Bitsa - the Reincarnation

Rolling again...

2011-04-20T00:20:00.000+01:00

From this:

To this, in 3 hours:

The rest of today was spent rebuilding the gearbox, which is now more or less ready to run - I just need to fit a transfer-box.

Now fully dismembered...

2011-04-17T00:48:00.000+01:00

First job this morning was to head off and collect the new chassis from storage. The tow motor is on loan, I've not gone to the dark side, despite the luxury 90's opulence of the Vogue SE 4 door I've borrowed...

Big thanks to Adam, who came across to help me today.

I've now got two gearbox in bits, and enough good parts that with some new bearings (on order now) I should be able to build a pretty sound box up.

With Adam's help, the bulkhead has been unbolted and was lifted back a few inches (the fence post was to stop it falling over)...

...then with tactical use of the telehandler, off it went to storage at the other side of the yard.

The engine followed suit shortly afterwards. During a lull in proceedings, I changed the turbo for a better one - hopefully this will stop the long-standing problems with sump pressure from blowing turbo seals.

Meanwhile, Adam had given the new chassis another coat of paint. (The rear cross-member is unpainted as I intend to fit a civilian spec one).

Finally, a major offensive with the windy gun and telehandler saw the old chassis outside the workshop, pretty much devoid of useful parts...

Almost in bits...

2011-04-15T21:49:00.000+01:00

Bitsa is now in bits. Lot of bits. The camera battery went flat halfway through proceedings, but not before recording a few images of note.

Back tub off for the first time in 2 years... the dirt buildup on the main rails was un-belivable.

Enter JCB Loadall, remove gearbox. Nothing quite like an engine hoist you can drive...

Inside the gearbox was bad news: I was rather miffed to find why it had gone bang was simply that some twit in the MOD had failed to do the bolt on the front of the layshaft up properly. The result was it had flapped backwards and forwards, eaten the rear layshaft bearing, smashed 3rd gear, wrecked the layshaft and made such a mess of the layshaft bearing housing that the main box case is scrap
All because of one slack bolt. I've another box arriving tomorrow morning, hopefully with two boxes and a new set of bearings I can make one box that is fit to use...

The new back tub...

2011-04-15T00:30:00.002+01:00

Collected Saturday - Cheers Rich.
Also acquired were various other handy bits and pieces, including a straight bumper to replace the current excessively bent example.

Also acquired were various other handy bits and pieces, including a straight bumper to replace the current excessively bent example.

Stripdown will occur ~~tomorrow~~ later today, the main priority is to get the gearbox out and opened up, so I can see what bits need ordering... currently I've a choice of two gears - high 4th and low 4th, so I suspect failed layshaft bearings, the only critical question is what else has gone bang...

The rapid rechassis project...

2011-04-09T00:42:00.001+01:00

Keen readers of this blog may have noticed that blogging hasn't been so much light has non-existant of late. I've not had a lot of spare time or inclination if I'm honest...

However, a major Bitsa project is underway - a chassis swap in just over a week, commencing 15th April, through to 25th April. At the end of this, I should have a working Bitsa again, possibly even with a new coat of the trademark blue paint. For that week, I'll also be blogging progress as near live as possible...

Star of the show is the new chassis - an NOS combat SIII chassis, lovingly bought by the MOD in the 70's, and having sat round in storage most of the time since, it cost me £250, which is a bargain in chassis terms.

I've spent today painting it, ready for fitting. (The axle assembly fitted at the moment isn't from of Bitsa, it's a slave I borrowed to move the chassis on).

As it arrived...

Shiny.

On a go slow...

2010-10-11T22:49:00.002+01:00

Looks like I've fuel issues. It takes time to realise, but she has definitely become more sluggish, and really down on top end power, particularly cold, and on veg oil. I switched the tank from near 100% SVO to about 70% DERV, and a lot of the go came back, which makes me feel fairly sure I know the culprit. A new fuel filter will be fitted shortly.

(This is one of the problems of switching to SVO after a prolonged time on DERV - SVO drag's all sorts of sedimented muck out of the tank and into the the filter. I went through two filters in the first 500 miles, now its probably getting on for time to change the filter again anyway, and the dirt has built up again. The problem gradually dies down provided there isn't a prolonged switch back to DERV, I'd expect a normal lifespan from the next filter.)

The downside to playing in mud...

2010-10-07T00:33:00.002+01:00

Was under the back end of Bitsa adjusting the brakes, when I noticed a distinct noise from a rear wheel bearing... rumble, rumble, rumble.

That makes two that have gone in as many weeks, on opposite sides. Both bearings being of different ages (I forgot which but I changed a hub and bearing for one off my spare axle last winter due to a lose stud), I'm inclined to suspect its not a co-incidence, but related to something - probably mud from Sibbertoft.

At least I caught this one, unlike the previous one which gave up at the start of a 400 mile round trip, and hence was pretty mashed by the time it got removed 200 miles later.

I've obtained another bearing, and got my box spanner back off loan, so changing it is a job for Friday.

In unrelated news, I've finally stuck some stickers on the speedometer glass to correct for the new rear diff. At some point, when I've got the dash apart I'll take the glass out and do a neat job inside, but this should do for the minute. If its of any interest, 4.7 diffs changed for 3.54:1 diffs means more or less each 0.75mph marked on the gauge is 1mph in real life.

Finally...

2010-10-04T21:42:00.003+01:00

...I've got round to fixing the "pet annoying little job"... the bad earth on one headlight.

Its so nice having full power from both headlights, I'm tempted to go and drive round in the dark to enjoy it.

Judging from the state of the headlamp plug (mildly melted) it seems the earth lead had partially fallen off, then got very hot and rusted. I've cleaned it all up, tightened the crimps and put it back. That of course took 30 seconds, dismembering the headlight bowl enough to get at the offending connector took about 15 minutes. Last time I did this, I just pushed the plug back on, and it went back to being dim about 10 minutes after I started driving... hopefully now I've tightened the connectors its problem solved for good.

I had a mild panic after doing the headlight; I checked the water level in the radiator, and found to my horror an oil emulsion on the bottom of the cap. Halfway through a prolonged effort to see if there were any bubbles in the water the penny dropped - guess who had used old 3L veg oil cans to transport the water last time he filled the radiator up, and not washed all the oil out first. Panic over (I think, I'll have to keep a bit of an eye on it to check just in-case there is another cause).

Oil Change

2010-10-03T22:09:00.002+01:00

Finally done an oil change. Gone from 10w40 semi synth to API spec 20w50 Mineral in an effort to solve the hot oil pressure issues - the light had been coming on at anything up to 1000rpm with the engine hot, which didn't bode well. The underlying issue is almost certainly that the crank is worn out (it had new shells 8K miles ago, but that didn't fix the problem), but the more miles I get out of it, the longer till I've got to pay for a new one...

The warning light is now out except at hot idle, and then it goes out if I nudge the throttle to add an extra 50rpm or so, which is much better - I'm tempted to knock the idle up to hold the light out all the time.

Incidentally, if anyone is interested I'm still running on SVO, and inadvertently on 100% this weekend... it goes fine at 90%, but at 100% its noticeably down on power... combined with 3.54 Diffs, the peak district, and having a dumper engine belonging to someone else in the back (don't ask), and hills have been "interesting". I've burnt enough SVO off to get £10 of diesel in the tank, which has improved matter dramatically.

Big Wheels keep on Turnin

2010-09-27T13:28:00.004+01:00

Its been a hard couple of weeks for Bitsa... well over 1300 miles in just over two weeks.

This weekend, it was Carlisle, two weekends before it was Oxford.

I can't honestly say she's done well in the reliability stakes - I've had to replace:

Rear wheel bearing
Bottom cam sprocket and woodruff key
Crank pulley
8 fan belts (see also the crank pulley, the issue has now been resolved, at one point I realised I was spending more on fan belts than fuel a mile). Its also amazing how fan belt prices vary, from £2.15 to £6.46 for identical length belts, depending where you buy them.

For some reason, I've done a lot more motorway than normal this month, including travel on:

M1
M6
M40
M53
M55
M56
M60
M61
M62
M67

Which isn't bad going, as sometimes she goes for months without touching anything more than the local duel carriageway.

Along with the latest fan belt, I've bought a new oil filter, and an oil change is planned for the weekend, as its getting rather overdue. I'm going to move from 10w40 to 20w50, in an effort to reduce the problems with low oil pressure at idle (which problems are probably related to a worn crank, if I can find the cash once the S1 is running I'll be looking at rebuilding this engine again with a reground crank, as the rest of it is in good shape)

In other news, the 3.54:1 diff is now in, she is geared a fraction tall now, especially when laden, but it does make motorways nice and relaxed (until I get to long hills anyway).

The late Front Crank Pulley

2010-09-22T21:10:00.002+01:00

It seems it has met the axle once too often for its own good.

As a bodge to end all bodges, I've welded the crack up to buy me another week or so while a replacement is sourced... (big thanks to FenTiger on this one).

Longer term plan is to make up a pulley with a smaller diameter, using a 2.25 waterpump pulley, as then it should be clear of the axle...

3.54:1

2010-09-18T01:51:00.002+01:00

I spent a good chunk of this afternoon dismembering a 110 back axle for the the differential.

It would have taken about 10 minutes, had the pinion nut not been so tight I failed to shift it with a decent 3/4" drive socket and bar. Eventually, I lost patience, and split the nut with a hammer and chisel (handy skill to develop, this is the second time in as many weeks I've managed to do this to seized nuts without wrecking the thread the nut is on). After that, I could take the main diff unit out, followed by the input shaft and pinion... not forgetting its crush spacer.

I tend dropped the prop from Bitsa, to find not only could I undo the nut, but it had come lose, and the diff input bearings had loads of play in them... as it was getting dark, I decided against fitting the new diff until tomorrow, and just tightened the nut back up. Driving home from the farm, the howl on over-run that I had assumed was a knackered prop has much diminished.

You are meant to go to lots of trouble setting the diff up in a "new" case, but having talked to others it seems that in practice it you swap all the bits as a set, it will be fine.

Hopefully she will be much nicer on the motorway on 3.54's, although I suspect the peaks will prove a bit painful until I sort out the turbocharger.

In other news, I now own loads of 9.00x16 bargips, (4 medium worn ones for sale cheap if anyone wants them, I've ended up with 9 in total), and am now sorting out getting hold of a set of rims to fit them to. The super tall Bitsa looms... no more getting stuck descending Chapelgate step.

Sibbertoft

2010-09-17T00:51:00.003+01:00

All in all, a good time was had. I've a nasty feeling Bitsa may need a new alternator however...

Compare and Contrast

2010-09-12T22:38:00.002+01:00

I had been having problems with the timing drifting... and finally took the cover off the cambelt at Sibbertoft while at OLLR's "All leafer weekender" event, as she took to refusing to start, and there was no movement left on the pump atall... Big thanks to Pete(Nightmare) who ran me to a "local" parts place about 40 mins away for a new pulley and associated bits... and then helped me put it all back together.

Once it was running, I had a great time getting covered in mud - I'll post about that later.

Its only been four years, but it feels like a lifetime

2010-08-27T23:22:00.005+01:00

Working things out, think it is 4 years this weekend since Bitsa hit the roads, having passed its first MOT in my ownership (I bascially built it from a pile of parts centred round an early SIII 109" SW).

To celibrate, here are 5 previously unpublished photos from the archives, of "early Bitsa".

1) Just before the MOT, August 06. I was trying to get the brakes set up as part as the final push to a test.
The clasic car thats just visible in the background is my old grey rover P4, ASJ 314.

2) This was January 07, and I was out laning, photo probably taken by Twm Ford, while I was trying to turn round on very rutted bit of lane.

3) March 07, out laning again, a few days before I moved to England from Wales. I had painted one with a tin of what claimed to be limestone, and decided I didn't like the way it looked before I got round to painting the other side. By this point the mileage was racking up very fast - note the amount of road dirt on the rear tub quarter panels. I still didn't own a tailgate, I think one was relayed to me that weekend.

4) August 07, and time is nearly up for the original incarnation. Now respendant in midnight blue, I was busy oiling the springs, hence the ramp under the front wheels. I was already running on veg oil, and commuting 40 miles a day, this lasted until I went on holiday, and the engine decided that cold starts on veg oil weren't on and died about 10 days before the MOT was up.

After that, it ended up parked up for over a year, before being stripped down and rebuilt again.

Wow... that makes a change.

2010-08-21T21:24:00.003+01:00

I don't post often about "Project Rust", my Series 1, as its all supposed to be written up for LRM at some point.

However, today while fooling about in the workshop an event occurred so remarkable I think I've got to blog about it...

Yes, this is Project Rust's steering relay, and its out of the chassis. No heat, no jacks, no hammers... I merely unbolted it, stuck a screwdriver under one of the mounting flanges and yanked. How good is that? (this will probably be the first and last time in my life I ever manage this trick).

Maybe the whole thing is just feeling contrite for smacking me really hard in the chest with a sharp bit of chassis yesterday. It seems if you lift a chassis with an engine crane, and the only thing left holding the front axle on is a brake flexi pipe you forgot to cut, the chassis doesn't half take off at a rate of knots when the pipe finally breaks... just a pity I was stood in the way... it still hurts 24 hours later.

A lot more go

2010-08-18T23:13:00.002+01:00

Bitsa had been getting hard to start, the MPG's have been abysmal, and performance sluggish.

This sounded like poor timing, so I've advanced the injection timing quite a lot. The result is a lot better - it starts instantly, and goes like stink compared to before. Time will tell if the MPG improves, but I'd be amazed if it doesn't - on the way back from Aber last week at a steady 65mph on the motorway she was barely returning 20mpg.

I'm not sure how the timing had ended up out - it used to start OK, and there was no evidence of slippage with the pump timing bolts.

While I was doing these sort of things, I pulled off the front pulley which had developed the worrying ability to rotate about 30deg relative to the crank, and found to my relief the damage was severe wear to the keyway slot on the pulley, rather than a chunk missing from the crankshaft. It seems the Sherpa crank (my engine was rebuilt with one after the disaster with the original crank) has a fractionally shorter nose bolt than a tdi, and the Tdi bolt I'd fitted had bottomed out in the hole when tightened, rather than gripping the front pulley. I've fitted some extra washers to hold the bolt further out( dead grinder cutting disks proved ideal), which seems to have solved the problem.

I think the next party trick is going to have to be looking at replacing the front brake shoes again - the Mintex shoes that I fitted at easter seem to have glazed, and stopping is getting to be a fraction unsatisfactory. I begin to understand why people pay money for disk brake conversions... (I won't, I'm too tight). That and getting that wretched 3.54 diff stuck in the back, before the engine dies of a diet of motorway speeds and high mileages. (I was going to swap the offending diff in a few weeks ago, but as is often the way with life things didn't work out, and I ended up reinstalling windows for someone on their computer that afternoon instead).

SVO - the downsides

2010-08-05T13:11:00.003+01:00

Well, the great SVO experiment continues.

The engine runs quiet smoothly on SVO, but it is noticeably down on power when its cold. Once its warmed up, it seems Ok, if fractionally down on 'go'.

In the usual SVO way, its done the usual trick of clogging a filter with junk dredged from the tank - I drove to Buxton and back last night, and it was really struggling on the long climbs with fuel starvation.

I've fitted a new filter now, so hopefully the run down to Wales tonight should be fairly painless.

So smooth...

2010-08-04T00:04:00.002+01:00

I did one of those little niggling jobs this evening - putting a new exhaust downpipe/manifold gasket on. I'm a bit shocked by the effects - I've had 3 weeks of driving with quite a bad blow from the joint, and the sudden silence and smoothness feel's very Roll-Royce compared to the rather industrial tractor roar that had previously been there when booting the throttle.

The uses for ratchet straps are never-ending, this weeks trick is using them to hold the cab down while getting the bolts at the back in, after changing the wrecked back panel for one that actually has a full set of glass and isn't falling to bits. It also has a proper seal at the bottom, and the bolts(spring shackle bolts, with spreader plates, through the hoodstick holes) wouldn't quite thread together with the extra height the seal represented. Ratchet strapping the cab down was sufficient to get the bolts through and done up properly.

Off to Aberystwyth... what will break this time?

2010-08-03T13:11:00.002+01:00

I'm off on my holidays on Thursday night... the usual week in Aberystwyth. I'm pondering what's going to break this time - 3 years ago it was the injector pump, last year the exhaust sheared off on the manifold... I don't think Bitsa likes Aberystwyth.

Before I go, I've still a few niggling jobs, to do - a new exhaust gasket to stop it blowing, changing the truck-cab back for one that has windows, and ideally running a new headlight earth in an effort to reinvigorate the current rather enfeebled glow-worms that are fitted.

I'm still having success with SVO, although cold starts at about 60% SVO are proving a little interesting. It takes a few seconds of foot to the floor after turning the key before it will rev, then it splutters badly as it revs up for 10 seconds, then its fine. During this operation, a cloud of dense blue grey smoke emerges, which hangs over the area for some time after Bitsa has left the scene. Power is noticeably down for the first mile or two, but once the engine is up to temperature its fine.

I've now got a leaking underseat fill fuel tank, thanks to DocMorris, so next mission it to graft the top of that onto a good normal tank. Hopefully Being able to see into the tank should make it rather easier to sort out what blend of fuel is in there...

SVO stinks...

2010-07-29T17:39:00.002+01:00

I'd forgotten just how strong that chip van smell is when running on veg oil... talk about pungent.

Still, cold starts at 2:1 diesel:SVO seen more than fine, so I'll try adding a little more, and see how it goes.

I've been thinking about ways of doing twin tanks, and I'm wondering about putting a military battery box in place of the middle seat... then I can take the battery out of the passenger seat toolbox, remove the toolbox, and fit another tank. When I eventually add a rear tank, that means a total fuel load of 36 gallons, or 900 miles... I can see fueling up becoming a monthly occurrence.

SVO, again...

2010-07-28T19:43:00.003+01:00

Last time I played with Straight Veg Oil the supermarket price rose to the point that it became un-economic. Coupled with my desire to run on oil that's really free, and not just cheap, I went for waste mineral oil instead.

Although I got the engine to run fairly well on old engine oil, the design needed further enhancements, mostly to the fuel pumping and heat exchanging stages. Unfortunately, these never got done as I've been very busy, and they haven't exactly been given top priority.

In the meantime, I notice that pump diesel has got dearer (nothing new there then), and supermarket veg oil has got cheaper, currently my local Tesco has oil at 83p/l. After inwardly debating the matter for a week or so, I've now taken the plunge, and Bitsa is back on DERV/SVO mix, currently about 2:1. If it does colds starts on that OK, I'll try increasing the mix a little, but I'm not planning on crossing the 50% mark for the minute - I need twin tanks to do that safely, as a bare minimum...

Bolt on tat, and why its all pointless.

2010-07-25T01:00:00.004+01:00

Bolt on tat is funny stuff.

Go to any major Landrover event, and the vast majority of stands will be pushing bits and pieces that can loosely be described as Bolt on Bling, in the name of offroad protection. Things like diff guards, trackrod guards, sump guards, rocksiders, fuel tank guards...

Now, I have never fitted any such Bling to Bitsa, partly because it looks gay, and mostly cos I'm really tight. But, prompted by a post over on the Series 2 Club forum, I fell to museing about what good all this gadgetry might have done me.

Those who know Bitsa well may be aware that she has a few dents (actually, make that a lot). I don't think there is a straight panel on there to be honest, and I can't say the fact bothers me much. Even worse is the state of the chassis - it has dents in the main rails, damage to gearbox cross-member, a simply huge dent in the bellhousing crossmember, another ding in the centre of the rear cross-member. The dents are not all new and novel, but are the product of a load of greenlaning, with the odd bit of use round farms and playdays thrown in. The funny thing is, that all this not withstanding, I've yet to damage a single thing there is a guard commercially available for.

If I've never bent a steering rod, never dented a diff, nor punched a hole in my sump, what exactly am I doing wrong? I'll go in for almost any loony driving, bar mud runs (only because I can't be bothered cleaning up afterwards, and because I don't like wet feet), but I still keep failing to break the "approved" of items to break. This prompts me to suspect that bolt on tat is, well just that - tat, and it is sold to enrich the seller, rather than for any practical purpose. Still doesn't stop people who only do road mileage buying this sort of tat, and bolting it to their motor's mind you.

Oh well I suppose, after all, news has come in that the Pope's apparently a Catholic.

P.s. new chassis next year, and with 2" lift, plus that lift from the 9.00's that come with it, and its going to take some serious rocks to knock holes in my new chassis...

Gear ratios

2010-07-23T22:36:00.003+01:00

Yours truly has been doing some thinking about gear ratios for Bitsa in the longer term.

Currently, Bitsa has 4.7 diffs, no overdrive, a normal transfer-box, a series main gearbox, and a 200di engine which gives an estimated 85bhp. The gearing feels decidedly short, with 2nd being suitable for pulling away most of the time, but 70mph (fairly easily achievable) pushing the engine onto the red line for continuous running.

Thanks to a rather handy site at http://www.solemnwarning.net/transmission/, I've runs a selection of gearing scenarios, to try and think about what will be a good idea in the longer term.

First off, here is a graph showing the ratios in the various gears as she is currently setup.

Now, the one thing which I'm determined to do which will affect the gearing is swapping to 9.00 tyres, when I rebuild onto a new chassis with extended spring outriggers. There are lots of reasons for this, and not just that 9.00's are cool - I want more ground clearance when out laning for instance.

This doesn't look loads better, but it does get 70mph the right side of the red line, at 3733Rpm rather than 4095Rpm. Granted that's not going to revolutionise anything, but its a step in the right direction.

Next question is - what about 3.5 diffs?

This is starting to get to the sort of territory that I'm after - with the turbocharger, there should be no problem pulling this sort of overall ratio, but it gets the engine down to 2780Rpm at 70mph. I had contemplated an overdrive as well, but I think this might be over-egging the pudding...

This puts a 70mph cruse as having the engine at just 2168Rpm. It might hack that, but I'm not sure if it will do the gearbox or overdrive any favours having to deal with an engine constantly developing near peak torque in order to maintain speed.

One of the interesting side effects of this lot is the apparently incredible speed range low box is developing - 3805Rpm in low ratio overdrive 4th is 60mph. Its worth bearing in mind that the current gearing has the engine running at 3510Rpm to achieve 60mph. This could be solved by fitting an Ashcroft hi-ratio transfer box, rather than 3.54 diffs, but then that means no overdrive (its not physically possible to fit one onto the Ashcroft box)...

With the engine at 2829Rpm at 70mph, this is lower geared than 3.54 diffs, but it does still have large gaps between the gears, which an overdrive would have helped with.

A final option I considered was an LT77 mated to a series transferbox. I'm not really very keen (after all, the Series gearbox is responsible for a good deal of the series driving experience, and its also a lot of work to fit an LT77).

Frankly, this isn't high enough geared, with 70mph in 5th at 3104Rpm, when it really needs to be below the 3000rpm mark. It is however really a bit too high to seriously consider in tandem with 3.54 diffs, and I don't think it is possible to include an overdrive in the package either.

So, where do I go from here? Short term, I've got a 3.54 rear diff to fit, as soon as I manage to get round to it. Then I can turbocharge, and see what happens (its going to have to be pretty grim with the 3.54 diff and no turbo). If that seems OK, particularly when loaded (I may fill it with a load of scrap and go for a blast up the M67 hill to make sure), then I'll swap in the front 3.54 diff. Then its a case of waiting for the rechassising session, and looking for a set of 9.00's that are feeling lonely, and seeing how she goes...

Another pile of fixing done.

2010-07-23T17:24:00.002+01:00

I spent a few hours this afternoon sorting out the latest "new" exhaust for Bitsa, to replace the one I wrecked descending Chapelgate. This one uses large bore stainless pipe, and a flat silencer unit rather than a standard Landrover rear box. I don't know if it will do anything for performance in the short term, but longer term, the pipe is big enough bore to convert for use with the turbocharger.

I've also fitted a new dipstick from a 2.25D, rather than a 200tdi, which is handy, as the 200tdi dipstick was bent beyond use. Having done some calibrating, I've been able to check the engine oil level for the first time in ages... and concluded it is rather over-full. That probably accounts for the haze of blue smoke that she has recently developed at idle then.

5000 miles

2010-07-22T23:20:00.002+01:00

Just updated the MPG counter, and it seems I've now broken the 5000 mile mark with the rebuilt Tdi. A quick check of the figures suggests that represents driving 42 miles a day since it went back in, which equates to just over 15,000 miles a year.

Just an average car then...

Well, maybe not, I mean, you don't just drive off down Chapelgate one evening in an average car do you? (I only need to change one wrecked outrigger and make a new exhaust now).

I'm having a bit of a revamp of my web pages, this blog is hosted by blogger, but all the images, the mpg calculator and a few other bits of other stuff have been fliting between free webhosts for a while now. I've finally had enough of free webhosts (they all promise the moon, then either don't work, or work really well for a month, then announce they are canceling free packages), so I've actually bought some webspace that should work properly.

Seeing as that is that case, I'm hoping to put up some decent content on the main SeriesLandrover.co.uk pages, to make it a bit of a FAQ guide for Landrover problems.

Amongst the things I'd like to cover are Landrovers and veg oil, 109" brakes, tdi conversions info, salisbury diff rebuild photos (when I eventually get it done).

Off on a grand tour of West Yorkshire tomorrow

2010-07-10T00:13:00.002+01:00

Just organising the last stages of a tour round most of west Yorkshire tomorrow.

Main mission is moving a 109" roof from Wakefield to Pontefact, but I seem to have ended up also shifting some 109" axles from Macclesfield to Doncaster, some inner tubes Doncaster to Holmfirth, and some wheels and tyres Maccelsfield to Holmfirth.

Still should be a good laugh, and as its all for other folks, I get the diesel bill paid.

In other news, apparently Britpart have finally refunded me for the dud springs I returned a year ago. Its a good job the replacements were free, its taken them long enough. I drove past their depot a few weeks ago, and had it being during the day I'd have been tempted to call in and see what they had to say for themselves, but at 9pm on a Sunday night, I didn't think any of them would be in.

Going Hi-Cap

2010-07-09T16:24:00.002+01:00

Got offered a Hicap tub this for Bitsa a few weeks ago, and said no, too expensive. It didn't sell elsewhere, and so I was offered it for a better price this morning, and couldn't resist.

Bitsa's current rear tub is knackered, I've been meaning to replace it for ages, and I've always wanted a IIA hi-cap, so this is the perfect opportunity.

I'm collecting it from Lincolnshire, current plan is to drive Bitsa down with no tub, and fit it on the spot. I'll have to take a grinder to the current back tub to make it into a Hi-Cap front bulkhead, the main challenge at the moment seems to be sorting the top capping out so it looks right.

This is the donor vehicle, a shunted 200tdi 110...

Worst part of the job is I suppose I'll have to re-do the sign-writing on the new tailgate...

Timing tweak - success...

2010-07-08T00:24:00.003+01:00

Just worked out a spot MPG for the last tank of fuel, it came out at 29mpg for the last 137 miles, so it looks like advancing the timing a bit has had the desired effect.

On a different note, Bitsa let me down yesterday for the first time since the rebuilt "new" engine went in - the battery was flat as a pancake, and she refused to start. I suspect that the CB had been draining the battery, despite being switched off, as it had a permanent live feed. I've disconnected it for the short term, longer term plan is to sort it with a key switched live.

I hope its the CB, if not it means yet another dead 16ACR (I've lost count how many have gone bang now, but I know its depressing). If I have another one go, I'll try and replace it with a A127 off a disco tdi.

Timing Tweak

2010-06-30T01:03:00.002+01:00

I've always been slightly concerned Bitsa's rebuilt 200 wasn't quite timed spot on, mostly because it always took a bit of cranking before she woke up at a cold start, and this was inevitably followed by some really rough running and white smoke till she was several hundred yards down the road.

I finally had enough this evening, and whipped the cover off the timing case, locked the pump off, slacked the adjuster bolts off, moved the crank backwards about 3deg, and re-tightened the adjuster. Startup is now within 2 turns or so from cold, rather than 10, with no smoke or rough running, and there seems to be fractionally more power on tap. I await the next lot of MPG figures with interest, as I suspect it may have improved matters. (Mind you, I keep tweaking things, and saying that, and so far the figures stay stubbornly at about 25mpg...).

500 miles away....

2010-06-28T17:51:00.003+01:00

Bitsa racked up just over 500 miles this weekend, thanks to a quick jaunt round Wales.

Not a hitch, apart from some mild panic about fuel levels on the way back late at night. I really need to get the rear tank fitted, the range on the front tank is minimal.

Managed Swansea - Macclesfield in 3 hours, 30 min, which I reckon is pretty good going - google maps said 4 hours 33min for the (direct) route I used, or 3 hours 50min via the M4/M50/M5/M6, which would have added a lot more miles.

Blogging with remain very light, as I've a million things to do...

Conveyor belt is the future

2010-06-04T23:39:00.002+01:00

Totally knackered now, after spending best part of 4 hours, and 3 stanley knife blades fighting with some thick conveyor belting, in a mission to reduce the row in the cab at speed. I had a good size lump of brand new belt thanks to a mate in the quarries, it seems A1 stuff, but was very hard work to cut, taking several passes, even with a brand new knife blade.

Its hard to be certain, but it seems to have made quite a bit of difference - the general row as the world goes past has diminished. Most of the improvement seems to be when idling (a lot less panel rattle), and when travelling at high speeds (>50mph), when the row from the gearbox seems much reduced.

Cab also looks tider inside, less bits of a different colour visible. I've also dusted over about half the seatbox with matt black spray paint, after I found a can with a little paint in the bottom left in one of the footwells. At some point during one repaint, I really should do the inside of the cab in blue, to match the rest of the truck.

More dismal fuel figures

2010-05-31T15:15:00.001+01:00

Had another bad fuel leak develop on the engine - the vibrations seem to have work hardened then split one of the original nylon pipes.

I've now replaced it with decent fuel grade rubber flexi-hose, but not before losing quite a bit of diesel, hence the current overall MPG figure being pretty abysmal.

I *think* its not got any leaks now, so hopefully the next lot of figures should improve matters (yes, I know, eternal optimist n'that...)

One nation under CCTV?

2010-05-25T22:36:00.003+01:00

So much for CCTV. Came back to Bitsa in Tesco's carpark the other day to find a massive dent in the 'new' passenger wing, clear evidence that some moron couldn't park, and had then legged it.
Went to see if they had CCTV footage... of course not. (I wouldn't care, were it not for the fact that 1) it was about the only decent panel on the truck and 2)the perpetrator did a runner. Had they had the decency to leave me a note, I've not have wanted to take it further).

I forget how many times I'm apparently watched by CCTV every day, but it seems that the two times I've wanted the footage (in both cases, incidents in areas where there are lots of cameras) it doesn't exist. Talk about heads you lose, tails you don't win...

(Image is of course Banksy... google if you don't know who he is)

Not posted much...

2010-05-18T18:27:00.004+01:00

... because, frankly, there has been little to report, other than lots more miles.

Only new development has been fitment of a CB (obtained for free) in an install that is as invisible as possible while still having a fighting chance of working.

I've also acquired a full SIII clutch system, to fit in place of the current arrangement (leaky master cylinder, length of brake pipe, flying joint to a flexi pipe, IIA slave cylinder on a SIII box). The idea is that then it won't leak its way through a tub of fluid a week, and as a bonus it will look a little tidier under the bonnet. Just got to find the time to fit it.

Most of the fun this week has been with my new Series 1, but as that's a project that's going in LRM, I'm not planning on bloging about it much. (Get down to WH Smiths, and read their copy, you tight beggars).

Wales... land of greenlanes, and diesel spills.

2010-05-12T14:57:00.003+01:00

Well, had a good time at the weekend, all being considered.

I did a fair bit of laning, not all as driver - quite a lot was as "ClimbingChris's" passenger.

Main disaster of the weekend was the fuel supply banjo union on the injector pump getting yanked undone on a bump, and by the time I found out 1/2 a tank of diesel had landed on the road, in about 20 miles. (expect the fuel figures to be abysmal next time I fill the tank)

I've also found one cause of the poor general MPG I was getting - a split fuel return line from the injector pump... lets see if it improves now.

Few jobs done, nearly ready for another run to Wales

2010-05-04T00:19:00.003+01:00

Off on Thursday night to Wales with OLLR - camping trip to Shell Island.

This in mind, I've done a few little jobs today;

Changed the wheel studs on one rear hub, as the originals were worn, and I was having problems with some wheel-nuts self un-doing. Looks like I've a slight weep from the hub seal, I've left it alone for the minute, as I'd no spare hub seal, and that axle is coming off shortly for rebuilding with a 3.54 diff - its just waiting on me borrowing another 109" Salisbury to run as a slave axle in the short term - hopefully I'll pick that up in a week or two.

I've also replaced the "red" lever in the cab - it quite literally fell off last week, the bolt holding it to the gearbox having vanished. The new ones were a pig to get at to put in too - I could have really done with a ratchet spanner, but of course the 13mm ratchet spanner vanishes when its really needed.

The final, and most time consuming job was sorting out the contents of the rear tub. Yes, the broken glass/oil/mud sludge was scraped out, and sifted for valuables... I found various things I've been looking for for a little while, including my best 10mm impact socket (pretty essential for working on a tdi), and a beer bottle that must have been in there since EOD 09.

I've also swapped some wheels round again, she's now running on a Avon Ranger's or near copies all round, but I'm a bit concerned by the cracks in some of them - I think I may buy two of the Kingpin copies, put them on the front, and put the best two of the rest on the back.

Brakes

2010-05-02T16:08:00.002+01:00

Just been and re-adjusted the brakes, stops even better now - pedal has risen a good bit too.

Still very impressed with the mintex shoes - it really does stop properly now.

In other news, I'm currently shopping for a S1 109" or 107" - if you know of one sat in a hedge rusting away, please let me know. Condition not too critical - I'm up for a lot of welding. Currently two on eBay - one has a new chassis, but is out of my price range, other is very rusty, but under serious consideration...

Webhost

2010-04-29T07:57:00.002+01:00

Bit of a boring post really, but just to say the current free host I use for hosting the various wiggets like the MPG calculator has announced its closing, so I've had to get an account elsewhere, and move all the stuff across. The snag is that as I'd not registered a domain name to move with the stuff, there are bound to be links and images in older posts that I've broken... If one annoys you, let me know, and I'll fix it.

That shiney new feeling doesn't last long...

2010-04-26T22:55:00.002+01:00

Under two weeks ago, I presented my MOT man with a Landrover that worked perfectly in almost every respect. The brakes worked, the clutch worked, the headlights worked etc...

Its amazing what can happen in two weeks. First off, the alternator has caused a disaster. Or rather its bracket did. Followers of this saga may recall that a few weeks ago, I came to grief on a mission of mercy when my home-made alternator bracket let go on the A500, and left me with no electrical system or fan belt. I welded the bracket back together, made a mental note to fix it properly, and that was that.

Of course, that wasn't that... not at all. The re-welded bracket wasn't quite square, and so it took to eating fan belts. Then, as I was heading home from church yesterday, I saw the dreaded dash light illuminate once more, and on popping the bonnet found that one of the bolts that held the bracket to the bock had sheared off, allowing the alternator a more than free range of movement.

Have seen on Luke's fantastic 80" Tdi conversion (if you haven't met this vehicle, keep your eye on LRM - I have reason to think it may feature in the next couple of months... and it was great fun getting to test drive it for review.), a much neater way of making up a bracket, the fitter at work and I spent a happy evening tonight sorting it out.

Apart from needing a longer fan belt (much to my frustration, I had to buy one from Halfrauds, as they are about the only people selling fan belts at 7.30pm), it was dead easy to make, and works a treat - I'll post some photos up once I've taken them... (typically, I didn't have a camera to hand when doing then job).

Of course, fixing one thing merely provokes another, and I now have issues with a leaking clutch hydraulics. Don't know what's leaking yet - will have to look tomorrow lunchtime.

Now with a nice new MOT

2010-04-17T14:59:00.002+01:00

Took it in this morning, failed on a bad earth on a headlight (it was working fine when I checked it in the yard) a cut on one of the tyres and a leaking damper on one of the rear springs...

Wizz'd down to Landranger, and purchased another shocker, made a new headlamp earth, swapped some tyre round and returned it, now have a nice green bit of paper that doesn't expire till May 8th, 2011...

Gremlin chasing.

2010-04-15T21:00:00.002+01:00

Spent tonight trying to sort out some of the last few jobs before the MOT.

I've now a full set of working indicators, both headlights work on full beam, and I've a power feed to the horn when I press the switch(looks like the horn itself has died, I'll buy another one tomorrow), and the numberplate light works(It did till I tried to clean the lense tonight, when it promptly cut out - some cleaning of the connections)

I've also tweaked the handrbrake, as it was a tad short of reseve travel.

Still to do is:

-Change the bottom shock bushes all round (any idea why they have gone SO fast? I fitted new ones last year on the front, and there is nothing left of them).

-Fit and wire some screenwashers (already bought a pump, just need some pipe and a suitable small pop bottle as a res).

-Fit a passenger windscreen wiper (randomly fell of and vanished in high winds/pouring rain, while rattling out of buxton on night a couple of weeks ago)

-Check wheel bearings/brake adjustment

-Fit some more bolts in the front prop (not an MOT fail, but someone thats needed doing for a while)

-Remove the tow hitch, as its bent

-Fix the exhaust, cos its fallen off (again).

And then progress to an MOT testing station, to hear the worst. Getting quite excited about the thought of actually getting two MOT's in succession on a vehicle. A new MOT may quieten down the regualar catcalls from just about everyone about the fact it looks a shed for as much as a week as well...

Welsh lanes

2010-04-12T21:48:00.001+01:00

A quick couple of photos from Saturday.

The bomb hole in the second photo seems to be a new arrival - there didn't used to be one there.

Its now been filled with a LOT of stone - time will till if this repair lasts...

BST declared.

2010-04-07T19:21:00.001+01:00

Offically summer now - roof is off, for the first time this year. Just hope the weather lasts.

Off to Wales in about 3 mins.

Wales (again)

2010-04-07T14:53:00.002+01:00

Bitsa an I will be headed down to Wales tonight, all being well.

Didn't take Bitsa to Llandovery in the end, traveled with 'Stig' in Dougal instead. Straight six Nissan diesel power is quite an experience, particularly when 'Stig' is out to prove that as well as being "gr8 for driftin", Dougal will actually go round bends better than BWM.

Once in Llandovery, it was a pretty quick job to get the cam belt on, and the 80" fixed. Hopfully the owner will be investing in an 'AA' card.

Epic fail

2010-04-05T02:53:00.002+01:00

Got to Stoke on my way to Wales, only to have the alternator bracket snap in two, ditching the alternator, and a good bit of my electric system with it onto the floor.

While trying to find the breakdown recovery number, the Coppers rolled up to inform me I had 30 mins, and then they would be recovering me, at vast expense. Sorted out an wire from the battery to the engine run lead, then bumped her, and with said coppers following at close range got her off the A500 and onto a layby out of the way.

Got recovery to drop me off at the farm (midnight by the time that happened), then repaired the bracket, fitted another alternator, and bodged the electrics by the light of my phone (torch having vanished in the general medley).

Just got back at the boat for some kip, then will be on my way to Wales in the morning.

Llandovery Ahoy!

2010-04-04T16:45:00.002+01:00

Your truly is on a mission of mercy tonight - 150 mile's down to Wales with a tdi cam belt and some push-rods, to rescue a 80" with a broken timing belt... just been stripping a sherpa 2.5na for some pushrods, will be on the road shortly after 7.30pm.

Updates, and possibly pictures to follow.

Brakes - 3

2010-04-03T19:10:00.002+01:00

Well, new front cylinders and shoes are now on, and it seems to stop. Its not surprising that the back was out-braking the front before - one side was fluid contaminated, and the other side had a seized wheel cylinder. (I knew about the leak - that was why I was fixing stuff, the seized cylinder was news to me however).

A certain amount of fun was had getting the peddle off the floor, but eventually it was done, mostly by adjusting up the back.

A test run seems to suggest they are pretty much balanced, and the 60mph test saw a successful very rapid stop in a cloud of tyre smoke...

Mintex shoes are the future - stops better with them on 4 cyl brakes than it used to with the 6 cyl setup when that was spot on.

Brakes - 2

2010-04-01T17:38:00.002+01:00

Brake stuff from Paddock's turned up this morning. Hopefully will get it fitted over Easter, as I've the long run to my parents and back at the end of next week... (also chasing a couple of potential stories for LRM).

In other news, the alternator has finally stopped glimering a little(had been for month, for no apparent reason), and now holds the charge light on all the time, so I've declared it knackered... I'm hoping a mate's grabbing me one off a breaker, as I'm a bit too skint to want to buy a new one.

All for free

2010-03-30T00:52:00.002+01:00

I got a 2" nail in one of the rear tyres tonight. Needless to say it was raining, and I was hacked off and miserable by the time the spare was on.

In other really great news, insurance renewal is due in about a month, so I started looking for quotes. Paid about £350 last year... this year, I can't find under £1k. Makes no sense, particularly as all that's changed over the year is I've got one years no claims bonus. Still, insurance is pretty much legalised extortion.

Brakes

2010-03-28T23:49:00.004+01:00

Just ordered new front brake bits from Paddocks, as the wheel cylinder(s) seem to be leaking...
4x delphi cylinders, and a set of the mintex shoes - £63 all in.

[boundless optimism]Looking forward to owning a truck that actually stops in a straight line, for as much as a week after fitting them [/boundless optimism]

Not sure when they are going in mind - I've a load of university stuff to do over Easter, and I've still a zillon nasty little MOT jobs left...

Finally

2010-03-28T00:03:00.005+01:00

...three years since it became apparent it was rather on its way out, I've finally replaced the steering relay. In the process, I've also replaced two ball joints, fitted a proper air cleaner tray rather than the bodged one, done some repairs to a couple of developing cracks in the passengers main chassis rail... Oh, and replaced the front crossmember...

Someone's stolen my crossmember... rough looking bloke with gas axe suspected.

Not sure there was meant to be a hole in the main rail behind it... that may be why I was having problems with the main rail cracking there...

So remove all the suspect metal, and start again...

Fitted, just needs welds finishing (was waiting for the welder to catch up with me when I took this - I'd tripped it out as over its duty cycle... not often I manage to do that on a job)

Twas dark by the time it was all back together...

Out with the camera

2010-03-27T02:16:00.003+01:00

Been out today grabbing some rather nice piccys for a LRM feature... they can stay under wraps for the minute, but here is a quickie mostly of Bitsa.

Mission for tomorrow is to sort out that wretched front Crossmember/steering relay...

Someone needs to get their SPECS on [rant]

2010-03-24T23:55:00.004+01:00

Yours truly drove to Buxton tonight, over the Cat and Fiddle, and found to his intense joy and delight that the morons have been at work, and it has sprouted a crop of SPECS average speed cameras.

Now, I'm actually generally in favour of average speed cameras - they are both fairer, and more effective than the usual Gatso's. But the current system seems to be badly thought out, badly installed, and on the wrong sort of road. Taking these points in reverse order...

Firstly, almost all the fatalities up there are bikers, certainly all the ones that this system is aimed at. I really don't understand why people care about biker fatalities - unlike stupid car drivers, bikers very rarely take any innocent victims with them when committing suicide. I have no issue with people taking risks that only affect themselves, so if you want to ride like a twit, then be my guest. Drive like one, and you may kill me, so I'm less keen on the idea. If people want to install SPECS on the A6 through central Stockport, go for it - its full of speeding morons in cars, not on bikes.

Secondly, the installs are more than a tad ugly - they seem to have decided its now a motorway, and hence installed motorway sized gantries. Guys - this was a beautiful part of the world once - adding a dozen steel masts with bright yellow camera's is hardly adding to the beauty of scenes...

Thirdly, the install seems to have been done by a half brained moron. There are three camera's in close succession on the long straight, which is the only bit a normal person would want to break the limit on, in order say to safely pass a lorry.
By comparison, the long twisty stretch where all the bikers commit suicide has no camera's at-all, apart from at each end. Given that there is a much shorter straighter parallel route for most of that with a 60mph limit, and no camera's to tell them which way you've been, its not like its going to be possible to prosecute anyone until they are averaging a lot more than 50mph on the twisty bit. Not that they won't try of course.

As a parting shot, I've done a quick Google, and found that apparently the whole thing has cost a tidy two million quid. The country is going bust, and they are spending £2,000,000 in order to save the lives of half a dozen suicidal bikes... its not like they will get that back in fines any time soon either - they need to bag nearly 35,000 people at £60 a pop just to get the face value back in fines... doubt 35,000 people a year drive it. Given that each fine probably costs £30 to administer, that's actually 70,000 people to bag. Frankly, we will have all evolved into aeroplanes some time before they manage to book 70,000 people...

From the achive...

2010-03-24T00:52:00.001+01:00

..or rather facebook - this photo has come to light, thanks to Rudd of OLLR... EOD09, and me looking very studiously at some mud.

Laning....

2010-03-21T18:08:00.002+01:00

Had a good time, but seem to have wrecked the tow hitch on the big step halfway down Roych... thats yet another MOT job then...

A pleasant evening

2010-03-21T02:42:00.002+01:00

Met up with a couple of other series owners last night for a pint (of coke each, as we were all driving). Good to see that the youth of today all drive IIA's.

To win a crossmember...

2010-03-19T20:14:00.002+01:00

First find a brew, and the donor motor.

Then remove the rad, rad panel, and oil cooler (if fitted). Note: oil is always present in side the cooler before removal, and is always present down your sleve afterwards.

Finally, remove crossmember with an angle grinder.

Put tools and donor vehicle away, and go back to worrying about getting the new crossmember fitted in the right place...

More photos... this time countryside type ones.

2010-03-18T00:21:00.005+01:00

You'd never think I've just got a new camera now, would you ;-)

Photo update

2010-03-17T15:53:00.004+01:00

Normal service may be resumed...

2010-03-17T00:53:00.002+01:00

Those odd folks who look at this page (apparently there are some, or the stat counter wouldn't keep climbing - 8K hits to date), may have noticed a bit of a lack of posts this year. (Well, a total lack actually)

Hopefuly, that is going to change, now I'm not fixing Bitsa 24/7. Its been a rough ride the last couple of months, the original engine died on 3rd January, after running a big end (root cause of the problem was low oil pressure, because of a problem with a camshaft bearing).

That engine came out, and in its place went another 200di, this one from Landranger. That lasted two weeks, and then ran two big ends. It seemed that while fitting, we had left the oil thermostat in place, while blanking off the oil cooler feeds. Somewhat predictably, this had led to it opening while headed up the M6, and totally cutting off the oil supply to the big ends... this got rebuilt with another crank, and new shells, also some bits from the other engine. Finally it was back properly on the road in late February.

There has also been a major program of repair works, focused on getting her through the next MOT. Work has been done on everything from the handbrake, to the cab floor.
Still outstanding is to:

Change the rear shocker bottom bushes (not looking forward to this one),
Sort the screenwashers
Fit a new flasher relay (I don't think manually flicking the lever is allowed in the test)
Change the steering relay, and 1 ball joint. Not looking forward to this at-all - I'm not just swapping the relay, but the front cross-member as well, due to the fact the relay refuses to come out. The upside is I can remove several dodgy welding jobs from previous owners and replace them with decent repairs while I'm at it. I'm hoping that will finally sort the issues with cracks appearing round the bump stops. (I've repaired several now, and am getting a bit bored with it).

Not sure how often I'll manage to update this page - the MPG count has been reset, and that at least is dealt with reasonably regularly. (Not sure what will happen once WMO testing resumes, but that's on hold until I've at least a bit more time.)

On Tow... latest project

2009-11-03T00:46:00.003+01:00

I spent a few moments on Saturday sorting out my tow hitch and trailer electrics, which I've been meaning to do for ages.

This is because I had a special missions on tonight, a transpenine bit of LR chassis haulage...

A SWB Bitsa is in the works, although I'm not intending on keeping it longterm... more a project to make a quid or two from my assembled collection of spare bits.

Smokey Joe...

2009-11-01T23:47:00.000+01:00

Maybe cold waste oil isn't such a good idea... its fine once she's warmed up.

Fanbelt joys

2009-10-31T19:27:00.002+01:00

The fanbelt went today... I think it had been slipping a little for a while, as I've seen occasional flickers from the warning lights for a couple of weeks...

After a certain amount of head scratching, I piggybacked a pile of cable ties, to keep the water pump in motion... which worked better than I expected.

I'd no idea where the belt I had came from, but it seems that a normal 2.5N/a belt fits fine, indeed if anything it is a better fit than the previous one... the alternator is no-longer bang next to the chassis rail.

A parcel has arrived...

2009-10-29T21:00:00.002+01:00

And in it is a shiney new facet pump and a door top...

I can see the glazing of said doortop proving fun, but I'm quite looking forward to not getting a wet right arm when its raining.

I'll have to bob round the supplies of such things tomorrow to buy some thread adaptors to get the pump to take 1/4bsp unions, and then I'll be able to give the waste oil a decent go...

2009-10-26T20:40:00.002+01:00

The fuel lift pump packed it in on Saturday. It thoughtfully did so about 1/2 a mile from the farm, and I managed to get her to crawl home in short burst of tickover in 1st gear. (it seems that a Tdi injector pump sucks fuel from the tank fast enought for this result...).

I nicked NOG's facet electric fuel pump as a short term fix, good job I keep a selection of 1/4 BSP hose tail fittings in stock. I'm rather a fan of electrical lift pumps, so rather than replace the Tdi pump, I've ordered NOG a new Facet - £35 from Paddocks.

Bleeding the system is now really simple - open fuel bleed screws, turn the ignition on, wait for fuel to emerge, turn key off, close bleed screw. Talk about civilised.

I've also fitted a second fuel filter assembly, with a coolant driven heat exchanger attached - the idea is for this is to be part of the waste oil system. When I've got two Facet pumps, before I fit NOG's new one, I may trial running the waste oil system with its own pump - in the long term, that is probably the best way forward, as it should remove all the problems I've been having with fuel starvation and air leaks from suction pipes. If that works, I can always buy NOG another pump...

I'm supposed to be collecting a major part of a new project a week today - a "new" chassis for the cammo contraption. The plan is for this to get a speed rebuild, pass an MOT, and then be flogged ASAP, in order to relive my bank account. At the current standing, it owes me about £500, so if I keep spending under control, I might actually make a profit. As a bonus, I might actually be able to get my workshop back - NOG is currently camped out inside, and the Cammo thing is in the only available place outside...

On Tour

2009-10-19T19:59:00.002+01:00

The "Bodgit and scarper" roadshow is coming to your town soon... well maybe.

Saturday I was performing in Penistone cinema, welding a rather rusty 88" for an MOT.(The cinema has been closed for years, and is currently a huge workshop... weird place part of it like a 28dl explore). Another performance is scheduled for tomorrow night, this being in Shaw, on the subject of pumbing up SWB brakes, then I've got to head to east Derbyshire at some point to fault find a 109" which has apparently lost all brakes without warning...

All this means I have done nothing to Bitsa for the past week, apart from drive her. I do need to get some antifreze in, as I'm not sure how much is in, and the nights are starting to get colder.

Update.

2009-10-11T01:00:00.002+01:00

Its been a couple of busy weeks recently, so here is a brief update on the current state of the ratty old truck...

Roof is on for the winter. I've finally bolted it down "propperly" rather than with a token couple of bolts. Did you know that spring shackle bolts are ideal for going through the hood sticks bolt holes? Just need spreader plates back on the bottom.

In a (probably) vain effort to do somthing about the amount of oil scattered over the engine bay, I've finally fitted the later 2.25D inlet manifold I got in August. This takes the oil fumes from the oil breather, and hopfully lets it burn them, rather than throwing them all over the engine bay. While changing the inlet manifold, I found that the intake pipe had been chaffing one of the injector pipes, and had made a fair sized dent in it. ( I couldn't belive it - I really have seen it all now). I've put some rubber hose over the pipe in question, to try and protect it.

I'm still playing with waste oil, but its not proving entirely plain sailing. During a trip to Wales last weekend I was running with both tank fuel cock's open. The following morning I started her up, and she died after about 1/4 of a mile, refusing to do anything other than idle. On removal the fuel filer had rather a lot of congealed gunk in it. I'm comming to the conclusion that the stuff needs filtering before use - apparently sticking it through an old pair of jeans is the way to go, or so say the vegi fuel forums. I'm still working on an improved set-up - currently I'm trying to work out where to mount the second fuel filter, and to sort out the related plumbing... A electrical Facet pump is going to be fitted for the waste side - I'm not really keen on the arangement where I'm sucking both tanks with the same lift pump - it's asking for air problems.

The "original" drivers door that I found kicking about in 2006 when putting her together has finally been condemed. The final straw was when the bottom section of the frame fell off, leaving the door as a floating bit of doorskin and nothing else.
I've fitted a replacement door, in a tasteful shade of bright red. I've also fitted a new barrel to the lock of this new door... meaning I can actually lock it. Not that there is much point to locking it, until I've got round to buying a new door top.

The bad news is that, having finally got the transfer box sorted, I seem to have some main box issues instead. There is a rather nasty knocking sporadically evident in most gears, and very noticable in 4th over about 60mph. She is also throwing herself out of 4th rather erratically at motorway speeds - I'm not quite sure yet of the why's and wherefore's - its happened on over-run, while thrashing up the climb at the end of the eastbound M67, and while rolling along on part throttle at about 65mph. Answers on a postcard.
I've aquired a decent gearbox as an insurance policy, although rather less convinently its from a Series 3... I real prefer crash boxes. However beggar's can't be chosers, and it was free. If nothing else, it can be fitted while I rebuild one of my shot IIA boxes (I've a bit of a collection of them now).

I think my gearbox is cursed

2009-09-26T23:16:00.004+01:00

I set off this morning trying to do a simple job. Merely remove a dammaged speedometer drive cog, and replace with one from a spare gearbox.

By the time I'd finished, there was a trail of distruction round the workshop, it was dark outside, and Bitsa was on her 3rd transfer box in as many weeks.

Nothing would remove the old cog - it seemed glued to the shaft.
I hit it from various angles, attacked it with a selection of improvised pullers, and tried various other dodges before finally wielding the gas axe over it.

That got it off, but a slight slip of the wrist saw me nick the rear bearing on the back of the transfer box with the gas... so I needed to change the bearing.

A lot of huffing, puffing and further burning of pretty much everything including my fingers, saw the defenct bearing removed. So I just needed another bearing, and with the truck imobilised, I had to conjure one up on the spot. Simple I thought - I've the transfer box I took off a couple of weeks ago - the front bearing had failed, but the rear bearing was fine. So I got the old transfer box out of the scrap pile.

The bearing shifted about 1/2" down the shaft and stuck.
The shaft was floating round in the box, and it was almost impossible to get it held to hit the shaft back throught the bearing. In desperation, I cut the shaft in half inside the box with the gas, which left me the bearing on a bit of shaft I could get in the vice. With the bearing sat in the vice, I hit the shaft out of it. And with my final blow, managed to hit the bearing case rather than the shaft... destroying the roller cage.

Oh dear.

I still had one option left - there was an old gearbox from NOG kicking about. The main box was shot, but the transfer box was fine. I thought about extracting the bearing from it, and gave the matter a brief attempt. It didn't seem keen to shift, and given this was my last chance, I didn't feel inclinded to get too carried away, or get the gas out again.

So, I fitted NOG's old transfer box to Bitsa. Ironically, NOG is now running Bitsa's old gearbox and transfer case, which was all sat spare and in good order when her box packed up in March.

Still, I have got a working speedometer now. And it reads much higher than before - the old speedo drive must have been slipping before fusing with the output shaft on its demise...

In other news, I've still no roof on, topless week 3 comming up. Who say's we don't have summer in England. We just have it at a time most people would expect Autum.
HMRC have also finally cashed my cheque and sent me a receipt for the first batch of waste oil. I'm clearly unusual - the receipt in question has the reference no - WASTE002/09, which means I presume means that I'm one of two people currently burning waste oil as a motor fuel legally. (I now know of four or five people doing it undeclared, which is rather a different question... it seems old Pugeots run quite well on it cut 50/50 with diesel).

Oh, joy...I'm Ill and the gearbox is playing up again.

2009-09-18T20:50:00.004+01:00

Bitsa has been clocking up the miles this week - I've been helping cart bales for some friends near Ashborne, and so she has been flogged over the hills at great speed there and back after work a couple of nights after work this week.

I'm now officially ill and in bed with a nasty cold - I'm hoping it will have shifted tomorrow, but I'm not exactly feeling sure about that. If it does shift, I've yet another transfer box problem to fix tomorrow - the handbrake drum and output flange have somehow un-done themself and are making a bid for freedom.

I'm also feeling inclined to fit my second fuel filter for the waste oil, and along with it a second fuel pump. I'm still having problems with air being drawn in from whichever line is closed off, and I suspect a system with two fuel pumps may be the answer. Watch this space.

The roof is still off, as the weather is staying fair - I don't know how long its going to last, but so far I'm not complaining... its over a week since it first came off now.

Waste oil is go...

2009-09-14T19:33:00.004+01:00

I've actually got a system for running waste oil in Bitsa that finally works.
Its not finished yet, but I've driven from Glossop to Macclesfield almost entirely on the waste oil.

The system currently comprises a temporary fuel tank for the waste oil, two shut off valves (one for diesel, one for veg), and a 't' connector between the pipes prior to the lift pump.

The main snag now seems to be the filter - dispite the fuel being heated a bit (the incomming line is wrapped several times around a Series 3 heater matrix, as a temporary appology for a heat exchanger), I'm having trouble with the engine starving under high power demand. It runs like normal, and then suddenly dies, probably due to a lack of fuel. I knew that the capacity of the filter was on its limits with diesel (its got a 2.25D filter, rather than a 200tdi one), and when it needs changing, performance drops somewhat.

In an effort to remedy this, I went to the scrappies on Saturday, and aquired a similar CAV filer. The main difference is that on the bottom it has a substantial coolant driven heat exchanger. Apparently they were standard fit to a few pegueot diesel's at one time (they later switched to electrically heated filters, which I am avoiding, given I've only a standard 16acr alternator). I've also been to Partco, and found that there is a larger "long" version of the normal 2.25D filter, that should improve flow rates a bit. I'll report back once this has been fitted...

In other news, I've done a deal on a rear tub as the current one is "life expired". Expect to see a rather tidyer Bitsa on the roads shortly. She will also have twin tanks as the new tub is rear fill (this means I can ditch the tempoary fuel tank in the back, and do all the waste oil plumbing propperly). I suppose this also means I get to fabricate a new exahust, as the current system has the silencer where the rear tank would live. Current thinking is to either alter things to the Series 3 109" setup, with the exahust exiting under the rear passenger corner of the tub, or possibly a much shorter system, with the silencer mounted under the passenger floor, and the tailpipe emerging forward of the rear axle. While talking about "deals" I've agreed a swap of my decent spare truckcab back for another one (somthing to do with belt mounts a mate needs), and then I can finally replace the one that is falling to bits on the back of the current cab(not before time either - the glass now falls out if I hit a big bump). Mind you, I've been hetroving in style this weekend, as the summer has finally arrived, (nearly in time for Autum), and the sun is shining. There was still a howling gale blowing across the Cat and Fiddle summit when I came back from Buxton on Sunday night mind you... the nights are drawing in a bit too.

Mechanically, the oil leaks seem to be increasing, and I think I'm going to have another attempt on the oil filter/block gasket - this seems to be the source of at least some of the leaks. A lot of the rest is an open breather, which I intend on plumbing into the inlet manifold - however I'm mildly concerned at the rate it is breathing - I think some sort of restrictor may be needed to stop it emptying the sump into the inlet. I supose this reflect the general state of the engine, but then it has been quite a long way, and it still goes, so I don't really care. I will do once it doesn't start mind you.

I'm eyeing up a dead 300tdi disco a mate has bought... if it gets broken, the engine is mine, and that means the turbo may just find its way onto Bitsa. The 300 manifold is almost certainly the best option for a 200tdi in a 109", and I can do a 300di conversion on somthing else(or just ebay the engine) and get my money back...

The weekend - 2

2009-09-03T17:52:00.002+01:00

I spent a good deal of Monday playing with waste engine oil.

Bitsa now has a tempory fuel tank for waste oil, which is fed via a shut off cock to the lift pump. The main pipe from the diesel tank has also gained a shutoff cock.

With the engine warm, it idles sweetly on waste oil, but it seems to suffer from starvation if you try and drive it - I got about 500 yards before the engine started dieing, but after a bit of cranking it would restart and idle again. The next stage in the experiment is to try warming the oil, so it passes through the filter much faster - I did build a rather bodgy heat exchanger, but I've yet to plumb the coolant side in. If that doesn't help matters, I think I'll need seperate fuel pumps and a larger filter (the standard one is on the small size for a 200 anyway).

It does however run fine once warm with both fuel cocks open - the level in the waste tank has dropped a bit - I think its running about 10% waste to 90% diesel given the amount of waste used... not a massive saving, but still worth having. I took her halfway round west yorkshire like this, with no problems, although she was a little slower to fire up than usual after being stood for a couple of hours... if I'd knocked the waste tap off a couple of miles before parking up, I expect she would have been fine.

Last weekend - 1

2009-09-02T13:18:00.002+01:00

I had somewhat of a Landrover weekend over the bankholiday.

Some of the stuff I did falls into different areas, so I'll put up some seperate posts, as and when I can be bothered.

First job on Saturday was to get the brakes sorted, as they were a little past their best. New shoes all round, new seals in the front cylinders, and a bit of work on the adjusters: - result, lovely pedal.

I then spent a happy hour repairing a bottom spring mounting plate for DaveH - it had been bent (how on earth do you do that), and had a massive crack hidden in line with the bend - on warming it up to straighten it out, the crack became rather more than visible.
I got it rather warm with the gas, beat it flat with the big hammer, ground the crack out, welded it up with a few decent runs with the stick welder, and then ground it back down smooth... turned over, and did the same the other side. Shouldn't be possible to tell its been repaired now.

Then I went to Holmfirth to meet Dave and return said spring plate. I there go introduced to a right sheddy 88" with an MOT, and a lot of hole in the chassis... more on this in a subsiquent post...

Some fittings

2009-08-28T21:07:00.004+01:00

The pile of bits for the waste oil conversion is growing...

This little lot, plus a large quantity of fuel grade rubber pipe should form the basis of the changover and purge systems. In an ideal world, I would have had two way valves, but two single valves seems cheeper... Turning them all off would probably be a pretty good anti theft device.

The current intention is to have a electric fuel pump for the waste oil tank, feeding a heat exchanger connected to the coolant, probably mounted on the passenger footwell. This will then feed into the main filter.
Startup will be on normal diesel, switch to waste fuel once the engine has warmed up a little. Shortly before shutdown, the return from the injector pump will be switched to return to the waste oil tank, rather than the filter, and after a few minutes, the filter should only contain diesel again.

I'm not quite sure yet how I'm going to make the heat exchanger - I've decided a way of making pretty much everything else. In the short term, I may leave it out, and see how things go - I suspect it will run fine in summer, but I will need it as the winter draws in.
A possible plan for the heat exchanger is a Series 3 heater matrix, sealed in a box full of oil, with an entry port at one end, and an exit port at the other... heat exchanger are avalable commercially for people running veg oil, but that would mean spending money. Its cost me over £50 for various fittings so far, so I don't want to spend a lot more until I know it all works fine.

Waste oil - nearly there.

2009-08-27T18:03:00.002+01:00

I've finally actually got as far as makeing payment for a batch oil oil to HMRC... the cheque went in the post tonight for an inital 100L (£54.19 worth) of oil. That would cost me about £105 at the pumps right now, so a pretty decent saving.

If I get the brakes sorted on Saturday, I'll possibly spend bank holiday monday setting up a basic system for running on the stuff.
I'm currently thinking I won't fit propper twin tanks for the moment - Instead I'm contemplating modifying a jerry can or similar.

The only bit of the system I'm not yet sure about is the changeover valves - I may be seen looking at plumbing bits in wickes later this evening.

Reports of a Landrover clouded in blue smoke may be forthcomming shortly... but at that price who cares.

If everything works out OK, once things have "stablised" I'll post up a propper "how to..." sort of post.

This weekend

2009-08-26T23:52:00.002+01:00

I'm planning a focus on brakes.

Bitsa's brakes are starting to feel rather worn out.

I had a rear drum off the other day, and there were pretty small amounts of meat left on the shoes, while the fronts have weeping wheel cylinders which have wrecked the shoes.

The front cylinder behing genuine lucas/cav, and not very old, I'll try seal kits, and if that doesn't work, I'll replace with Lookheed/Delphi - they are the probably the best avalable at the moment, if not the cheepest.

Hopefully then, the rears won't lock first, which has made wet junctions interesting of late.

Sorted.

2009-08-24T18:44:00.002+01:00

One transfer box.

I spent most of saturday changing the transfer box for one that wasn't quite so knackered.

From the 1/4" of swarf like silt that was on the bottom of the cover plate, I'd say it wasn't before time either. The wear on the intermeadiate shaft teeth was pretty impressive, as was the amount of free play in the output shaft bearings.

It was really a fairly painless job - I didn't even need to pull the seatbox, as I split the box in situ, and then droped the transfer box/front output shafts out underneath. (Disclaimer if anyone else trys this - I don't know if there is enough room or not on an 88")

Its quite nice being able to hear the engine again for a change.

I've collected an overdrive that looks to have nothing much wrong with it apart from missing some selector pads, but it didn't have an imput clutch assembly(the bit that is bolted to the mainshaft). Murphy's Law states that this means the bearing on my old imput clutch had gone, so I'll have to get a new one from Craddocks. The good news is that they are avalable, for a mere £23 + vat + post...

Still, I miss having the overdrive - when I went to collect the spare one yesterday, I found I kept looking for the overdrive lever to change up, particularly on the motorway. Having to keep down to about 65mph is painful once you know what motorways are like with an overdrive and a 200...

Overdrive woes...

2009-08-20T14:46:00.002+01:00

I think I know why I was having drive issues.

I'm not quite sure yet exactly why its mangled itself like this, but to say I'm rather annoyed is an understatement. Craddocks have the bits, but want over £200, so I'm trying several lines of enquirey to try and find another broken one to do a "mix and match" fix...

In other overdrive news, I seem to have done a deal on one for NOG, which should make her a lot more usable next time I have her on the road. (MOT is out now, so I'm not expecting to have her back running till Easter next year now)

Holidays

2009-08-19T18:02:00.003+01:00

Bitsa doesn't like going on holiday to Aberystwyth. This is a fact.

Two years ago, the injector pump on her old 2.25D totaled itself and the camshaft, a couple of miles out of town, in protest at being run on 100% veg oil for weeks. That resulted in her being parked up off the road awaiting rebuild, as the MOT was almost out, and I couldn't be bothered to keep messing with the engine.

This time, nothing so dramatic happened. However, the clutch is now dragging badly, the bearings in the transfer box have gone, and the overdrive selector seems to be giveing me only the options of "out" and neutral... The exahust also snapped off, and had to be repaired ASAP as it was almost undrivably noisy without...

The trip down was fun, fast lane of the M56 with the screen folded down on the bonnet... just a little blowy.

I also did a spot of laning - the video is here (I would try and embed it, but to say Blogger is hard to make work is an understatement)

This weekends mission looks like it will be swaping the transfer box for one from a different gearbox, as the bearings have gone to the point that I'm supprised it still moves about under its own power...

Mud, Mud, Glorious Mud...

2009-08-02T21:00:00.004+01:00

I spent a good deal of yesterday ragging Bitsa round a sea of mud.

That is all I could discribe the EOD offroad course as by the time I started attempting it. As seems to be typical, it has been raining lots recently (nothing like the UK's summertime), and the result was a challenging morras of greasy mud.

Given I was on rather road basied tyres, I was nothing if not amazed by how far she got. She is now plastered in mud all over, even the dash is covered in it. It must be said, the 200di seems very at home offroad, even under water... I've yet to see any photos of me driving repeatedly through the large late of wheel height+ water, but every time I expected her to cut out, and each time she just plodded through and out the other side. Even when I attempted a climb out of it, failed, and ended up sat stationary in there trying to get reverse...

EOD in general was pretty great - I went laning with Mark.Yellow.Series3 in his (nato green) 109" as I couldn't really afford the fuel to take Bitsa laning (I used a good £10 worth on the offroad course as it was). We did some very nice lanes in the dales, before heading back to the camp site.

Rather to my supprise, I don't seem to have broken anything significant on Bitsa, so the jobs list is more or less the same as before I went - the only thing that needs redoing is the swivel preloads, as after the saga of the non-broken front axle (I ripped the front axle to bits thinking I'd done a halfshaft, only to find that it was a problem FWB coupled with someone not watching when I was turning stuff to find out why I didn't have 4wd...). It is drivable at the moment, but seems to have nasty steering shimmy at if you hit a bump at low speeds.

HMRC - Result... its legal after all...

2009-07-29T17:36:00.003+01:00

I've just had a reply from HMRC, following my latest email. They have finally stopped beating about the bush, and given me the answer to the question, instead of lots of bizare reasons why I can't or shouldn't run the Landrover on waste engine oil. I'm so pleased, I'm thinking of putting a framed copy up on the wall.

Dear Mr Eastwood

Thank you for your emailed enquiry dated 24th July 2009 requesting further information on the HMRC requirements when processing waste oil with a view to using it as road fuel.

In the light of the information provided in your email you will be regarded by HMRC as a recoverer of waste oil and you will be required to ‘make entry’ of your premises by formally notifying us on Form EX103 (or EX103A if you are an incorporated company) which is available on our website. The completed form should be submitted to the Mineral Oils Relief Centre, HMRC, Building 4, BP4002, Benton Park View, Longbenton, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE98 1ZZ, and marked for the attention of Barry Nicholls.

Having entered your premises you will be required to pay excise duty on the recovered oil at the full diesel rate which is currently £0.5419 per litre. Form W50 will need to be submitted, with immediate payment, to the National Warrant Processing Unit before any oil is used for road fuel. Unfortunately that Unit is currently located in temporary accommodation so you will be advised of the correct address and payment procedure on completion of the EX103 submission.

The only HMRC publication that covers the scenario you propose is Revenue & Customs Brief 45/08. Certain elements of that document have been overtaken by subsequent changes – very noticeably the addresses of the sections involved - but most of the general principles outlined in the Brief still apply.

I hope this is of assistance.

I must emphasise that the advice given is based on the information you supplied. It only relates to HMRC procedures and pays no regard to any requirements imposed by other organisations. Moreover if the nature of the transaction changes in technical detail, or the relevant details provided were incomplete or incorrect, we will not be bound by this advice.

Yours sincerely,

Steve Preston

Looks like the waste oil powered 200 will be up and running shortly... the mpg of a diesel, at fuel the price of lpg... result.

Tonight I have mostly been

2009-07-27T22:35:00.004+01:00

...reading up greek legends. No, that doesn't sound pausable somehow.

Ok then, I spent the evening drinking coco and watching Corrie on the box. No, don't belive me...

Right, I may have to own up then. Tonight I spent lying on my back underneath Bitsa, doing a simple job. Changing one engine mount.

If I was in the workshop I'd have just parked under the block and tackle, wipped the nose of the engine up, swapped the mounts and stuck a new one in. However tonight I changed one in the boatyard carpark with a 15mm spanner and a crowbar. Basically, the sport consisted of levering the engine about with the crowbar while reaching into the vicinity of the mount and trying to do the chinese puzzle which is tickling the engine mounts into place. This is not a sport for the sqeamish, but hopefully the fingers I trapped will have recovered sufficently by sunday for my to still manage to play the organ at Church. (Yes, I am an occasional church organist, even if that sounds less pausable than the claim that I watch Corrie(I don't))
Now, I thought with diesel engine mounts, here was somthing that even Britpart couldn't mess up. How wrong I was. Just guess what eats Britpart diesel engine mount rubbers, and turns them into a sticky jelly. Not washing up liquid. Not nitric acid, or at least, it may do, but I've not tried. Not rain, even acid rain. No, somthing more common on a diesel engine than any of the above... yep, you've guessed it - diesel. You would think it would be possible to make a rubber compound that can withstand diesel... fuel filters seem to have some sort of rubber seals that don't fail.

Talking of fuel filters, and leaked diesel, I think I've finally sorted the largest single cause of Bitsa's leaks - the fuel filter housing. Having traced the path of some of the significant quanties of oil that were running down the engine and onto the floor, it appeared that there was a small, but stead drip comming from the tank bleed back union on the filter. This had had the thread partially striped and that was probably the start of most of my problems. Anyway, I've now fitted a new fuel filter housing, that I found hiding in the back of the workshop the otherday, and she only seems to have the usual oil leaks now.

I also have a top tip for those changing fuel filters, particularly if they have iffy fuel lift pumps. Get a decent sized syringe, and you can fill the new filter in a few moments, with no mess. Incidentally, a syringe is a very handy addition to any toolkit for lots of jobs like this - apparently they are very good for filling steering relays(there is a saga here, involving a knackered relay that doesn't wish to depart Bitsa's front crossmember, but don't even ask just at the moment, I'll publish the full story as and when I've managed to get it out), and also for testing dizzy vac advances.

While I was fooling underneath the old shed, I figured it was about time I did somthing about the fact that one of the major mounting points for the exahust was the top of the rear axle. Those with memories of the 07 Series 2 Club Northern Gathering may recall that my truck caught fire about 4 times in the course of that weekend. The root cause was a faulty wiper switch which was occasionally earthing its live feed throught to the dash pannel face. The resuling current and consiquent heat burnt the insulation off the main pannel feed, which I wrapped in insulation tape as a "get me home, and the be ignored for the next year or so" sort of bodge. Anyway, in the recent rebuild, this delightful bodge was finally replaced, and the big bit of burnt looking heavy duty wire ended up with 1001 other bits of junk floating about in the toolbox. Not being a man to waste anything, this has now been recycled into a handy exahust mount, that holds the rear pipe a good 3" clear of the back axle. At some point I will replace this bodge with a propper rubber mount, but probably only in about 2020, or when the big of burnt looking wire breaks, whichever happens first.

I'm now nearly ready for EOD, which is a good job, as its only four days away now. The engine mount change I had deemed essential before I taking her laning/ragging her round Hartington quarry(one of the rubbers had been in the habbit of jumping out if I was just a tad agressive over speedbumps, never mind went laning), and I was getting sick of the fuel bill the leaking filter was responsable for. The main jobs I need to do now are put the transmition tunnel back in(not quite simple, as I need to scrounge a hole saw to make it fit over the overdrive lever), fit the truckcab propperly, adjust the handbrake so its not right on the limit of travel, and clear at least some of the junk out of the back...

HMRC must love me...

2009-07-24T08:03:00.004+01:00

Having finally found the time to go looking for some legislation, I've written HMRC another email asking how to pay duty on waste lub oil used as fuel. Hopefully this time they will come back with a price, rather than some bogus info to put me off.

Dear Mr Preston,

Thank you for your email dated 9th June 2009. I have done some further
research regarding the use of waste lubricant oil in a diesel engined
road vehicle, and I would value some further advice.

>Any oil used as motor fuel must, under EU and UK law, bear excise duty and the
>specific duty rate charged would depend on the exact type of fuel (and the type of
>motor it is intended for) These factors would also determine the type of HMRC >approval/registration required by you.

>However you do need to be aware that you might be in breach of environmental
>legislation if you collected and transported quantities of such waste oil from
>various sources, and also if you then applied any type of process to this waste oil.
Thank you for your advice on this point. Most of the issues regarding
this are resolved by the fact that I intend on using oil that I
personally remove from engines, processed on the same site, and
immediately transferred to the fuel tank of the road vehicle. I
understand that there are licensing requirements imposed by
legislation, but I will be in correspondence with the relevant
authorities with regard to this.

>The finished product then used in a motor vehicle would possibly fail to meet EU
>and UK specifications on the exact content of sulphur and toxic heavy metals or
>other substances in it. I would strongly advise you to research and deal with these
>issues first before embarking on this project. I say this because such waste oil is
>normally considered only fit for burning as furnace fuel due to the heavy metal
>contamination and it is normally not cost-effective to reprocess it into motor fuel of
>an acceptable standard, even with the sophisticated methods available in oil
> refineries and the consequent economies of high volume.
Having reviewed all the legislation I can find on this point, it is
irrelevant, as I am neither buying waste oil to use as a motor fuel,
nor selling any oil as a motor fuel. None of the legislation I have
found prohibits actual use, only the buying and selling of
"unsuitable" oils with intent to use as motor fuel. You may also be
interested to know that in the UK a high percentage of most cheep
lubricant oil is recycled used oil which has had the impurities
removed and then been re-blended. In the USA, where due to the absence
of fuel duty, rules are more straightforward, at least one firm
markets equipment aimed at vehicle workshops, which is intended to
filter and process waste oil into a road fuel for diesel lorries.

>Additionally, from an HMRC perspective the Hydrocarbon Oil (Marking) Regulations
>2002 prohibit the sale of ‘dark oil’ as fuel for a heavy oil vehicle and lubricating oil
>might well fall within the dark oil specification (at Section 2(1) of the Regulations)
Again, this point isn't relevant provided no financial transaction
takes place to obtain the oil. If the oil in question is drained from
machinery I own then by subsequent use of the oil afterwards as motor
fuel isn't an issue provided it is confined to my personal use in my
own vehicles.

>Therefore before I advise as to the appropriate mechanism for paying any duty due
>I believe that the above questions need to be resolved.
Having confirmed the answers to the above questions, I would now be
interested in knowing the appropriate rate of duty, and mechanism for
payment.
Yours sincerely
John Eastwood.

On 6/1/09, John Eastwood wrote:
> Dear Sir,
>
> I was asked to email you after phoning HMRC's advice line, as they
> were unable to answer my query.
>
> I am looking to run a road vehicle on processed waste lubricant oil.
>
> The oil will be processed mainly by various forms of filtration, and
> blended with normal "pump" diesel before being used in the vehicle.
>
> The vehicle's engine and fuel system would be suitably adapted for
> burning the blended fuel, chiefly by increased filtration, and the
> addition of a heat exchanger to warm the oil to decrease its viscosity
> prior to its supply to the engine. The vehicle would have twin fuel
> tanks, with a changeover system, as the engine would still need to be
> started on normal diesel.
>
> The fuel used does not meet HMRC's normal heavy oil specifications -
> if used in an un-adapted vehicle, it would lead to poor performance,
> and probable engine failure.
> The fuel does not meet HMRC's definition of an alternative fuel
> either, as the oil waste used is predominantly hydrocarbon.
>
> I anticipate the production and use of the oil to be on a fairly small
> scale - probably no more than HMRC's limit for unregistered vegetable
> oil processors of 2500L a year.
>
> I realise I am probably required to pay the duty on the waste oil
> which is used. What I have been unable to find, despite searching your
> website, is what I am required to do to register, in order to pay the
> duty. I would be grateful if you could let me know:
>
> 1) If I need to pay duty, and at what rate
> 2) How to register, and what records and information I need to keep
>
> I am aware that there may be other requirements imposed by
> environmental legislation, and that I will need to make various
> applications for the handling of waste materials, but those
> requirements I will be querying with the relevant other government
> bodies.
>
> Yours sincerely
> John Eastwood
>

I've done so many jobs

2009-07-21T00:20:00.001+01:00

...in the last week or so, I'm losing count.

I have:

Changed a set of rear springs, and reconditioned the set I fitted.
Painted the bonnet to match the rest of the truck. (Its way too shiney, but time will change that)
Unloaded the pile of junk that was in the back
Fixed the 4wd selection in the gearbox so it now isn't stuck in 4x4.
Fitted a servo brake MC
Adjusted all the brakes
Made the brake lights work again.
Fit a new cluch slave cylinder

I'm sure there are other things I've done, and the "todo" list is still miles long and growing.

Currently it includes:
Get a refund for the dud springs
Replace the Birtpart switch for the wipers that lasted all of a week
Change the steering relay
Drill a transmiton tunnel for my overdrive, and fit, and bolt the floor in propperly.
Paint the inside of the cab, and doors
Change the drivers doortop, as its shot.
Bolt the truckcab down propperly so it doesn't let in quite so much liquid sunshine.
Change the bottom bushes on the rear shocks. (I've a nasty feeling this will become fit new rear shocks, the've not been undone in a while, and its very hard to get them undone)
Fit a new flasher unit for the indicators
Fit a new fuel filter housing that doesn't have a diesel weep
Repair the bottom of the front panel.
Modify the clutch release so that its not right on the limit of the adjustment, and hence leaking clutch fluid. (Cable conversion? I'm sick of LR clutch hydralics, they always go wrong)
Replace the passenger side engine mount, and do them all up propperly.

Once I've done that little lot, I may actually be able to make a start on the work to get NOG re-tested.

Springs

2009-07-18T23:46:00.002+01:00

Just a quick update, cos I've not posted in ages...

I've rebuilt a set of std rear springs and fitted them, and she now ride about 5" higher at the back.

Next major mission is to change the steering relay, I'm not looking forward to that much.

I've been doing lots of stuff...

2009-07-07T19:08:00.003+01:00

...but not much blogging. So here be a quick update.

Bitsa and I attended Leafers at t'pit show last weekend. The weather was good, the BBQ better, and I seemed to come back with both more junk than I took, and more cash as well (That last makes a change). I also got a free nail, which is currently causing one of the rear tyres to decend every couple of days. I'm tossing up if it has enough tread to be worth paying someone to put a new tube in it.

I've also bought a new front prop - I had started changing the UJ's in the old one, but it was rather mangled, as someone had previously changed the UJ's with a very big hammer, and deformed one of the yokes quite badly. I had given up, until I could think of a solution, but I found one in the autojumble for all of £5, which suited me nicely.

I didn't take any piccys at leafers, but there are loads on OLLR, if anyone is interested.

In other news, the spare wheel now lives on the bonnet, this is to do with taking the junk home after leafers, and so to stop the screen blowing up when running roofless, a tactical cable tie is proving handy. I really need a bungy strap, that lives inside the spare wheel, but I've not found one by the roadside for a few weeks, and I'm reluctant to actually pay for one. Also in other news, the bright red drivers door top is clearly about to meet its maker, and sways merrily in every passing breeze. I suppose this means I'm due for a trip into Landranger for a new one. While I'm there, I'll have to ask how they are doing with refunding the dud rear springs - which are now bending backwards... all has gone quiet on that front of late, and I could do with a decent set really. I've been given a worn out set which would do for the short term, but I still need some decent ones for the longer term...

MPG calculator is back

2009-06-28T22:57:00.002+01:00

I've put the MPG calculator data in for the last week or so.

Its not quite as accurate as it was, as the speedo cable broke with an unknown amount of fuel in the tank, and I can't remember how much was in when I fitted a new cable either.

I'm not sure my speedo isn't under-reading quite a bit - I find an indicated 70 makes me one of the faster vehicles on the motorway, and if I do 50 in a 50mph zone I find I rapidly catch up people apparently doing 40mph.

I suppose I should find someone with GPS, and borrow it for a few minutes, for the definative answer... if the same error is present in the oddometer, that would massively improve my MPG as well, probably putting it nearer the 30mpg or so I would expect from a 200.

By the way - a new part not to buy from Britpart - Speedo cables. The one that "broke" hadn't actually broken. The end was so badly crimped together where it took the drive from the gearbox, it was just not going round. Replacement is Bearmach - it looks much better quality, the driven end was even a proper bit of metal bar, rather than badly crimped cable. It might just last a few miles longer than the previous couple of Britpart cables then.

I now have...

2009-06-20T11:31:00.002+01:00

...a working fuel gauge. All the bits have been fitted for a while, but I've finally got round to fiddling with the sender in order to make the reading meaningfull (it had been reading past full until the tank was nearly empty).

I'm off to buy the bits for a temperature sender adaptor this morning, and then I can see how hot the engine isn't running. (I suspect the thermostat only opens on long steep hills and hard motorway runs, but this may prove the point).
Its nice having an engine where temp isn't an issue, but seeing as I've a gauge, its worth wiring up for peice of mind. I just hope its better than NOG's gauge, which usually reads in the red for some werd electrical reason. I don't worry too much about that anymore, as one day I pulled over to investigate, and found I could leave my hand on the rad without paint, dispite the gauge nearly being on the stop. I think the root problem is a Britpart(suprise, suprise) voltage regulator, but I'm not totally sure.

Pattern parts...

2009-06-19T16:46:00.003+01:00

The "new" rear springs on Bitsa are now offically useless - I called in at Landranger today, and explained this, and they are trying to get hold of Britpart to see what Britpart can do about it. Given they were bending the wrong with with just a couple of 2.25P's sat in the back, I don't feel I'm being unreasonable complaining.
I phoned Guy Sammon for a price on genuine new ones, and they gave me the glad news that they are about £90 a throw each, and they can't get them anyway. They could get me 1 ton springs, for a mere £120 a side, if that would do... (which it won't, as I don't want to feel every bump).

I'm not sure what the options are apart from Britpart - the guy at Landranger seemed to think Bearmach may do them.

Bearmach aren't in my good books either just now - this is what happened to the set of front brake shoes they supplied which went in the passenger side of Bitsa... plenty of meat left, but they friction surface has broken up badly.

She now stops in a straight line, with a new (Britpart) set fitted, but I don't give it long before something nasty happens to them as well... sometimes, you just can't win.

Did I mention tyres?

2009-06-18T18:44:00.005+01:00

I've spend more or less all day moving the farm's collection of tyres.
These are some of the dead ones. I've had to drag most of them up 20yds of 1 in 10 to get the here too. If anyone wants dead LR tyres, or rims, just shout...

I've also found enough legal tryes for a full set of XYL's (they are going on Bitsa), and original Avon Rangers (for NOG). I've also lots of odd tyres, the better ones of which I'll try and flog at leafers...

Step by step - how to fix a grill panel

2009-06-17T20:08:00.002+01:00

Take one grill panel. It doesn't look too bad really, does it. Until you spot that someone has welded a bit of bar over the rotten mess at the bottom.

Remove said bit of bar, and it seems that there isn't much to the bottom of the grill.

There is even less left mind you, once I've attacked it with an angle grinder.

Now, cut and bend the repair section you got folded up earlier, until the top edge matches the bottom of the grill. This bit gets time consuming.... eventually, it should fit. Thin cut "plasma" grinder disks come in handy here.

Then its just a case of lots of welding and grinding flat. Lots. That and sorting out the little backets the gril hangs on at the bottom, which I haven't yet. I should get it finished off tomorrow, if I muster the enthusisasm.

I should have been cleaning up the yard

2009-06-17T16:27:00.003+01:00

But it was raining like mad, so I went down to the local metal fabricators, who folded me some strips for repairing the bottom of front grill panels. Getting to know a decent fabricating workshop can be handy - these chaps will cut or fold me almost anything on the spot, and are pretty reasonable about price.

I then spent most of this morning cutting away at my "spare" front grill panel, and my new repair section. Its now sitting half welded, cos I was wet, tired and bored. I'll finish it off later, and stick some photos up - I've got piccys of stage by stage.

Once its done, I need to do the one on Bitsa worse than bad, and possibly the one on NOG - depends how bad that one is when I take the re-enforcing strip off. I may also be able to do them for other people if they ask nicely - probably cost about £30 for a panel that is like new at the bottom, and with a repair that is invisible from the front. It does depend how far they have gone - my repair sections allow my to replace up to the bottom of the internal cutouts, including the folded edges for the cutouts, but working on a panel that has rusted further up could be interesting (and time consuming).

And yet another job

2009-06-16T22:21:00.003+01:00

My mate at the farm tells me that the council have been moaning at him about the state of the place... so it looks like all the little jobs on Bitsa are on hold, until that is done. I reckon there is a full days work waiting for me.

It also means I'll need to sort out the 100 or so LR wheels/tyres that are kicking about.

I'll try and sort out the good sets, the duds, and the odd ones, with intent to take some of the odd ones up to Leafers, to exchange for ready cash. (Well, I might as well try and cover my fuel money)

If anyone wants dead landrover engines and boxes, this is also the time to shout - I've several of them - 1x 2.25D(dead), 1x 2.25P (short engine, unknown, probably OK) 2x SIIA gearboxes, both broken. I've also a BMC 2.2 in bits, avalable for its scrap value, if anyone is in search of a boat anchour.

Once all that is done, I can go back to fixing my collection of knackered Landrovers.

I'm back from North Wales...

2009-06-14T21:51:00.003+01:00

...having left a rather nice SII with a new(er) engine in the bay.
I must confess, that for all that it runs on the devils fluid, the 2.25P is a sweet little lump when it is set up right.

Yours truely in his normal pose.

Time for a trip to the chip shop.

On balance Bitsa did quite well. Over around 400 miles, she averaged close to 30mpg. If that doesn't sound that good, a fair percentage of those miles (50% ish) were spent upon the motorway at speeds that put me firmly into the fast lane, while it is also fair to say that lugging 2 engines, a very heavy engine crane a pile of tools, and any other junk that I thought might come in useful over some of the steepest roads in Wales (I did a rough count up of the payload, and came to a figure of around 800kg) tends to pull the figures down a bit as well.
There were a couple of small snags - I lost clutch function while headed down the A5 on the way down, which was followed by my jamming the clutch in the dis-engauged position. A bit of TLC later, and I was back up and running. It seems that there is a shim to be found on some SIIA clutch slaves... mismatch this to the bellhousing, and as the clutch wears down, it becomes possible for the piston to drop out of the bottom of the slave and jam. I've now got a new slave sat in the dash tray, ready for refitting.

It also seems the bottom of the front panel is rapidly getting ready to meet its maker. I suppose that means I need to fire the welder up, I've a pile of front panels in need of TLC, so it makes sense to do a batch together.

I'm off work most of this week, with intent on some Landrovering, so watch out for updates on what I've broken next (the bank?).

(Images in this post have been stolen from mistericeman on OLLR, as I couldn't be bothered working out what I'd done with the camera)

HMRC are one annoying bunch

2009-06-11T14:48:00.002+01:00

Finally, after two phone calls, and three emails, I've had a reply from HMRC about running on waste oil. To say they are not keen an understatement.

My original query ran:

Dear Sir,

I was asked to email you after phoning HMRC's advice line, as they
were unable to answer my query.

I am looking to run a road vehicle on processed waste lubricant oil.

The oil will be processed mainly by various forms of filtration, and
blended with normal "pump" diesel before being used in the vehicle.

The vehicle's engine and fuel system would be suitably adapted for
burning the blended fuel, chiefly by increased filtration, and the
addition of a heat exchanger to warm the oil to decrease its viscosity
prior to its supply to the engine. The vehicle would have twin fuel
tanks, with a changeover system, as the engine would still need to be
started on normal diesel.

The fuel used does not meet HMRC's normal heavy oil specifications -
if used in an un-adapted vehicle, it would lead to poor performance,
and probable engine failure.
The fuel does not meet HMRC's definition of an alternative fuel
either, as the oil waste used is predominantly hydrocarbon.

I anticipate the production and use of the oil to be on a fairly small
scale - probably no more than HMRC's limit for unregistered vegetable
oil processors of 2500L a year.

I realise I am probably required to pay the duty on the waste oil
which is used. What I have been unable to find, despite searching your
website, is what I am required to do to register, in order to pay the
duty. I would be grateful if you could let me know:

1) If I need to pay duty, and at what rate
2) How to register, and what records and information I need to keep

I am aware that there may be other requirements imposed by
environmental legislation, and that I will need to make various
applications for the handling of waste materials, but those
requirements I will be querying with the relevant other government
bodies.

Yours sincerely
John Eastwood

To which they have finally replyed with:

Dear Mr Eastwood

Thank you for your email enquiry dated 1st June 2009 relating to the proposed use of processed waste lubricating oil as fuel for a road vehicle.

Any oil used as motor fuel must, under EU and UK law, bear excise duty and the specific duty rate charged would depend on the exact type of fuel (and the type of motor it is intended for) These factors would also determine the type of HMRC approval/registration required by you.

However you do need to be aware that you might be in breach of environmental legislation if you collected and transported quantities of such waste oil from various sources, and also if you then applied any type of process to this waste oil. The finished product then used in a motor vehicle would possibly fail to meet EU and UK specifications on the exact content of sulphur and toxic heavy metals or other substances in it. I would strongly advise you to research and deal with these issues first before embarking on this project. I say this because such waste oil is normally considered only fit for burning as furnace fuel due to the heavy metal contamination and it is normally not cost-effective to reprocess it into motor fuel of an acceptable standard, even with the sophisticated methods available in oil refineries and the consequent economies of high volume.

Additionally, from an HMRC perspective the Hydrocarbon Oil (Marking) Regulations 2002 prohibit the sale of ‘dark oil’ as fuel for a heavy oil vehicle and lubricating oil might well fall within the dark oil specification (at Section 2(1) of the Regulations)

Therefore before I advise as to the appropriate mechanism for paying any duty due I believe that the above questions need to be resolved.

I apologise for the somewhat vague nature of this reply but hope this is of some assistance.

I must emphasise that the advice given is based on the information you supplied. If the nature of the transaction changes in technical detail, or the relevant details provided were incomplete or incorrect, we will not be bound by this advice.

Yours sincerely

Steve Preston

Although it his reply makes things sound bad, I think its still likely I can end up running on the stuff. The Dark Oil bit is a red herring, as that only applies to the sale of oil - for the purposes of this excerse, I am neither buying or selling any oil, merely using my own waste oil in my own vehicle, but it is only the sale of such oil which is prohibited. This also probably lets me off a lot of the enviromental regs as well. I'm still trying to find out where the rules are for the quality of motor fuel - I wouldn't be supprised to find that the legislation there only talks about oil being sold.

I'll post an update if I get anywhere.

In other news, the trip to darkest Wales is very much on, I'm hitting the road straight after work to collect the engine that is being fitted as part of an OLLR hit squad action in Betws-y-coed on Saturday.

Looks like a good run this weekend.

2009-06-10T00:12:00.002+01:00

Plans are a foot for Bitsa to get some serious milage this weekend.
I've got to take an engine to darkest Wales, there to fit it into a rather tidy SII, prefereable without wrecking the paint.

Bitsa has responded to the news with her usual flair... the fuel filter seemed to be clogging tonight, I barely made it accross the Cat and Fiddle to Buxton tonight.

Mission for tomorrow involves buying two new filters, and fitting at least one. If that doesn't work, the bad news is the lift pump has had it... anyone know if a 200 has the same lift pump as a 2.25P? as I can soon get a pump from one of them.

I've also got the option of a Facet electrical pump as a last resort, but I'd rather say mechanical if possible.

In other news, HMRC still haven't got back to me, which is very annoying. I've resent my email, maybe this time I'll get a response. If not I'll ring them up again, and if they can't help, I'll try the "can I speak to your supervisor" line, until I find someone who can. I've now got gallons of engine oil ready to burn, just can't because of poxy HRMC, and the million to one chance that some copper will dip my tank... I'd pay them the duty, if they could but tell me how.

Driving home from the farm last night.

2009-06-07T08:31:00.003+01:00

I found that the overdrive really is OK. I whines a bit at very high speeds, but the whine is much less than the row the engine makes if you let it out.

I don't know how fast I was going, as I've not yet sorted the speedo cable, but its strangely surreal - life seems to be moving fairly slowly, and then you let it out to overtake somthing, and you realise that the engine is nearly on the rpm stop in normal 4th...

Talking about overtaking, I wittnessed the nearest I've ever seen to a head on at speed last night. A driver who I can only conclude was drunk overtook round the wrong side of a bollard in the middle of the road, with another car comming the other way.
Everyone braked very hard, and he rocketed off into the distance. I nearly took out the same guy seconds earlier - I was pulling out round someone to overtake, with my indicator on, when he appeared on the wrong side of the road behind me at great speed. I fortunaly was making a final mirror check, when already halfway into the other lane, and saw his lights heading very rapidly for my rear crossmember, and swerved out of the way.
If I had realised at the time he was drunk, I'd have not moved back clear - I imagine he would have been spending the night in the local nick, once they had dug him out of the wreckage, and his insurers could have bought me a new chassis. As things are, if he carries on driving like he was last night, I'd only give it a week or two before he kills some unfortunate person who isn't in a Landrover when he rams them.

Drunk drivers should be done for attempted murder IMHO, even if they haven't hit anything.

Now with overdrive.

2009-06-06T16:46:00.002+01:00

I've fitted the overdrive that came with the scrap SIII today. Only been out once so far with it on a test run, but it seems to be a good'um.

Overdrive 4th is very nice and quiet, with the engine runing much slower, but I had to drop out of overdrive for anything more than slight up hill.

Moron of the day award - guess who should have bought a new speedo cable and fitted it first...? Looks like I've just created one of the nastier little LR jobs for myself...

Fuel news

2009-06-05T11:00:00.000+01:00

Well, for the first time in nearly a year, SVO is cheaper than diesel.
98p/l from Tesco Maccesfield last night, with pump fuel running at 105.9p/l at the same place. I can get diesel in SPOT in Buxton at 101.9 at the moment, although apparently they are rebranding to Esso, which may mean their competitive edge goes.

I stuck 12L of SVO in Bitsa last night, so she now smells like a chippy on wheels.
Still, it runs.

The long-term plan on fuel for Bitsa involves free fuel, but not vegetable oil.
I'm investigating running her on dead engine oil collected from garages.
Its cheep or free, doesn't stink like WVO, and only needs suitable filtering, rather than chemical processing. It also should be "di" safe, with no risk of doing the engine oil in, unlike WVO. I've a rather clever plan to find an old washing machine, and adapt the spin cycle to act as a massive centrifugal filter, prior to sticking the stuff in the tank.

That the 200 will run on engine oil is proven fact. I ran out of diesel last week, and stuck a gallon of cheep 20w50 in the tank, as it was all I had. She ran on it like it was quality diesel, no loss of power, no smell, clouds of smoke or the like.
She didn't want to start much with a quantity of it in the injector pump the following morning, but did go after a bit of cranking over, instead of the usual instant start-up, but I can live with that.

The main hold ups at the moment are legal, as HMRC won't tell me what rate of duty applies to the stuff, or how to pay. I bet they would respond rather quicker if I was writing in to shop someone else doing it undeclared.

I've also got to figure out what I've got to do to collect the stuff - I think I may need a waste handlers licence... £144, for a bit of paper. Talk about robbing so and so's.

In other news, the speedo cable snapped on Sunday, so no milage/MPG updates till I fit a new one.

Overdrive is on its way

2009-05-31T08:46:00.004+01:00

I went to a farm auction near Leek yesterday.
This was probably a bad idea, I normally come back from these things with all sorts of tat I never wanted or needed, but which was cheep at the time.

This time, I only raised my hand three times, and the net result was that I ended up with a complete SWB SIII with more rust than I've seen in some time. It does have the straightest set of panels I've ever seen, but the really redeeming feature was an overdrive.

I think not many bidders had spotted the overdrive, I must confess when looking over the vehicle proir to sale, I tactically placed the road map that was in the cab over the lever to make it less obvious (can you tell I've played this game before).
Competition wasn't exactly intense, and I fought off the scrap man and other interested parties, and found myself the proud owner of "KTU 780N".

Its not really a viable project, given the lack of chassis and bulkhead, so its going for parts, if anyone wants any...

The bonnet is now on Bitsa, it is a razor edge, which while not correct on a 109" does look nice, and the overdrive will be headed on there, as soon as I manage to get the floor panels out...