Josh NZ

I followed that thread actually (very informative) but yes, my arrow point is blunt so it's got a stabilizer

Got under the landy today, and had a good poke around this morning. Found a 3mm diameter hole in a recessed disc just below the exhaust overhang, so I have popped a core plug! (snagger, your a life/wallet saver!!) New plugs ordered (free) and new exhaust gasket coming too. Very happy with the outcome though!! Would I be wise to remove the front wings for better access to the manifold? I'm replacing both of them anyway so now could be a good time..

In regards to the ignition switch, the left turn option is just for singular accessories that you want to run by themselves and not with everything else at the time. My old s2a had one when I bought it but I went back to ign/headlight switch in the end

I don't really know haha! What do they look like? The temp gauge was right up the red and there was a lot of steam! The water pours out as soon as I put it in, and it seems to issue directly above the exhaust pipe that runs under the floor.

Hey guys, I have an issue with the cooling system on my 1970 S2a. We were on the way home from a spot of overlanding over the weekend, and we were traveling a constant 50mph. I wasn't thrashing her by any means, but the condition of the cooling system was relatively unknown. Upon reaching a small town after an hour of traveling, I noticed a hissing noise. Pulled over and popped the bonnet, and was greated with a large cloud of steam. We left it to sit for a while to cool off, so I popped the radiator cap and the radiator was empty! Filled it back up and fluid immediately began issuing from somewhere on the exhaust side of the motor, but it's pouring out from behind the exhaust, on the side of the block. Have I blown my head gasket spectacularly? Or is it something far worse? Really hoping someone can help me out here, I'm a bit anxious that I've incurred some seriously expensive repair work in the future! Any help seriously appreciated!

Great, ill check the sender unit and see where it lies. Any thoughts on repolarising?

Yeah, the temp fuel gauge is voltage stabilized at 10v IIRC

Hey folks I recently acquired Land Rover number 2, a 1970 series 2a SWB with black dash, temp/fuel gauge etc. The fuel gauge is lazy and only reads a quarter full, even when I fill the tank completely. After the tank drops past a quarter it drops accordingly which is ok for the moment as its measuring the most critical part. I understand these gauges are voltage stabilized also, duff regulator maybe? Also, the vehicle has had the motor replaced and it's wired in positive earth with a dynamo. Should I repolarise to negative earth? The battery charges nicely as it is now and I don't want to go messing around and bugger it. I cleaned the sender spade and tried again but to no avail. Anyone know what the story is here? P.s when I pulled the contact off the fuel gauge dropped right off to the stopper so it seems to work in that respect.

Viable, but it would be more like blind leading the blind haha! My welding is shaky at best

Haha! Maybe I got a bit excited! Certainly a cool machine. I want one!!

Hmm, that's an impressive list! Where im from there are VERY few 200tdi motors floating round because the discos over here don't rust out etc. a fully original series with decent panels, road legal and no rust goes for around $7000 (£3500). If it was mine I would throw it on for £6000ish... Sounds fair to me haha as far as I know, you never seem to get your money back on parts money. I would certainly pay $12000 here for something like that!!

Far out.. If only we had access to things like that here!! The best thing you can do is search and search for some original rust free door tops (out of this world, I know!) and pay through the nose for them. Still cheaper than buying paddocks ones and shipping them here...

Ditto about improving them! Learn to work with LR blessed them with then see where you need improve from there. I bought my series 1969 series 2a SWB as a non runner, no working gears/brakes for $900 NZD (£450) and spent close to £1000 worth of parts (free labour + learning as it was me) and by the end, had a running, shifting and braking vehicle. Totally worth every cent!! Sold it for $2000 in the end after that. Rebuild was the best part, but the satisfaction of driving it round was nearly as good!

Apparently, your not supposed to fill them to the brim to allow ample space for expansion of... Vapors or the actual fuel itself... Not entirely sure. It's written on all petrol generators but I always fill my Mazda ute all the way up to the cap and it hadn't exploded yet Edit: Oops, bugger. There it goes

There's a fellow on here named discomikey. He converted his petrol s3 to 200tdi, I'm sure he will help you if you ask him, or perhaps he may chime in here!

Right, Wee update. Attempted to reset the float levels, and blew the carb through. Put the injector cleaner in and ran her for a while to get up to temp, then went for a drive. Blew a whole lot of black smoke when I rung it out to 60mph (VERY long straight road). Then let it sit idling for a bit. Took it for another drive and happy to say it blew no smoke after that. Tweaked my dizzy and adjusted my vernier advance whilst I was out.. Voila! Ran beautifully! Ran her around for a bit, just cruising at 30 mph.. Then something went pop! Had a look, oil EVERYWHERE. Sounded like it was running on 3 cylinders, then it stopped. Engine has called it quits! So I'm off down south in the next few weekends to source my new motor, and put it in. Cheers for all your help guys, i really appreciated it. I've never changed a motor before so I may be back!!

Cheeky sod I put the seatbox/floor/trans tunnel back on after putting a 4mm thick layer of what is essentially tar for sound/waterproofing. Also bought a new heater and some rust free door bottoms today so that will keep me busy for the next couple of days. Haven't had a chance to drive it yet but threw the injector cleaner into the drivers side tank (as its the only one Ive managed to clean the old fuel+carp out of) so I'm interested to see if it has any effect. On another note, I tested my new heater and the motor runs beautifully, how do you clean out the part that coolant runs into? I don't want to bugger it by using the wrong technique haha

Yeah we can get the leading agents here but youve gotta know where to look haha. I bought some fuel additive today, injector cleaner, so I'm gonna throw that in and see what happens. It's undriveable currently as the seat box, floor and trans tunnel are out for cleaning/undersealing/soundproofing. I noted that upon starting it before I stripped the interior it didn't smoke at all really and blipping the throttle didn't yield much either... It's a self repairing car!!!! haha! I have recently purchased a sh*tload of bits off paddocks as well (no britpart) so I'm eagerly awaiting their arrival. Full bodyfull of seals, clutch master and slave seals, sound proof kit and new clutch just name a few. I have my eyes on a new set of points+coil and condenser to go with my new leads and plugs. She's getting spoilt rotten!

Mikey- that what I was trying to say previously, just couldn't find the words haha! At the risk of straying off-topic, I happened across a YouTube epic of none other than brian putting life and limb on the line, pulling a large tractor in a sand pit! I was very impressed, and I have been following your rebuild thread with great interest! Snagger, can you please elaborate on the additive you talk about? I had thought about using some wynns injector cleaner but I don't have injectors so I don't know if it works, or just a petrol treatment that raises the octane a couple points? We don't get a whole lot of variation in fuel products and the like because NZ is the land of the long white Japanese import haha so never many issues with them! Only a select few are crazy (privileged) enough to own a car of other than jappa descent

Haha ok ok, I get it!! I'm a stubborn bugger like that. I just want to make sure it's spot on. I previously said that I would like to blow out the needle valve housing etc as i think I missed it last time

Cheers for that Steve! I will shoot some oil down the bores first. I will then adjust my vernier after retweaking the dizzy. This may just solve my lumpy idle issues! Then I'll look to the carb, I want to blow out the needle valve as I think I may have forgotten to do that last time haha

The timing still needs to be addressed as its still a little lumpy on idle. Fueling is still certainly a factor, but i feel that it's a few things contributing to one issue. Anyone willing to tell me the deal with the vernier advance and what it does? I don't know what it needs to be set to and I just got it cleaned up and the screw now turns

Right haha cheers! So, a blown head gasket you say... I thought they made the engine use lots of water? Mines not using any.. I suppose I just unbolt the crank case vent tube and clear it with some degreaser. I have heard that squirting a bit of engine oil down the bores via the spark plug holes can restore stuck rings. Am I right? I'll be pretty gutted if I have a blown head gasket..

Hmm, I was thinking timing also, but I will check the fuel system again. What's HG? Excuse my asking. Does anyone know excatly what the vernier advance does and what it should be set to for normal running? I have no idea what it does. Also, my vacuum line coming out of the carb is a steel wire line. Should this be a rubber hose? I feel so close to solving this one! Then it's 4 new tyres, brakes and clutch bled (possibly replacing masters/slaves) and rust patch chopped out.

Cheers for that Steve, your a life saver! So.. Update time. I got a replacement radiator for my holy leaky one and dropped that in today, threw in a thermostat too as mine didnt have one to begin with. Filled it with water mixed with glycol (33%) and fired it up. Settled into its idle nicely and I let it run up to temp. Sat spot 82 degrees which I'm pretty chuffed with, so I thought I'd take her for a drive! Drive pretty nicely until I got into 4th at about 40mph. Started sputtering and backfiring when I tried to accelerate but if I just rested on the throttle it was lovely. I pulled over and popped the bonnet to find there was little droplets of oil everywhere. Drive it for a bit longer. Looked again, and now large amounts of oil everywhere. Upon closer inspection, seems to be coming out of the crankcase ventilator tube head and engine oil filler. What's going on here? Is my oil too full or something or is my motor calling it quits?