Julian

Thinking some more I suspect steve B may be closest with the nitriding. LR are probably scared of machine shops grinding the crank and not re-nitriding or maybe nitriding to a poor standard thus negatively effecting the crank's longevity. I struggle to see how shaving a few thou of the main and BE journals will materially effect the crank's strength. Any engine designers here? Julian.

Interesting comments. I initially thought along similar lines and thought that no manufacturer stresses components to the limit like that, there's always about 30-40% overkill regarding strength to cater for production tolerances, abuse etc. So is the Diesel crankshaft 'living on the edge?' I've certainly never heard of them cracking or snapping, but I'm not really that experienced when it comes to this engine. I know a jolly good crank grinder near me who would do a lovely job, keep the journal radius's, and re-nitride if I asked. Are the petrol bearing shells the same as the Diesel shells? I'm not actually going to do any grinding, I was just thinking out aloud here regarding a potential project which is to buy a scrap 2 1/4 Diesel and re-con it over the winter, obviously this can only be done if the crank is OK as a Britpart crank would only obviously be good as a door stop. Julian.

For bearings and seals I'd go to Simplybearings, then you can decide between top quality or budget branded - not to 'no-name' crape that comes in blue boxes. Julian.

Looking at the official LR workshop manual on the net yesterday I was looking at engine specs and noticed that the 2 1/4 petrol crank could be ground and used with undersized bearings while the 2 1/4 Diesel crank was not allowed to be ground undersized. Any ideas why that would be? I thought they were the same.... Julian.

Alternator belt slipping. Julian.

I know very little about this installation of yours as Rover V8 have never been something I've got my hands on. I did have a very similar problem to this once on a big block Mopar and it was an air leak, between inlet manifold/valley pan and crankcase. I discovered this by noticing how much crankcase vacuum was being created even with the breather hoses disconnected/blanked. One little trick that I learnt when setting up idle mixture on 4 bbl Holley carbs is to introduce some propane gas (via a blowtorch) into each primary in turn - you can then instantly determine if the mixture is rich or lean on each side and adjust each screw accordingly. Julian.

It's proving that they're rubbish without costly equipment or specialist testing. Take the cheap non-branded Chinese bearings that Britpart sell, and I don't mean the perfectly good branded budget bearings that the likes of simplybearings sell; you've seen (I'm sure) Quest on Freeview and making ball bearings? It's obvious how you could make them cheaply, just omit half of the manufacturing processes like proper case hardening, proper selective fits of races, proper grading of ball sizes, lower grade steels etc. Result is a poor product with the balls all of slightly differing sizes and fighting each other from the word go, and a lot of wear resulting in a short lifespan. Britpart gears must be another example, again choice of material, poor (involute) tooth profile, substandard case hardening, poor dimensional control etc. But pull it out of its blue box and it will look perfectly good. It might be an interesting exercise but for my money I'd find something more productive as I think we already know what the verdict will be! Julian

I got a Bearmarch branded layshaft for mine from Landranger services. It's early days yet but so far so good.... If you need a snap ring for 1st 2nd bush (I think) I'll mail you one as I had to get a bag of five genuine LR ones from a dealer, the one Landranger sold me didn't have enough 'spring' and bent upon installation.

Layshaft = junk, no question. Reverse = hmmm, change it as they are not that expensive. (kit I think includes shaft and bearing/bush) Julian

Yes, it's a safety feature, it makes you take the drum off so that you can find the modern fangled super clever bonded linings seperated entirely from the shoes and floating around at will! Julian.

Ah, but (cleverly) he doesn't, or can't show you the stuff that he's replaced it WITH - I bet he burns the little blue boxes on a daily basis! (only kidding, I don't know Andrew and I'm not casting aspersions)

I recently purchased a nice new cheap 1/2 ton trailer, within about 500 miles I noticed play in the bearings so tightened them up and greased them. Coming from Lincolnshire back home with the trailer I just made it back with one of the wheels rumbling badly. I went to 'The Bearing Mart' in Jackson Street, Manchester for new ones and the counter assistant took one look at them and said 'Cheap Chinese trailer wheel bearings, we sell replacements by the hundred.' And I hadn't prompted him.... So yes, I'm absolutely certain that there's a marked difference in quality and on something like a series box, as it's such a PITA to replace I'd deffo go for some 'branded' bearings and go without the beer :-) Take a chance on other stuff if you like, but not when there's so much work at stake. Julian.

But for £400 you'll get cheap Chinese bearings, Britpart internals and they'll be bending over backwards to make parts 'go-again.' I could throw a box together for less than that and get 12 months plus a bit out of it. I guess the path you go down is determined by what you want out of it, but my idea is to rebuild the gearbox to the best of my ability using quality bearings and components and (touch wood) have a long and happy life with it! Julian.

They look almost as good as my new Bearmach ones. Good for another 500 miles :-) Julian.

Thinking about it you should maybe replace those 3 leaf springs on the 3-4 synchro as with two out of two gearboxes that I have in both cases one had snapped, got chewed up by the cogs and came out in bits through the oil drain! Looking around on google this is a very very commom fault. I got a brand new 3/4 synchro (Bearmach) for mine as I didn't want to take a chance. Also I suspect that the leaf spring going through the cogs must cause so form of collateral damage :-( Julian.

Synchro rings, 3-4th looks like one has the serations worn off, though it may be the picture just out of focus? From what I understand if these serations are worn then you need new ones. Julian

I did my series three, just like you say, no need to remove any hubs or backplates. The adjusters that I got (Britpart before I knew any better) were not absolutely right and didn't allow the shoes to 'lie down' nicely on the back plate and needed a little tweak with an angle grinder - it was so long ago that I've forgotten the exact problem! So yes, it's easy, try to avoid Britpart adjusters. I think you need a grinder to remove the old adjusters as they are not designed to come apart once assembled, but again my memory could be playing tricks :-)

Hmmm, I'm now struggling to find ways to tell you that this isn't timing! Here's what to do, mark the position of the dizzy, slacken the clamp and turn it several degrees one way and the other with the engine idling - that'll prove to you in less time than it's taken to type this that the timing is not the issue. If moving the dizzy one way or the other gets rid of the lumpy idle I'll make a youtube video of me eating my hat and post it on the forum Julian.

I'm not sure if you'd get away with it on thin skin, you wouldn't find find one in use in an aircraft hangar as I suspect the solid 'thumps' from a hammer would create a dent in the skin, and the riveters would have arm ache in a jiffy. :-) Certainly OK for riveting brake linings onto shoes or model loco boilers etc but I'm not sure on thin skin.... maybe I'm wrong? But the little windy hammers are only a few quid from Machine Mart and are useful for all sorts of things! Julian.

Nowt to do with timing, how does the timing manage to create a snag that happens at 40mph in top gear? The timing doesn't know what gear you're in! If it was timing you'd get the snag in any gear - that's just using logic..... Julian.

Sorry, you're right, I missed the bit about single carriageways! Julian.

Not right. 7.5 ton = 60 in a 60. Appeal! http://www.no-excuses.org.uk/Pages/Article.aspx?id=71 Julian

Dunno about the oil, someone will advise but it's probably something blocked in the breather system. The spluttering and backfiring you get in that situation is fuel starvation, as simple as that. Why? Dunno, filter blocked, duff pump, sticking float valve..... First job is a simple task of elimination - with the engine ticking over pull the fuel delivery pipe off and run it into a jar - make sure you're getting healthy spurts of fuel. (have the hose handy in case you manage to get it ti light up!) Julian.

Oh thanks, I didn't know about series 11 forum, I'll take a gander. There's far too many forums all doing the same thing really, just dilutes down the knowledge base! Julian.

Just to finish off, the gearbox is now in, OD transferred over and a nice test drive with no issues, a nice tight feel to the gearshift (like an MGB) and no noises! With new bearings throughout, bushes, 3/4 synchro, layshaft, reverse gear and seals I'm hoping that it'll give me many years of good service. So far no oil leaks - which is more than can be said of the engine which always seems to leave a few black drops on the ground overnight..... Maybe I'll look out for a cheap 21/4 Diesel on the ebay for a re-build project this winter. Julian.