v8bobber

Hi all, I have a P38 diesel which i am still very fond of, despite spending most of my weekend changing all the airsprings and shocks. The RR is a "basic" 2.5 DT and to be honest, it's lack of electronic gadgetry is one of the reasons I bought it. However, I would like to put in a couple of extra things now, like a set of factory fog lights as I have seen some very near on ebay. However, this is not like the old 90 i had where you could whack a relay and old swtich in on the dashboard. I know it must be possible to retrofit stuff but am not sure how. Is the wiring loom already in place? Is it just a case of plugging the various bits in? I dont even know where the front fog light switch would go! I have also been tempted to try and get the trip computer going but is this only available on auto models? Hope someone can assist, Dave

I agree, much as I love the Range Rover I have, and it is brilliant for towing and also a family car. The most fun I had off roading was in the 90s and series three that I had. That is the thinking behind the start of this thread; going back to basics. I'm still in the throws of building the trialler so once thats finished, that should take care of any hardcore off-roading, and in some ways i do think thats where the more severe off roading should stay. The 90 will have probably a winch at the front, maybe a rear hoop and a set of 235/85 x 16 Mud terrains and certainly no larger. You can see by the attached pic that theres a fair bit of work to do. Dave

Well, finally got the brakes working today, after much cursing. I am less annoyed though than I would have been if I had invested in a brand new master cylinder only to find out that it wasn't that at all. I am quietly chuffed that the brake lines that I have lovingly made up by hand are leak free (at the moment). The only problem I have, which i'm not too bothered about at the moment is that the rear nearside caliper is a bit sticky and the pistons only have a few mm of movement, but seeing as the pads are new that shouldn't be a problem. I forgot to mention previously that things were made more tricky as I also have front calipers on the back at the moment as once the trialler is up and running then i'll be able to put some fiddle brakes on it. Happy just to have a set of operational brakes at the moment though. The Haynes manual (which I bought for the wiring diagram - another nightmare) showed the front calipers with only one bleed nipple, the one at the top, so thats the one I used to bleed it. It was only when I looked in an old Range Rover manual that I realised that one is for the primary circuit and the other is for the secondary circuit. Most of you will probably know (but i'll put it on here incase it helps anyone else in the future!) but the top bleed screw and the innermost one have to be bled at the same time, and the the remaining one bled after that. I quickly did that on both sides and the brake pedal was absolutely solid. I might give the p38 brakes a going over when it comes in the garage next week to change the airbags. I wish I had read the post about lowering the pressure in the tyres before using it. Initially I used the wrong cap, as one is very similar, and that coupled with about 40psi meant that the garage roof and my recently prepped bonnet had a liberal coating. I also had a bit of a brake fluid shampoo which did not amuse me. I wrongly assumed that one of the old tyres on the trialler would do the job as I used to run them at 14psi. I must have pumped them up at some point and not realised! Lesson learnt. Once it was set up properly though it was a joy to behold. Unfortunately I do most of the stuff in the garage fairly late at night so knocking someone up to do me a favour and press the pedal was out of the question. When I eventually get a day off I will try and take it up and down the lane and see how many complaints I get! It sounds like one of those Icelandic hill racer things at the moment. It's proably about time that I added a picture aswell. It looks pretty much identical in the picture as it does now, except for a fine mist of brake fluid over it!! Everyones help is much appreciated Dave

Wonderful! Is there anyway that I can get the article off your knee and down the phone line?! If you are feeling generous of course. Whats on the cover of the magazine to see if I have a clue where it might have gone? Dave

Have never used one but it's the only way I can see to get the system to bleed. I think it must just be the fact that there is absolutely no fluid in the lines. I looked on the Halfords website last night and they've got one in stock. Have got the two kids today so they are going to be coming with me whether they like it or not! I have never had problems with brakes before like this. Even when I renewed all the brake lines on the P38, they bled straight away without any hassle. Fingers crossed for today, after all, what are Bank Holidays for! Dave

Sounds promising. If you could dig it out that would be fantastic! Would be even better if you had a scanner!

Update, I have just spent a fruitless hour trying to get some fluid down the pipes and have failed! I think I might have to invest in one of those pressure bleeder things that you connect the spare tyre to!

Mr Henson, Go to the top of the class, or maybe we both can. I managed to glue the little plastic pipe and reassembled. I blocked the outlet pipes with bleed screws from the rear calipers and 'backfilled' the master cylinder that way. Then, did Les' little trick and now seems to be squirting out a treat! You would not believe how close I came to buying a new master cylinder, Les I can now afford to buy you a pint or two. I have considered though that the fluid squirting out may just be the fluid a backfilled the cylinder with, I am confident however. Once I've had my cup of tea I will try the rest of the system. Everything is crossed! Regards, Dave

Cheers both, I know that the parts are matched because I have used as many parts from the donor vehicle as possible. The only part that isn't V8 disco are the rear calipers and unfortunately the fluid hasn't made it that far. Les, I think u are probably right. It just doesn't make sense that the master cylinder doesn't work all of a sudden. I've taken it apart already so I might try and fill the master cylinder first after blocking the oulet holes up and then put it back on and try and bleed it from there. I am reluctant to buy a new master cylinder when it was working perfectly before! Didn't help that I snapped the yellow cover off it mind so might have to get a new one anyway!! Ill let you know how I get on Dave

Hi all, I have been trying to bleed the brakes on my trialler this evening, but without any success whatsoever. The servo / master cylinder arrangement has been taken over from a disco 1, along with a load of the other bits. When I pushed the pedal a small amount of fluid seemed to go from the reservoir and then when the pedal was released the fluid came back in again! So, just assuming that there was an air lock in the system as all the brake lines were new I disconnected them at the master cylinder to see how much fluid was coming out i found the answer - not much. I had a bit of a pathetic spray from each of the four junctions but that was about it. The brakes were working a treat when the donor vehicle was driven into the garage last year so was a bit surprised this time around when they didn't work. It has been a little while though. I took the master cylinder apart and the seals appear to be ok although the pistons seem a quite scored. The inside of the cylinder itself is perfect. I'm not familiar with the inside workings of a brake master cylinder and hope that someone with more knowledge might be able to advise me if there is something else that might be messing with the workings of it before i go and spend £££ on a new cylinder. Bearing in mind that this will only be used off road Hope someone can assist. TIA Dave

Many thanks, Hopefully between us we will find a cope tucked away for everyone to enjoy Dave

Inspirational indeed. Not sure if I mentioned it previously but I have an old 90 of the same age tucked away and am very tempted to rebuild it along the lines of the Webster 90. I know that you can still get the SAT copies and already have a set of LWB rims somewhere. I have the articles following the roll over where his 90 was rebuilt into a truck cab it would be nice to go back to basics. For the type of stuff I do these days it would be sufficient an certainly got him far enough all those years ago. Would give me an excuse to buy an 8274 also! I did think of getting in touch with LRO themselves but getting any contact details or into the forum from the website appears to be a pain. Will try again this evening as they've probably got it catalouged somewhere Dave

Cheers, I can only think that one particular issue must have been thrown out by accident. I remember the main picture of his 90 on its side with winch cable attached and all his kit strewn out all over the place. The other thing I remember is being inspired by alot of the stuff he wrote. The 90 i've got tucked away may well end up very similar to the Webster one! Dave

Evening all, Bit of a strange request, but probably not the strangest. I cleared the garage out last week and sorted out a load of magazines and threw a load out aswell. I kept a few of the very old LRO magazines most because of the old Tim Webster articles that i used to read and re-read when I was first getting into Land Rovers and led to a load of trips across Wales in the old series 3 with a couple of other mates in Land Rovers. We must be talking over 15 years ago now and i've lost count of Land Rovers i've owned and have gone from the first series 3 to my current Range Rover. However, amongst the other Land Rovers I own, i've recently bought an old 90, very similar to the one Tim Webster had which had me searching through the articles. It may be a long shot, but I remember reading an article he wrote about him rolling his 90 over in a forest in Wales somewhere when he was on his own and managed to right it and get home whilst suffering from the illness from which he eventually passed away. I don't supposed anyone can remember this article and has it tucked away somewhere or can remember what issue it was in? It was probably at least '91 or '92 so I don't hold out much hope! Fingers Crossed Dave

Quick one, I need to cut the brackets on my roll cage off, the ones that the 3 point harness mounts to, behind the driver. I can just about get to it to cut the old one off so I can box the back of the trialer in but I cannot "reclaim" it. Does anyone know where I can buy a pair of replacements? Cheers, Dave

Thanks Fella

I think thats the route I did before, at least partly and it wasn't by any means taxing. I'm free in the days to go and explore but absolutely have to make it to work in the evenings. Much as it would be fun to do some of the more difficult routes, getting stuck is not an option. It would be a great story to tell, but then I would have plenty of time as I wouldn't have a job anymore. Saying that, I have a decent set of BFG ATs on the P38 and also some recovery gear so some slightly more taxing routes might not be so bad....... Dave

I am getting a bit of a Busmans holiday in work and will be staying in Brecon and working builth for a few days next month. Can anyone advise as to where I can do a bit of light greenalaning. I will be taking the P38 with me so tight and technical lanes will be out of the question. Unfortunately I have to leave the trialler at home. I remember drving round the edge of some dam when I was up there last but am aware that alot of lanes have shut since then Regards, Dave

Seems like a workable idea. When I've finished doing the complete bidywork i'll try this idea on a scrap bit and see how it turns out but sounds like a good 'un!

Thats a new one. I'm going to crack on with the build and once it's all finished I will then go back and see how bad it looks. I think that once the seats . levers, dials and everything else are in I'm hoping that it will be less noticable. I don't fancy taking all the rivets out though just to get good coverage with the sander......... Cheers, Dave

Looks lovely, but if I can't cut a straight line with a Jigsaw, the chances of me making an attractive finish is pretty near to none I reckon!! Thanks for the idea though, I might have to try it somewhere

No probs, you would have to consult your own regs for the particular club you are in. I know that our own club stipulates (in probably outdated rules) that the maximum size is 900x16 although it is almost impossible to buy this size now. I think I need to sit down one day and work out what that is in Metric, probably something like a 255/85x 16 or similar. You will probably find that there is also a limit on what pattern you are allowed to use, and might be dependant on what class you are in. Studs and chains are out anyway I would say. Dave

I had a bit of a "doh!" moment last night as about 5 minutes after I put this post on I found a couple of suppliers Main one that I had heard of is Simmonites, the size I want is 7.50 x 16, any smaller and you get caught in the ruts left by other vehicles whilst trialling. I'd be interested to see what aspect ratio the 245s are that they advertise. Both are £63 plus Vat. I think I will have to keep with my part knackered Grizzly Claws for the time being, despite the rest of the vehicle being virtually new! I've got to be honest but i've never used this type of tyre, but have used the Greenway Atacama in the past which was really good. I know dumpers are highly regarded but I think that is only in certain circumstances. Deep mud being one of them. However I know that they are no brilliant when they have side loading on them. Shale and rock are not ideal for them either I think. I've nothing to base my thinkings on, but reckon that the Maxi-cross is probably going to be the best all round. It's a big motorcross tyre at the end of the day! Any other opinions on the best trials tyre (unlimited) would be interesting Dave

Hi all, I'm trying to find a set of Alligator / maxicross type tyres for the trialler. It seems that some places on the internet still advertise them but can't actually get them. Any ideas? Dave

I've been fabricating a new centre tunnel for the trialler (along with the rest of it!) but it seems that hours and hours of cutting, bending and riveting the bare aluminium has left the odd scratch, scuff and general untidyness on it. I'm tempted to paint it but have been advised against this, the thinking being that once the painted surface is scratched, it will show up marks all the worse. however, it seems that leaving it as it is is not an option either as it looks too untidy. I've also been advised that the panels will "oxidise" and start looking a but more normal. However, the two big sheets have been in my garage for months and don't appear to have oxidised at all? Any ideas? Dave