[What is this supposed to tell me?]

Western I apologise you are correct as for some reason this morning I assumed that the transfer box stick was to the side of the gear stick (al la series). Clearly I'm going mad as it is clearly behind the gear stick.

Left fwd low 4wd

Left back high 4wd

Right back high 2wd 

Middle neutral left or right

You can change from whatever gear to whatever you need as you will be doing it either stationary or below 5 mph I recommend with the clutch depressed.

[What is this supposed to tell me?]

1 hour ago, western said:

As L = high range then the current position would be 4 wheel drive High,

for every day use it needs to be back & right to 2 wheel drive 

That makes no sense because that would mean 2wd is low only. I would think you have 2wd high and 4wd (locked centre) hi and low. Therefore normal road use would be back and towards the main stick. Off road would be away from the main stick and back for high, forwards for low. But the easiest way is to try it.

Mike

[Winch casting repair]

If I remember correctly that solder stuff makes it very difficult to weld afterwards.

Mike

[Campers towing cars]

Is it actually "electric brakes" if the brakes are the cars normal brakes just having the pedal operated by some sort of electric actuator. Also I see no reason why a Morse cable from an overrun hitch couldn't operate the cars pedal. The servo isn't needed because that doesn't increase braking it just reduces the input required.

Mike

[Winch casting repair]

2 hours ago, FridgeFreezer said:

Bugs me they don't put a bit more meat around those... if that part is a separate section it might be an easy job on a lathe or mill to make a better one out of a bigger lump of ali.

The TDS version is bigger there.

Mike

[Winch casting repair]

Yes they can be welded and re-drilled, mine has. As above definitely needed although I did look at fitting a plate on mine in place of them but got it welded in the end.

Mike

[Campers towing cars]

I had an AA a frame it had a sliding hitch and a Morse cable that attached to the hand brake cable. However I was reliably informed almost no patrol men used it because it was a pain to fit and didn't work that well hence the folding dolly arrangements now.

Mike

[Thoughts and musings on the new defender]

40 minutes ago, elbekko said:

I fully agree. The knob in my Mercedes works perfectly, why would you ever want a touchscreen?

.

Mike

[The time has finally come...new chassis time]

Yep the last one I did I left the body complete so needed to clear the front panel.

Mike

[The time has finally come...new chassis time]

Yes that's still around a foot. But with the front still on it's about two foot to clear the engine.

Mike

[The time has finally come...new chassis time]

1 hour ago, paime said:

How are you planning to do the swap? Do you have access to a lift or are you going to remove the body panel by panel? Mine needs done as well as i'm in the middle of welding, what feels like, patch number 10,239,292. I've seen various methods using scaffolding poles and chain hoists to lift the body clear but i was wondering if you removed the radiator and front panels if you could roll the chassis out by only lifting the body up by a few inches on scaff poles and farm jacks?

You can do it with farm jacks etc but it's a lot higher than a couple of inches needed to roll it out try nearer to two foot.

Mike

[Thoughts and musings on the new defender]

23 minutes ago, FridgeFreezer said:

F***ing touchscreens in cars need to die.

Nah the owners normally swerve all over the road before killing themselves in a hedge, ditch or parapet whilst using them. Job done.....

Mike

[ibex 300 build]

I love the aa because the only other option I was considering was try to find bearings locally tomorrow (would mean staying up there and missing work tomorrow). Then fitting it and driving home as soon as it was done. Not a great prospect with wife and two kids.

Mike

[ibex 300 build]

The plan.

Drive to mother-in-laws towing a trailer. Have a two week holiday. Return with a rusty 110 on said trailer due to it being worth nothing in north uist, but worth stripping for parts down south.

Reality.

The first two parts went swimmingly. In fact we got off the ferry at uig (Skye) and drove into the night through the highlands down to loch lomond. Grab a couple of hours kip. Up at 4am continue south. Pull into Gretna services for fuel etc. This is where it all goes sideways quickly.....one of the trailer wheels isn't supposed to be at that angle.... on closer inspection the bearing has disintegrated. After a 4 hour wait (first aa van was about 30mins) and unloading the rusty 110 from the trailer. Both trailer and 110 are still in Scotland on a flatbed taxi due back here on Wednesday. So considerably lighter but still with the back loaded to the roof and our 16ft canoe on the roof rack. We are now running 4 hours late, we brim the tank and go for it two stints of 227 and 105 miles nigh on flat out we are home in 6.5 hours.

The ibex towed superbly yes we were very slow in the highlands with the 110 on. But it was dark, late and chucking it down with rain so I took it nice and steady. The temp never moved off mid way even when I could smell how hot the turbo was. Yes it was definitely overgeared and we were down to 25mph on two occasions and didn't top 45mph till we got back down to motorways where we made it up to 55mph. Sole we were pushing 70mph most of the way and returning 26mpg.

Happy man (Till the trailer gets back anyway).

Mike

[ibex 300 build]

On 8/21/2019 at 4:13 PM, steve b said:

Very nice Mike , Western Isles I assume ?

cheers

Steve b

North uist just down the road from the mother-in-law.

Mike

[ibex 300 build]

Mike 

[Capstan winch scratch build - CAD, 3D print and cast.]

5 hours ago, lo-fi said:

If you're doing another local(ish) one like Bunny Lane, I'll definitely be there! Had a blast last time. 

October can't remember the date or where.

Mike

[Capstan winch scratch build - CAD, 3D print and cast.]

Looks great, you just need to bring it to seven sisters to try it out .

[ibex 300 build]

We'll made it up to 70mph at the weekend and towed a trailer as well. Seems to be solved .

Mike

[Defender 110, a Bedford cf and a utility truck walk into a bar...]

Wouldn't it be easier to get someone to alter the fibreglass a bit to make it fit better I would offer but I don't think your local to me.

Mike

[Solar power for SORNed vehicles]

At the time the research I did said under a certain wattage panel (I can't remember the wattage) you didn't need a charge controller. From memory the output was trickle charge at best. If we left the CB plugged in it would flatten the battery due to the CB's memory. It may of had a diode on the panel but it certainly worked. The trailer sat in a field only used for one or two days a month.

Mike

[Solar power for SORNed vehicles]

Our club trailer used to have a battery in for running a CB. We had a small solar panel (around 300mm2) on the roof at the time it was about £40 and it was the biggest you could use direct to the battery (No charger in line). The batterys were two red top racing batterys so about 60amph. That set up kept the batterys charged even with a days use of the CB once a month for 7 years.

Mike

[Defender 110, a Bedford cf and a utility truck walk into a bar...]

The system Ross describes is known as a clorifier in the marine industry. It shouldn't affect the running temp because the thermostat will just stay closed for longer but it will increase warm up time. However you could put a hydronic eberspacher in line or standalone and use it for heating to.

Mike

[ibex 300 build]

Couldn't drive quick enough this morning so I still don't know. Though when I briefly made it to 45mph it did feel ok.

Mike

[ibex 300 build]

Well the transfer box replacement hasn't been entirely smooth, Smooth being the operative word. After I changed the box I noticed a vibration between 40 and 50 mph. At first I thought uj but on further investigation I spotted an oscillation on the hand brake drum. Tonight I stripped it out and put a clock on the rear out put flange, sure enough something isn't right. Turns out the output shaft is bent, Lord knows how . Yes you can get the shaft out with the box in the car and no I probably shouldn't of done what I have. I didn't have time to strip the other box and I don't really want to in case this one fails. So out with some vee blocks and the clock, yep it's definitely bent. Of coarse I didn't mark the high spot and put it in my press  I wouldn't do that would I . Anyway it's back together now and I'll test drive it on my way to work in the morning.

Mike