a bit of play in the (new) steering box and adjusted it. Now I have a steering shake if I try to go over 55mph so it's got to go back again. Just about all the stuff on the front has been replaced recently so I'm a bit miffed, especially as I have had to go on the motorway with it recently and need to be doing a bit more than 50mph, both to feel safe and so that I get where I want to go on the same day.

[Skizzer]

That's a shame on both fronts. I believe one of the brothers at the fuel tank/radiator place was poorly a while ago, which might partly explain the tardiness. I was thinking of taking the rad from my SD1 there for re-coring in the next week or so, but might hold off until autumn/winter now.