The oldest Land-Rover Series 3 around - new number plates!

[New POD]

You didn't tint it first? 

[mat_the_cat]

No, it was already tinted light green. Unless you're meaning a dark tint, in which case not required - I'm trying to make the most of the sunshine we get in Wales!

Anyway, both sides are now done, and I'm sure it won't be long before I find out whether they're watertight.

[mat_the_cat]

An unexpected benefit I noticed this afternoon - when pulling out of our driveway to turn right we join the NSL A-road at quite an angle, like a motorway sliproad but reversed direction so that the passenger side is entering the road first. This is a nightmare in a panel van with restricted visibility, and still not great in a car as traffic approaching from the left is coming downhill. The new windows make it easier to see the traffic which is above your level, without having to move your head to peer out.

EDIT - found this old video when we were returning home once, to give you an idea of the junction. (Always do a shoulder check!!!)

 

[mat_the_cat]

I mentioned the rear diff a while back - much as it pains me to do so I think I'm going to farm this job out. I'm really enjoying (if that's the right word?) driving this at the moment, so taking it off the road to rebuild it doesn't appeal. I can get an exchange one (with a little upgrade), with negligible downtime, assuming nothing goes wrong...

As a bonus, the company doing it are in Luton, so if I can time the collection with a FoD visit, I'll save the delivery charge. Man maths says they're effectively paying me £25 to visit friends!

A while ago I purchased ignition parts from Distributor Doctor. After a couple of weeks I hadn't received anything, so contacted them and a replaced order was duly sent out. It arrived next day, along with the original order! All looks to be reasonable quality, insomuch as you can judge insulation resistance visually. But the rotor arm is red, which we all know is the fastest colour...

As I mentioned, this is on the verge of being a daily driver. Coming up to 600 miles already this year, so I may have to revise my 1000 miles insurance limit. Starting to wonder whether a LWB would be more sensible though!

As well as having a more usable tank capacity, as I'm pretty much filling up every week. Another modification on the wish list then.

[lexi]

More sensible?  You don't get that with Landy's though do you?😃

[mat_the_cat]

True, and I do rather like driving a small vehicle for a change. Little to update really, just that I bought a replacement filler cap as the original wasn't fitting too well (and missing the seal).

As ever, pattern parts are (and look) cheap. For very little more I found a NOS part...dunno what it is but I quite enjoy opening old packaging.

The locking flap lets it down a bit, but at least it is functioning better now.

 

[stuboy]

3 minutes ago, mat_the_cat said:

will u be weathering the new cap>?

[mat_the_cat]

It'll weather soon enough in Wales! 

[mat_the_cat]

 

On 2/11/2023 at 1:05 AM, mat_the_cat said:

I mentioned the rear diff a while back - much as it pains me to do so I think I'm going to farm this job out. I'm really enjoying (if that's the right word?) driving this at the moment, so taking it off the road to rebuild it doesn't appeal. I can get an exchange one (with a little upgrade), with negligible downtime, assuming nothing goes wrong...

It's ridiculously easy to change the diff on these - all you have to do is remove both rear halfshafts. 

Then disconnect the rear propshaft, and remove the nuts holding the diff into the axle.

And that's all there is to it - it can then be lifted out (and almost dropped on the floor, as it's a heavy bugger!)

[Asimo]

Fully floating hubs for the win!

[mat_the_cat]

After rather a lot of travelling this week, I now have the rebuilt diff back home.

The eagle-eyed may have spotted something different...what's this?

It's (kind of) an LSD. To be correct it's an automatic torque biasing differential, so rather than a conventional LSD where is just limits the speed difference, this will vary the torque across the axle towards the wheel with most grip. It multiplies the torque in a ratio of 3:1, which is the only downside if you pop a wheel completely in the air, as 3x zero is still zero. Although a bit of left foot braking will load the diff, and allow the wheel with grip to transfer drive.

TBH I'm not planning on extreme off-roading, but it's more an insurance policy against getting stuck, especially when towing.

[cobblers]

up until last week I had always thought these had diff locks as standard! I take the one in my T25 for granted, I'd have been stuck dozens of times without it. You don't even need a wheel in the air, just one that is a bit unloaded. I think an ATB will be a nice solution, a proper diff lock is pretty unpleasant to drive with and it feels like it's trying to snap things.

Only found out they didn't have em last weekend when I had to take my T25 up a hill to retrieve my T6 that I had beached on 18" of snow, and there was a guy in a pretty serious looking land rover, also stuck, cursing his lack of diff lock. He had a winch though, so he got himself out at the expense of some poor farmers fence posts.

[sutty2006]

8 hours ago, mat_the_cat said:

After rather a lot of travelling this week, I now have the rebuilt diff back home.

The eagle-eyed may have spotted something different...what's this?

It's (kind of) an LSD. To be correct it's an automatic torque biasing differential, so rather than a conventional LSD where is just limits the speed difference, this will vary the torque across the axle towards the wheel with most grip. It multiplies the torque in a ratio of 3:1, which is the only downside if you pop a wheel completely in the air, as 3x zero is still zero. Although a bit of left foot braking will load the diff, and allow the wheel with grip to transfer drive.

TBH I'm not planning on extreme off-roading, but it's more an insurance policy against getting stuck, especially when towing.

I really want something like that for the front of my discovery. How expensive are they? 

[mat_the_cat]

Here's the info.

https://ashcroft-transmissions.co.uk/product/ashcroft-atb/

It's a fair bit cheaper than the similar Truetrak, but I can't find anyone reporting problems with it - all the comments seem positive.  Note that it sounds like you may notice it slightly in the front.

[sutty2006]

45 minutes ago, mat_the_cat said:

Here's the info.

https://ashcroft-transmissions.co.uk/product/ashcroft-atb/

It's a fair bit cheaper than the similar Truetrak, but I can't find anyone reporting problems with it - all the comments seem positive.  Note that it sounds like you may notice it slightly in the front.

I’m a little gutted I missed buying a Detroit Truetrac years ago but my mate let it go in the front axle of his disco when he sold it. Such a shame. 
 

that’s not a bad price. Did you take your diff down and they fitted it ready to fit back in? For 20 quid? 

[mat_the_cat]

13 hours ago, sutty2006 said:

Did you take your diff down and they fitted it ready to fit back in? For 20 quid? 

I paid quite a bit more  I think the £20 is just for them to supply and fit the bare bearing races to the new diff, not fit the whole thing in the diff casing and set up the clearances/backlash etc.

But £20 seems like a no-brainer for new bearings. Especially as when I was there I parked next to the skip, and saw the empty packets...all decent branded stuff.

Drop them a line if youre interested, I found them very patient with my questions.

Today's first job was putting in the diff. Easy task, although noticeably heavier than the old one (or I'm getting weaker!) The next thing was the driveshafts. These are apparently a bit of a weak point on Series LRs, and the new ATB only comes in the later 24 spline pattern, not the Series 10 spline type. So new halfshafts needed.

These are a constant diameter rather than necking down after the splined part, plus are made from a pretty high grade of alloy steel (I remember it from my heat treatment days). You can also see a bit of spline wear on the old shafts.

The new shafts also need matching hub flanges, which were pretty cheap...

...and easy to slide into place.

So, what difference has it made? Firstly the rumble on the overrun has gone, as so has a lot of the drivetrain slop. I think that a combination of the pinion and crown wheel clearance, and spline wear was to blame.

And the ATB? Well, a standard 2 and a quarter is going to struggle to leave two black lines on tarmac, so I had to settle for leaving two brown lines on a wet grassy hill!

This is just in 2WD, and I could previously barely get anywhere until engaging 4WD. No adverse effects noticed, it just drives like you're on a much grippier surface.

[warch]

I quite fancy one of those fancy differentials, what’s the actual built up cost, without new shafts and drive flanges?

[mat_the_cat]

29 minutes ago, warch said:

I quite fancy one of those fancy differentials, what’s the actual built up cost, without new shafts and drive flanges?

Problem is you need the new shafts, making it not cheap...

[mat_the_cat]

Whilst trying to get my head around how the diff works, I found this video which seems to explain it quite well.

 

[mat_the_cat]

Can't remember if I mentioned it, but I noticed when I serviced it that both front wheel bearings had a bit of play in them. It felt like more than I'd be able to get away with just nipping up again, at least in the long term so I thought best to take a look.

First off I removed the locking hubs. These are sometimes frowned upon, as if you never lock them when in 2wd, the upper swivel bearings don't get any splash lubrication. I tend to leave them engaged most of the time, and disengage them if I'm doing a long or (relatively) fast journey.

Then off with the hub to check the bearing surfaces.

Didn't really want to reassemble these, so a new pair of kits arrived today. NTN bearings and Corteco seals so reasonable quality stuff.

While I was waiting for the bearings to arrive I stripped and cleaned the locking hubs (left one done).

Also replaced the O ring seal as one came out in 3 pieces! That was a frantic measure and Google search at half 3 yesterday afternoon when I realised I didn't have any O rings of the right size in stock. Fortunately I ordered some which arrived 20 hours later.

The bearing kit comes with them, but obviously the correct size for the standard hub flanges. New seal in place:

Hopefully all back together tomorrow. 

[mat_the_cat]

All back together now, well almost. More on that later...

Getting the old race out the easy way!

Time for new parts:

For some reason one side was NTN, the other Koyo, but both decent brands so no problem.

Greased up and in place with the new seal.

Adjusted and lock washer bent over.

Time for the freewheel hubs to go back on, and this is when I realised that they had been previously assembled incorrectly. 

To remove them you loosen 3 Phillips screws, which engage into the slot marked in the picture above, nearest the hub face. What should happen in operation is that the ramped collar should rotate, pushing the inner splined sleeve out against the spring pressure, and disengaging drive.

I reckon that the security screws need to engage in the holes marked in the collar, in order to be able to rotate it. As it was, the only thing causing the collar to rotate was the friction between it and the outer hub cap. And now I've cleaned everything up and greased it, there's less friction hence it now slips!

I've got a set of security bits, but they don't include torx, so I've just reassembled for now and hopefully will get some suitable bits tomorrow. 

[mat_the_cat]

I was correct; I've now been able to assemble the locking mechanism correctly, which means it can be removed from the hub without the spring trying to fire component parts everywhere! 

All works as it should, although I did have more than a moment's worry after testing one side was OK, turning it to the FREE position, then jacking up the wheel to try the other side.

Rotate the wheel and check the front propshaft spins? No. Hmmm, that's strange. Take off the freewheel hubs and rotate the halfshaft - still nothing. I'd got to the stage of pricing up a replacement halfshaft before I twigged that without the other hub locked, I was just spinning the other halfshaft in the opposite direction

[mat_the_cat]

I've never really liked the black and silver plates, but I couldn't decide what to replace them with. The 6 digit reg would have originally been 3.5" high characters, but that wouldn't match the true age of the vehicle. Complicated by the fact that I've put the late 2A grille on it, which makes it look late 60's/early 70's.

White and yellow raised digit plates were available at that time though, so I figured they would look most 'right', and definitely in keeping with the true year of 1979. No contest!

I bought them from Tippers, and they look spot on. Arrived next day, which was a surprise as they quoted 2-3 days! Can I bring myself to drill them...?

[Crackers]

Much better! 

The front plates, when stuck on the bumper top like yours and dad's, look totally wrong as black plates IMO. A nice white place blends in much more nicely.

[mat_the_cat]

You see a mixture of locations, some above the front bumper and some on it. But then I wouldn't be able to hand crank it! So I've stuck with above the bumper.

I've also lowered the front towball a touch, as the rear of the trailer was digging in when approaching a slope.

And the rear plate...that's  better!