v8bobber

Hi All, No doubt that the subject of buying a TIG welder has been discussed on this forum before I have searched the Forum and could not find anything relevant. I have just about finished my trialler and it has been a good way to improve my mig welding. I have fabricated alot of stuff and i've been quite happy with the strength and quality of the finished item(s). However, once the trialler has been painted and the last few bits bolted on, I am looking to learn some new skills. I bought a aluminium radiator from a fabrication company and also an ally fuel tank from a local guy but really fancy learning to TIG weld. I know absolutely nothing about TIG welding other than I really like the results that I have seen on this and other forums, espcially from the House of Flying Spanners a while back. Questions are, what is a good basic TIG welder to start with? I need to strike a balance between price and performance. Also i have no problem teaching myself (no courses nearby and I work odd hours) but would need some kind of DVD / reference book. Can anyone assist? Cheers, Dave

Thanks for all the thoughtful replies, I'm hoping that this is just a faulty unit. Can't see it being anything else. The reluctance to start was definately down to the misplaced contact. There was definately no spark initially. I'll make sure that there is ample ventilation. I have no windows in the workshop but the front is all doors. I never did get round to filling in the gaps between the corrugated sheeting and the top of the walls when i builr the workshop in the the first place; hence the need for a space heater! The heater is only a small one anyway. I will give Machinemart a ring tomorrow and they will send me a new one, or so they have said. I hope that they can do a quick turnaround as I am desperate to get the machine finished in time to compete by the end of the month. Fingers crossed. I will look forward to having my replacement but I will be a bit wary of it! Dave

This was the thing that I thought might have been the problem too. Purely for the reason that I've never had anything to do with gas before other than the camping variety. I showed the regulator (red - and was already with it) to the guy in the gas suppliers and gave me the correct bottle. I got a 13kg one as I thought that a bigger one might be too much for it. The old man looked at it aswell and he was sure that I needed a red bottle. I had a job to get the thing going when I first tried it to be honest. The piezo thing was clicking but was not igniting it. I looked down the end and the contact was about an inch from the earthing bit. I had to bend ot over slightly in order to get it to spark. I'm wondering if its had a bang somewhere on its journey. I will be a bit nervous of the other one when it arrives if I'm honest. In the meantime work on the project has slowed to a near halt. Minus 5 is just too cold!

Finally, my space heater turned up today. A treat to myself over the Christmas period, and, I thought, quite good timing seeing as the only time I can get in the workshop at the moment is in the evenings / nights After a couple of hours of chasing around after a propane bottle I managed to get the little heater going. I thought I'd hang around while the thing warmed up, rather than go and make a cuppa and i'm glad I did as the bloody thing started to melt! I thought initially that it might just have been the odd bit of paint burning off but I looked closer and the front of the carry handle was turning into a pool of black goo! Any ideas what might have caused this? The heater was brand new. Goes without saying that I have contacted Machine Mart and they are going to get me a new one out next week but I'm a a bit worried that i've done something wrong somehow or that the next one will do the same. Any heating engineers on here? Regards, Dave

Thanks for the advice. I stupidly hadnt thought about running the engine, and selecting the odd gear to try and free things up. Will try tomorrow Dave

Evening all, I have been offered a RR 4.6 HSE of unknown quality. The vendor is happy for me to examine as closely as I like but unfortunately I am not in a position to be able to drive it so check whether it uses water. I already own a P38 but a diesel one so I am not familiar with the coolant loss problem on these engines although of course I have heard about it. The question is, how do I check if this particular engine is suffering from this problem. Are there any tell tale signs that will point it out to me whilst stationary? Dave

I have owned Landrovers for nearly 20 years ad have probably driven one everyday since then. All of them, however, have been manual. About twelve months ago I started the rebuild of my trialer and early on I decided that it would be a 3.9 with the appropriate auto box behind it. The project is nearing completion now and there's only some relatively little bits and bobs to before it is ready to compete. However, when I went to shift it in the garage yesterday I noticed that the throttle was sticking open. Further investigation showed that the kickdown cable was not retracting into it's cover, leaving a kink in it that was holding the throttle open partly . I've been out for another brief look this afternoon and have disconnected it at the engine end. The inner cable will pull out but will not retract. I am now stuck with a random couple of inches of cable with not a clue of how the kickdown cable works, how I can get it working again, and more strangely, why it has failed I the first place. The only thing I can think of is that it has siezed after bot being used for a year. Hope someone can advise Dave

Cheers for the reply, can you still get alligators? Dave

Hi all, I have finally decided that the old Grizzly claws on my class 5 trials machine have seen better days. Quite a few of the "nobbles" have been knocked off, one of them has a massive gash (fnaaar!) to the sidewall, and on top of that, thet had quite a bit of road used before I inherited them. In the class that I am competing in, as part of my local club means that I am virtually unlimited as to the tyre choice that I can have. A few of the guys use dumpers but I have started to wonder whether these really do give the best grip overall. The other two choices that I have considered are the Maxicross type tyres, or maybe even one of the Simex copies......? I think that the boys in the club may (quite rightly) mock me if I have a "dry" and "wet" set of tyres so I would be looking for a decent set that I can leave on all year. I would love to hear what works for people, and what their opinions are with regards to the best trial tyre. Thanks Dave

The earlier message said that there had been a reportable RTC? was this a case of one car hitting another and then leaving which is inferred, or a case of a personal causing some damage? Dave

Following an non injury RTC, there is a legal requirement for the drivers to exchange details. As the driver did not make an attempt to report this (common sense thing would to have been to leave details with the Hotel or inform Police), he is committing an offence, and this now becomes a fail-to-stop RTC and should be invesitgated. Part of that is that Police should have siezed the CCTV, but as someone said, it depends on how big / busy your Force is. Unfortunately, there are only a (very) limited amount of officers and things like this often slide down the list of things to do. Officers would like to have the time to chase up jobs like this, but time contraints often work against this ideal. Without going OT into Polotics, perhaps we'll have a different Government next time round who spend money on the Police force rather than personal expenses!! Dave

I can empathise with you totally. I pushed my trialler into the garage for a refit in September last year with a loose timescale of about 3-4months in my head. However, i am now into month 12 unfortunately but my problem seems to be that I get to a bit of the "old" vehicle I don't like and lop it off! It used to be a low compression ( and knackered) V8 with 4speed rangie box, rear mounted radiator, the lot. It is now a 3.9EI with 4speed auto. I too got to a time where I was working flat out on it and didn't seem to be getting anywhere. I think it was a case of I was doing jobs and then realised that there were another two to do for each initial job. Nightmare Thankfully I am in the home straight now - or at least I hope I am. I can see where you are coming from as it would be worse if I was waiting to drive it on the road. The frustration I have is I look forward to each trial and then it comes and goes. If the missus finds out that I have organised my holidays around the 2010 season trials she will go nuts!! You will be on the home straight before you know it, chin up! Regards, Dave PS if its of any interest to you, I have attached a pic of how i set up my gear lever and transfer lever (this was about June time!)

it's not going to be the battery, either the one in the key fob, or the one in the car. Whatever is causing it, the lock is not being actuated by the central locking motor. I would take the door trim off and have a look see, operate the central lcoking and see if the motor is operating. It may just be that the linkage is either siezed or one of the links has come off (happened on my old classic) If the motor is not actuating, then run a test meter to it to see if there is power to it when you are operating the fob, as the BECMs on these vehicles do very odd things sometimes and it may have decided that it just doesnt like that particular door for some reason! If there is 12v getting to the motor, and then it's still not working then it has to be the motor Dave

hi, I had a similar problem with my P38, it's a good idea to search the web and do the various tests with the test meter to find out if the BECM is going to "sleep" or not. I found that even though the battery tested ok at the local battery place I bought a good quality new one with a decent Ah rating which solved the problem. My RR gets left for a week at a time and fires up straight away even when it's cold. I found that the problem was getting worse over time, and by that I mean that the amount of time for the battery to discharge was getting less and less each time, and reckoned that it must therefore be the battery. It's not a difficult problem to solve either way (hopefully) Dave

oh my god!

Cheers for that, i'll drop them an email. Bizarrely, the cheapest i've found so far is the local tyre depot! When you include the free fitting they'll have to go some to beat 105+vat. Fingers crossed tho! Cheers, Dave

Hi all, I have bought a lovely set of "Mondial" 18" rims for my P38 and have been looking around for tyres. I am in no great hurry but it would be nice to do them up before the weather gets a bit poor and spraying conditions are not ideal. Ideally I would like a set of General Grabber AT2, however at 110 odd quid plus the vat they're quite expensive. I already have a decent set of 16" rims with BFG ATs on them so i'm not adverse to keeping them for when towing off road etc is needed. Therefore a road pattern in 18" would not be out of the question. I have seen Nexen tyres on ebay in a 255/60 x 18 and are very reasonable pricewise, however, I have never seen them before and am not aware of what they are like. Item number 300345598080 Has anyone used them, or got a set? Dave

Hi all, I have finally managed to find a nice set of Mondial alloy wheels for my P38, and although they are in fairly good nick, I would like them to be really good before I sort some tyres out and put them on the truck. I have repainted alloys in the past, with aerosol paints from the local motor factors with not bad results but I wasn't that bothered about the result because it was only an old Polo. However I would like to make a decent job and wondered if anyone had successfully refurbed alloys in a DIY sense. There are no massive gouges or dings, the main issue is the bubbling paint in around where the wheelnuts go, and also a bit around the edges. Cheers, Dave

Andy, I have the two lambda sensors that I took off my 3.9 efi when I put it into my trials machine. PM me if you are interested in them (if I can find them that is!)PM me Dave

I have been offered a set of 18" Mondials for my P38 at a not too bad price. I am trying to price up a set of tyres for them. Ideally, I would like a set of General AT2s however they are quite pricey and the only offroading I do in it is towing a trailer with my trials machine on it. Sometimes the trials sites are off the beaten track. The local tyre place have offered a decent deal on a set of General UHPs which are a fair bit cheaper than the AT2s however after looking at some pictures of them on the internet it looks as if they would be a waste of time off road The undoubted increase in MPG is attractive tho. I have looked at the tyre section here but cannot find info on the UHPs Cheers Dave

I've been very pleased with mine. I did think up until recently that I might get rid my P38 and go back to a 90 so I could use that for towing, and then buy another car for just going back and for to work. However, after a couple of particularly long shifts in work I was reminded just how nice a car it is. Arm rest down, stereo up, aircon set just-so and waft home. It still tows not too badly although its unlikely that you're going to get any points on your licence with it (diesel). I have been considering getting a power upgrade but it's probably a reflection that it's not that gutless, as I haven't bought one yet. If i'm working nights I use the other halfs car, to keep the trucks mileage down. Issues so far have not been too serious. Needed a new exhaust not long after I bought it, and also the brake lines needed replacing. A couple of blend motors have packed up but they're not too bad to change if you take your time. It had the dreaded hot-starting issue, but this was soon cured by one of the little black boxes from ebay. I have a little engine warning light flashing up which i was told would get a whole lot worse but is exactly the same now as it was 12months ago. I think that the dual mass flywheel is on its way out but I can live with that for a wheel. I recently changed all the springs and shocks as one of the airbags was knackered and the rest weren't far behind. Hopefully, apart from a service, it shouldn't need anything for a while. However, I have been tempted by a nice set of 18inch alloys and once I can get over the price of a set of 18inch tyres, might well buy them! All in all, i would recommend one. Just buy the best one that you can afford. The diesel option was the only way forward for me but a chap up the road has a 4.0SE on gas and is probably cheaper to run than mine, but obviously goes a bit better. Read up as much as you can on them and know the problem areas. Alot of the issues seem to be mileage related so look for a quality low mileage one. It is alot of car for the money, but can need decent money spent on it to keep it in tip-top condition. Enjoy

interesting that you have considered putting a td5 into a RR Classic, I was thinking the same thing today except that I thought that the Td5 might go nicely into my P38. The only real problems that i've had with the P38 (hang on, just got to find some wood to touch) are with the engine. Nothing major, just the vibration that is caused by the duff dual-mass flywheel and the little warning light that comes on now and again but annoying all the same. The various sources that I have looked into, price the flywheel up at about 600 quid, plus the clutch and what not, means that it's not far off the price of a decent Td5 engine with ancillaries. The Disco Td5 engine is the same power as the P38 BMW engine, and is known to mate up with the the R380 box that is already in place. Furthermore, the Td5 engine is easily tuneable should the need take me. I'm pretty sure that I could physically get the engine it but the electronics would be a bit scary! Would make a nice noise though and go quite nicely I would imagine. If I could re-engine the P38 it would be my perfect vehicle! Please feel free to let me know if you have pulled off this minor miracle! Dave

It doesnt seem that unusual. if you have got the two offside or nearside wheels on slippery grass / mud, then the power will follow the path of least resistance and spin the power away. Doesnt matter whether the centre diff is in or not really. You'll probably find that the tyres are probably not as good as they should be as thats the only contact between your vehicle and the ground. Try airing the tyres down to 20psi or below if you really need to get up there. Dave

And here she is, cheeky little monkey...........

Thanks for that, I will sit down and have a more indepth look at your reply when I get a chance. Unfortunately have the misfortunate to be working night shifts for the next few days. I'm sorry to say that I really like the old P38. I purposely bought a fairly basic model as there is less to go wrong. It still has less that 80K miles and is only used for about 75 miles a week and occasional tow vehicle. I consider changing it sometimes but then would not find as much vehicle for the money. I changed all the air springs and shocks last week and the compressor seems to be doing its job well. There is no rust, and the bodywork is excellent, so i may as well keep it i think. I am in the process of building an 80" special at the moment so my "learning time" is being spent on that. I think I will set a relatively low reservce price in my head for buying the bits and keep them tucked away to sort out when I get chance. The MOT is due in a couple of months and do not want to put the lights in and not have them working. I consider the P38 to be a real enthusiasts vehicle as you'd have to be totally smitten to own and run one!! Thanks again Dave