Project Land Rover resto - new project and Sandy p25

[tommytwo]

Richard, I watched your rant right to the end. I found it sad, funny, inspirational and disappointing, not in that order. I found myself sharing your disappointment that the car sold in the end for less than its true value but you are correct IMHO as to the reasons for that. This was something to a great extent outside of your control. You can be justly proud of the quality of the workmanship you poured into the Range Rover, the buyer has landed a real bargain.

But looking on the bright side, the project has raised your profile and demonstrated what you can do. I am sure that many on this board have been inspired by your "can do" spirit, I know it has infected me .I cant see you lacking work on Land and Range Rover restorations in the future now that you are better known. I think your £4 per hour days may soon be a distant memory.  It was a joy to watch you transform a complete wreck of a car into a real gem. Yes, you deserved a better end result but as a great man once said, we cant command success, we can only be deserving of it. Thank you for sharing your considerable knowledge with us, and may good fortune follow you from here on.

[EssDeeWon]

I watched the rant, very good it was too. I am ya hardcore brexit person so I thought this could be interesting however you are spot on IMHO, the uncertainty is caused by the three years of can kicking and delaying tactics.

Another issue you address is these things being peoples play things and although it seems like everyone is flush in 2019 because they have a 67 reg modern aldi / bmw / merc  worth upto £30k, most of this stuff is on PCP and you can't by a classic RR on such schemes with little outlay.   Carrying out work on behalf of a customer is probably the way to go i.e. the 2 door Spanish RR, for the time being anyway.  Good luck Richard.

[richardthestag]

Ok folks, time to introduce Project Southpaw, the left hooker! geddit?

Arrived at chez Churchhouseclassics Monday this week.

Brief from the owner is generous, convert to rhd, get it road legal, lower it from the comedy 2" lift, treat it as if it were mine....

here we are on day of arrival, one careful owner, one owner who cares and many who did not

dash top heater were extracted fairly easily 

as were pedal box and brake lines to the front callipers. I do tolerate a 200tdi ? though of course 8 pots is just ?

It would have been VM originally but at some point a previous owner installed a 200tdi.

next up, steering column and loom came out

Front axle off next, not necessarily needed but brakes out, comedy 2" lift off, dead dampers out and rubber bushes replaced by blue poly made it easier

Both front hubs had significant play!!! Disappointed especially as customer paid to have the swivel balls replaced recently.

In the tray is the remains of the right side outer bearing race.... seriously! The situation improved marginally with the remaining 3 wheel bearing races on the front axle

 

Alas new! front swivel bearing here had damage. ..... what can a chap say?

LHD steering box was dropped out, dead easy! 4 bolts and 2 nut and bolts. Gravity does the rest 

Parts shipment of stuff to get it fixed arrived on thursday which was a beaut

Refurbed rhd steering box ready to install

RHD swivel housings installed onto original axle

New 1" lowered spring from FamousFour standing next to 2" "comedy" ? lift springs

Axle was rebushed to blue poly and refitted with new lower springs and new monroe dampers. 

ongoing investigation on rhd loom is taking place. Yet to find an OE loom that has been removed from a 1990 GA suffix car that has not been massacred. Nor are Autosparks able to assist in the short term. BUT rest assured there will be an answer...

The only rust on the car after welding work instructed by the current owner, was around the LH front footwell / inner wing area. Cut all the shite and shonky bits out

Started welding is all back up again

Youtube video with lots of expletive* will follow when I relocate from North Devon where Broadband is criminally limited..

 

Thanks for reading

 

[LightBulbFun]

very cool stuff! It will be interesting to see how this compares to the Suffix A you just finished  

is there a market to sell all the LHD parts to or is it not worth the bother etc?

[tapir]

@richardthestag Found your youtube  channel, not sure how I missed the it and the thread before, anyhow really enjoying it and looking forward to seeing Southpaw take shape.

One important question after the tyre peril video:

Is the horse called Tiny or Tony (seems the horse is not too sure either...!)? 

[richardthestag]

1 hour ago, tapir said:

@richardthestag Found your youtube  channel, not sure how I missed the it and the thread before, anyhow really enjoying it and looking forward to seeing Southpaw take shape.

One important question after the tyre peril video:

Is the horse called Tiny or Tony (seems the horse is not too sure either...!)? 

thanks

black and white 'orse is called Tidy or Tidy 'orse. she is mother to the chestnut who is called Tammy

[richardthestag]

heading home tomorrow so update for the last 4 days on project southpaw

New brake lines fitted up 

while underneath I found that the gearbox loom to be in a similar state splice as other sections of the loom. no wonder that all the smoke has leaked out.

Also a bit worried about that nyloc which isn't locked! will have a look tomorrow.

Swivel bearing preload was set as per the manual, new CV joints installed and then new stub axles fitted

then bearings and hubs fitted up, at this point I found that the spacer was missing that fits between the outer bearing and the hub lock nut

Nipped out to get a pair of them and spotted a pair of western power defenders. must be the last two in their fleet. doubt they will be investing in new defenders ?

anyway, spacers fitted, end float adjusted and hub sealed up. yay just one more side to do.

two front hubs done and steering track and drag arms fitted time to get it back on the ground. slinky low going from 2" lift to a 1" drop. Arse end is still 2" lift for now

today was getting to the bottom of 1990 lhd loom, I have a spare 92 onwards loom - well most of it anyway. but to fit this to the car even with the body looms is going to be a ballsache.

This car is a 1990 GA suffix - same as the CSK 2 door, didn't make many nor for very long. Looms are hard to come by, going to have a chat with Autosparks and see if they can help with a LHD pattern toa  RHD installation 

trial fitted the front wings and deck panel, may need a touch of paint. Chamonix white I think

Anyway, watch this space, loom is next week or maybe the week after

[richardthestag]

updatez, been busy over the last couple of weeks and not had much time for webshite.

Let's bring this up to date ?

every time I knock this car another kilo of Spain drops out from underneath

Bumper and towbar need to come off, Bumper was a bastard because of spinning or seized fixings. Cutting holes through the bent and generally fucked bumper was the only way

tow ball electrics were spiced in behind the rear light, love a bunch of rusted choc blocks

Reconfigured the tailgate lock so it uses the same key as doors and ignition

Removed rear calipers, both fucked, lots of hub and axle grease but also some brake fluid

removed a-frame after a disaster smashing the axle into the floor with my pointy finger inbetween.

drop axle down was the plan but had to jack the chassis up another 6" to release tension on rear 2" lift springs

spripped down discs and hubs, removed like arms and drained oil. one rear disc was 8mm thick, against a minimum of 12mm! the other was just under 12mm

Link arms with new "comfort" polybush blue

I am a silly arse, done RR rear axle dampers so many times but misjudged the extra height needed to release tension on 2" lift springs. Traditionally I would jack the axle up, support the chassis, lower the axle with a-frame attached and the springs would be loose. On this occasion I was distracted, chatting with Fatha thestag and properly not concentrating. Was undoing the o/s/r damper and when the last thread released the axle propelled downwards under the force of the spring and bounced off the concrete floor. I was convinced that the tip of my finger was off, the gash seems to go very deep, bone is not broken, the tip of the finger burst open. 9 days on, finger is healing, shall not show images unless you have a desire to see, nail is intact and nerves on the tip are working. Completely numb on the print area though, which is utterly destroyed. Finger is still twice the width of the right hand pointy finger.

Anyway we must continue

[LightBulbFun]

I have been following via the tube, very interesting and nice work  (especially the conversion from LHD to RHD)

sorry to hear about the finger, did you get it checked out at the hospital? sounds nasty enough to warrant a trip id say!

(if nothing else so they can dress it up properly so your glove does not turn into a "water" balloon you throw at someone on halloween! ) 

[richardthestag]

Less self harm involved in next bits

Stripping down rear axle, both rear hubs totally worn out, age and sand I think finished them off

Diff is leaking at flange seal and gasket. Breather was completely blocked

However diff itself is a peach, engineer blue shows a perfect mesh

Inner wings are on the whole rust free and very good, except the top rail / box section, this had been creatively disguised with loads of wob

Both sides, inside and out gah

cutting open the box revealed reason, it was full of sand and mud, been wading mefinks, and this area doesnt get a breeze to dry it through

Welded up drivers side, need to finish this off this week

shiny bolt kit for the rear axle and a-frame

all "comfort poly bushed and ready to go

easy enough to get it back in place and on my own

next up is to build up hubs with new discs and wheel bearings

along with new calipers, just need to make up the rigid brake lines and refit the flexi. Before then I want to install the Boge levelling strut

In the meantime, replaced the n/s door top hinge which was fucked, and shimmed it so it goes ker-lunk

Also need to have a go at straightening that rear wing dent out, and fit the new rear bumper

next stage starts tomorrow

[richardthestag]

yootoob episode 3 and 4 are on line. Epsiode 5 is wip

 

 

[richardthestag]

I other news I had to remove the heater unit from my daily driver as the matrix was leaking. No piccies on this one, there would be fah-sands of em

 

For all this love and attention

I have been rewarded with a suspect head gasket failure tonight on the drive to Devonshite. More on that tomorrow

[Momentary Lapse Of Reason]

Cum'on, we'z in suspenders waiting for a OMGHGF update...

[richardthestag]

Rest your sphincters it is coming up after this update on Southpaw ?

Finished patching up the top rail and side curtain of the drivers side front inner wing, kind of wish that I had just cut it all out and replaced with single chunks.  99% will never been seen with outer wing fitted and stuff under the bonnet will be further hidden by loom, battery etc

then got on with the passenger door, top hinge was royally fucked and the gaps were all over the place. Ended up removing the glass frame which was held in by 2 screws rather than the usual 7

then mindful of the inner wing issues on the drivers side I tested the steel using "hammer of testing and cut the whole sad thing out, good job too, was worse than the drivers side I just finished

along with a bog wedge of the bulkhead that was hidden behind the inner wing top rail. all rusty as fuck

remains of bulkhead and first of the repair panels

not beautiful but rust free, solid, and hidden from view

ordered parts to repair the inner wing which I will fit next week, then paint and rebuild yay

Loom is becoming a "bulls acre" Autosparks cannot help, bought a 1990s loom complete and will have to get that working most of this car is later loom anyway with exception of door looms and connectors to the rear loom.

watch this space

[richardthestag]

And onto the daily, yep I jinxed it. 194500k on the clock and it is apart. fucksticks

Fucking hell, that's fucked the fucking fucker!

K-sealed it and headed from home for Devonshite where the workshop is, initially performed beautifully but then the occasional whiff of hot antifreeze kept wafting through the car. Get there with no drama except that the LPG packed up and grenaded the airflow inlet pipe to the plenum. Bastard!

Block test still passed but the engine was cold, I think this is a problem that manifests itself when warm. All plugs out and have minor carbon deposits but else no issues. 

Hats off to Bosch Super 4 plugs, done over 64k miles and still have life in them

Compressions on RH Bank excellent for a Rover v8, on LH back I couldn't get the tester to screw in, fucked plug thread, remainder were not great, #3 and #7 were more than 10% off the highest compression. Didn't bother with a wet test because I knew the head gasket had failed.

started big strip down, everythging is a bit grubby to be honest

as expected LH bank head gasket had failed on 3 of 4 cylinders. Sounds horrific but ....

It is this bit that confirmed it for me. On the left is the water jacket at the front of the block. Then you can see three light rings for the head gasket fire ring imprinted onto the block face. However where it goes past the water jacket you can clearly see it has breached

The front 3 cylinders all had these breaches on the inner edge (next to the inlet manifold) again head gasket had failed almost certainly due to the infamous 3rd row of head bolts and subsequent head tipping. I am pretty sure this engine had not been apart before I bought it at 46k miles and the head gaskets were Land Rover Branded so this is the first time apart ever!

Cleaneed up the block face and checked for low points, especially where the blow had occured, seems ok

 Head on the other hand are both distorted, mainly around the ends. but will definitely need a skim

But a damned good clean up first will make the job more pleasant

camshaft is showing signs of wear, but is not the catastrophe that many of the OLLI boys would have you believe on a 194k engine that is still running all it's original components (except timing chain and gears)

Did a check on the brushes on the alternator, which were fine. The contact rings however are almost worn out! Since the fuck when do contact rings wear faster than brushes?

Removed the cam which meant first removing the radiator and then shifting the Aircon rad out of the way also - without disturbing the pipe work

Now I have a smoll shopping list and a visit to thee machine shop with those heads. Hope to have it back up and running next week

[LightBulbFun]

like for interesting engine/mechanical shots/info, not for HGF!

will there be a video on the whole thing?  (that way at least ya get some youtube moneys out of the whole thing at least!)

[richardthestag]

Just now, LightBulbFun said:

like for interesting engine/mechanical shots/info, not for HGF!

will there be a video on the whole thing?  (that way at least ya get some youtube moneys out of the whole thing at least!)

thanks mon brave

Re yootoob money and I demonetised due to lack of followers and profanity. Couldn't care less about that anyway as the adverts just get in the way

Yes I am pulling together a HGF video and currently uploading episode 5 of Project Southpaw which what you have read above is the spoiler.

[LightBulbFun]

1 minute ago, richardthestag said:

thanks mon brave

Re yootoob money and I demonetised due to lack of followers and profanity. Couldn't care less about that anyway as the adverts just get in the way

Yes I am pulling together a HGF video and currently uploading episode 5 of Project Southpaw which what you have read above is the spoiler.

haha yeah im not surprised  

ah cool I look forward to seeing it, I asked because I know a HGF on your daily can be one of those jobs that you may want to just get done and over with rather then faff around also trying to film it!

but I appreciate that you are filming it for us!

[richardthestag]

here is Southpaw 5

 

[Momentary Lapse Of Reason]

Oh Poo!

[richardthestag]

lets bring Southpaw up to date 

Episode 6 is right here with all the Demonitised content

You chaps happy with videos or would you prefer photos and text also? It does duplicate the video but .....

[richardthestag]

OMGHGF video and text update to follow, it is going back together slowly. I need it on Friday so I need to get a move on

[AndySnapper]

lets bring Southpaw up to date 
Episode 6 is right here with all the Demonitised content
You chaps happy with videos or would you prefer photos and text also? It does duplicate the video but .....

Personally, I really appreciate watching your videos and imagine they already take a lot of extra work (and frustration) without having a write-up as well.

Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk

[mrbenn]

I love these videos, Richard. Feels more immersive than pics/text would be, partly as you tend to explain what you're actually doing while doing it. Helps my little brain grasp it.

Sweary man in a shed in Devon, surrounded by BL chod. Big thumbs up from me.

Looking forward to the HGF update!

[Momentary Lapse Of Reason]

8 hours ago, richardthestag said:

You chaps happy with videos or would you prefer photos and text also? It does duplicate the video but .....

Photos and text please.

(Windy Miller popping his head out at 3.47 can be avoided that way!)

[LightBulbFun]

aye I enjoy both the writing and the videos  

its also not a bad way to have 2 records of the build, should you need to refer back to something etc, or should something happen to the youtube videos or vice versa etc

[richardthestag]

1 hour ago, Momentary Lapse Of Reason said:

Photos and text please.

(Windy Miller popping his head out at 3.47 can be avoided that way!)

it was the Robin !! ?

I do try to edit them out but I can be quite flatulent

write ups will continue

[Momentary Lapse Of Reason]

12 minutes ago, richardthestag said:

it was the Robin !! ?

I do try to edit them out but I can be quite flatulent

write ups will continue

The Robins in our garden seem to have decided their territories to include one of the "awaiting restoration" vehicles in each territory.

[richardthestag]

write up on Southpaw 

spent an age cleaning gloop off the drivers side inner wing, sticky oil, sand and mud. Used a screw driver and wire brush to loosen stuff and an air blow gun to shift it.

Then I used some eastwood spray paint prep that the owner of the car had already bought. very effective but some nasty chemicals!

The paint which is 121 chassis paint from rust.co.uk and applied with a 2mm paint gun running at 75-80psi ish. very tough but quite orange peely. exactly what the customer wanted! And I think it looks good too

Autosparks couldn't help with changing the lhd loom to rhd, shame. Gave up wasting any more time and bought a complete loom* from a 1993 200tdi Range Rover. Alas it arrived without engine/gearbox and door looms. Those were extras..... double alas they had sold the engine and gearbox looms but I managed to snaffle the door looms for an additional £50.

Repair panels for the inner wing were sourced from YRMIT.Co.uk, dirt cheap but accurate cut. Wish I had gone this way with the drivers side. Just cut the lot out and weld new in, no chasing holes

Tag welded it in as it is on the original spot weld lines and is also not structural...

prep and paint finished it off nicely 

installed the bulkhead loom into place, the old body (front - back) looms are hanging off the rear view mirror

dropping the headlining one side at the time gave me the space to route the body loom through to the back end of the car

indicator units were spliced into the new loom using crimped bullets and quality sleevies

for the rear light units, I cut the prep 1991 connectors  off the original body loom and then spliced them onto the new loom. This allowed me to locate the splice inside the car rather than with the elements

2nd hand but working boge unit finally arrived. had to remove top and bottom ball joints, fit the refurbed top joint and then get it in the car

and that's it ! rear suspension complete. Just need to finish the brakes and get the propshaft on and I can drop the back end back onto the ground

Today, no pics sorry.

Fitted up the rear brake lines and pads

bled the brakes throughout.

Fitted the rear prop

then removed the old engine and gearbox loom and scratched me head for a while

Oh and found that the fuel line and return are protected where they cross 2cm above the exhaust by tin foil!

 

[robinmasters]

On 10/26/2019 at 4:45 PM, richardthestag said:

thanks mon brave

Re yootoob money and I demonetised due to lack of followers and profanity. Couldn't care less about that anyway as the adverts just get in the way

Yes I am pulling together a HGF video and currently uploading episode 5 of Project Southpaw which what you have read above is the spoiler.

It's criminal that you're not benefiting in a fiduciary sense from these videos.  As well as learning a lot from them, I still laugh every time you say seal then make the 'ow-ow' noise.  See also 'fnarr fnarr' after anything vaguely rude-sounding.