FridgeFreezer

Will, if you're right then WTF are they doing at a comp like that if they can't go down a hill properly? Good series of photos though.

Just booking backup for when Jen works me to death on her rebuild

Aaah, this is easy really The standard breather is a little domed thingy with a ball bearing in it (as you have found) which, when new, is supposed to be a kind of one-way valve. They tend to stick and don't really keep water out At the base it's got a hex head so you can unscrew it, the thread is 1/8" BSP. You can buy extended breather kits but they're about £25, the alternative is to buy a couple of stainless pneumatic fittings (1/8" BSP to 6mm push-fit nylon hose 90 degree elbow) and a load of 6mm nylon hose. That lot should set you back less than £20, the fittings are about £2 each and the hose is about 62p/m. A generous handfull of cable ties and you're there probably for around a tenner. To put a part number on it, you want a couple of Norgren 10-247-0618 : 90° Swivel Elbow Adaptor 6mm O/D tube 1/8" BSPP or similar. Hyphose stock these but most places that do pneumatic gear (RS Components and Pirtek for two) should have something identical available.

^^^ What he said, it's not hard although you may need a second pair of hands to help persuade the pump in. I got a 2nd hand one for £30 from the scrappy, you need to check the connector on the top is the same, there seem to be two sizes of connector (ask me how I know) I ended up putting the bottom of the new pump onto the top of the old pump to make it all work, but it was a right palarva.

Given your insurance problem, and insurance co's fear of the word "modified" when used near young peoples, I'd go for a Defender with a 2.5 petrol or diesel, or RR/Disco TDi. A VM TD Range Rover could prove cheap if very dull. Out of the box these will all be a nicer driving experience (albeit with less "character") than a Series. I love my 109 too - it has quite a bit of character and I would happily drive thousands of miles in it, however if I don't have to take it with me I'll prefer to take the freebie with softer suspension, a quieter cab, a heater that works and a stereo full of MP3's. I think you have to want a Series, otherwise you'll buy one and spend the rest of time trying to get rid of all the things that make it a Series, at which point you end up with a Range Rover.

I think what others have said is bang on, it's just a lack of understanding - if you'd spent a load of money on something would you want to admit your mate could do the same thing for half the price with a DIY kit? The bit about not using a lambda sensor is clearly a lack of understanding about how both systems work I can't find anything significant about the Emerald K3 that the MS/MS2 can't do. I can find quite a bit about the MegaSquirt/MS2 that the Emerald can't do or would cost extra. The MegaSquirt has a lot of friendly support and experience here, and a support forum with thousands of members. If you want it to do something it doesn't already do, there's a good chance someone will add it.

^^^ What they all said, a Series is nothing like a 90 to drive so drive a Series before you buy one. 3 months is a timescale for fixing up a few minor faults and sprucing it up nicely, not doing a complete rebuild, unless you make some horrible quick and nasty bodges - but then what's the point? And 109's are the way of truth, listen not to those who are short of wheelbase Seriously though, longer wheelbase is more stable (less bucking about) and you can get about 3x more stuff in the back of a 109 than an 88. The difference in breakover & departure angles is less of a deal than some people make it, especially now half the world drives 100" coilers at play days. Since you seem to have yourself set on doing something with a Series (otherwise having a Haynes manual for one would seem a bit random) - welcome, pull up a chair, and have a read through the forum. Pretty much anything you could possibly want to do to/with a Series has been covered here before. Rob (minivin)'s 109 is one of the best examples you'll see of a meticulous restoration with some very well done modifications. There's lots of others to choose from though, have a browse through the members' vehicles forum. As for "are there any modifications you'd do" - err, where do we start? Well, for starters actually I'll write off a traditional favourite - fitting coil springs. Don't bother - just buy a 90, or cut up a Range Rover and build a hybrid. When 90's cost more than Series it was a good idea. These days a ratty coiler is cheaper than a ratty Series so you may as well buy the right thing. Chassis - you can buy a new one for not much, galvanised if you want it to last forever but you need to plan any changes before you buy it to avoid having to cut into the nice galvanised coating and weld bits on. Some places will sell you a bare unpainted ungalvanised chassis so you can modify it before fitting. Engine - No-one's MegaSquirted a 2.25 yet and I still want to see someone do it. More popular through is the well trodden path of dropping in a 2.5 from a Defender, or a V8 or TDi. Other less well trodden but potentially more interesting options are out there, it's all down to what you want to do - anything can be made to fit I'd quite like to see another Rover Twink, or BMW six, charged Jag 3.6 or Supra TT engine in a landy. You'll probably need a new gearbox & better brakes if you're upping the power. Gearbox - if you want the full classic experience then stick with 2.25 engine & standard box. If you want it to have a bit more go and be tolerable on the motorway, sticking a 5-speed (LT77 or R380) in with LT230 transfer box is the preferred option as they're a bit more reliable with a more powerful engine up front. Autoboxes have been done too. A 109 gives you the space to do this more easily than an 88, where you run out of rear propshaft with the longer transmission and end up losing the Series front end. Axles - another area of upgrade, usually to gain disc brakes, but clearing the leaf springs with the steering components takes a bit of head scratching, have a look at Meccano's vehicle. You can also fit other axles to gain strength for bigger tyres, diff lockers etc. Toyota land cruiser axles are gaining popularity, then you've got portals like Volvo and UniMog which I'm biased about but think go rather well on a Series B) You can buy a disc brake conversion for a Series axle for £eeek, some have made their own (Gremlin and Tonk) likewise you can upgrade Series axle internals but there seems to be a reliable limit of about 35-37" tyres with Rover stuff, and towards the top it gets damn spendy and alternative axles start making a lot of sense. The later "big" drum brakes from 6cyl/V8 109's can be retro-fitted and stop very well when in good nick and adjusted up, the problem is it never lasts long especially off-road Steering - Is rather "special" on Series, you can buy a TIC PAS kit which is £eeek or you can notch the front crossmember, tube it and fit a coiler PAS box. Or you can develop really good arm muscles. There's loads of stuff out there, and on here, so have a read, look at what people have done and decide what you want to do before you jump in.

Garage are supplying LUK one for £109 and fitting it for a very reasonable £165, which saves me a load of faffing about in the cold. I know Valeo are OE but posts by Les and others suggest the things are less than great quality, I'd rather have a B&B/AP or LUK one and only do the job once.

They do take a lot of the sport out of it, but I suppose at least it leaves the police free to do other things like catch more people for speeding or fine people £80 for peeing in a hedge

I've just been phoning round for a few prices on a clutch for the Freebie, Paddocks are all off for Christmas (lazy buggers), Craddocks were quite cagey about who made their clutches and eventually told me they thought it was probably genuine as it came in a unipart box although the conversation I overheard on the phone they were saying "Valeo" a lot which doesn't put me at ease given the spate of Valeo clutch failures there seem to have been round here. I strongly suspect Craddocks are talking bobbins and frankly I'm not sure I can be bothered to take the chance. Anyone heard of Unipart = Genuine before?

CSW = County Station Wagon, or 5-door in normal speak Bucket seats do not have the belt attached to the seat, in fact they have to run out to somewhere at head height behind the seat, or run down at an angle to the floor behind the seat. This takes up loads of space or is just tricky unless you have a truck cab, this is partly why I stopped thinking about bucket seats / harnesses in my 109 because I had nowhere to mount the harnesses unless I lost the rear seats or added a big bar across behind the front seats. Just to give you an idea:

Is this distributorless? If so, it gets it's cranking signal from the flywheel sensor. If it's making sparks the ECU can see the engine turning and should energise the fuel pump & fire the injectors. The fact that's not happening suggests an electrical fault or perhaps a dodgy ECU (although I'd change the expensive bit as a last resort!). If it's got a distributor, then I would suspect no signal is getting from the coil/amp to the ECU to tell it the engine is turning.

I got a lovely tool chest to stick all my spanners in and a new digital camera (Canon A570is) to replace the old one which got drowned at 7S and means I can take piccies at Slab on the 30th Oh and a calendar to hang in my shed when it's built

If you really want a Series, then great! There are a few kicking about for the money you're looking at, I would aim for a £500 one and then expect to spend the other £500 on tools & parts as they'll all need something doing at this age. Major areas of pain are the chassis & bulkhead - if either of those has a lot of rust in it, you're into big work and potentially big money. Poke everything with a stout screwdriver. The 2.25 diesel is possibly the slowest thing ever, go for the petrol. You can drop in a 2.5 petrol or diesel discarded from a Defender as everyone is going TDi these days, or with a bit more fettling drop a TDi or V8 in. Brakes are poor to shocking depending on the vintage, as long as it pulls up straight without having to sling an anchor out of the window you're probably OK. Electrics are minimal but usually in carp condition, look out for previous-owner bodges involving scotchloks and plan on doing some rewiring if you see any. Everything else is fixable, look at Paddocks website for prices on bits, most of it's nuts-and-bolts. However, if you are just looking for an off-road toy, you'll have better value from a £500 Range Rover or Disco V8. They're comfier, more powerful, have heaters that work, nicer gearboxes, suspension that won't shake your brain out of its socket (unless you find a Series with parabolics for £500 which seems unlikely), discs all round so you'll actually stop, and are similar in cost to run. If you decide you *must* have the Series look you can always rip the bodywork off and hybridise it later.

Oh yes they are. Saw a documentary about this recently, the cameras are all linked and working 24/7, they also check for stolen cars or cars linked to crime. Whether they'd go as far as MOT/Tax I'm not sure but they do scan every car in & out of the capital for potential terrorist links. They're particularly jumpy about stolen vans / HGV's as you can pack a lot of fertiliser into one of those MOT it quick and hope you don't get a letter.

Look in the tech archive, Nige has posted huge fault finding guides on EFi. Work through them methodically, if you get stuck post up.

Well there's only two outlets on the 110 cylinder I've got so I plumbed one to the front and one to the back, can't remember which is which though

It's more likely the spring in the top is knackered, I bought a complete cap assembly from Paddocks, it was about £25. I had tried putting a new seal on and faffing about with the spring but it needed the new cap to cure it.

If you have a servo you may be able to fit a bigger master cylinder from a coiler, I fitted an entire 110 pedal box, servo, and master cylinder when I went discs. Early Range Rover servos can be made to fit too. Not sure what to expect from Zeus beyond "Please hand us your wallet and bend over..." as seems to be their motto

I wish you'd stop being so flowery and get to the point Bill

I thought converting a Salisbury to discs was a bolt-on job using standard parts? Certainly going rover seems a step back and a poor move on a heavy 110.

Depends, I decided against bucket seats as they're a PITFA to get in & out of and not usually very comfy. Likewise harnesses, getting in & out of the truck every 5 minutes at a site day I'd get fed up with them very quickly. Got some Exmoor trim refurb standard seats which are nice & comfy, bolt in, are easily replaced, and fold down. Is your 109 a CSW? If so your soft-top idea may take a bit more doing - that said I've seen a very well done one and it looked the business.

First quote was £375 might end up having a crack at this myself at that rate

Ian - not my experience, I could be wrong (it's too dark & cold to go and check now) but I'm sure mine does do multispark. I know lots of them don't.

Multispark does not work on all EDIS6 & 8's but it does on mine, and since I supplied Rog with an EDIS 8 from the same batch as mine I'd hope it would work on his too. The test is easy - turn multispark on, stick a timing light on and see if the timing varies as it should. If it does, it works. If not, it will sit at 10deg limp-home mode. You will notice the timing light reads different with multi-spark on, as it starts firing sooner than expected, which triggers the timing light earlier than the true timing. And yes, I supplied the stock RS / GM-style thermistor.