sean f

I would also vote for drivesdirect. I spoke to them about powering a 3hp Harrison lathe and it has worked fine for several years. One point for anyone else considering this: If you can wire direct to the motor then a 3HP converter will run a 3HP motor (a bit extra capacity might be god though), motor have a start up surge but wiring direct allows the motor to be started gently over long time, speed and direction can then be controlled from the converters control panel or remote station. The down side is the origional machine controls no longer function, if you are good with electronics you can probable wire them back to the controller and make things work, unfortuanetly I am not!. The converters also have what they cal plug and play mode, in this mode you can wire up to the origional wiring of the machine and even set up a ring main if you have several machines to power, sounds good but there is a but. In this mode the converter must be capable of provifing the start up surge, in my case for a 3 HP motor I was adviced a 10HP converter, as you can guess this cost a lot more!. I went with his advice and everything has worked fine, did get a profesional electrician in to wire everything up (make sure they know about 3 phase!) who made a good job of it all. I am currently looking at upgrading the Harrison 300 to a Colchester Triumph 2000 this is a 7.5HP motor but is a clutched lathe, with the 300 to stop or reverse the lathe the motor is stopped and reversed each time resulting in a high start up load, with the Triumph the motor runs all the time steadily and clutches are used to stop and reverse direction, this means I will be able to use the same converter but wire direct to the motor and utilise the soft start function to start the motor with no load on it then use the clutches to contol the lathe.

Come into this a bit late but... After I built my bench similar to yours I aquired a large milling machine bed (machine being scrapped) which I let into the worktop, this gives nice slots and grooves and readily available clamps to hold stuff solidly in place also a surface heavy enough that you can belt the daylights out of something with little chance of damaging the bench. If the bed is in good condition they are made machined flat to a good tolerance, mine was already well knocked bout but still flat enough for most things land rover. If you can get hold of one cheap it is well worth the effort, mine was free and measures about 4ft x 1ft (big mill!), it did take the engine crane to get it into place though.

I went with a friend to get his kit car (Lotus 7 style kit not Land Rover but the test is the same) SVA'ed a few years ago and it was pretty simple provided you though about things as you built it, He failed on a couple of minor items which were fixed in and hour then retested that day. In my opinion the test is a good thing for radically altered vehicles, most people will build things well and if mostly standard or well made components are used and a bit of though used in the cab you should have no problems. Most issues are likely to be due to sharp angles on things which can be removed or covered with a bit of though. Once you have passed you have the peace of mind of an independantly tested vehicle which if somehting nasty does happen you can stand up in court and say all work was done to a good standard and most importantly then checked by and independent tester and you have the paperwork to prove it. What it will catch is some of the abortions going round with "tray back" bodies that look like they are about to fall off and are quite likely to be down right dangerous in and accident, badly welded shortened chassis and bodged up steering and braking systems. Since some of these will claim to be "classic" vehicles they won't get caught by and MOT as depending on how old they claim to be they might not need one. I hope know one on here has anything that would match that description but I bet a lot of people have seen them about and on ebay.

The damage on the torque convertor is a classic sign the gearbox was installed badly and the oil pump has been damaged, almost exactly what I had on the vehicle I bought. The TC should be fully engaged in the gearbox when fitted to ensure exactly this doesn't happen (Ashcroft give measurements to confirm it is fully fitted). What has probable happend here is the TC wasn't lined up with the drive for the oild pump and the gearbox was fitted then pulled up using the mounting bolts and in doing so has broken something on the oil pump. Have a word with the auto gearbox people they may be able to just change the oil pump depends on if anything else has been damaged as well.

I believe there is also a provision for the test station to say the vehicle is in such a bad state it should not be on the public roads and not allow it to be driven away, think it has to be pretty bad for this though!. Driving a vehicle after it has failed a test and you have been advised of that would put you on dodgy grounds in the event of any accident as you are knowingly driving an "unsafe" vehicle, on the way TO the station you go believing the vehicle is safe (if you know its not why are you getting a test?), big legal difference. Any accident in which it could be implied a part that had failed, and you had been told about, contributed to the accident would land you in a lot of trouble and probable void your insurance, insurance has a clause that the vehicle must be maintained in a safe condition. A failed sidelight is unlikely to contribute to an accident, failed brakes quite possible could. The same can apply to advisories if they are not acted upon in a reasonable amount of time.

Working from memory as I sold my last P38 a while ago. On the back of the engine there is a cover plate for the flex plate / torque converter, remove this and it should be pretty obvious if the flex plate has failed. I have also heard about (but never seen personally) of the torque converter bolts coming loose and falling out following a badly done gearbox change, again this should be pretty obvious with the cover plate removed. The gearbox should be the HP24 unless the vehicle has been played with by an earlier owner, have a look at the Ashcroft website where it gives details on identifying gearboxes. I am assuming you have already checked there is actually oil in the gearbox already......... I bought a P38 with no drive a while back (it was very cheap), turned out the previous owner had broken the oil pump installing the gearbox so relatively simple fix, this made no noise at all from the gearbox area just no drive. Other than that I think it is a case of gearbox out and see what you find. Wasn't a particularly difficult box to pull out just big and heavy and I did it on my back in the drive way with a selection of trolley jacks and quite a bit of swearing at various times!.

That was one of my ball joint fitting tools in use, if any one else wants on let me know. You can fit them with various sockets or bit of tube but if you split the gaitor doing it you will not be happy!. Also the slots in the side allow bolts to be fitted to allow the joint to be lined up when you start pressing it in and then either tightened down as you press it all the way in in stages or removed and replaced once it is fully home. I charge £20 each and normally £3 postage (it heavy!) but any one on here I will do post free. Can't send any right now as I am sat in the middle of the north sea which is why I only list them on ebay sporadically, just contact me and I should be able to give any one an estimate on how long it will be till I am able to make or post things.

Not quite what is being asked in this case but for general calculations. Remember you are dealing with line pull effectively a point load, with a standard low line winch there is also an element of rotational forces on the mount (why the line should come out the bottom of the winch!), mounting feet forward mostly negates that as I believe is being done in this case on the mount but it will still be there on the bumper mountings to the chassis. Also think about where the recovery eyes are, if you do a double line pull then 5 tonnes is applied on each line hence 10 tonnes total, if the recovery eye is part of the winch bumper, make sure the entire bumper doesn't come off!, what is it actually attached to and how?. Multiple pulleys and it can get confusing, had to give a talk to a senior engineer early this year to explain why when pulling a 250klbs load up it showed 240klbs on the weight indicator but when lowering it it showed 260klbs, all to do with the number of sheaves in use and where the load was actually measured from. It was a very big winch, think the system was rated at 1,200klbs!.

On the same subject, anyone read the latest Total Off-Road magazine?. It has an article on buying a hybrid, lots of comments on how someone made it etc, but nothing what so ever about the legal status of the vehicle. It is clearly registered (and taxed I assume) as a 1959 SWB, but descibed as a shortened Range Rover chassis, I know there is a points system but since it has a Range Rover chassis (modified), axles, steering, suspension and a changed engine, then if anything it should carry the Range Rover registration and identity or a Q plate. Before the SVA it was legal to modify chassis with out a retest so it MIGHT fall into that age but there is no way enough parts for it to be a 1959 series 2. Picture 2 page 30 also shows some very dodgy welding and a rust hole in the left chassis leg (although I have seen a lot worse on road vehicles!). A lot of people will get away with this and not consider it a problem, in many cases it isn't until something happens and for some reason the vehicle is examined then everything comes apart. Potentially it will be confiscated as no provable identity, fined for being on the road with no tax (this could be viewed as fraud) and what could be the worst bit no valid insurance. If the reason for the examination is a serious accident the insurance company WILL look for a way out, if you have insured a series 2 but the police examiner says it is not the insurance is totally void and you become personally liable for any costs, injuries etc, if you have any assets (house?) wave good bye to it.

A lot of years ago a friend delivered a D9 on a low loader to the M4 construction (that tells you now long ago!), this is very big wide load with a police escort. He left it at the site office, by the time he got back to the yard there was a message asking where it was, some one had stolen it!. Apparently it was not recovered, how they shifted a load that must have been over 90 tonnes and about 12ft wide if not more is a mystery, certainly had a lot of nerve.

Good write up of options above, one other option only part covered is to buy the bags and solinoid air valve unit then just wire it to manual switches. It is then fully manual, down side is no automatic self leveling or active controls, plus side is cheap and pretty reliable. For extra searchs look up the custom car low rider stuff it is the same system just used in a different way with different airbags, you can go as fancy and expensive or simple and cheap as you want. An extra for any air suspension system is you get onboard air as well. What ever system you run think carefully about where the air line runs go an protect them from wear and heat as much as possible.

Land rover in particular often get stolen for ram raids, lets face it most will make short work of windows or door ways and even normal walls, for that vehicle condition doesn't matter, weight, ground clearance and a big bumper are all that counts. A lot of other thefts will just be for the hell of it, they will steal it, race it about and smash it and probable a bunch if other stuff up then dump it. It is this sort of theft that basic but solid security devices will mosly foil.

Try running a jump cable from the battery negative terminal direct to the engine block. If this fixes things then it is an earth fault somewhere, if it doesn't then you need to look at the battery as suggested.

Just read the ad and I maybe reading more than there is but he also appears to be offering the V5/ ID for sale as an item...... If he is willing to sell the lot with the V5 then no problem but if it is a seperate item then there is a problem.

Never easy to come up with standards a vehicle has to be at, some vehicles look dented and like a pile of junk but this is just because they are used hard and competed hard, underneath they are well maintained and safe, others can look reasonable but be completely unsafe. For a low speed event which road vehicles can take part in then cages etc don't need to be checked but things like brakes and steering definately need to be up to scratch. My view is the primary roll of the club is to protect other people, if the driver is injured it is his fault as he is reponsible for the state of the vehicle and now he drives, there should always be an option for them to back out of something if they feel it is beyond there or there vehicles limits (may not want to dent the car or risk damage), the risks of vehicle damage people are willing to take vary with each person. What definately should be prevented as much as is reasonable possible is some one injuring a spectator, marshal or other competitor. This entails making sure a vehicle is able to steer and stop to avoid others, just how good the steering and brakes need to be depends on the type of speeds and conditions expected. Obviously the biggest element of protecting others is the marshals and other officials enforcing certain standards of behaviour and driving, speed limits MUST be enforced and reckless or stupid driving clamped down on, there is no way to remove all risks but they should be reduced as low as possible, if a vehicle gets stuck then the people trying to recovery it need to be kept safe from another vehicle coming at them at high speed. Having a written site speed limit then blatently not enforcing it is the type of thing that will land the club in court if an accident occurs, being able to stand up and say you do enforce it and have slowed people but the accident occured because someone was doing something they were told not to puts you on much better ground. I have seen several near miss incidents over the years as I am sure many others have and there have been some bad accidents as well, mostly when these things get looked back on it is easily preventable with out having to restrict the events to stupid levels.

As above if it has welded itself to gether you might need to get fairly brutal. The stub axle is easily replaced and not overly expensive so at a certain point it might be best to sacrafice it.

Of course it is possible that if it was a 1972 Range Rover chassis and it was done before SVA regulations it MIGHT be legit, of course proving that could be an issue!. Also if that was the case it should be described as a Range Rover Pick up or similar on the V5, thats what I did when I shortened a Range Rover chassis many years ago, kept the RR id and just changed the description on the V5.

Definately not on legal plates should be a Q plate, might just if you asked very nicely manage to keep the Disco plate but only if they didn't look to close and everything else added up. Having said that does look quite nicely done, would make a nice run around for someone assuming the chassis work has been done well which is always the big question and why I support the SVA / IVA testing (I have seen some incredably bad chassis work in the past!), made well it will pass with a bit of thought.

Surely if you bought it then read off the chassis number and applied for the reg then subject to an identity check and enòugh other points you would get the existing number which would leave him a lot of questions to answer if he tried to put it on another vehicle. Each time I have replaced the chassis on a vehicle I make a point of chopping up the old chassis and photographing it in bit to prevent this type of problem.

The type of payment descibed is generally called an escrow where a third party holds money till a transaction completes, in the legitimate world it is not uncommon in transations involving custom made stuff, for the seller it proves the buyer actually has money before he commites to spending money manufacturing stuff which might have no other buyer and for the buyer if the seller doesn't forfill the requirements or goes under during production there money is safe, so it can work well and is normally accompanied with lots of legal agreements and terms for when money is handed over etc. It is not common in smaller sales and there are various fake companies which pretend to be and escrow service but aren't, any money transfered in is gone. I would very much avoid any transaction like this for anything unless you know what you are doing and have legal advice. As always anyone not wanting to deal face to face is suspect, asking to send an AA or RAC inspector round for a check as Frax advices is a good idea and will weed out most scams.

I thought my spelling was bad till I read that it is quite impressively bad. Wording of description now makes it dubiously legit, just, would really need a bit more of a vehicle (8 points?, chassis alone only 5?) to keep the reg but might be able to do it. As said I suspect "dvla approval" means an MOT, which doesn't check a vehicle is legal just that it complies to legal minimum mechanical standards of specific parts. You can have an legitimate MOT but still have an illegally registered vehicle that is unroadworthy and unsafe.

As I see it if the authorities VOSA or DVLA carry out an inspection and find things are not correct you have a solid case against the dealer who sold you the vehicle. They are required as stated by other comments to sell goods which are fit for purpose, and as advertised (if the vehicle isn't the one it appears to be then it is not as advertised and possible fraud), if VOSA or DVLA say it is not what it says it is and something is dodgy you should be able to take the dealer to court and just reference the information for VOSA / DVLA, coming from a legal authority it would be difficult to argue against in court. A letter from a lawyer and a threat of small claims court should get your money back (assuming the dealer actually has any money....). They should pay all costs in sorting this out or take the vehicle back and refund your money. None of this assumes the dealer has knowingly done anything wrong, they may have taken the vehicle in good faith and pasted it on the same, you chase them it is then there problem to chase the person they got the vehicle from

When I did this I found I also needed to replace some ot the manifold studs with longer ones and I think I fitted the 300tdi inlet manifold as well although I can't be sure, other than that it was a fairly easy fit, just use all the oil pipes etc from the 300tdi one. I had to do a bit of fabrication with the exhaust but sounds like you won't have that issue, just fit a down pipe for a 300tdi and join it into your existing system somewhere. I never reset the boost pressure just bolted it on a ran with it, sold the vehicle a while ago so not sure what efect it had long term.

Reading the comments attached to the story the guy reporting it is getting pretty well condemed by most people. I agree it doesn't look the best and if it was reported as visually a mess then it would be fair enough although if that had happened I doubt if the Police would have got involved at all, it becomes a purely social issue, you can complain but at the end of the day nothing you can do about it. If it has tax, MOT and insurance it is allowed to be parked on the public highway unless it is causing an obstruction. To complain about it as a hazard is rubbish unless it can be proven the axle stands are not rated correctly or in place correctly, and frankly any kid that climbs on it or under it needs reporting to the Police and if the complainant things climbing on other peoples cars is normal then I hope he doesn't complain when his car is smashed up by kids or the owner of the dicovery climbing on it!. As for some of the comments about deliberately pushing it off the stands or getting it taken away for scrap, that definately would be a case for the police.

I got a set import from the US a few years ago, was quite simple and not that expensive compared to the cost of similar tyres here if you can get them. I used 4 wheel part.com and dealt with a guy called Brian Dozois (braind@4wheelparts.com) who was very helpfull, got the sea shipped which took longer but cheaper, I expect a couple of sets could be put on one pallet for very little extra. Should add I have no connection with the company except have bought from them.