steve b

Hi Lars, is the castor correction a more recent mod since the lift ? Lots of people here don,t bother with cc for 2" lift which puts the diff end of the prop at more of an angle......if both joints run at an angle this can reduce vibes , also pretty sure the early RRC prop with the open style joint will give more angle of operation and is the same length i think . Finally positive id of fault = take prop off lock ctr diff & try it then . final thought any broken/worn eng/gearbox mounts? hope this helps Steveb

they are glued onto bulkhead aperture on series & onto the flap on 90/110 IIRC you must be close now if you are sorting out potential drafts FF ........mines been on the road 3 yrs after a 3 yr sympathetic historic resto and my door seals are only half done 2 heaters tho so its not cold in the winter. have you got any piccies with the portals ? be good to see some if so Steveb

How are you then Adrian thought i might have seen you at the Ultim*te the other w/e I reckon co driving is pretty full on so well done *lee90* who was driving ? any piccies anywhere? Steveb

Hi Lee sounds like you had a good event this weekend. Was Dom codriving with you? cheers Steveb

Hi Kim how was the winch driven on the Toyota? A line speed of 6-9 m/min should be fine my question is has the winch got reverse? - if not how will you pay out at the end of whatever winch task you may have done? Looks like a nice winch is there a makers plate anywhere? cheers Steveb

Hi diff, thats a lovely evocative shot of the moment. Do you still have the 109? you're travels sound exciting ....some Michelin maps,compass and food/water/spares..no GPS or sat phone. Back in 1983 i " Africa-ised " a 109 Camper for a family (Rover diesel , 3 fuel tanks , roof box HD springs overhaul everything else ) . They had a great trip over 8 months UK to Tammanrasset & Agadez then to Dakar then back to UK. .......mind you 3 months into their trip as the vehicle builder sat back home I did dream of sat radio to reassure me things were ok ..they were i just had no contact for ages.... looking after the son's Asia Rockster now ...he was 6 back then and I would still love to overland in Africa now again lovely photo , any mad stories to tell ? cheers Steveb

No explanation for it but I got 32 on a run from Charente to Calais with my LR (200tdi)...best I get here is 28-30 .Mind you as Al says in GB you're lucky to get an hour at a constant , in France it's a case of how big is your tank = x hours of a constant speed (apart from the looooong hills ) Steveb

Saw the prog onBBC 2 ....good prog but you could never tell the whole story in an hour. I was 19 when it kicked off & can remember it . Dad's Grandfather signed up and fought in the Boer War and then again for WW1 and was took prisoner in France in 1915 . He spent 3 years in POW camp in the Ardennes. Still got the letter from King George saying welcome home to your home country. Be nice to think one day conflict could be over ....... Steveb

That's abig stack of engineering you have set yourself there dude..what about the TGV 2.8 Tdi? much more power and torque and still relatively simple and LR based. Funny what you said about Ted Simon because when did the trip again (book is out now) he chose ...A R80GS BMW carbs good simple cdi... there may be a clue there B) ....... I could be biased tho I love my 200Tdi and my R80GS as well Good luck with it what ever you build and just as important I hope your travel plan comes together cheers Steveb

So with B + E you are not effected ...cheers Mark90 eased my mind on that one .......life withoot regular new legislation ....unthinkable Steveb

Just wondered if anyone knows anything about an up coming change in towing laws (saw it in a tachograph thread on *RRP when i was lurking t'other day) relating to making all trailers less than tow vehicle wt ...the thread hinted that its proposed for next year......certainly if this is the case things will change for lots of us. BTW hi Mark when are we gonna see you in the essex mud at Bures again? Back to topic I tow lots to pay n play and when i used to trial but then i've always had a trailer and space to keep it safe but its each to thier own I reckon cheers Steveb

you've got 303 volvo portal's on your 109 haven't you? what sort of gearing ratio,s do they have in comparison to the mog 404's (still haven't got mine home yet - soon tho)? It's always a real boost when your project is close to going on the road ( they're rarely finished ..mine isn't ) so press on dude the end is in sight cheers steveb

hi IIRC it's m12 metric fine can't give you tpi but pretty sure it's metric fine .... I guess you have the series pedal box/ m/cyl I think you could use later mastercyl and change the pushrod ?? then use a defender/disco pipe ? How far off are you to finishing your 109 then? 109 csw ....the best land rover ever! cheers steveb

Nice touch taking out 10% low income tax to replace it with the 20% making it so that people in the 5k to17k income pay more tax ...........I wholly believe we are being nailed harder every year whether employed or self employed/business owner ........no tax on food miles or imported goods miles or god forbid air travel /rant over/ steveb

Hi Anglofrenchman the air-con can be unbolted from engine and carefully laid to one side (I tie to somewhere to take the wieght). I would also favour engine out ......much easier to fit the seal & use genuine less doubts altho no guarantee's . Mine 200tdi started leaking about 2mths ago ...a job for later. I have heard of additives that are supposed to swell seals but don't really have faith in fixes inna bottle ....even WD-40 only work's for V8's until the next puddle cheers Steveb

Hi I reckon Bogmonster has a good point ......I bought my tirfor , pulley block, anchor pin's & tree strap year's befeore I got my first winch - s/h LR hydro-hydro ever since-- still got the tirfor tho good luck with whatever you choose steveb

Hi Les Swopping the transfer box in situ is fairly easy 4-5 hours going steady i reckon. AS far as tip's well from my experience taking off h/brake assy makes it easier to handle and i made a "thing" to drop in the socket on the 3t trolley jack that supports box & bolts to t/box on pto/brg hsg cover ..this makes it more stable to line up when refitting no pic's tho i'm sure you can see what i mean. When refitting watch out not to damage the seal in the t/box on g/box o/p shaft, also do you know if top gear is cross drilled for oil feed , if not grease g/box shaft / inside gear before refitting. hth cheers steveb

Hi was wondering what oil you hydro guy's use ? I just changed mine from 26 to 46 viscocity ,upped the prv to180 from 150 which has improved the pull ... I think the 46 grade has made as much difference as upping the prv. the winch is a pto converted to hydro pto pump 8.5 gpm motor 6.5 gpm reversible (with leak off) 25 litre tank seems to pull well enuf ...would be interesting to get it on a load cell one day. ........as to your orig question you can winch and drive with auto if the wheels spin & pto is engaged you will get winch power but much slower and less pull than optimum pump speed. I think with crank driven (Jez) you need a chain drive to take the load of the pump . As HFH says flow = speed & press = pulling power. Will be interesting to see how you get on. cheers Steveb

As it's not a competition spec cage I used what I had on the rack low spec cds about 48o/d I did find 90 bend to be the max attainable and when I ran out of old stuff the new similar spec I got hold of seemed softer i.e. small dents where the outer rollers support the tube ...like your tip using thin piece of ally najw will remember that one. Best thing OF is to get the m/c out stick a bit of tube in and have a go, getting bend centres is a bit of a practice job but if you measure and mark your bend start point or centre point you'll soon work out how the development happens cheers Steveb

Hi Les I used one of those sealey pipe benders to make my exo cage and it worked fine if you buy it use it and want to sell it i would be interested later . I did find it kinked on tight 90 bends but that could be tube quality . cheers steve

Hah new if i mentioned a blunt chisel a hungry bfish would just jump right on the hook...any how jim i would have thought bush engineering would be part of everyday life round your neck of the woods steveb

not sure of size i ground an old one to suit has to be thin tho tbh i usually use a narrow blunt cold chisel long enough to get in there , but any piece of bar would do. Yeah the lanes and countryside is soo lovely around there the only probs i had laning was meeting old french farmers in citroen c5 vans coming the other way....i'm sure they laugh about meeting a rufty tufty lr with a winch on a track they use to get to the bar every day lol cheers steveb

Hi if you have a spanner that fits and clears pulley bolts it should undo clockwise by short sharp taps with a heavy hammer , if not you can use a cold chisel on the corner of the nut. the cowl will come out after that with T H & I/C hose off ....you may need to flex it a bit. btw I have several friends in the Charente region around Ruffec was down there in 2004 for a visit & some chemin fun. hope this helps key things ..hammer & clockwise cheers steveb

hi, i made both my tanks mig welded no probs clean metal n good joint alignment are key imho....and i used 2mm baffles are in the bottom and are 100mm high. leak test with air 5-10psi n washing up liquid cheers steveb

here's my tale.....marshalling at my local pnp last w/e i towed a cj with a broken rear prop from the middle of tthe site [not stuck] to the exit....no probs.....engaged high to take him to nearby railstation carpark for rac recovery as i pulled away at tickover the strap tightened with a small jerk then his hook came off .........sailed throo' my 4mm lam[bs veh spec] rear door glass n landed on frt pass seat threads in the captive nuts must have been strained no visible risk when we hooked upb4 this happened. gives me the cold shivers a week later what is on your vid is plain dangerous and stupid . it's not a case of if but more when someone is injured/killed how will our hobby/sport be viewed by authorities ..and how would you feel telling your offroad bud's family/wife/children he's dead /rant mode off/ ....just my 2p. worth lets be careful steveb [abit more grey hair ]