Supernaut's Cars - E36 323i / mk3 Megane / S1 Land Rover

[Westbay]

16 minutes ago, Supernaut said:

It really is like a giant mecanno kit.

 

The next steps are to filler / sand / paint the rear tub, then it's detail work such as door seals and alignment, then lights and number plates.

We're still deliberating on what to do with the tail lights. For context this didn't have indicators as standard. As can be seen it's easy to add front ones with the extra holes in the front wings. However, there's very little space to play with on the rear end.

Might need to get creative. That light unit has a clear bit on the bottom to light up the number plate. There are round LED lights on ebay that do stop / tail / indicator but no number plate light. Hmm.

I've considered the idea of adding a flexible orange LED "rope" inside the original light unit to act as an indicator but that whole thing is small. Just over 60mm in diameter. It's a conundrum.

We found this in a local shop and it does stop / tail / indicator / reflector and number plate light all in one, but look at how ugly it is.

Even just a circular equivalent would be better but seemingly no such thing exists.

link ...

any good ?

[captain_70s]

Motorcycle indicators fitted somewhere discreet?

[Supernaut]

1 hour ago, Westbay said:

link ...

any good ?

The biggest issue I've run into is finding out the exact size of many of these sorts of lights. They look ideal but there's very little space to play with, so I get obsessed with trying to find the dimensions of them. Those ones don't mention the size.

 

EDIT: D'oh! It says 4 inches. That might be too big.

54 minutes ago, captain_70s said:

Motorcycle indicators fitted somewhere discreet?

I've considered them too, but I don't seem to be imaginative enough to mount them!

[loserone]

1 minute ago, Supernaut said:

considered them too, but I don't seem to be imaginative enough to mount them!

Can you stick a row of LEDs under the bottom of the panel? Effectively invisible unless they're on?

[Supernaut]

Just now, loserone said:

Can you stick a row of LEDs under the bottom of the panel? Effectively invisible unless they're on?

That is a definite contender too. LED strips are readily available.

[Supernaut]

So much sanding...

I just test fitted the original tail lights.

I like them. I reckon just adding small indicators near them will work.

Yes, they're different each side. The drivers side one sticks out like that so it can shine down on the number plate (it has a clear section on the underside).

[Tickman]

You have these which are possibly the same size as the passenger side tail light:

https://www.autoelectricsupplies.co.uk/p/lucas-l488-indicator-lamp

Same as these:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171151204040?_skw=morris+minor+indicator&itmmeta=01JENWMQ65M5JCYKVEXTXX9XNM&hash=item27d9681ec8:g:tywAAOSwsRVjk0We&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA8HoV3kP08IDx%2BKZ9MfhVJKmyDL4LZIKxuXNXVJUXTAIG2JiQzoPK5nnxbWOWHFopJ3jUFIdIihGRkoXibA4yi48pT0QRLMttvl10r3h5auimjAb1%2Bl89aw91kPPZn7gwxYVZm5%2BWlhHAF9kymQE1WMJeiEVSMCF9TjTWtGNVhFrIkt6Z8TJvR17U2jlszuttEJxD7H5A%2FTl2xYYep%2BtFCfZTZxvHFmxAMX4ZqQFrEU7ZNToJtJQc19ntRGolvlJUdSx%2BR%2FOvNm%2Bb9ZK7gyCdBXtdPae23PGqrusUdiVGiuwtW9s5R8JkQOGAVa07PaZygA%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR5jz0rz1ZA

Or in clear:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/170933767653?_skw=morris+minor+indicator&itmmeta=01JENWMQ65MRTXVVBX55VGCCYX&hash=item27cc724de5:g:bmsAAOSwx4Rji1s5&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA0HoV3kP08IDx%2BKZ9MfhVJKmPN5eSH0LEKWJSK%2BS6YBJ8tFBQPJ6RdJ4CEzPnkmKsl4Od4gNkn0GhHKMiv7g1uwOCknK1TImDoEl4tG--NwBzfs7VciKWMSr8oMCQAWSdAt21p29sXZg5o8fu%2FSH7AxIJyvnB7QADQzV4XQgirLH0zv7kPyEBSEec%2FlkwB%2BJSHvsY8ayTZR0wrYWe5Wf2yXlJB1kkgPyLfEk6%2BIvAQ99ytlp%2B6kNoIOIQ1FWnq1Tn5%2BijSJp5sL7PILgeBB9n4iA%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR5jz0rz1ZA

Sizes in the first link.

 

[Supernaut]

56 minutes ago, Tickman said:

You have these which are possibly the same size as the passenger side tail light:

https://www.autoelectricsupplies.co.uk/p/lucas-l488-indicator-lamp

Same as these:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171151204040?_skw=morris+minor+indicator&itmmeta=01JENWMQ65M5JCYKVEXTXX9XNM&hash=item27d9681ec8:g:tywAAOSwsRVjk0We&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA8HoV3kP08IDx%2BKZ9MfhVJKmyDL4LZIKxuXNXVJUXTAIG2JiQzoPK5nnxbWOWHFopJ3jUFIdIihGRkoXibA4yi48pT0QRLMttvl10r3h5auimjAb1%2Bl89aw91kPPZn7gwxYVZm5%2BWlhHAF9kymQE1WMJeiEVSMCF9TjTWtGNVhFrIkt6Z8TJvR17U2jlszuttEJxD7H5A%2FTl2xYYep%2BtFCfZTZxvHFmxAMX4ZqQFrEU7ZNToJtJQc19ntRGolvlJUdSx%2BR%2FOvNm%2Bb9ZK7gyCdBXtdPae23PGqrusUdiVGiuwtW9s5R8JkQOGAVa07PaZygA%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR5jz0rz1ZA

Or in clear:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/170933767653?_skw=morris+minor+indicator&itmmeta=01JENWMQ65MRTXVVBX55VGCCYX&hash=item27cc724de5:g:bmsAAOSwx4Rji1s5&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA0HoV3kP08IDx%2BKZ9MfhVJKmPN5eSH0LEKWJSK%2BS6YBJ8tFBQPJ6RdJ4CEzPnkmKsl4Od4gNkn0GhHKMiv7g1uwOCknK1TImDoEl4tG--NwBzfs7VciKWMSr8oMCQAWSdAt21p29sXZg5o8fu%2FSH7AxIJyvnB7QADQzV4XQgirLH0zv7kPyEBSEec%2FlkwB%2BJSHvsY8ayTZR0wrYWe5Wf2yXlJB1kkgPyLfEk6%2BIvAQ99ytlp%2B6kNoIOIQ1FWnq1Tn5%2BijSJp5sL7PILgeBB9n4iA%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR5jz0rz1ZA

Sizes in the first link.

 

Aha, yes. Well.

It previously had Morris Minor indicators on the rear. In order for them to "fit", the little hooks for the soft top were cut off though.

We want to preserve the functionality of the soft top this time around, so the only options are even smaller. There really is bugger-all space on the back of this thing.

 

These, for example, are smaller: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/392572052359

[Supernaut]

It seems a decision has been reached for the rear indicators.

The Royal We (my dad) decided to order some amber LED lamps from a company that does lights for emergency vehicles / escort vehicles.

They're rectangular, 25mm tall and 80mm long.

That sounds small but for context that's a standard square number plate and the tail light is about 60mm across! It really is a small vehicle. To the left of my hand is the tailgate opening.

The indicator will go just inboard of that tab below the plate, with a red reflector outboard of it.

[Tayne]

Once you have all the lights and reflectors, the rear panel will be FUL.

[somewhatfoolish]

Some quite interesting possibilities on aliexpress.

[Supernaut]

10 hours ago, Tayne said:

Once you have all the lights and reflectors, the rear panel will be FUL.

It'll take ages to do it, but I'll drive it to your house and sit outside with the choke out just for that.

[Tayne]

That would be be a FULish waste of money.

[Supernaut]

Oh jeez.

 

 

Oh man.

We'll have to start doing electrical things soon. [Shudder]

[captain_70s]

Looks a lot like the blue the RAF vehicles used to be.

[Tickman]

2 hours ago, Supernaut said:

We'll have to start doing electrical things soon. [Shudder]

That should be about 15 minutes of work to fit, on the road for Christmas at this rate!

[Supernaut]

1 hour ago, captain_70s said:

Looks a lot like the blue the RAF vehicles used to be.

I flipping hope so.

That's kind of what we're going for.

 

The history of this particular vehicle involves being a fire tender on an RAF airstrip before being sold off into civilian life sometime in the 60s or 70s. Hence the RAF blue.

My parents bought it sometime in the late 70s as a cheap workhorse after the previous owner had got their use out of it. Said previous owner bought it for a single trip. London to Aberdeen towing a horse trailer with two horses in it. Utter masochist.

At some point in the early 80s it acquired a red front wing and door from a Post Office Land Rover after my mum managed to park it upside down on the railway in Inverurie. It then got painted (badly) in that bright blue still visible inside the tub.

The last tax disc was from 1991 and it had just sat in the shed looking sad and rotting its chassis rails for a couple of decades before we began tearing it apart in 2013. Then life got in the way for a few years.

Nearly there now though.

 

It really is an heirloom, I've already been told I'll inherit it.

[somewhatfoolish]

On 15/12/2024 at 13:27, Supernaut said:

Said previous owner bought it for a single trip. London to Aberdeen towing a horse trailer with two horses in it. Utter masochist.

Mental; pretty much any contemporary car with a >2litre engine would have been a less terrible choice for that job.

[Supernaut]

1 hour ago, somewhatfoolish said:

Mental; pretty much any contemporary car with a >2litre engine would have been a less terrible choice for that job.

Precisely.

Series Land Rovers are definitely agricultural machinery, not cars.

I used to regularly drive a 1975 Series 3 in the mid-2000s and that made me think all older cars were like that. Then one day I got in a 1958 Morris Minor and it was like a spaceship in comparison. Even in 1955 this Series 1 would have been pretty awful compared to contemporary cars.

Old Land Rovers are great fun, though. In small doses.

[artdjones]

1 hour ago, Supernaut said:

Precisely.

Series Land Rovers are definitely agricultural machinery, not cars.

I used to regularly drive a 1975 Series 3 in the mid-2000s and that made me think all older cars were like that. Then one day I got in a 1958 Morris Minor and it was like a spaceship in comparison. Even in 1955 this Series 1 would have been pretty awful compared to contemporary cars.

Old Land Rovers are great fun, though. In small doses.

The first time I drove my friend's IIA I had to turn right where the turn was a bit more than 90 degrees. I literally couldn't get it around the corner. Luckily, it was so slow that I came to rest with the nose against the outer apex of the corner. So I reversed out and got round at the second go.

[Paul-l]

This is the arrangement of lights on the back of mine - big red one at the top in the middle, and the indicators much lower and to the outside of the panel

Its possibly on the number plate on the offside, but I can’t see without moving it at the moment!

[Supernaut]

Megane rear spring has left the chat.

It let go with a hell of a bang while I was just doing 10mph down the farm track.

[warch]

16 hours ago, artdjones said:

The first time I drove my friend's IIA I had to turn right where the turn was a bit more than 90 degrees. I literally couldn't get it around the corner. Luckily, it was so slow that I came to rest with the nose against the outer apex of the corner. So I reversed out and got round at the second go.

This often happened when people fitted larger tyres to the standard wheels or hadn't got the lockstops adjusted properly. Mine has the proper deeper dish wheels which had more offset.

I had the issue you describe with a last of the line 2016 Landrover 110 which had such poor lock you had to be careful turning in off the main road into a gateway, the turning circle was horrendous.

[Jenson Velcro]

Could you find space in the back panels for a 28mm side repeater as your indicator?

[Supernaut]

If only I had a car with insurance and MOT until mid March that I could run around in while the Megane is borked.

Oh yeah.

 

I just lobbed the battery back in and it fired up, no drama. About a second (at most) of rattle from the top end then it built up oil pressure and idled like it was used yesterday. I did a quick smoke check, looked around for any fluid leaks, topped up the tyre pressures and checked the wheel bolts (!!!!) and chocks away.

It's definitely not the Megane in how it drives.

 

 

In terms of repairing the Megane; a pair of rear springs is about £30. The procedure to replace them looks straightforward enough. Jack up both sides of the back end and undo the bottom bolts on the rear shocks. That should then give enough movement in the beam axle thing to swing it down to remove the springs without even using compressors.

Those bottom shock absorber bolts look scary, and I don't own any air tools.

My neighbour has air tools, and a two post lift, and charges very reasonable hourly rates. He has already been informed. 😂

[Supernaut]

38 minutes ago, Jenson Velcro said:

Could you find space in the back panels for a 28mm side repeater as your indicator?

I was looking at those, but seeing as it's my dad's Land Rover I was waiting to see what he thought. Then he just ordered the rectangular ones instead.

The rectangles will be bigger and brighter than any wee side repeaters and will slot in nicely at the bottom of the rear panel.

[Supernaut]

With nothing to be done with the Megane today besides dumping it in the naughty corner, I cracked on with the Land Rover seeing as the weather is continuing to be unseasonably mild.

That's the floor riveted down and a dusting of primer.

Yeah, I got some overspray on that rear edge but it will all be blue anyway.

[Supernaut]

Yeah, don't get speeding tickets kids.

Axa quoted me £301 to insure the Megane in mid-January, but that was based on old data (even though I added the SP30 to the existing policy).

When I added the SP30 it jumped up to £499.

 

I did some comparisons and went with Hastings Direct for £390 instead. They even gave me a very favourable multicar quote for the BMW too, and I only have to pay that portion in March when it renews.

[Supernaut]

Fuck it. That'll do.

[Supernaut]

Hmm, yes. I think masking off the cappings was the right idea.