Paul Woodward

Marc, yes that's exactly it. The ones I've seen have a rose joint in the end. I'd rather stick with a rubber bush. I've made the joining tube, just need to screwcut the male threads. Cheers, Paul.

I'm just starting to think about making a adjustable panhard rod. The plan is to cut through 6" from the axle end. Turn down to 22mm and thread M22x1.5, one end r/h and the other l/h. The joiner will be a 5" long sleeve, turned down to 1.25" dia at each end with a 1.5" a/f x 2" long hex in the centre. Lock nut at each end. M22x1.5 because I have taps that size! Do you think that'll be strong enough? Anyone else made one? Thanks, Paul.

I use these people a lot. Very good service. http://www.tracytools.com/index.htm

These people may have something. http://www.coh-baines.co.uk/ I've used them for trim and mouldings in the past.

When I did mine I calculated that the diff mounting face would need to be 12 degrees from vertical to give a caster angle of 3 degrees. Isn't the mounting face on a series axle vertical? Therefore mounting the coiler axle the same would give you 15 degrees of caster. I used the longer rear shackles so the track rod would clear.

Frank, yes you're correct. They are 11/16 UNF. Paul.

If you'd tried to start it with the valve timing 180 degrees out, then surely you would have bent the valves again wouldn't you? Or am I missing something here?

I made mine from a piece of 1/4 thick steel I found at work. Bumpers made from the ends of a front bumper. Removable drop plate for towing fits on the bottom with 2 x 3/4 dia pins.

Have a look at this thread, http://forums.lr4x4.com/index.php?showtopic=12046 A couple of solutions and lots of pros and cons!

Apparantly putting them in the dish washer works well. I haven't been brave enough to try it myself!!!

I believe that's the recommended procedure for starting any engine for the first time, not just the RV8.

It's recorded as a UCR afaik.

Copied across from the GLASS forum. Please help if you can. Please read the following notice from Norfolk County Council and respond ASAP! This is a fantastic lane which is extremely popular with drivers from the local area and much further afield, in an area very badly hit by NERC. There is absolutely no legitimate reason for the authority to close it, this is pure NIMBYism The only way we can stop this closure is to generate masses of objections. It dosen't matter if your local or not but if you are or if you have ever used this lane then please mention it in your response. Don't worry if your not exactly sure what to write/Email, even if you just state that you "object to the proposed closure and believe that the lane should remain open to vehicles" your response will still count. Responses must be recieved before the date stated in the notice or they will not count. The address to write/Email to is contained in the notice below (thanks to my TRF contacts for passing this on so quickly). NORFOLK COUNTY COUNCIL (WEST ACRE, FULLERS LANE) (PROHIBITION OF MOTOR VEHICLES) ORDER 2007 The Norfolk County Council propose to make an Order under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, the effect of which will be to prohibit any motor vehicle from proceeding along the U22064 Fullers Lane from its junction with the U22062 Church Green/Low Road south-eastwards to a point 20 metres north-west of its junction with the C68 Narford Road. A copy of the Order and plan, together with a statement of Council's reasons for making the Order may be inspected at Norfolk County Council, County Hall, Norwich, and at the offices of the Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk, King’s Court, Chapel Street, King’s Lynn, during normal office hours. Any objections and representations relating to the Order must be made in writing and must specify the grounds on which they are made. All correspondence for these proposals must be received at the office of the Department of Legal Services, Norfolk County Council, County Hall, Martineau Lane, Norwich, NR1 2DH, marked for the attention of Mrs L Page, by 25th September 2007. They may also be emailed to trafficorders@norfolk.gov.uk. The officer dealing with public enquiries concerning the proposals is Mr A Freeland, telephone 01603 223982. The lane is a UCR on the list of streets (Fullers Lane U22064). The surface is a mix of sand and flint with some stone added in places, typical of this part of West Norfolk and very durable. There is absolutely no damage to this lane, that really isn't the issue (for a change). The only repairs have been at the very southern end where there is a small car park which had some stone added a couple of years ago (notice that the order exempts the last 20M of the lane to allow this car park to remain in use). The problem here is just typical NIMBYism. The number of motors using the route has probably increased (partly because of the three hundred RUPPs lost in the county) and some locals are making a fuss about it. Unfortunately green lane drivers and trail riders just aren't seen as legitimate users by most people. This is what we will lose if they win!

I made a complete new rear cross member from 6mm plate and box section. The winch tray is boxed in with 14g ali. It was lighter than the one I cut off although I suspect that had a fair ammount of mud inside it!

Hi Molly, you need to disconnect the main feed wires, if I remember correctly they are on the starter solenoid, one or two thick brown wires. Extend these and connect them to one side of the ammeter. Connect the other side of the ammeter back to the terminal you removed the originals from. Hope that makes sense! The connections need to be 100% and the correct size of wire used. Why not fit a voltmeter, much easier to wire in?

Have a look at this thread in the Series section, http://forums.lr4x4.com/index.php?showtopic=12046

Yes looks like a top job to me too!! I like the switches, fuses and instruments.

Russ, the number I have is 01597 870202 it's usually answerphone so i'm told. HTH

My tip; practice, practice and more practice!

You can get cheap taps, dies, reamers etc from http://www.tracytools.com The cheap ones will be carbon steel rather than hss but if you're only going to use it once it will do. M14x1.25 is £6.00.

Jericho, from memory the axle is rotated 12 degrees from vertical, this gives 3 degrees of caster which I believe is the standard figure for the RR. I don't know how much caster the Series has originally? It drives just fine, no wandering. The prop is a standard Series front from Paddocks. The original prop was only just long enough but the new one has a different sort of slider so it won't bottom out. Meccano, your axle doesn't seem to be rotated as far as mine, hard to tell from photo's I know? What castor angle is yours set at? Yes I moved my top mount as well mainly because my shocks were nearly new and I didn't want to replace them! My springs are Ti Console which I bought from Chris Perfect. I'm using a dual circuit master cylinder with servo off of a 109. I haven't had any problems with this set up.

A nice tidy job there Meccano, awesome set of brakes

The spring mounting saddles aren't any thicker so no ground clearance is lost. Infact it is increased as there is no shock absorber hanging below the spring plate. Yes I agree that axle tramp can be a problem with leaf springs. It is no better or worse than with the standard setup. The photo showing the track rod clearance is taken with the suspension on full droop and the steering on full lock, this is when the clearance is at it's minimum. There is 3/8" clearance with the suspension loaded and the steering at the straight ahead position. The track rod is 30mm dia which does reduce it slightly. As the track rod is quite close to the axle centre there is minimal variation in the clearance as the suspension moves or when the axle tramps. (I've tried it)There has never been any contact between the two. To make the shocks hit the swivel flanges must take some very brutal treatment, I'm not surprised that the transmission breaks! Moving the shock mounting up allows the shock to work at 90 degrees to the axle centre, the ideal angle to reduce tramp as any twist on the axle is converted directly to vertical movement of the shock absorber. With the standard mounting below the axle the twist is converted to fore/aft movement as well as up/down. In both cases I would think the effect on tramp will be minimal due to the closeness to the axle centre line. The inner mountings are studs not bolts. They are threaded into steel blocks welded to the axle case and the mounting saddle. The stud material and nuts are the same as the U bolt so are no more likely to fail than the U bolt. There's always more than one way to get round a problem though isn't there!

To get the clearance for the trackrod you will need to use the 2" longer military shackles. The lower shock mount needs to be moved up and forward as well. Another problem is a U bolt can't be used on the inside of the rhs due to the shape of the axle case. Doable but not straight forward!