Neil Marshall

Mom's typewriter font isn't pants either! So, a compromise..... Neil

Michele Like it - says 'Land Rover' to me! However, adding the bottom strap - Land Rover Forum - looks like clutter. Keep it simple! Neil PS Isn't design by Committee fun [?]

Delphi filing for Chapter 11 indicates a big hole in the accounts - however, under Chapter 11 protection from the courts, Delphi can cut all kinds of costs, including pension and health care contributions and leave debts unpaid, so they are now in a stronger position financially. Steel costs have also fallen back - a mega problem last year as GM refused to pay more for parts. GM is heading for sh*t creek, however. IIRC 15% of GM's costs are so-called 'legacy costs' - huge healthcare obligations for retired employees agreed as part of a deal made 15 years ago with the United Auto Workers Union. So this company with 300,000 employees, is supporting the number of retirees appropriate for a company with a workforce of 800,000, adding $1,400 to the price of every vehicle built in the United States. GM can't shrink as most European players have done - because of these union agreements, GM can't close plants or lay off workers without paying a stiff penalty, no matter how far its sales or profits fall. It must run plants at a minimum 80% capacity, whether they make money or not. If it halts an assembly line, GM must pay laid-off workers and foot their extraordinarily generous health-care and pension costs for the next two years. Current plan is to wait until older retirees die off, but sales and market share are falling. And there is an analogy with Rover - GM grew rich by making a vehicle for every market segment, but this has degraded into a series of contrived brands, most with little identity, and bland, overlapping product lines. So GM's "performance" division, Pontiac, is one of four units selling essentially the same family-hauling minivan. So it's a time bomb ticking away. Neil

Michele, doesn't need much alteration to become a Series One front end - that's what all our vehicles are derived from [or should we keep the J**p image to for historical accuracy!] Neil

From Tangiers........

Stickers always look best when the KISS principle applied. I like Michele's first suggestion: Neil

Lara, you're absolutely right about 4340M - I must have deleted some words as I meant to say the 757 pins and pivots are all Mar300 [will correct]; it is a stunning metal but it comes at a frightening price. Especially good when forged. You obviously know your stuff!! Neil

RR s/w boss same as early 90/110 [using early RR type four spoke square centre wheel] and Defender 300 TDi CSWs. I agree with the concerns expressed about using a cheap item - you're putting a lot of load on the wheel off road. Even if the Ebay item has TUV or similar approval it will only be rated for road use. Also do check you can live with the extra hub height - the MOMO boss, which is excellent kit, adds approx 2.5cms on its own... the beefier quick release hub must add even more to allow the pins to clear the spline nut [when you add a MOMO to the Ebay one looks like an extra 7cms total at least]. Loads of excellent s/h leather MOMO wheels on Ebay - got mine for £25 [£135 new] - much better steering control than original. Neil

The jury's out on this one - although it might allow a fraction more torsional stress [twist] before final shear, you will have permanently weakend the substrate and you are potentially introducing new micro-fractures into a [hopefully] perfectly uniform grain flow. You could harden the bore both chemically and through PVD if required; you couldn't shot peen. If anyone wants to impress their mates in the pub, here's what we're talking about - Maraging alloy 300 is a vacuum induction melted plus vacuum arc remelted, low-carbon, nickel-cobalt-molybdenum-titanium high temperature alloy capable of attaining yield strengths in excess of 270 ksi (1862 MPa) through simple, low temperature heat treatment at 900°F (482°C). Exhibits good ductility at high strength levels, excellent notch ductility and is readily welded. Attains ultrahigh strength through a single low temperature aging treatment. Minimal distortion after heat treatment. Because it shows so little effect from sudden or constant applications of pressure, impact or torque, or from temperature changes, it is the ideal material for high performance internal engine components such as shafts, gears and fasteners. No better readily available material for LR half shafts. Mar300 is readily machined in the solution treated (annealed) condition. Limited machining can be performed in the fully treated condition. Annealed hardness is typically 32 Rockwell, but it can be age hardened to a strength level of 300 ksi ultimate to Rockwell C 53 - hard! Highly resistant to corrosion and crack propagation. Apart from shafts, typical use would be passenger aircraft landing gear [the pins, pivots and I believe trapezoid yokes for the Boeing 757 landing gear above are all Mar300, whereas the hollow truck beam is made from the softer 4340M], missile outer skin, rifle breech blocks and firing pins, tools and dies, golf clubs. Expensive and periodically in very short supply worldwide - current US price for 1.5" diam annealed rod $670 per metre [10kgs weight]. Ouch!! Now I'll get my coat.... Neil

Lara Did the FEA simulation produce a shaft with more metal along most of the length [eg corrugations] or was the outcome a shaft with extra thickness only around the point of predicted twist? [eg a shoulder at the middle]. Presumably splines are crowned? Neil

Same thought crossed my mind - must weaken the shaft under torsional load as well as adding to machining costs....initially they'll twist, rather than shear instantly, so you might finish an event, but they'll still snap. Neil Neil

Shot peening is not just a surface treatment and can add significantly to the cost of the component depending on the media used to blast the surface [steel, glass or ceramic media]. It is widely used for aerospace engine parts, and contributes markedly to fatigue resistance under dynamic loads - shot peening on ductile iron can double the fatigue life compared to a cast surfaces and increase by four times compared to machined surfaces. As any female will tell you, width isn't everything. The process affects fatigue life through a marked reduction in the density and length of surface micro-cracks which can extend under load causing fracture. It is well known that most fatigue failures and stress corrosion normally initiate at or near the surface when stressed under tension [clearly, half shafts face huge torsional stresses]. Cracks will not initiate or propogate so readily in a compressively stressed material. Forged components have a much more uniform grain flow [ie very significantly stronger to minimise torsional fatigue] than cast or machined metals but still benefit from shot peening; shafts should be machined from forged blanks - much much stronger than machined bar stock. Many forged gears are shot peened after machining - the micro dimples that are formed on the surface also act as minute oil resevoirs promoting better lubrication and reduced scoring [and noise] extend life by at least 50%. Point for debate - if you're buying extreme half shafts ask what lies under the red paint. Which steel, have they been properly hardened etc. However grand the make you buy, consider having them shot peened before you fit them, using special hardness gear shot if you can afford it. Plenty of suppliers in the West Midlands and Sheffield. Here's a couple of technical articles if you're interested - here and here and here. Might just help you win an event. Neil

I blame the Chinese...or an old friend across the pond..................

Have also sent email Neil

Perhaps I should have been clearer that I was being ironic - the USAF has had the Predator [as pictured] in service since July 1994, and first in action [in Bosnia] in 1995. Even the RAF has a long history of automation, having flown unmanned, full sized, target aircraft since the late 1940s. If they can automate a plane then a ground based vehicle should be a doddle. [Remember they could easily be driven virtually - good game!]. Neil

Land Rover might offer to sell you an engine line cheap....... Neil

John, hmmm, the Jeep did make it look easy - was it trick photography? So have you bought some lockers for the Landy yet? Neil

I'll never look at the Toerag in the same light again! An excellent commentary on the race clicky commentary. Really good article in the New York Times this morning - clicky. Also worth having a geek at the profile of the course clicky course. Testing! The US Congress has set a target of one third of Army vehicles operating in un-manned mode by 2015. Quite bizarre....they'll have unmanned aircraft next! Neil

The red one looks as though it's hung from the wiper arms at the front - didn't know Scorpion did extreme duty blades. Neil

Does anyone recall the thread a couple of days back about starting handles and Defenders? Look at this: Clicky W & G - wait till they press "Autostart"on the A35 van! Neil

Managed to find the seller's details via Ebay - apparently he's a prominent member of the community in Chigwell, Essex.

Siggy Could have been worse - you might have had to work with the prat. Bide your time...if he's that bad they will have to move him on eventually. Neil

Trev Try and keep the whole thing open - there are other ways of raising funds [just sticking a link to Amazon can give you 7.5% of referral values]. 'Violently agreeing with each other' is a concept we need a little more of...keep it up! Neil

That's what friends are for......... Neil

You can pick up a good used Momo leather wheel on Ebay for under £30 - masses of them. Mine is a 14" wheel and makes turning in much quicker/driving generally more comfortable. I have a run out 300TDi Defender - as it's a CSW it has the RR Classic steering column and I bought the Momo hub for £35 delivered. [i was told that Halfords sell a cheaper range of bosses and they must include the RR Classic.] My original wheel was the one that looks like it has an airbag - the wheel shape is an adaption of a run-out Classic wheel. The Momo boss only brings the wheel forward by 3/4"....surprisingly, made the driving position more comfortable [i am 6'2"]. I had to trim 1/4" from the front of the steering column shroud. Finally, there's a guy on Ebay who sells steering wheel pullers for under £10 - brilliant kit and highly desirable. I thought that the steering column changed when the Defender got a disc-brake rear axle. Neil