Ed Poore

Even better before and after for the thick stuff. And a drone shot comparing things. Area to the right was done with a commercial ride on, middle was mown reasonably regularly throughout the summer with the flail and the field to the left got two cuts about a week apart prior to the event.

The flail is an amazingly versatile bit of mower. I was skeptical to begin with about the finish because I always associated them with bracken bashing etc. A friend in Surrey who runs a forestry company built a massive one to go behind his Massey. He simply reverses into rhododendron bushes and woodchip comes out the other side. However three different people said that it gives a perfect lawn finish and bit the bullet. At the time I was having to do some reed bashing which takes some power (arguably too much for my little 20hp thing) but first and foremost it had to do lawn mowing. It does a superb job on that particularly with the roller and gives you nice striped effects. Even on thick stuff because it spreads it evenly it does a better job I've found that a ride on. The downsides, it takes some finesse when it's a bit damp as it rides on the skids (normally) so tends to tear up the ground turning. Basically lift it slightly as you turn or what I've done is extend the top link and lift the skids out of the way so it's only riding on the roller. They take power to run without bogging the tractor down, Winton actually give recommended HP on their range and I'd stick by it if you want an easy lift. I wanted a 4ft because the tractor is 4ft wide (huge turf tyres) but arguably I should be running more like a 3ft flail.

@ThreePointFive Found an old photo which shows some of the finish you can obtain. Obviously mown stuff on the left, probably a couple of weeks growth on the right.

I've been coerced into going down to mow again on Monday so I'll try and remember but it won't be as long.

I was wondering whether a Rover V8 downpipe thingy could be grafted onto the 1UZ headers such that you're at least then standard LR exhaust positions etc. Ideally need to get hold of one to try it out. Defender is sorted for the moment, so JCB engine rebuild next then perhaps some time on my 1UZ.

So rather ironically beautifully a Tdi exhaust is about the right diameter for one. Being naturally aspirated bigger doesn't necessarily mean better like it does in a turbo system.

Not 6ft but I have a 4ft Winton flail with roller behind my little New Holland 1220. It does a neater job that the John Deere ride on it replaced did. Can even use it in the wet with half decent results. This was done about a week ago on the one dry day in that week.The grass was about a foot high and sheep had been all over it (to try and cut it down but they didn't like the long grass). This portion of the field has nettles 3ft high when I started Last year before an open day at the Abbey I demolished a good chuck of those reeds with the flail too. It's a very versatile tool and if you've got the power to run one I'd highly recommend it over a topper. The 4ft is a little over sized for the 1220 but she just about manages it if you treat it gently. Just have to feather the clutch to get the flail up to speed. Edit - you don't need the roller to spread stuff evenly, the design of the mower does that. The roller basically gives the striping effect and also means you're not running on the skids so don't tear up the ground as much.

Probably worth getting or borrowing one of those drain cleaning attachments for a pressure washer. Before you weld up the end of the chassis shove it in and blast out what carp you can. My pressure washer (my parents old one and repaired and got working again) punched a hole through the old FIAT's door my grandparents gave them. It wasn't even that bad rust wise. You might be able to knock off any loose rust that way and clean it out before adding your chosen treatment. Also worth ensuring the drain holes are nice and clear. It's the one thing I tend to do everytime I go under the vehicle is clear them out with a screwdriver. Lack of paint and general neglect on the chassis has actually kept mine in pretty good condition but then it gets used regularly so on/off road grime gets washed off fairly regularly. Waxoyled it once and pressure washed it half a dozen times in 15 years of ownership and it's still (bar rear cross member and bits of the front dumb irons) original. When the cross member was built the guy who made it and welded it on was a Polish ex-mechanic he gave the inside of the chassis a thorough inspection and said it was in amazing condition especially considering it's age.

Dad used phosphoric acid to treat patches of rust on his shogun. I tend to take a wire wheel, brush, whatever I can get in and get rid of the rust and paint it. He's on his 3rd or 4th Shogun in the time I've had my 110 and my chassis (bar cross member) is still original. I'll just leave that there...

Regarding the sump I recall that's just an oil level sensor (possibly just a switch and not the most reliable) that fed the dash so not usually used in conversions. At least they didn't do what they did on the 4.4TDV8 and get rid of the bloody dipstick! Chase the wires through on the engine side and I think you'll find most of them unnecessary, that whole "loom" isn't required to run the engine but just feeds the alternator and sensor on the sump. I can't remember if there was some thing else attached (I'll try and remember to have a look on mine) but not needed for running the ECU.

I wouldn't waste the money on it. I got a three pack of cheap kitchen sprayers off Amazon for about £5 and they work fine for Duck Oil.

Why don't I have skips like that...

Funny, Dad does too. Uses it extensively when he's repaired his Shoguns. Also funny that he's on his third or fourth in the 15 years I've owned my 110

Following up some very rough painting with a borderline knackered brush but it's underneath the vehicle so I wasn't going to spend all the time cleaning out the spray gun for such a small job. The POR15 flows quite well and smooths itself out nicely so what looked like it had a load of brush streaks in it when put on actually turns out looking pretty got for a slap and dash. First coat of top-coat going onto the cross-member, that was just after putting it on with the stiff brush. It'll smooth out quite nicely and I'll do at least one more coat but treat it to a new brush. And ignoring the rest of the underside - I will get around to that at some point but the A-frame link painted back in sometime around Easter. Hasn't had a trip to Scotland yet to put it through all the salt but has been through Seven Sisters. So far pretty happy.

Been doing some bushes on the 110 and as I've got a stock now of POR15 I've been redoing bits whilst I can. As a point of reference this radius arm was painted about 6 or 7 years ago with Buzzweld products. Sorry I didn't clean it but just attacked it with a wire wheel. Bits of the paint have rubbed off back to bare metal where the wheel was rubbing for a bit. Other bits still had paint and undercoat and some bits the paint had simply come off. This is one of the better surviving parts (if I remember I took it back to bare metal last time). I'll try and remember to get a picture of the wheel carrier because that was done in a similar manner yet is just rust now. I guess the paint doesn't like all the road spray because nothing beyond half way back has lasted at all. In fact I was treating the rear cross member to some paint as well and bits of the chassis back there still had original LR paint on (cross member is newer) and that took a while to get off with the wire wheel. I'll also see if I can get a photo of the A frame arms because I did them in POR15 earlier in the year.

Wurth one going on 10 years now and still going strong.

You'll give the man a heart attack!

Given you have the LS400 ECU there and it's free I'd get that fired up since we know how to do that. Getting MS running whilst more flexible in the long run will inevitably mean a more significant wiring job, plus there's then tuning it. It's (one of) the biggest benefits of the 1UZ setup is that the factory ECU just runs the engine and gearbox (but that you simply disconnect and ignore and the ECU doesn't care). If you want to play about after the event then at least you have a running engine to start from.

I think they are a TE/Amphenol part - it might be worth a cheeky message to Phoenix Engine Management to see if they know the part numbers. You need so few wires off that if I recall correctly that you're probably easier (once you've figured them out) simply cutting the wires and splicing them where you need to go.

If I remember correctly when I took mine off its just some threaded holes for the bolts and the ports bend fairly quickly so I don't think tapping them would be that straightforward.

I think in your/Sid's situation it's probably not required. A good friend of mine who I respect a lot when it comes to engine / engineering questions like this advised that for my use common cases (I.e. Long distance towing with heavy loads) it's probably worth keeping. There isn't really space unless you lop out the chassis so would have to be oil to cooler somewhere else like on a Tdi or a big brush (or similar) cooler like the autos had.

The one I bought from a chap up the road has little grooves machined in it for O rings.

You don't need the fuse-box to be honest - it's only a few relays and fuses you need so it's probably easier to start from scratch. Hopefully you've got the three plugs that go into the ECU, there's then the fourth (right most I think with the text facing up) which is where you do your handful of wires to tell the ECU it's cranking etc., then there's a couple of wires that go into the MEH (Main Engine Harness) connector (big bloody thing on the engine wiring loom) to provide power to the igniters, etc. From my notes - it's 4 relays (EFI, Ignition, Circuit Opening and Fuel Pump) and 8 fuses (start, battery, AFM, ECU ignition, coils, injectors, ECU battery, fuel pump). I didn't touch the engine wiring harness on mine but I did have the whole vehicle loom etc., so was able to steal connectors off the other end to make it all plug and play.

Six or seven you had to connect to actually get it fired up - we meant LEAVE THE OTHERS ALONE!!!

I concur with @Bowie69, I think the only ones you may not need / want in the future are the ones for the aircon pump which is 2. The way the wiring loom is done is that all the engine sensors go in on three of the connectors and the "vehicle" comes out on the fourth connector. Auxiliary functions like the cruise control etc., are all done through the fourth connector. Actually you've probably got the gearbox in there as well but I'm just planning to seal it up and keep it out of the way incase I decide I want to go auto later on. Saves having to dismantle the loom and rebuild it.