hairyone

Having recently won a nice snap-on timing light on ebay I decided to put it to good use and see what my timing actually was, up until now I have done it by ear and backed off a little from pinking. I was rather surprised to find that it was 26deg advanced at 2000rpm (with vac disconnected) and 15deg at idle). Now the book says it should have been about 16 degrees. Since I had changed the timing chain last year I guessed that the most likley cause was the chain was one tooth out (40 teeth so one tooth = 9deg). Last night I stripped it down and took off the timing cover and I was quite surprised to see that the 'P' mark on the camshaft was 180deg out (ie from the 11o'clock bolt hole). The crankshaft was at TDC according to the pulley (woodruff key on crank pointing to 12o'clock as well) and the dizzy was point at no1 lead (which peering into the cr from the drivers side was about 1'oclock). Now when I changed the timing chain I took great care not to move the camshaft and crank until I had the new chain on (I have to confess I left rad on) and assumed that every thing could just be slipped back on, I might have been 1 tooth out but not 180deg. I had to readjust the dizzy a small amount (I assumed this was necessary because the old chain had probably stretched a little). but the car appeared to run fine and I have done hundreds miles since. The starting was always a little sluggish (needed a bit of choke), and sometimes I felt that it was a bit hesitant but no major worries. Anyhow last night I spun the camshaft a few times trying to work out why it was 180deg out, but each time as the dizzy approached sparking on the no1 lead, the 'P'mark wasabout 180deg. Since I couldn't work out what was going on I just readjusted the chain by one tooth (it was out, if you ignored the 180deg out prob) and then reassembled. After adjusting the dizzy I got her started but the timing reads about 16deg advanced at idle. This morning I started her from cold and got her running with no choke (previosly this would have been impossible). So the big question is why does it run with the c1am 80deg out, has the dizzy drive dog been rotated 180deg out in the past, I'm totally lost for ideas. I was not keen to just set the cam by the book coz it would have left the dizzy pointing at no4 lead at TDC.

Don't know much about the big name brands being just a novice amateur but these look 10 x better than my £40 from ebay USA Cheap ESAB Helmets

Good day for me, Been looking for a set of galvanised cappings for a 90 without paying silly money. Saw a set of series III LWB ones bought them for a £1 each with a view to cutting them down. 20 minutes later found a full set of cappings for a 90 including the centre bulkhead and rear bits for £5, damn that's £2 wasted . Offered two RR bottle jacks for free, £2 for a handle though. Finally, picked up a replacement mirror assembly to replace the one I smashed on the garage last week. Not bad apart from overpriced burger.

Hi all, Just in case I'm free on the day ... whereabouts is the site and is it suitable for a complete novice in a 90 (with MTs, steering guard diffguard, tow ball on the back and no recovery points on the front)? Are there any restrictions on having kids in the car ... e.g. front seats only, age 10 or above ? Cheers Aaron

Thanks for all the advice Last week over the course of a number of evenings I changed the head gasket and on Saturday I was finally able to refill the coolant and start her up -- job done. For the benefit of others who like me might be doing this for the first time: In retrospect it was obvious that the gasket had been getting worse over a period of months. When I first got the vehicle it would start on the button and when cold the choke could soon be pushed in. Lately it wanted loads of choke and I could never put it all the way in without risking a stall at junctions. I mostly followed the instructions in the LR workshop guides, though you could probably get away with not disconnecting the heater cables. As suggested I left the manifolds on (along with the carb). I toyed with the idea of hiring an engine crane but then decided to have a go anyway. So I put a nice thick blanket on the wingtop and climbed inside the engine bay. With my backside on the radiator and a foot on each engine mount (watch the brake pipes!) I leant forward and took hold of the rear lifting bracket and the front of the manifold. I was then able to lift it onto my lap after wiggling the exhaust manifold stude from the downpipe bracket(watch the oil pipe at the rear of the head, I only disconnected it at the top) and sit back onto the radiator. After a short breather I put the whole thing onto the blanket on the wing and climbe out. Cleaned up the head an block removing all gasket traces and inspected it, no cracks or burnt valves, but the exhaust valves seemed quite pitted.. I had intended to use to chopped head bolts to guide the head back on, unfortunately I had only ordered one spare. Being impatient I simply wired the head gasket to the block using some fine garden wire through the two end bolt holes next to the spark plugs. Lifted the head back into place (reverse of removal) and got a bolt or two threaded and ten whipped out the garden wire, before it could damage/groove the gasket. The rest was straightforward. Torqued the bolts, and the took it for a drive to get it heated and then let it cool and torqued again. Based on the LR workshop guide and advice from the various forums the job looked straightforward, the only thing that worried me was being able to lift the head off with the manifolds and carb on.

It's not looking good, I went out and bought a compression tester and the readings were 160-170 psi (dry) for cylinders 1 and 4, and no reading for 2 and three. Whilst doing the tests, there was a wooshing sound from 2 when the tester was in 3 and vice versa, but not when it was in 1 and 4. There's no pressurisation of the sump (at least nothing coming up the dipstick tube) and the coolant water level is constant with no bubbles. So I'm guessing the head gasket has gone between 2 and 3. So the next question is how easy is this job: I'm thinking new head gasket, exhaust and inlet manifold gasker. Torque wrench for the head bolts and feeler gauges for the tappets. Have I missed anything? Should i leave the manifold attached and undo the 2 bolts on the down pipe or take the manifold off?

Help, My 2.5 petrol 90 recently started sounding like a tractor, is down on power and seems to have a very noisy tappet. When I pull the spark leads to cylinders 2 and 3 nothing happens (i.e. the revs don't drop like they do on 1 and 4). The spark on 2 and 3 are as good as 1 and 4, I've also swapped plugs and leads and it has made no difference. I'm going to pull the rocker cover off later and adjust the tappets, unless I see anything obvious like broken valve springs I'm not sure what to do next. I did recently swap the dizzy a lucas 45d4 with one from an MGB (the bushes were worn in mine). Yesterday, I got around to swapping the cam and vacuum advance over. I was hoping the bad running was down to the worn dizzy - no such luck. I'm guessing that I'm going to have to get the head off and inspect, any tips, advice and special tools I ought to have before starting? Cheers Aaron

Thanks for the advice ... It's off, Last night tried using the handle for a hacksaw blade and got nowhere, just couldnt apply enough pressure to get it to bite. Ended up using full size 12" blade in frame. One side took about 40mins cause I had to cut thru the inner sleeve as well. The other side took about 10min - only had to cut thru the bolt. What with the steering guard and track rod I only had about 2" back and forth action, my arms are killing me. In retrospect it's funny cause I took the rear track-rod off but it didn't occur to me to remove the front one to improve access! I was in two minds last night as to whether to remove all the radius arms front and rear but in the end I just took off the ones on one side. I wasn't sure if given a small shove the whole thiing would just fall to bits, I mean they would only be held loosely by the prop-shaft and thats got a sliding joint. Spoke to a local garage yesterday and they said they would change the bushes for me on their press (one of the guys there has a lightweight) so I'm hoping they'll just do it for beer money.

Hi I'm gonnna replace all the suspension bushes on my 90. Last night I went round checking which bolts would undo and which ones want persuading. It looks like one of the leading ones on the front axle has rusted into the bearing inner sleeve and won't come out. It will twist quite a bit (so I guess this bush is knackerd) but even after plenty of penetrating oil and a modicum of heat (not enough to burn the bush) and hammering it still won't shift. The question is will I be able to get a 4.5" thin cutting disk in and through the bolt without cutting any vitals. I can't see how a hacksaw will reach and in any case aren't these bolts hardened. I could get a bigger hammer but there's not much room to swing it. Other thoughts are: 1) Get a big G cramp and socket and tay and push the bolt out. I suspect I'll just bend the tommy bar. 2) My neighbour's got a oxy-acetyline portapak, so maybe a bit more intense localised heat will do it Ta Aaron