Gazzar

I may be following you on the master cylinder! The pedal on the 109 isn't coming back up fast enough - the brake lights are on for a LONG time!! G.

You say you keep the oil level high. How high? It is possible that the dip stick is reading incorrectly? If this is the case you could have too much oil in the crank case. G.

Well, that's cleared that up then.

Bloody strong, though, for it being all heath robinson rivets. Mines taken all sorts of carp, 60 paving slabs, piles of rock/concrete rubble, engines, gearboxes, axles. It corroded, but it never dinged or dented. Mind you, I think the stuff they used in Series and 90/110 vehicles is MUCH thicker than the stuff they used in the Defenders. G.

There is a long piece of folded alu angle section that is/was spot welded to the alu rear quarter panels holding the lights, this is also spot welded to the alu floor panel. It goes from one corner to the other corner and your carpet gripper bolts to this. This was available from John Craddocks when I looked at replacing mine - I left it as I was able to patch it up. The YRM part is it, though I'd wonder how you'd spot weld it in a DIY environment. G.

Knowing nothing about MS (yet) my comments are probably rubbish. Is it possible to get a "lean" map? Is the water temperature reading received by the computer looking real? If it was the first high idle I'd not be worried, that it was the second worries me, as I'd expect that to be better.

DO both cylinder AND piston. Everlasting wheel cylinders! G.

I tried to explain that! And work is only to find money for the workshop! No dice. We moved, the workshop didn't. SO now I've to build a new one. Much smaller, but it WILL be dismantlable - so NEXT time we move it can come with us!

I think there may be a separate forum for that sort of thing. G.

I know what you mean, it's one thing to be dragging a heavy axle out from under a vehicle on axle stands, it's another to be under there yourself whilst balancing a diff on your chest! G.

That's a nice piece of kit!

Thanks Cynic-Al. That is some set up - hooters and all! I think I'll stick with simple, as it's what I am. As the weight I plan on lifting will only be in the region of 500kg I'll be able to keep the steel light. I'll get the shed frame built to take a gantry, and then, as and when the need arises, I can get the gantry built. I could even do it my self I guess! G.

I've no idea, it might, but if what you say is true, it suggests that lubrication is inadequate, otherwise the planet gear wouldn't weld to the pin. So an easier solution might be an oilway groove, or using an improved oil, a more modern low viscosity performance oil may provide better lubrication? Fun finding out though! G.

Do remember that those axles are heavy buggers! Watch you back! G.

Ah! The "Rebuild a Sailsbury" thread beckons! G.

Did you get the lucas box when you ordered the britpart kit? I wouldn't worry about that in the slightest, lucas stuff is fine. As the others say - it's an a la carte kit.

Years ago (decades, actually) I riveted some corriboard - the plastic corrugated paperstuff onto the ribs of the wheelboxes on my 88". It made a huge difference to the noise from stones, and the mud just washed off, but when I do it next time I'll put flashband on first. G.

If it helps, some 109 SW parts can be made to fit. G.

Throwing out ideas, here, so if I'm teaching you to suck eggs, (how does one do that, by the way) sorry. If it was a non braking issue (bearing etc) I would have thought something would have broken with the lock up. It's probably a brake issue then. The aftermarket brakes can be of less than perfect fit. One of the solutions is to chamfer/bevel the leading and trailing edge of the shoe. This makes the shoe more forgiving. Stupid stuff: Is the mating surface of the hub, and of the drum perfectly flat? Are the retaining screws seating fully home? Are all the springs tidy, and away from the hub? I once had to limp home with the 109 having a blocked fuel filter, 20 miles of torture. Took 3 hours! You have my sympathies. G.

One other point about MS - it's not utterly dependent on one supplier, as I understand it, so if a supplier goes bust you aren't totally stuck for parts. That's an attractive thing. G.

I'm thinking of getting my axles galvanised. What I am planning on doing is getting them hot zinc sprayed, rather than dipped. As it's not an immersive process the risk of getting zinc in the wrong place is much lower. I was going to make up plywood covers for the various flanges, deep enough to cover the studs, and bolt them in place with a threaded rod through the axle, with a hook to the cover where the diff was. The hot zinc makes a great surface for powder coating, so I'll be getting that done too. G.

I have to be 2.5m at the eaves - otherwise the dreaded planning permission comes into play, so I'm at about 27 degrees. I think I'll have a chat with the steel fabricator - he's been around and would be able to size it up fast. I'll call in on him on Monday. If he builds the brackets in then I can always extend it later. And I think you are right - having it being able to cover the entire shed would be a serious bonus. I suppose that once the cross beam clears the 2 post then it doesn't really matter how high it is. Thanks, Next job: get the readymix ordered for the Stanchion pads. We progress! G.

Garymorris, that is a superb system, it's what I'd like to put in, but I'm not sure my structure would take it. Articulated pulleys - that's the key. I am restricted with keeping the height under 4 metres total, to avoid the need for planning permission, so am trying to keep the whole roof structure as stealth as possible, to the extent that I'm putting the purlins at the same level as the "I" beam. Which is why I thought I could stick an "I" beam instead of the middle purlin and keep it tight. Would a 127 x 57 I beam span 6 metres, and take the weight of itself + cross beam and tackle block, I wonder? I'm also hoping to put in a 2 post lift so have to arrange things such that everything works together. Western, I never thought of a curved rail - but it does make a lot of sense! Cynic-al, the more ideas the better!

On the other hand - if you can get spares locally, and it's a gear timed engine, lightweight, high revving diesel, with a heavy flywheel, it may be very good. But......................... As someone who put a 200 di into his 109 to save on fuel costs, and now finds he's doing less than a thousand miles a year, I have to ask: why not put in a 2286 petrol? Or a 2495 petrol? Quiet, cheap, fixable, easy to fit, thirsty, but unless you are doing mega miles, who cares?, good low rev torque figures, tick over at 500 rpm? It's not all about MPG (l/100km) it's about lifetime costs! G.

2014 is the year of the new garage! I'm building a 40' by 16' - 2 bay steel portal frame garage at the end of my garden, and it just struck me, as I was getting the spec on the purlins, that it would be a good idea to fit a gantry crane thing to ease removing engines. What I thought was that instead of fitting purlins I could use a couple of I beams instead in one bay, and have a little cross travel beam that could run up and down the I- beams, with a suitably rated mains hoist on it. Just enough to lift an engine out and slide it to the side where I could put it on a bench. At this point inspiration ran out (an empty bottle is a sad thing) and I couldn't figure how to organise things so the little cross beam could travel up and down the I beams. This has been done before as I'm sure I've seen photos of similar, but for the life of me I can't remember where. If you've done this before, could you post up your experiences, and if you had any photos I'd be grateful if you could post them too, so I can steal the ideas away! Thanks, G.