Ian Barrett

Thanks for the very quick replies guys. The old girl is just my toy these days, she doesn't really get used that much and according to the MOTs has only done 3000miles in the last 5 years... Though I swear that is going to change when she's back on the road. I've had a little go at flatting off the pitted chrome and its brought out the pitting a bit more. Most of it is off the normal running line, though there are couple of pits right on this at the very bottom. Are the swivels interchangeable Left to Right? If so I might try buying one and fixing the best of the two currently on as they are both leaking and it might be a useful experiment. I've already bought the following gaskets FRC3988 Drive Flange Gasket £1.38 FTC3648 Stub Axle Gasket £1.72 FTC3646 CHROME BALL TO AXLE CASE GASKET £1.72 FRC4206 SWIVEL BALL GASKET £1.92 and the big rubber seal which I don't have a price for. those are LR main dealer prices and don't include VAT And from searching for the descriptions for each of them the LR price is ruddy ridiculous. For two of each of the above - 8 gaskets - it cost me £16.18 incl VAT If I buy a new swivel what else do I need ? There is another small seal at the back of the swivel for one thing - drive shaft? Do I need to buy a new lower bearing and upper pin (is this a pinion?) and what about shims? Phew. I'll go wash my hands now! Thanks very much IanB

Guys, I've got my NS swivel off my '86 Ninety with the intention of replacing the swivel seal which has been leaking despite having one shot grease in there. I've discovered about a dozen little pits in the swivel, mainly in a small line which seems a bit odd. Can I clean these - wire wool or v.fine wet and dry - and rebuild the hub with new seals and one shot. Or is it a case of if there is any kind of pitting it is buggered? I can get a photo but I'm covered in grease at the minute!!! I've tried the search but it just seems to mention pitted = dead. Oh, if you do recommend replacing it, can you also recommend a supplier. I'm currently only looking at the part on Rimmers. Thanks for your help as always IanB

The bikini roof is how I started when I removed the roof off my 90 Tom. There are rules about the places you can put harnesses, but I've not had any issues with mine at MOT time yet. I have 4 point harnesses. Both bottom brackets are reusing the original seatbelt bolt holes. The two top ones - I drilled through the top of the bulkhead from the inside of the car. Then put a 3mm spreader plate behind the bulkhead and bolted through the bulkhead and spreader. Both bolts have their own spreader plates. They are mounted about a foot apart behind each seat. One bit of info which may sway your mind though. My harnesses are JUST long enough around my belly. And I'm 6'1 and 13st so not exactly chubby. I'll have to swap the harness next year if my mate decides to come to Classic Le Mans with me though. They also severely restrict your movement in the cab. Perhaps not a problem for you as you don't need to move much, but it drives my passengers nuts. Have you thought of the Truck Cab roof? They use two hoops behind the seats and the reel seatbelts can be moved to a bracket joining the two hoops. This is my plan for next year.

Landrover did a towbar mounted cycle carrier. Of the type which hinges and lowers the bikes to the floor. I have one hanging up in my garage if you need any numbers off it.

Thanks for the heads-up Richy B I've just been to my local store and bought this deal. And you CAN'T 'Reserve and Collect' like it says on the website so don't waste your time. It doesn't work. The store honoured everything on the website, including that it calculates the price incorrectly and states £199.07 which is what I got it for.

For me I'm interested in the properties of POR rather than it being any kind of shortcut It is a hard protection which doesn't chip easily and its this rather than just wanting a quick/easy life that I'm after. Am I using the wrong stuff on the clean chassis of the Landy then? The problem I guess is the top and bottom of the chassis is nicely? rusty whereas the flanks are relatively clean. I have the alternative of using Electrox and Blackcote or Chassis Black as I have all them available. I have to say I do like using Electrox. I will be spraying the entire underside with waxoyl/dinitrol this summer too.

Interesting you should say that Bishbosh I got a bit carried away after cleaning and getting ready for painting the chassis and I painted a lot of the rear of the chassis and some of the rear axle. Then I realised I'd have to rough it before putting on an overcoat because I'd left it a couple of days. I got a wire brush on the grinder and gave it a whiz around. The axle roughed up OK but the POR15 on the flanks of the chassis came off in big flakes. I'm now rethinking my plan, I might use Metal Ready or I might use Electrox before using POR15, I haven't yet decided.

Buy small tins then Tazz Frosts sell packs of 6 and I know they have some having just phoned them two weeks ago to buy a bigger tin. I have a couple of small tins on my bench, I'd say they are about the size of half a mug of tea. I can get you a size if you're interested. It goes a long way though. One tin would probably do 1/4 of the chassis for one coat. Thinking about it, does it go hard in the tin? POR15 recommend you pour some out into another container, thoroughly clean the lip of the tin and reseal it. I've never had a problem with the lid sealing - as I know other have - because I keep the lip very very clean. I know a mate who uses a syringe to take it out of the tin and squirt it into another container. Alright if you have syringes around I guess.

I have used Electrox from Bilt Hamber and have just finished using it as a primer before using POR15 on my A-frame and brackets, trailing arms and exhaust brackets. I did this one the chassis in the engine bay on my TVR 2 years ago and it still looks like it was done yesterday. I contacted Bilt Hamber when I was doing the TVR because of the bewildering array of products. They advised scrubbing off rust, flaky powdercoat etc then using Electrox only - no rust cure. Then overcoat with your preferred topcoat. Its lovely stuff to use. Like painting on molten aluminium.

hopefully a daft question duncmc but are you sure the split pin has all come out in one piece ? Are we talking about the castellated nut under the bracket shroud thing on top of the diff casing? I can't see how you would get a socket of any description on that nut, let alone an impact gun. as bishbosh says, a ring spanner and a hammer did the trick for me but it did come off reasonably quickly.

3 in 1 do a penetrating fluid I've found brilliant. B&Q sell it. http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.jsp?action=detail&fh_secondid=9415304&fh_view_size=10&fh_location=%2f%2fcatalog01%2fen_GB&fh_search=3+in+1&fh_eds=%C3%9F&fh_refview=search&isSearch=true

Having failed to find glued heatshrink locally I've given in and ordered it from VWP so I'll solder and heatshrink these joins when it arrives. I'll let you know how it goes.

I've also heard the same Mike which is part of the reason I asked the question. Is it that if you use connectors and they are crimped and come undone it is obvious as they pull apart, whereas if they are soldered and the joint breaks its not obvious because the lump of solder stops the wire pulling out of the connector?

I have a secret immobiliser, the handbrake lock Simmonites used to sell years ago - don't know if they still do - and my garage is protected by an alarm. You can get outside lights which make a ringer sound when the PIR is activated. The dinger goes off even if the bulb is shot so you can have it in stealth mode if you want. We have one of these in the wifes garage and it works really well. I've seen them advertised as driveway protectors too. Might be worth a thought.

The header rail is easy(ish) James, I converted my hard top to a soft top truck cab (trakkers) before I really knew what I was doing with cars. Can't help you with the rear tie loops but if you need any information or photos or just general help with the header rail you can give me a yell. I believe they all use the same rail. You will notice a MASSIVE difference in the way the truck handles when you have removed the roof and sides. Have you got the double loop set for behind the seats? You will need these and the tie bars which join them if you want to retain the reel seatbelts. There are other things too which I'd not previously thought about. Interior light and speakers to name two.

But then you have 3ft of cable to shove back down the chassis so it isn't baked by the welding, rather than 6in. Anyway, that was my excuse and I'm sticking to it. But maybe a lesson learned eh Actually, you've got me thinking now. I had a garage replace the rear crossmember a few years ago and I don't know what they did with the wiring. I wonder if there is a big ball of stuff jammed into the crossmember somewhere. Oh ****. See what you've done now Mike. I won't be able to sleep tonight

No, and that is the problem. I had to cut the wires as they came out of the chassis rail, because there is a split in the wires not far after to send some to the Offside lights and some across the rear cross member to the NS lights Because of the place they are cut they need to be joined in a way which is both secure and waterproof. Much as my truck has been a garage queen for the last few years I might want to go dip a toe in something dirty one day again so it needs to be ready just in case. Maplin were useless, they dont have glued heatshrink in the store. I bought some not-glued stuff though seeing as how I was there, and some new tips for my gasless soldering iron to make life nice and easy. So it looks like I'll be ordering glued heatshrink from VWP and the job can wait a couple of days.

Sorry Gazzar, we overlapped there. So I might have been on the right track in the first place then, thats handy because I can nip to Maplin to get the glued heatshrink. Don't have any non sticky PVC loom tape though but I do already have some of the "flexible convoluted tubing" (plastic stuff with a slit in it) which I guess is even better no?

OK, forget that. I found a thread with a discussion about glued heat shrink etc http://forums.lr4x4.com/index.php?showtopic=35206&st=0&p=338927&hl=heatshrink&fromsearch=1entry338927 VWP sell glued heatshrink that starts at 3.2mm and shrinks to 1/3 original size, so that sounds like the stuff for me. So now there is there is just the issue of how to reconnect the wires in the first place. As I have space to work is it best to solder them together then heatshrink, or get some crimp connectors and heatshrink of the correct size for this job (since I need 13) rather than using the generic blue connectors with the hard plastic insulation which I have in the garage. If I use connectors it means I have to be more careful about what heatshrink I order to ensure the heatshrink not only covers the connector but also shrinks to the wire too. Hence the question, in case you thought I was still being a numpty.

I've got to the stage now where I can reconnect the wiring after repairing the chassis where the wiring for the back of the car exits the chassis. I carefully labelled every wire before cutting them (as I'm colourblind) but I wish I'd read the Rear Crossmember Replacement thread in the Tech Archive first as Les has the smart idea of cutting them at 1 inch intervals to avoid having a huge lump where they all join. Still, I can't be smart all the time eh. The thing Les doesn't mention is how he reconnects and ensures they are waterproof afterwards. I'm thinking of soldering and using heatshrink, then self amalgamating tape to keep the big ball of joints down and run the whole lot in plastic conduit to avoid chaffing. The disadvantage here though is if I get something wrong in the reconnecting. Is there an alternative or does that sound like the best solution and I should just make sure I do it right first time Thanks IanB

You mean like this? http://www.mobilestoragesystems.fsnet.co.uk/store-chest.htm I have this and the 'store drawer' in the back of my 90 and they create a completely flat floor in the back.

Thanks Nick. I've seen something before about homemade rivnut devices along the lines of your description so I'll give it a go. Cheers Ian

bloody marvellous idea mrtod, and keep up the good work with the website - I had a good rummage about and found it all very interesting.

Ruddy hell, 16 years I've owned my 90 and it turns out my shortcut means I'm now to be shunned as I'm not a proper Landy owner

What a fantastic toy. It must be ace fun tonking about in the garden. Nice work