Turbocharger

Mo - does it really NEED oil? I wasn't going far... Update: I've spoken to the nice people at Ashcroft and somehow they snake-charmed my credit card out of my wallet. For completeness, the old t-box is 12DxxxxxxA, 1.6 ratio and had a non-crossdrilled gear. The new t-box is 28DxxxxxxE, 1.2 ratio and came with a crossdrilled gear. I fitted the non-drilled gear into the 1.2 ratio box and it came with a free banshee. Ashcroft are now sending me FTC 5090 and I'll put the crossdrilled gear back in its rightful place. She did say that they might whine as the gears bed in, but it shouldn't make people point and stare. I guess the tooth pitch could match if the tooth count is different but the diameter is slightly smaller? Fingers crossed the box isn't full of swarf after 2 miles of testing, eh? Edit: incidentally, my local LR dealer offered me the part, on 3-day order, but Ashcroft have supplied one ex-stock at half the price.

I'd add to ThreeSheds' list - go and get a welder's apron from Toolstation or similar. It's not finest Chamois leather but it'll go some way to stopping the grinder eating into your leg. You'll find the right way to use the rotation of the brush to help you too - one side of the cup will settle into any nooks and crannies, but if you touch the other side it'll fling the grinder around your confined space. You won't get paint out of all the little nooks, but I worked around my chassis with a battery drill plus two sizes of wirebrush before I painted it - it's not "factory" condition, but definitely "better than before".

Thanks. The old input gear came out of (I believe) a 1.6 ratio box - it was nippy but a bit "revvy" at speed, and it dropped into t/c lockup just above 35mph on big tyres. The RR manuals quote t/c lockup at 55mph, and 1.2/1.6 * 55mph = 40mph so it seems to compute. The Ashcroft output shaft (LR offer the same part too, but probably 3x the price!) is the right part, and is my suggestion under 3) - but I'm loathe to spend the money if I just need to correctly shim the gear that I have got, or add oil or something equally obvious and cheap.

I've fitted a new 1.2 ratio t-box after replacing the seals and gaskets. I was worried that the engine wouldn't pull the gearing on 33" tyres, but it seems ok. The box is screaming loud enough to make pedestrians stop and point as I pass - the pitch rises quickly to a high 'C' at 45mph, but quickly hits 'top A' in low box. If I vary my speed just right, it sounds like a 1980s police car siren, and at constant speed the older residents are running to ring the church bells because ze Germans are coming. When I fitted the box I (conned some friends with tea and biscuits and they) installed it with the cross-drilled gear that came with it, but it wouldn't bolt up to the autobox, it fouled on the output shaft. I swapped it for the non-crossdrilled gear that I had in the old box, and it bolted up sweetly. I think the screaming sound is one of three things: 1: That nice Mr Ashcroft offers 28 and 26 tooth input gears; it didn't occur to me to count the teeth on the two gears I have - is it possible that I'm 2 teeth short on the non-drilled one I swapped in? (surely a horrific banging noise and a sudden lack of drive, rather than a meshing sound) 2: I've not set the backlash up properly and I need to read the manual to get the input gear endfloat correct 3: The teeth have 'worn in' with the crossdrilled gear, and I need to replace the autobox output shaft so I can use the crossdrilled gear (and set it up correctly) Any views?

As Si says, there's a number of ways to find the corner weights of your car. Your local garage probably has a roller brake tester - that'll give you the weight on each wheel individually if you know how to read it (most garages don't, but a 'pass or fail' for the brake test is all they need to know). The free length is easily measured with a tape measure if you jack it up, and you can figure the spring rate by measuring the length of the spring with your (now) known corner weight resting on it. The frequency bit is just maths then... (Or go for a known solution. I've got red&whites on the front of my Ninety, seems to work out ok but I don't know how much the back end of a RR weighs in comparison to a Tdi and some alu wings...)

George, Start simple - what does the back end weigh? Assume it's symmetric both sides and you can work out a range of springs which will give you a sensible ride height (long, soft springs or short, stiff springs). Then pick the one in the middle that will give you a natural frequency between 1Hz (smooth, comfortable, roly poly on the road) up to 2Hz (more crashy but better handling). Ideally, calculate/measure/guess the front end's frequency and go slightly lower for the back end, but you can sort it out with damping so that's not critical (ha!) to be honest.

Thanks Charlie, but I think as suggested I'll look for something a bit more Brunellian on Ebay, even if I have to change the motor (or buy an inverter, which could go on to run a 3ph lathe later too... ) There seems to be a relationship between cost and quality?

Hi Pete - how's things? By Friday lunchtime when I got there, the north Bristol store had shifted the ten they'd ordered and were out of stock, that and the magnetic tool strip thingy. I think I'll resort to Ebay and look for a solid 3ph one to re-motor myself.

I've just done the back half of mine the hard way, wire brush and a zinc-rich paint (Galvafroid). It certainly looks a lot better and, while I know I've missed the bits I can't wire-brush or paint easily, it's definitely a step up on where it was previous - and now the mud washes off easier too!

But they're painted orange - surely they're extreme enough for some serious off-the-roading?

Umm. Yes. I need to learn to read properly first. The good news is that you have the gearbox of champions, and it too takes ATF. The bad news is that you have to fill it down the dipstick tube (don't fill the engine with red oil by accident...)

Hi Martin, welcome. Your Disco has an LT77 main gearbox (reverse is up next to 1st) unless it's been converted to a later R380 (reverse underneath 5th). The main box takes automatic gearbox fluid (ATF), both types of gearbox fill on the side of the box. The transfer box is behind it and fills from the rear, it and the axles will take EP90 gear oil, of which 90% will go in the filler and 10% will run down your arm. Buy a 1 litre bottle with a nozzle on top to double your odds - when the smell finally washes out of your armpits, it's probably time to top it up again.

Thanks Kev - I suddenly realise how difficult a copper's life can be, and how we can help by adding 'personalisation', stickers etc to ID a vehicle.

Well, the OP has got his rope now but I like using an 8m KERR, gently offroad and doubled over to 4m on the road. The 'kinetic' bit is only as dangerous as you make it IMHO. It doesn't suddenly pull with the force of a thousand oxen when you do up the shackle, but it is able to stretch and absorb a great deal of energy. If you don't stretch it, it's as gentle as any other strap, and if you were using a completely static strap or chain, a hefty snatch will do a lot more damage. On the road, I find it gives a smoother ride for your stricken motorist and less chance of a rusty Fiesta's tow point coming through my back window - so long as he doesn't catch up with you and then stand on the brakes as you pull away!

The issue with expensive, better quality tyres is that the sidewalls rip just as easily as the cheap tyres, and then either one will be scrap. That said, I'm using BFG Muds - but I bought mine second hand (from this site, in fact).

Thanks Bish - I'll pick up a drill and a tin of blue spray paint then. And a spanner to tension the belts.

Lidl are doing their DIY day again on Thursday - magnetic tool holder strips etc, but the have a pillar drill which caught my eye. £50 buys a 500W pillar drill with a 16mm chuck. I already have corded and cordless drills, but it'd be nice to be able to grab some bar stock and snatch it into my stomach clamp everything square and tidy. Linky to pillar drill Has anyone bought one of these? Am I wasting my time with a cheap machine with a bent spindle and free play everywhere, or does it do what it says on the tin, with due deference to a low price, no fancy features etc?

That's a nice conversion and I expect they'll give brighter and cleaner light, but your Landy just looks a bit ... shocked with its larger eyes

"Feel of quality after cost is forgotten"...? I think there's something in the idea of doing it once, properly. Keep up the pictorial updates

That looks good, and not too bad for the LEDs 'focusing' the beam and giving patches of bright and dark. It does look quite bright overall though. Have you got the spec of the LEDs you bought?

Bronco Dirt Devils used to suffer from tread separation - have you run them at low pressures? I suspect that's what the mfr will say if you ask for some recompense, anyway.

We lit a barbeque rather "decisively" at Rhayader this weekend, using brake cleaner. It's reassuring to hear "Kinell!" from passers-by as your cooking process begins, no injuries (this time) for us

I'd expect that filtering on the return side would be just as effective in the long term, and you could flush the rest of the system with clean oil first.

... but the prop bolts aren't done up properly in that pic.

I wanted better rear lights, but didn't want to look like the 'letsoffroad!' brigade, so I added 300-series Disco rear lights to my hardtop, to very good effect. With LED bulbs in they were very effective in the dark, and I got as far as thinking about how to make them strobe - and then fitted a soft top and ruined the whole thing. Click on this to see a very crude animation of hazard lights...