WesBrooks

I'll have a look for that thanks. Yeah I appreciate the thought behind the 4.6 route. That's the ultimate plan. I'm wondering whether I can get by with a refresh to the serpentine 3.9 or whether the costs are likely to get close to rebuilding. As I'm typing it seems a light refresh on a 4.6 and later rebuild would be more sensible. Symptoms are low compression (140-150psi), sticky idle valve, leaky inlet manifold, and leaky everything. It's had OAT coolant in it so needs many seals replacing! Exhaust manifold bolts were finger tight!

Morning, Fishing for a little information ahead of time again. Compression is down on my engine and as I intend to MegaSquirt it (I see there is plenty of experience on these forums and a friend has built one up for a Celica GT4 - so I should be capable!) a within spec starting point would help matters significantly! So the engine (if original which I think is the case) has completed 150,000 miles. It has had it's fair share of miles and suffered some poor maintenance, at least recently. So I'm estimating a full rebuild is in the order of £2000 including help for installing liners and I guess a couple of extra tools, not that far off buying a ready built short or long block. Is de glazing the bores and rebuilding with new gaskets where disturbed a resonable option? So long as the valves on the heads aren't badly burnt or recessed are there other things to check before doing that? ...or is the effort of doing that not that much less work/money than the rebuild/replacement route? Are there other wear/condition indicators to check for that would help decide which is the most sensible approach? Cheers, Wesley.

Dash switches at 5V is to limit arcing and to also reduce the likelyhood of water causing problems. Reducing arcing also reduces contact wear and thus increasing switch life, or increasing reliability. As for lights read here: http://www.powerbulbs.com/eu/blog/2012/01/how-long-do-headlight-bulbs-last Having looked into the loom a little further I doubt I'll make much progress on that. Fatigue is a major contributor to bulb failure. Adding a ramp up and ramp down on the voltage even over a short time frame should increase it's lifespan by reducing the rates of thermal contraction and expansion. I'd also like to fuse the starter at 500A, fuse the winch feeds at something similar, run dual batteries, and have physical isolators on the batteries. There are many 12V batteries capable of 600 cold crank amps, so a pair of them in parrallel should easily be capable of blowing a 500A fuse in a dead short. There are many other resons why I'm looking at this, but like the work many people do to their engines or the rest of the trucks this work is for my own entertainment as part of the project.

Morning all. I'm still on this, not forgotton but not had much more to say recently! So far I've scanned all of the haynes manual wiring diagrams in and deleted all the things that I'm definatley not using. It was a long couple of hours looking through them on Saturday and I got a little confused with the interlock relays. I don't think there is a key or Transfer box lock on mine. If there is it's broke! I do realise that Haynes isn't renouned for being 100% accurate and equally my spec vehicle may not be covered but it's a good start! While getting on with this I've tried to get an idea of when I want things on. So, permanent live (apart from battery isolators off), key in accesories position/ign/start, etc. Also looking at prioritising the devices. Bit like has been said on here before. Hazards as bullet proof as possible, then brake lights, etc. Basically safety critical parts high up, then keeping the engine running (after all it does help brakes!) and dropping all the way through to the 12V sockets. As for the CanBus system (recent arduinos can support canbus) it's not going to save myself much wiring but I haven't ruled it out. For example at the back I will need dedicated wiring for brakes and indicators/hazards but beyond that there is scope for a controller to run fogs, sidelights, work lights, interior lights, and maybe even drive a solenoid for a winch (also physically isolated further up the wiring loom). Thought I'd hit on a gold mine with some recent mini/cheap PLCs from RS but it doesn't look like these are intended to be daisy chained easily. As for relays, there's a lot of them on the discovery isn't there! :-o I acccept that in some situations it will be more appropriate to use a relay (like one that clicks on with accessories or ign keyswitch position). I thinnk I'll look at force guided contacts for these situations so they can be easily monitored. Any way I'm rambling on when I need to get back to work!

Couldn't get on the forum for a while there. Like you say the weight limit for car-derived vans makes that not possible. However, It's 2040kg for the dual purpose vehicles. The points I was talking about were how you could get a van classed as dual purpose and hense M1. I'd also missed that if the vehicle was all wheel drive it didn't need to achieve these points. Therefore as far as I can see any 4x4 upto 2040kg unlaiden can go through the IVA as M1, and benefit from the normal speed limits. Pickup or van body.

I've missread it. The row of seat behid the driver are a requirement for getting M1 using the dual purpose vehicle approach. So if I plan to ever take the seats out I'm knackered on that clause. Need to look at the car derived vans again...

Where does the 2000kg MAM come from? I could find a reference to 2040kg unlaiden weight. As far as I'm aware this is no passengers, fuel, or payload. If your vehicle can get through the following you can class it as an M1: "At the request of the applicant a vehicle with at least 4 seats and a load area not exceeding 40% of the length of the vehicle and a weight limit of 6500kg max mass may be classed as an M1 vehicle for the purpose of this manual" However the above implies a grey area as it's 'At the request of the applicant'. After much hunting around I've found someone else on a cycling forum discussing being caught speeding at 60 on a national speed limit single carridgeway road. http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/renault-trafic-crew-vehicle-type-m1-or-n1 The original poster said these were quotes from the construction and use 1986. Here they talk about trying to get a currently N1 classifiaction re-classified as an M1. To do this their van would have to be classed as dual use. I think the key things here for me are: ~ Unladen weight is less than 2040kg ~ the distance between the rearmost part of the steering wheel and the back-rests of the row of transverse seats satisfying the requirements specified in head ... (or, if there is more than one such row of seats, the distance between the rearmost part of the steering wheel and the back-rests of the rearmost such row) must, when the seats are ready for use, be not less than one-third of the distance between the rearmost part of the steering wheel and the rearmost part of the floor of the vehicle. So in a nut shell if the distance from my steering wheel to the back of my back seats is more than one third of the distance from the steering wheel to the back of the car I'm fine as M1. If I were having the back seats in permanently then the load area would also have to be less than 40% of the vehicle length, but given the length of the bonnet I dont think that's an issue! ;-) Having said that though the following bit gives me a little concern: ~ (i) be permanently fitted with at least one row of transverse seats (fixed or folding) for two or more passengers So I may need to check the third rule to the back of the front seats as I plan to be able to remove the back seats to be able to carry larger loads. Finally since the vehicle is pre 2001 I think it can still be a PLG if it is M1 or N1. I think the light goods taxation class came in after then?

From the M1 IVA manual: "At the request of the applicant a vehicle with at least 4 seats and a load area not exceeding 40% of the length of the vehicle and a weight limit of 6500kg max mass may be classed as an M1 vehicle for the purpose of this manual" This implies there is a grey area between M1 and N1 but over 40% load area for the length of the vehicle and I guess it's definately N1. Looks like N1 rating will effect the legal speed limits while your driving, the sort of insurance you may need, and congestion charges etc.

Just found this following site which appears to be very useful: http://www.the-ace.org.uk Working through it now.

Having a search for the distinction between M1 (passenger vehicle, upto 8 passenger seats) and N1 (light goods upto 3500kg) IVA Guide: https://www.google.de/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CC0QFjAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fuploads%2Fsystem%2Fuploads%2Fattachment_data%2Ffile%2F277534%2Fguide-to-the-iva-scheme.pdf&ei=_cyTVb-eNIreUd28g7gG&usg=AFQjCNFMGZ28JT8HKBMvrMWqELfrqZIaqA&sig2=HtnvG4BGoLLw2ZqkZMmIXA&bvm=bv.96952980,d.d24 As far as I can see the benefits of the N1 (assuming a basic IVa test in both cases) are: ~ No 'Interior Fittings' check ~ Protective steering test only applies upto 1500kg gross vehicle mass. ~ No 'Exterior projection' check ~ No wheel guards check The manual is vague "N1 Light Goods Vehicles - A Light Goods Vehicle (LGV) - Motor vehicle with at least four wheels designed and constructed for the carriage of goods and having a maximum mass not exceeding 3500 kg" The approval manuals are here: https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-approval/individual-vehicle-approval-manuals Foot note to consider if your trying to get through as N1. I think this would put you under the "Goods vehicles (not more than 7.5 tonnes maximum laden weight)" class in the highway code. Therefore you are limited to 50mph on a single carridgeway, and 60 on a dual carridgeway. Motorway is normal.

Interesting! I'll have another look. Thought there was something about % of vehicle length for the load area? For the Sahara kit I think I would have to do mods on the bumpers as currently they are tube section with a 45 degree chamfer on the end. The ends of the bumper must 'turn in on themselves' not sure if the chamfer sorts this or if I would need a 90 degree bent on the tube section to point the ends to the back of the car.

Project is a Sahara. As this is a re-body it doesn't need an IVA. I'm considering shortening the chassis to reduce the overhang out the back of the body, giving me the benefit of better approach/depart angles. As I said in my original post I do understand the scope of what I can and can't do before I fall into requiring an IVA. Commercial is a thought, although I'm currently aming for a four seat version of the Sahara. 150psi is ok? Haynes had minimum compression for the high compression engine as 170 and low compression was 150. I understand a newer engine would top 200? Readings jumped 10psi with oiling the bores indicating this is at least in part ring/bore wear. Engine was warm (ran for 1/2 hour and neadle was in range, throttle was wide open and all plugs out) The engine struggled through it's last emissions test needs lots of new seals. Just about everything that could leak does leak! I appreciate alot of it is in the manual. Much of it is in words and they can be interpreted many ways. Those who have been through it or worked with/known people who have gone through the IVA will have a much better interpretation of what they deem aceptable. Thanks for your responses.

Hi All, I'm considering some modifications to my project vehicle that would require an IVA. I'm begining to get some idea of the level of work that would be required to get it through but would like to hear from anyone who's been involved in getting a landrover based project through an IVA since the change from SVA. I'm not looking for ways to avoid the IVA, I know how to structure my project to do that if I choose to go that way. I've seen the manuals, and I've seen this guide: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/individual-vehicle-approval-iva-for-cars-help-to-get-a-pass/individual-vehicle-approval-iva-for-cars-help-to-get-a-pass I'm regually seaching the topic online but fresh view points are always appreicated! ~ Out of curiosity are there significant areas a standard Defender would struggle with? ~ Do people generally leave the winch off because it falls foul of the radius checks or are there other reasons? ~ Could my upper seat belt mounts be on a bracket which is welded along one edge to the roll cage or does it need to be bolted in to a threaded sleave that is welded at both sided throught the cage? ~ Could the cage that is holding the upper seat belt mounts be bolted to the chassis via the body mounts or would it need to be welded? ~ I'm assuming emmissions would be age related to the engine? ~ When doing the points system to establish identity does the engine number just have to match or does it need to be the same spec as when it left the factory? I've a serpentine 3.9V8 (needs an overhaul compression below 150psi for high comp engine) that I was considering tophat liners, drilling for cross bolts, and perhaps increasing capacity. That'll do for now. If anyone has links to any internet blogs etc detailing peoples experience of (eventually?) passing the IVA test please share them. I've pretty much convinced myself that keeping the LPG on would be asking for trouble. Can't see how the wing tank would be deemed adiquately protected and there so much more hoses and wires to look after!

We may be talking about different things here. I've heard the big fuses (100A, 60A etc) in the engine bay fuse box being referred to as fusable links. This image shows the fuse box I'm talking about. The six big fuses are the fuseable links and the others to the right are standard blade type fuses. https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRajPNVsLZXzzTh-W869raEPMFSczcJ9qxITfV_3k9_y3UcH7nXZw

I'm planning a wiring job on '95 Disco V8i based Sahara that has fusable links. I've little expererince with these. What are the issues?

Thought that may have been the case which is what got me trying to figure out whether this was due to regulation/standard or generally acknowledged industry best practice. As it is a business at it's core it is driven by finance and sales figures. There are many things which are not done to cars as it wouldn't make financial sense which are fieasable for hobbyists. Take most of the mods people make to the suspension for an example, front and rear lockers, winches, underbody and steering protection... I think the brake lights are one system I'd consider running back on a dedicated line from the switch to the lights. It could make an IVA inspector a little more comfortable and avoid any potentially awkward conversation about why your brake lights weren't working following an accident!

I'd be interesting to compare notes. Like you say there will be a many/most that will not like what I'm considering either. I'm planning a complete custom dash and body electronics. There are a few reasons for this: ~ Drop voltage on dash switches to 5v or less - they may already be lower volts, not actually checked! This will reduce switch wear and chances of water causing problems. ~ Current loom has been hacked about by previous owners and don't think it will give me decent reliability. ~ Read article about just chucking full voltage at the lights takes them out of design spec shortening there life, and a significant factor shortening the life of filament bulbs is going from 0 - 100% voltage in the very short period of time it takes for relay contact to stop bouncing. This rapid voltage causes rapid heating and thus expansion. Rapid cut causes contraction, repeating causes fatigue. ~ Don't like the large bundle of wires going to the back of the car. I'd rather a larger capacity main feed, comms tx/rx, and a coms (low noise) ground. This would allow me to add an arduino lighting controller to the back and have mosfets ramping/pwm the supply up smoothly and limiting it to a peak current. ~ Bulb failure detection should be an easy add. Probably look at light sensor rather than voltage so it is less sensitive to light source type, eg LED or filament. ~ Adding an additional circuit such as a work light at a later date would not effect the main loom, just use a spare output on the light controller. Spare outputs would allow on the field swaps incase of circuit failure. ~ Whole unit could be modular allowing a spare to be carried with you. It should be fairly easy to spec a system to increase bulb life (yeah, I know LED are more reliable and I may use them, but you can't get them as easily when out and about as filament at the moment.) and on paper out last a relay.

I'd probably phrased it the wrong way around. Seperate earth for the equipment that can be effect by or malfunction because of noise, rather than seperate earth for noisey stuff. Starter, solenoid, and HT system will be major sources of noise. Relays can also cause a bit due to their coils. Is the CB direct to reduce the audio noise you'd otherwise suffer? I remember a background tone on AM in my old VW that used to follow engine revs! In retrospec possibly the aftermarket coil and hall effect points creating a much larger voltage & spark leading to the old suppression leads being insufficient. Cheers for the supplier recomedations, I'll look into them.

Found the plug! It was deep in a layer of gunge on the engine block! It's a small black plastic circular plug that just looks like a shiney disc form the outside of the dizzy. Clips push throught he hole and hold it in place. Alas just a '5' on the inside of the part, too small for a part number so I can't re-order it yet. One of the clips are damaged, probably something to do with it coming of in the first place. Alas it didn't come with the dizzy repair kit that I've just got - mainly for the flash shield/insulation cover which was missing.

Whoops, cat's out of the bag! I can't see it either. ;-) Look forward to a route through a new resource! Looks like forums number 30 and up need special permission to enter. Thanks all for the help. I'm now more happy that I haven't missed an obvious technical guide on how things should be done from a technical/schematic view rather than the standard to which the wiring should be finished in the vehicle. I have read through the IVA inspection manual and this covered the securing of the loom and how the lighting and other items like wipers should function. I'll try and get a copy of the regulations and have a look at the wiring sections. I expect these to be more specific around standard good wiring practice (ie like you'd see in a industrial machines electrical panel) ensuring wires are fuse/breaker protected to prevent them from exceeding their current carrying capacity and IP ratings for electrical switches and enclosures. Perhaps a little detail or guidance in addition to describe the use of seperating ground points for noisey items from communications etc.

I realise I'm getting close to the ban on expressing opinions on the IVA. That's not my intention. I'm looking for information about any legal guides on how the lights, wipers, etc should be wired in a kit build as opposed to what they should do.

What about the odometer? Can I just display it on a screen with my own electronic counter behind it?

It's a one off loom for myself. I'm building a kit car based on a Discovery 1. Need to do extensive work on the dash and loom anyway and other than wiring things so they fail safe where possible I wondered if I have free scope to do what I like or not. While I shouldn't need to pass an IVA I'm building the car to that standard. In part to have a standard to build to, to avoid developer gold plating but to also keep the standard up in areas I may have overlooked.

Afternoon. Are there any regulations regarding how a car should be wired? Ie, other than the rate at which things flash, or ensuring fogs can't be turned on on there own is there something that mandates the use of relays in certain situations? Also when building a one off what are the regulations about the odometer? As far as I can see the discovery 1 '95 speed sensor drives the odometer which ends up being a glorified pulse counter. I can make one easy enough but guess I may need to use one built for purpose? Cheers, Wesley

Afternoon all. I'm currently rebuilding my dizzy and replacing aftermarket HT parts with genuine. Should there be a circular hole in the side of it left open or should there be a bung in it? If there is supposed to be a bung any idea what the part number is? Discovery 1 V8i '95 Auto - basic model.