hattymender

Er, thanks. But not what I was thinking of. Somewhere there's a thread on checking tracking. Seem to recall it's either == or about 1mm toe in measured at the rim? Thread also discussed ways of measuring, straight line from rear wheels or directly across the rims or some such similar? I'll take it in to get checked on 'proper rig' but the track rod ends look as if some plus gas and a fair bit of wiggling will be needed before they adjust. So I thought I'd take off, give them a good work out in the vice and set up approximately before going anywhere near somebody who charges by the hour. But I've lost the thread... and my glasses.... and.................

Ok, I know it's been discussed. I've seen it. Or did I dream it? I've 'searched' and 'googled' but "tracking" remains elusive. Can somebody help the senile and point me towards the thread? I've got a 110 that's chewing up the inside of it's front tyres. Cheers

Does anybody have a wiring diagram for heated screen on a 110? Mine wasn't working. After a lot of mucking about I sussed that the relay wasn't earthing and circumvented the existing wire with a direct earth, hey presto, a click, and 12v at the screen. The earth wire looks to be an involved set-up with diodes etc. in the line. Why? What do they do? And is it a bad idea to bypass them?

Wings and bolts and seals. To unbolt the wings you need to remove the wheel spats, about 50% of the fasteners will break or just disappear (where? who knows, probably where Biro's go when you need one), so get some spares. About 15p each. If I recall correctly there's 4 bolts into bulkhead, you can get at the three lower ones with 1/2" or 13mm socket on extensions. Upper one on drivers side is tricky but possible. To get at passenger side it's easier with heater removed. To remove heater it's easier with wing removed! It can be done, but it's s#d to get to. When you remove the heater the rubber donut seal thing will stick to either heater, bulkhead or both. Budget on a new one cos' you'll be lucky to get it off in one.

If you're on a budget find somebody with a welder. Get some Citroen AX seats, about £5 each from a breakers. Cut the outer (vertical) rail, weld back on as horizontal rail. Takes about an hour to cut and weld. Hardest bit is making sure runners are parallel. Bolt to seat box (access is easy, use backing plates to make solid job). If you're lucky (I was) even the seat belt latches match up. Use AX seats as the base comes out for access to battery and tool box. After Land Rover seats they're very, very comfy; bit too comfy on occasion. There's one section on my drive to work which seems to hit some happy frequency at about 50mph and it sets up a bouncy action for 1/2 a mile. They sit you a bit higher than LR seats (but not too much) and you'll have to bin the middle seat though as they're wider than LR ones.

Just spent a happy evening sorting out my rear wiper (duff connector). In a rash moment I opened the fuse panel cover (I hate wiggly amp electric stuff). Fuses all clearly labeled. Fine. And then there's four identical looking relays, and a couple more lurking around the back of the panel. No clues offered. I checked the manual. Nothing. Parts catalogue. Next to nothing. Does anybody have a 'map' of which is which for a 1980's 110?

Some mucking about in garage and problem No1 resolved. It pivots at base of jack. Very wobbly with lever arm removed. Exhaust U bolt and base plate welded accross sideplates keeps jack body stable. If only I could find that box of polybushes....................

I've got an old trolley jack that leaks down, so not much use as a jack (dangerous in fact). But as a press? There's a ram, presumably it'll put out more than two tons due to poor mechanical advantage of a jack and some stout side members about 4" apart. Just wide enough for most bush jobs. Wheels off, Cross pins out, drill some extra holes for pins and it's a "2 ton+ clamp it in the workmate horizontal press"? Anybody tried this? Did it work?

Is an LT77 'long stick' the same length as an LT85? I've weighing up options, rebuild or replace the LT85 but checking around ex V8 Discovery and Range Rover LT77s seem to be easier to get. And they're generally cheaper. I've got LT77 & LT85 tunnels, prop shafts etc. following a conversion from 2.5 to V8 but I'd rather not move the engine mounts again. Plus I've got a good 'short' LT77 which could be used as basis of a 'long box' with the right bell housing & input shaft from a donor?

Strike that. I'm being thick. There's a hole below the access hole. I nobbled mine to make a slot last time I had this pantomime, if your's are standard you can't tap up. Sorry.

Drill out? Why? Remove door. And the 2nd bolt. The J-nut is located in a key hole with about 3/4" square above it for installation/removal. Just give hinge a tap upwards with hammer. Hinge should move up and you can remove, may be a bit of a fiddle to align blind but it'll come out. Then you can set about bolt/j-nut with your selected instrument of torture in vice?

Thanks for the offer, at this stage I don't know what I don't know but I do know I can't live with that box for much longer but I've pushed my luck with the wife's patience and my massive underestimating of how long jobs take. I was hoping to avoid moving engine, exhausts etc as costs and agro seem to go up massively when these 'incidentals' are factored in. I bought the V8 as a job lot; engine, gearbox, transfer box, props, etc. so I've got both LT85 and LT77 tunnels, props etc. Plus in spares bin a LT77 & transfer box (& 2.5 petrol engine) and a very chopped about and patched seat box. Given the level of agro involved in converting from 4 pot to V8 I was hoping to keep it down to a nuts 'n bolts job except for a bit of 'creative fabrication' to accept the selector. While I was at it with the V8 I swapped the seats for Citroen AX jobs, binned the center seat and put in a Range Rover hand brake lever so I'm part way there on making space. My shopping list was; Auto box, selector, kickdown cable & brackets, auto flywheel & torque converter, oil cooler + wiring. Then just bolt it all up? Easy?

Having spent a year finishing my "it'll be done in a month" V8 conversion I'm not happy with the LT85 box. Bag of hammers sums it up. So while I'm at it might as well go auto? I've searched (honest) and done the google 'lr4x4' bit but I'm struggling. I've read somewhere that a Range Rover autobox is the same length as an LT85 with long bellhousing? So it's just a case of robbing a Range Rover for donor parts then it's all just nuts 'n bolts (+tea, cigs, etc.)?

You know when you notice something you'd never noticed before then everybody seems to have one? On my trundle home (slow but steady) I was passed by a 90 and a 110. Both had a patch on the back door where the spare had wrecked the frame. So has mine. So have many others I can think of. We all know it's a carp mounting and they all do that, but is somebody missing a business opportunity? I've never seen a blanking patch for sale? I've got a new 'old' back door ready for fitting. The frame is still in good nick and I'd like to take spare off bonnet 'cos both self and wife are short arses and struggle to see. Obviously I could go for 'swing away' option but they cost money. Somewhere I've got the old bracket but if I fit that I'd be back to square 1 in a year or so. So I'm looking for suggestions for foolproof (but cheap) door reinforcement. How do you weld reinforcement in with alloy skin. Carefully?

I did my 110 from 2.5 with LT77 to 3.5 with LT85. This came from a 110, object being to keep things 'standard'. The donor went the other way to 300tdi. Fuel tank. You'll need an 'in tank' petrol pump, obviously. LT85. Not nice. May be just mine but it wines, whurrs and is a general pig to get into low gears. Fortunately it'll pull from nowhere so you don't need them. If you use V8 gear box mountings they are same in chassis but put box in different place so propshafts aren't same. This plus longer bell housing puts engine mounts about 4" further forward. You'll need this 4" 'cos it still feels 'light' at front end after removing cast iron lump. Wiring. The engine harness plugs straight into bulkhead harness. You can use glow plug wire to make washing line. The starter on a V8 is on right so longer battery cable needed. Radiator? Don't know about diesels with all that intercooler stuff but the only difference with a V8 and 2.5 petrol (and diesel) is that the V8 has two tappings, one for the header tank and one to the inlet manifold. Many aftermarket radiators have both, so shouldn't' be hard to come across. Fan? 'Cos I went for 'standard' I could have used standard fan. But Kenlows came as part of the package so I used them. Fuel. If your planning regular use and your name doesn't begin with 'Sheik' I'd go for LPG. Tunnel. Don't know about 380 tunnels but LT77 to 85 are very different. Identical at bulkhead but gear sticks are further forward and it's much lower but wider at seat box.

Images not necessary, it'll jump on text. Think my PC's developing a twitch

I've just tried adding a few pearls of wisdom to the Defender forum and the page gave a jump and binned the lot. Blank page. Some of my finest ramblings as well, lost in the eather! Anybody else had this? Also when reading a long post, or sting of posts it'll jump half the page. Is it me? Doesn't seem to happen on other sites.

Another vote for left foot braking. But not LR. Moggy 1000 on wet grass and Nissan Serina on anything (carp traction with no weight in back) also works. Gentle application, just enough to slow the spinning wheel and off you go. Probably. But your left foot is used to stamping on the clutch and it's very hard to apply gentle force without practice.

Shunts? I've an ex military ammeter somewhere that uses a shunt (which I've lost). If I remember properly the shunt, which looks like a big fuse, goes in the main power line. Brown in the above diagram. It's matched to the ammeter, so a 50 amp ammeter needs a 50 amp shunt. The ammeter itself only uses lightweight wiring 'cos it's just measuring the voltage drop across the shunt, about .75V at full load if I remember the numbers properly. Much tidier installation. But still doesn't tell you much of use, which is why it's in the parts bin.

My rear door's got terminal tin worm so a replacement's being painted up (it's currently in a fetching shade of army camo, about 3" thick!). But it doesn't have any glass so I'll have to remove from the old one. Looking at the sealant in the replacement it looks like a form of mastic. What is it? I'll need new. I'm assuming that the current windows seated in the same gloop. How best to pry out? Anybody done this? Any tips?

In short, yes! I've got one on Hatty from a Series, £10 from local scrap yard. It's the type with four rubber 'posts' (think most are), the holes are already in the bonnet frame for these. In the center there's a base plate, again the holes are in the frame, with three posts. Two are for clamping and one goes through a stud hole. If you make a cardboard template these are easy to drill through. Down side. Don't know what tires you've got but 235/85/16s on steel rims are no joke to lift onto bonnet. Also obscures front view when parking, I use wheelie bin as parking aid; thump= stop. Bonnet won't 'ping' up when you pull release due to weight, I use a clothes peg to hold release out while I go 'round front. One of our cat's has discovered that it makes a warm bed when engine's hot. She can curl up out of sight. Until engine's started. Then she makes rapid and surprising exit. Wheel on bonnet creates unusual aerodynamics. No matter which direction the wind is blowing the screen wash will always hit passenger but not driver's side. Even if both jets are pointed at driver. Up side; Opening and closing bonnet is good exercise. Rain collects in wheel and gives you a screen wash over first bump.

Well I'll be b...... it worked! http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1989/Uksi_1989...alreversinglamp

Somewhere, recently, there was a discussion on reversing light regulations; power, location, etc. And now I can't find it. Help? Are there any rules on location? I'm thinking quite low down, possibly on crossmember to help find trailer draw bar in dark.

Disco? Sorry, I was in 110 mode Still should be easier to move box than engine though?

When mine went the pedal just went 'solid'. The fork was hard up against the back of the bell housing with the pushrod fully extended, hence 'solid'. Is your slave leaking into the bellhousing? Re: best way. Unless things have changed since LT77 boxes it's easier to move box back than lift engine. Same as series, disconnect props, tunnel and gear levers. Then support box and back of engine (you've got a hoist? I've done it with jacks) remove bell housing bolts and hope it parts. Mine didn't (stuck together for 20 years?) and it needed an 'uncomfortable' amount of levering to part them. You should have enough room before it hits mid body cross member (the arched one on a 110, 90s don't have one?). A bit more space can be made by removing handbrake drum but you shouldn't need it.