Davewillb

Yep afraid so - just found a mouse has nested under the drivers seat and chewed up half the seat for nesting materials, I shouldn't have looked under the seat cover! Dave

Cheers Ralph, I've just been crawling around underneath in the snow and all good - yes I completely agree with you, I drove an 11 plate Astra 2000 CDi SRI earlier in the week and I wouldn't swap the LR for it ..... well ignoring what the Astra would be worth if I sold it I suppose. Dave

Its B771 WPU - I think PU is a Colchester registration if I've looked it up right. Dave

Hi Ralph, Yes I'm well pleased with it and it seems really genuine and original, the milage is 70,000 and it came with MOT certificates back to 1995 which confirm it, it was dark by the time I got home with it this evening so I've only had a quick look with a torch - looking forward to having a better look tomorrow evening if I can get home while its still light. I can see its had a replacement crossmember, the only negative is the 12J smokes like a chimney but I'm not too bothered about that. Dave

Chassis looks good ....... "its a bit of a honey" - spot the quote Dave

Hi, The serial numbers at the end of the VIN are ??7017 - the rest of it decodes ok but I'm struggling to believe they built that many in a couple of months? Pictures next time I'm home and its light! Dave

Hi, I've just bought a 1984 90 which was first registered in August 1984, I think production started in June (?) after a quick Google so this must be a fairly early one but how early is it likely to be I wonder, it must have taken a little while for them to get to the dealers etc etc. I'm collecting it at the weekend so will have the VIN / Chassis number then and will post some pictures. Dave

Just to update this and finish it off really - The Mintex shoes went straight on and no problem at all with the drum binding, 'that al lurn mi' not to specify decent quality spares.......again. Cheers all. Dave

Thanks, my 10" hubs only have one adjuster on the leading shoe as with Retroanaconda's comment above, I appreciate you taking the time, I've always fancied a 109 and if I ever get one I'll try and remember that one, it sounds like it could be an easy one to get caught by! Dave

Hi, is this with 88" brakes or are you thinking about a setup with two adjusters per hub? Dave

I'm not sure, they came from MM 4 X 4 and on reflexion they were cheap - I was thinking this evening that buying another set of named brand should be my next step, if that fixes it then its a lesson learned (or re-learned!). Dave Just bought a set of Mintex - fingers crossed, if that fixes it I can feel a phonecall to MM coming on.

Hi, As part of ongoing painful efforts to get a decent brake on my 1969 88" with standard brakes so I can get an MOT I've just bought new rear brake drums and a set of shoes for both rear - on the drivers side with the new shoes on it seems as though when I tighten the fixing screw the drum is fouling the shoes - specifically the leading shoe, I can't turn the adjuster once the drum is on as everything locks solid - I can's see what its hitting though, the pin that rides on the adjuster cam seems ok. The other side is ok with the new bits fitted and adjusts up ok......... best of all if I G clamp the cylinder on the dodgy side I've got a brake!!!!!!!! As a last spin of the dice before coming in to warm up I fitted the old worn shoes and the new drum, no fouling, adjusted them up to the last click on the adjuster and again got a brake - but I can't see any differnce in the old and new shoes (to be fair I haven't got a micrometer on them!!). Just as a a bit of background, I've worked from the info on the Series 2 site and I'm sure springs etc are in the right place. Anyone any thoughts?? - I'm off to find the hammer I threw across the garden earlier! Dave

Hi, Thanks - MM haven't got stock at the price on their website, after a lot of searching around (to their credit) they could have supplied me possibly but at nearly 3 times the website price - I haven't had an answer from the other supplier and in a couple of other cases when I've then rung they havn't had stock so I think there is a bit of a tendency from some to ignore emails for out of stock items. Cheers, Dave

Hi, A few weeks ago I was taken with a burst of enthusiasm and decided to repair a couple of spare doors I've had for a while, I welded in a repair section at the bottom but then realised that there was a lot of filler on the skin side so as the rest of the door was by now looking solid and the enthusiam was still going strong I thought I'd invest in a pair of NEW door skins, ordered a couple on line and ripped the old door skin off. red leaded the rest of the frame and waited for the new skins ........ seems like this could have been a bit of a mistake, the on-line supplier rang me and cancelled due to no stock, I then did a ring round and coudn't get them anywhere despite them still being on a lot of websites. Does anyone know where I can get lift-up handle door skins at a reasonable price - or has anyone converted to push-button handles and locks ........ cause the skins for those still seem to be available. Cheers, Dave

This guide clicky is quite useful I think ..... I just realised what a BIVA is (oh err missus) actually its a Basic Individual Vehicle Approval and 'not that thing you were thinking' (Brad and Dan of Fosters). I've been reading through this and the manual from the link above and I think that the question I need my local test centre to confirm is ....... is my proposed vehicle correctly designated as a Catergory N1 for a basic IVA (BIVA) on the basis that its an amateur built light comercial vehicle that doesn't need a Vehicle Identity check because I own the V5 for the donor of the engine, chassis (most of) and axles and have receipts (or will have) for the rest - if the answer is yes then I think I'm up for it. Dave

Thanks for the reassurance, I think my plan would be to do the mechanical stuff as well as I can and keep things as simple as possible and use standard Land Rover bits - I want it to look like an original Land Rover that has just been stretched. Part of the reasoning for the stretch (if there is any logic to it!) is to fit Disco style gas tanks underneath but I would do this as an upgrade after the IVA - that's the sort of thing I had in mind anyway to make things as simple as possible. Dave

Thanks for all the replies, I was tempted to just 'do it' and not worry about it but I want this to be a vehicle I will hang on to for some time and I don't want to be getting a bad feeling every time I see a road-side check ahead or put it in for an MOT - I don't mind jumping through hoops to a point to make it legal .... it's just establishing exactly what the hoop jumping involves. I'll read the IVA manual (thanks for the link Ralph) and I'll also have a chat with a mate who got a kit car through not so long ago so should know the testing guys .... I think it took him three tries! Cheers all, Dave

Hi, I started building a 100 inch a few years ago and keep going back to it between other projects - at the moment I've got to the stage of a stripped out disco chassis with out-riggers welded on and Land Rover bulkhead in place - all the excess Disco body mounts have been cut-off including the cross member. I've hit a bit of a crisis of confidence right now mainly because of the IVA test I think and I'd be grateful for some guidance - my original intention was to build the 100 inch just like a stretched 90 using standard land rover bits and pieces and only departing from this in areas like the location of the handbrake / auto shifter (its a 3.9 V8 with auto box) - my big question is will being standard Land Rover get me through - my fear is that I need to meet more modern standards for all sorts of things like emmisions etc.I have done a lot of reading on-line but the more I read the more confused I get. Thanks, Dave

Hi, Had anyone tried fabricating a new top section for a bulkhead, I mean the section with the vents in it and the windscreen hinges - I'm tempted to give it a go with box section and sheet where needed. I was originally thinking of removing the vents but I can't see why I shouldn't put a simpler version of them back in the new section (using the original flaps). The reason for the idea is that I've got a scrap bulkhead with a rotten top rail etc I bought for a few quid to get the outriggers on my 100" hybrid in the right place - its really good except for the top rail and vents I've seen the ones Paddocks have on Ebay from time to time but they seem a lot of money for a similar amount of work to replacing with a new fabrication. Dave

Sweapping the plug swapped the problem - looks like I have three duff plugs, I'll believe it though after I've replaced them and the problem is definately gone! Dave

Yep they are spot on - I'm going to try swapping the 'good' plug to another cylinder this afternoon, that will be interesting. Dave

Hi, I've been struggling to get my 2.25 petrol to run without backfiring, spitting back through the carb etc. I've swapped the carb for a good spare, set the timing, replaced the condenser, HT leads and points and that's helped a bit but its not drivable still and wants the choke pulled out to run. Today I was pulling the spark plug leads one at a time with the engine running and realised that three of the four cylinders actually run better with the HT lead pulled slightly off the plug so that it arcs to the plug top cap - is this plug problems or the coil possibly? Dave

A bit of progress to report, when I scrapped the oily gunge off the base of the distributor I could see that the clamp is 'well mangled' to the extent that the bolt is bent - I took the distributor off (not easy due to the aforementioned bolt) and straightened it all out. The clamp needs a spot of weld where it is starting to crack due to fatigue but I fitted it all back together loosely(ish) to try it and it started and ran much better -this was luck as I just stuck the distributor back in approx the right position and tried it. I then looked for the timing marks on the front pulley and there aren't any - a quick google revelaed that I should be looking for the plate giving access to the flywheel and lo and behold that's been removed by the previous owner ...... I'm now wondering if I'm following someone else's tracks - so anyway I can have a proper go at setting the timing and see where that gets me. The history of the Landy is that I bought it as a 'garden find' the engine started easily when I got it home last year (with a gravity petrol feed as the pump had packed up) so I've been working on all the other problems since then including rotten bulkhead (see attached!)and seized brakes etc. I thought I'd add the second picture as a testimony to inovative bodging (not mine!). Dave

Latest update is that I've now swapped the carb for another Weber (I was convinced that was the problem) and guess what, no difference at all. I'm wondering about the vacuum advance on the distributor - if this isn't working will it give the sort of symptoms I've got? Haven't been able to check the timing as I haven't got a strobe but may just try tweaking the distributor and see what happends! Dave

Well I swapped the condenser this weekend and I can say with confidence it isn't that - spent the rest of Sunday stripping the front hub to replace the oil seal and after I scrapped all the greasy oily crud off I could then see the swivel oil seal had gone as well (the seal retaining ring had almost rusted away - beats me how it did that under all that goo). I'll get back to the engine while I wait for parts for the swivel - thanks for the tips on jet cleaning, the leather glove one sounds good to me - after the work on the swivel I've got a pair of gloves that are well soaked in oily grease, should seal well!! Dave