McSparky

My mates Bugatti-inspired dash that he built for his 110 Defender. He's a less is more kinda guy but it still looks great!

Since doing this I stumbled across this article http://triumph.daveola.com/NOTES/Speedo_Repair.pdf which gives much more information on the inner workings but I thought I would post this anyway. The story is my odometer has never worked since I bought the truck and I want it to work. It's probably easier to just buy a refurbished unit but due to location that's not (probably) an affordable option plus I'm curious to see how they work. Removing the gauge from the dash is straight forward; just 2 lug nuts on the back. Remove the front outer bezel by twisting it and remove the two screws at the back of the gauge. The front glass sits in a metal cup which should just pull out. Don't seperate the glass from the metal holder unless you have to because the o-ring will probably disintegrate. Gently tip out the guts. The needle is just pressed on and twists off fairly easily but you have to hold this bit on the back to stop it turning. Remove the needle and then you can remove the two screws holding the dial face on and remove the dial face. Peering in, the problem is apparently a very seized gear shaft and the worm gear has been turning (and rubbing away) against locked gears! I hope it's ok. Undo the 4 screws and seperate the two halves of the gauge. You don't have to do this. Remove the retaining clip on the shaft, the spring and the lever. I tapped out the shaft using a hammer and bolt. It was VERY stuck, and you can see why. Clean up everything with your solvent of choice, apply much grease and reassemble. You can see where the gear teeth have worn away. Luckily this didn't effect anything but I have yet to test it at great speeds. Also make sure this spring is not too slack and holds the lever properly against the odometer gear. I had to dismantle everything again to correct this. Urg.

My land rovers speedometer/odometer gauge was in need of some TLC; the odometer had never worked since I bought the truck and the speedo was in need of a calibration since fitting 7.50R16 tires (I'll put this in a separate post). Also, all the bulbs had blown and after finding it difficult to find 12v screw-in replacement bulbs (small town) I thought I would upgrade all the bulbs to LED instead. It's very easy to do, they should last much longer and they are much brighter than standard bulbs. So to begin you will need: >All the dead bulbs, or buy some cheap ones that have the same screw fitting, voltage doesn't matter since we're going to butcher them anyway. >Some LED's. I used bright white ones (15000mcd brightness) rated at 3.7volts@30ma. You will also need some resistors to drop the ~13.8volts from the battery. Using ohms law (13.8v-3.7v)/30ma = ~337ohms. You can use 330ohms (orange-orange-brown). Now, smash all the glass bulbs try not to damage the base and be careful because they tend to throw glass everywhere. wear eye protection and don't do it in your living room! Next, take some needle nose pliers and gently crush around the top of the base to break any glass still left and pull all the guts out. You should end up with something like this: Trim the resistor leads, twist one side of the lead around the LED anode (usually the side with the longer leg). This is going inside the bulb base so measure it up first because you might have to trim the LED legs a bit. Then solder and trim the loose lead on the resistor fairly short. You can make it shorter than this: The bottom (+) of the bulb base is solder and should melt with a soldering iron so you need to push the free end of the resistor through, from the inside of the cup, while melting the base with your soldering iron. It need to just go through and don't push it too far through. then solder the free leg of the LED to the outside (or inside) of the bulb base. Then to finish I just filled the base with some red silicon to stop things moving around. And you're done! I was really pleased with the results Here's a day shot: And one at night: The camera makes them look brighter than they are, but they are still plenty bright.

I did eventually I stripped the head and gently tapped out the stuck valve, which came out fairly easily. I then cleaned the head inside out to get rid of anything that might cause a problem in the future. I also checked each valve carefully and found a bit of galling on the one which was stuck; a mechanic friend said it was probably all still a bit tight because the valves and guides were new. So I bunged the valve in the drill press and carefully sanded the stem with 1000 grit sandpaper till the galling was gone and it was well polished. I actually did all of the valves and guides and checked tolerances just to be on the safe side. Then new push rod, new oil, new stem seals and fresh coat of engine enamel while I was waiting for the parts to arrive and she's running better than ever. *Sigh*.. It's a labour of love

Thanks for your reply Adam. I pulled the head and have dismantled pretty much everything except the valves; still waiting on a loaner valve spring compressor. All the rockers move freely but the valve doesn't budge. I'm just amazed that this happened because I completely rebuilt the engine 2 years ago and the it hasn't done much mileage since then; this was actually the first long trip I attempted. I'll have to wait for the spring compressor to dismantle the valve and inspect everything carefully.

Hi everyone So over the weekend I packed up my Series 2a 2.25 petrol and set off for a 4x4 meet. The old girl was cruising beautifully but 15km out of town I hit a steep hill and half way up had to change down to 3rd and suddenly the engine lost power and sounded like a tractor. I pulled over and poked around, checking everything I could but eventually I had to phone a friend to come and tow me back into town. After some more poking I removed the rocker cover and found the #4 cylinder exhaust push-rod bent and the corresponding valve was about a centimetre lower than rest and well and truly stuck. So I popped the head off and inspected the cylinder and there is no obvious impact damage with the valve so I assume its not bent but the valve is very very stuck. My questions are what could have caused this? Can I just replace the valve and do I need the ream anything? Is there anything I can test or check to prevent this happening again in future? Thanks Carl