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SOA 93

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Everything posted by SOA 93

  1. Regarding OME spring tables www.expeditionexchange.com has a pretty good one. HTH
  2. Hi TeriAnn, Spent many an hour on your website, welcome! The restriction on the members vehicle section is for security. The idea is to stop thieving scum getting the low down on prospective targets. Old Blighty's a little smaller than the USA. Introductions are usually made in 'International forum'. Andy
  3. Now that the there is bit more evidence suggesting a back up system, I think Will's idea of a manual box with a valve seems to get rid of the qestionable LR PAS box issue. Rakeway already make such a valve for the comp safari boys and it has LR splines on to boot. They have a ram asist set up that is designed to work with it as well. Andy Apologies, I have my Threads confused, this should of been in the ram assist thread.
  4. I use a 1/2 hour fire door as a work surface but I think kitchen work top would be a better surface, for what it's worth, fire doors are generally 44mm thick the same as external doors, you get 1/2 hour and 1 hour rating generally and although thought to to be solid, actually most are not, they are chipboard inside with circular voids running top to bottom. Weight and my jigsaw would say that the work top has the denser chipboard, Work top is available in 30mm, 40mm and the latest fad is now 50 or 60mm. A cheap 3m length of 40mm worktop should cost no more than about £70 and a 1/2 hour fire door about £40. Try your local Howdens for both or B&Q for the work top. B&Q normally have damaged worktops for sale and have the added benefit that they will cut it to length for you. Just re-read your original post that black work to is bloody cheap for 2.5m! The CLS timber is OK, some makes/types have a tendency to split near the ends or cut ends when you nail or screw them so beware. A good clear work surface is one of those things you really begin to appreciate and wonder how you ever managed without. Andy
  5. My Local Travis Perkins stocks Sikaflex 'EBT' very flexible, and available in black or white. Seems to bond just about anything to anything., very impressed. Andy
  6. I think you can go and stand in the corner with Bill Van Snorkel, under achiever that you are! Can I nominate myself....bloody hopeless! Have a 88 SOA project leant up against the wall in the garage started 2005. Have big plans for my Disco, have had the wheels, tyres, axles winches etc. for 18 months and nothing has found its way onto the truck. Have bought welders, tube benders, saws, plasma......... The amount of steel tube, box etc int the garage is staggering. I see what other people on this forum do in there alloted time and I hold my head in shame. But I wasn't silly enough to start a thread thank God. Do you think this could turn into a sort of coming out party. Andy
  7. Another pic of Tim coopers 109, SOA really does make vehicles hugely unstable, that's why land rover used it on the FC101, and the rear of the 2B FC, both good load carriers. Toyota in their stupidity made the hugely successful Hilux SOA , idiots that they are. I can think of 3 good reasons for SOA: 1. Better approach and departure angles 2. No spring plate protrusion hanging down 3. Increased upward axle articulation 4. Increased tyre clearance The last leaf sprung vehicle Land Rover designed and built from scratch was the 101 FC which was SOA. All series land rovers have their suspension firmly fixed in the early 50's with their spring technology in the 40's. Trouble is LR's series chassis does not lend itself to SOA as well as many others IMHO. The front springs are to short and the front mounts of both springs hang down to far, LR's spring packs are too thick (ancient design) meaning you'd move the centre axis of the axle too far away from spring mount on the axle, causing alot of spring wrap; Again the FC101 used 2 leaf parabolics so keeping the distance to a minimum. Tim Coopers truck uses 5ft long Chevy truck springs on the rear and LR rear springs on the front. Axles are 101FC front and 2B FC ENV on the rear, I think the tyres were 38" I have a SOA vapour build in the garage which is based on a new 88 chassis, front and rear spring mounts have been moved up 2" the fronts have been extended to accept Jeep YJ front springs which are 10" longer than LR fronts, the rears have been moved back 5" to increase the wheelbase, both front and rear springs are TIC paras; with hindsight I'd been better to just buy standard YJ springs for front and back. Have a look at these sites: http://www.azrockcrawler.com/ click on tech and look for 'building a Zuk' http://www.expeditionlandrover.info/#springs good general info on leaf springs. http://forums.lr4x4.com/index.php?showtopic=7572&hl is worth a read also. http://jeepaholics.com/tech/bambar/ look for SOA conversion in the tech threads also. I think partly because LR's stock leafs were so bad and partly because the RR's chassis was so good; LR leaf suspension never developed like it did for Jeep, Toyota, Suzuki etc. and just a change to paras was deemed the thing to do. Don't be put off SOA, but if your going to do it, do a little more research and then do a good job of it. Andy
  8. If you mounted the ram to the centre of the track rod, you would reduce the chance of track rod bending, surely. Andy
  9. IMHO Tdi's give there maximum power(not BHP) at around 2000 RPM, most day to day driving is spent between 2000 and 3000 rpm. Dynamically balancing this engine for these sort of speeds would really be a money no object rebuild, the term 'blue printing' dates from the 60's and 70's when manufacturers tolerances were not as good as they are now, or 20 years ago. Balancing, blueprinting, port matching etc is all very well on engines destined for one make type production racing where modifications are strictly limited, but its an expensive way to get a little increase. If you are not bound by these restrictions then it makes sense that you spend your money where you get big increases for smaller outlay. These engine builders clearance everything to maximum tolerance to get the very last bit of performance from these engines at the expense of longevity. Most of the performance mods are well known for TDi engines, I wouldn't bother with balancing or lightening, but If funds allowed I would change the cam for one of ACR's, I'd also look at getting the piston crowns coated, Prodrive do this on the Subaru WRC cars at it gives the pistons an extra safety margin with high boost pressures and high EGT's. Regarding cylinder heads, I would look into having 3 angle valve seats machined and valves altered to correspond. As far as I'm aware Land Rover use 30 degree valve seats, if I could not find good reason to not to change from 30 degrees then these would change to 45 degrees, with 30 and 60 degree relief cuts. Port matching and smoothing on a forced induction engine is nice but isn't going to net you worthwhile increases in performance if your having to pay someone to do it for you. Lightening the flywheel can be used to good effect in getting the engine to accelerate quickly, but on a TDi road engine that spends alot of time in traffic then the negative could out way the positives, there made that heavy for a reason. VNT's are indeed wonderful, but they won't give you any more power than a normal turbo, its the boost pressure that generates the extra performance. VNT's or VGT's allow the use of bigger housings without the lag associated with an oversise turbo. So you get a big turbo for maximum power and a smaller one for bringing the boost in earlier, all rolled into one, fabulous. Only down side is cost, also I would question the need for a VNT with an auto as the Torque convertor dosn't let the revs drop below 2000 RPM under power any way. A hybrid turbo goes some way to being a happy medium, for the TDi application it works very well with little losses at the lower RPM, with boost coming in just as early as the standard turbo. Roland at ACR has built quite a few TDi's, in his experience a hybrid turbo and pump mods net the biggest gains. Water injection I've always thought would be a good idea for off road, but on looking into it it doesnt seem to net the increases you get with petrol engines, and in many cases no reduction in EGT's; methanol can be added to the water in varing degree's but I've not found much info on it, some say it can give similar results to LPG injection. Errrr......just a few thoughts on the subject
  10. DVD arrived Friday morning, watched Friday evening, will have chance to watch it again on Sunday. Thanks to all those involved in production and distribution. I've heard a rumour that in next years sequel that the nice English man, who saves peoples lives, wins!!! Andy
  11. It seems LandymanLuke, myself and I think a few others have been in the same situation as you now find yourself, I replaced my Clarke 150TE with a Portamig 211 and its a no nonsense piece of kit. I'll tell you what I've learnt about 'Portamig'; The original company went bust in the 80's, allegedly had a very good reputation for quality, however it seems there were to many fingers in the corporate pie and they went under. The Portamig name was sold to the company (in York) that now uses that name for its welders. I'm led to believe this company is, if not the largest, then one of the largest suppliers of welder spares and components in the UK for all makes of welders apparently. They only build these welders to order, MTA and the likes of Pendle Welding Equipment (Weldequip) pre-order so they retain stock for immediate dispatch, MTA badge them as there own obviously. This company in York will only supply these welders to reputable outlets with service back-up, so the 'Portamig' name does not mean a great deal. But the conclusion I've come to is that this company in York has access to a wide range of components from which to assemble its welders and has experience of what components last and which are carp. They are assembled in York (probably by chinese immigrants ) and you can pretty much spec what you want. I don't know where all the components come from, But mine came with a Parweld euro torch, and the wire motor's swedish I think. They are not littered with fancy graphics and I don't doubt the average punter wouldn'y give them a second glance, they are just solid bits of kit that are made the way British welders used to be made and that's the way many welder companies are still trading on, even thought their now made in china or wherever. Threre's better welders out there than these Portamigs, but not for the same money. Steve(Weldequip) has been selling and repairing welders for a good few years and he regards them very highly, and no he does not just sell Portamigs. If someone offers you a trade machine like the ones that Paul Whightman is selling then their a leap up the ladder again and they are worth grabbing. The Portamigs are not too big either, something to consider if your looking at second hand trade stuff as well. I'm just a DIY welder but when I spend my money on expensive kit I try to do my homework first. Andy (sticking his head above the parapet)
  12. Jim, if your going to the Lake district this weekend the I assume your doing M5/M6 I'd be happy to meet at a motorway services if its convenient. If anyone else lives in the midlands then I live within M40/M6/M1 triangle so its relatively easy to access from many directions. Andy
  13. In th 80's I had a '84 Suzuki RM 125 that was a pre-disc model, it had a twin leading shoe arrangment on the front that was probably better than some of the first disc attempts, about mid to late 80's EBC brought out a range of brake shoes for this age of bikes that had grooves in the linings, I had a set and they were extremely effective, the groves went as deep as the minimum wear for the linings, not all the way through to the metal. Andy
  14. I've bought one had it a few months now, for the money I can't fault it, does exactly what it says. It'll cut through 2" blue band in about 2 to 3 seconds, I've cut 50mm 6mm wall CDS with it and mitred 2" 5mm wall box all with no problems. The chips that come off it are bloody hot though so gloves, face shield and a melt proof jacket are recommended . I don't doubt it won't put up up with 'day in, day out' constant use, but I think its cheap for what it does. They do a more heavy duty cut off saw with a 14" blade, which I think is more steel oriented and the blade is alleged to last longer. Its about £30 more http://www.migtigarc.co.uk/Specialist/specialist.html is where I got mine from for the same price as Northern tool delivery was free. My local B&Q superstore is selling them for £147 at the moment. HTH Andy
  15. Beat me to it. I've assembled a 2.5 straight through in stainless from there parts, I'm not far from them. They only thing I would not recommend is there clamping brackets, better to assemble with clamps and then weld, even when done up to the max they still came loose. Andy
  16. It's very easy, the three socket heads that hold the brake housing on are long and go all the way through the gearbox housing, remove these and then take off the brake housing, you should then see the other six gearbox bolts sunk into the gearbox housing removing these six bolts will allow you to rotate the housing to your desired position. You won't be able to rotate it exactly 90 degrees but you should be able to get a suitable position. When you reassemble be aware the drive shaft may have come out of the motor, it can be a bit of a fiddle to get the shaft and brake all aligned, just make sure all the housings go together by hand, you do not want to be closing any gaps by tightening bolts! Hope that makes sense Andy
  17. Blimey that was quick!! There both Disco 200TDi gaskets, the one on the right is the turbo outlet to the cast downpipe.
  18. Already emailed SiWhite with a trace of the turbo flange + dimensions, but that was before I found the gaskets, I've just been and checked and there is indeed two turbo gaskets in the set I have, one matches the disco turbo perfectly, the other matches the studs but it has a radiused square hole in the middle as opposed to the Disco hole which is circular........ The turbo is one I swapped with selectcase and it has a definate mark where a gasket has been previously.
  19. On my 200Tdi Disco there is indeed no gasket, however, yesterday while looking for something else in the garage I came across the remains of top-end overhaul gasket kit, it contained both a gasket for the turbo to the manifold and a gasket for the turbo to cast downpipe, this was a pattern gasket set, maybe the Defender 200TDi has a gasket as I assume the set I had would have been a universal set. Andy
  20. I thought they were moving to larger premises?
  21. I have one off the manifold, can measure etc, or I could trace it for you then scan or Fax. Andy
  22. I've bought lots from Tim at SFS, Steering ram, beadlocks, tube bender, tyres etc. He sent me a 15" beadlock kit instead of 16" and promptly organised the courier to collect and exchange. I gave him a £250 deposit for some tyres, had to wait for them to come to the UK, but when they did arrive he sent them immediately and it was another couple of weeks before I paid the balance Because I've had a fair bit off him he gives me a bit of discount off the advertised prices. You have to remember SFS is a one man band, the guy does take holidays and I think the last time he announced he was going away they got burgled! I've found Him fair and straighforward in my dealings. Some of his packaging leaves a bit to be desired though Havn't seen his wheels in the flesh, but I do intend to have some in the future. I think they are made by a Agricultural wheel maker for him, I have a local Ag Wheel maker near me, he could make the split rims for about £110 + vat but you'd have to suppy your own inserts and sort your own sealing method taking the price to well over what SFS sell the wheels for. Andy
  23. A few years ago in LRM 'IIRC' one of the scribes put a SW body on a military chassis, the series tanks encroached into the rear footwells a little, I think the crossmember and floor had to be cut and then the tank boxed, are you aware of this? I have a pair of the civvy version of these tanks if you want me to take a measurement I can, if it helps. Andy
  24. Your local SPI distributor should be able to get new ones, yes 10 gallons but made in the style of pressed 90/110 ones rather than the original sort. LH and RH are available and they take a 90/110 style filler cap. They also sell the outriggers. Why are you not fitting a 90 tank? If you dont mind me asking
  25. £100 for welder + spare mini regulator, shrouds, tips the odd bottle of gas and a BOC type regulator and may have a part used reel of wire on but not sure. I'm travelling down to Hampshire tommorrow. Andy
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