paradigm shift

Autosolos have limits on the length of straights etc to keep speeds down and allow folk to compete at an entry level motorsport in road legal cars and without race licences - 1st and 2nd gear usually, so I think using the low box might give me more options for finding a 'right' gear for some awkward mid speed corners. The emphasis is on being controlled and smooth, which is where I think my technique can improve and there's a lot of satisfaction to be had from hustling the 110 around a tight course. Never gonna beat the Imprezas, but it's good fun chasing the lower powered hatchbacks and learning a bit more about car control. I've done their tarmac events in my kit car and Ford Puma, but the loose surface is brilliant too.

Here's the link to the vid - this was my first run of the day, so not the smoothest and about 5 seconds slower than my fastest, but it gives you an idea of the kind of speeds involved. Nothing too serious without some common sense applied :-)

Thanks guys, the 110 will stay absolutely standard. It's my daily and this is just a bit of fun. If I was going to the trouble of building a race car, a diesel 110CSW wouldn't be a sane choice of starting vehicle. Photo two is a tad misleading - that section was across some track ruts so the wheel is off the ground as it had just come off the top of a bump, rather than any impending doom rolling over. Apart from the one exciting moment mentioned above where I slid downhill (learnt that limit and not to be repeated) I'm not pushing so far that I'd expect it to fall over. The centre of gravity is still reasonably low, it's just the springs let the body roll around all over the shop. Cynic-al I think you're right about the line and accelerating out of corners rather than barrelling in to them. Dampers were new OEM the other year so work reasonably well. Left foot braking makes some sense, but I don't think my feet are disciplined enough for that without some practice! I won't win anything, but if I can have fun and feel like I've driven well and safely then I'm happy. There's a nice bit of aerial footage from a quadcopter which I'll dig out and post up later if I can find it.

My local car club (IOWCC) runs an unsealed surface autosolo championship and for a giggle I took my completely standard 300TDI 110 Station Wagon along with the sole aim of not coming last. Ended up coming 22/28 (beating a few fwd hatchbacks) on a grass field. Had a complete blast and went back for more - 18/21 at the next grass event and 27/31 on gravel. Mission accomplished in terms of having fun and pushing my skill and bravery to the limit. I'm never going to win with the worst power to weight ratio out there but there are a couple of things I think I can do better to get more out of the Land Rover. So, some tips on the best way to handle the following would be great... Bravery (or lack of) - I'm not going to push corners that hard as it's my daily driver with no safety gear fitted. It's hard to gauge some of the corners with the excessive body roll and at the relatively low speeds involved the tyres do tend to grip rather than let the car slide. So far I've only had one really scary moment where the back end came round on a downhill corner with a lot of adverse camber, which I'd like to never ever repeat. Managed to steer into it and gently stop the slide that time. Tight turns - Occasionally the course has a tight loop around a single cone and at the last event I barely had enough space to get round. Is there any way of reliably getting it round something tightly that you might handbrake turn in a regular car? I've had it oversteer neatly through 90 degrees or so when shifting from 2nd to 1st around a tight corner if enought weight is over the front axle from braking. Low box - Any reason not to use low box? On the last event there were a few corners where the top of 1st was a bit twitchy but 2nd would have been too long and I felt I wasn't as stable as I could have been. Perhaps using low box 2nd/3rd/4th would mean I could find a nicer gear to be in. The Land Rover's staying absolutely standard, so any improvement needs to come from my skill increasing - I'm just keen to see what I can get out of the old girl without breaking anything.

Apologies for resurrecting an ancient thread, but it's first result on Google and after I'd wondered about my 12 seater 110 I came across it, before coming across the gov.uk page which has a rather crucial exemption so I thought I'd update the thread with recent information in case anyone else does the same. See https://www.gov.uk/driving-a-minibus as any vehicle able to carry over 8 passengers is a "minibus". Specifically the section regarding usage being "not for hire or reward". Essentially, if it is private, social use and you are over 21, having held your licence for 2 years you are able to drive a vehicle with up to 16 passenger seats. https://www.gov.uk/vehicles-you-can-drive is a surprisingly decent little tool given that it's on a government website!

Thanks UdderlyOffroad, some standard angle it is then - will be covered up by the seal itself anyway, so hardly an issue.

Just replaced my 110 CSW roof with a 110 van roof, but of course have a couple of large gaps above the rear side doors as there is no bracket for the door seal to slot onto. They appear to be bolted and also crimped onto the roof - I'd rather not grind them off my CSW roof as it's perfectly serviceable and will be going on ebay, but I can't find part numbers for the brackets. I'm wondering if just a bit of regular angle with some holes drilled in the right places wouldn't be less hassle and cheaper...?

In a bit of a dunce moment, I've binned the rusty old tailpipe with the hanger bracket still stuck on it before finding a replacement. I've been told that part number ESR95 is what I need but it doesn't look anything like what I remember taking off or what's left on my 110. I've got a horizontal plate with an oval hole in it which I remember a bolt going through with a rubber bush on it, and I believe it attached to the exhaust with a U-bolt. Any ideas on part numbers?

Yes, they're still attached.

mm just did that and it all looked alright. suspecting the bearing may not be sitting on the fork properly or something.. guess it's coming off again! thanks for the input guys

is anyone able to say how much free play the slave rod should have? because mine is moving back and forth i guess nearly 3 inches and disappearing almost into the housing before it contacts with anything which sounds like the fork hitting the back of the housing.

That's what I thought at first, but nothing's leaking from the slave or master..

I hadn't had the box off, the clutch bite was just gradually disappearing in to the floor so I suspected a cracked fork. Fork seems fine, but I guess the bearing could have slipped off the fork previously and on refitting the box?

With the gearbox on, the fork has no resistance and the slave pushrod can move backwards and forwards easily which is obviously not right. Thought I might be suffering from a bent clutch fork, but after taking the gearbox off (only enough to check the fork) everything seems fine. At a bit of a loss and think I might be overlooking the obvious. Anybody got any ideas?

This afternoon the 110 developed a loud knocking from what sounds like the rear nearside wheel. It speeds up as the vehicle does and can shake everything around 30ish. Strangely though it goes away when you put power down and accelerate. I have consulted my Haynes which suggests a worn hub bearing.. can anyone confirm this or suggest what it may be?

Turns out it must just have been a huuuge airlock, which seems to have miraculously cured itself now,, cars eh!

I don't know how many seats you need, but mine is in a 2+2 layout at the moment, Two proper seats put in place of the bench seat and moved back a bit for better legroom. Means you have to lose the rear bench seats but they're uncomfy and I prefer having an empty back for load carrying, the space all the way down the centre of the vehicle (no cubby box either) means you can access gear in the back without going out in the rain etc

Maybe I'm being a n00b but I don't see how the gauge can affect the heater? Everything sounds like its the gauge except the cold heater.

Rad looks fine but I may be being a numpty. After all she seems to only get hot when pushed past very gentle driving. I'll have it out and take it down my local garage for them to cast their eye over as what looks fine to me may actually be hiding something. Havent changed the sender yet (assuming thats the little cylindrical object screwed into the thermostat housing?) so I'll probably do that when I have the rad out. Looks like a busy xmas

Well, i've drained the oil and coolant and they haven't mixed. I've made sure there's no airlocks in the system as best i can. I've replaced the thermostat, It's still driving fine and still overheating according to the gauge. I'm all out of ideas and thoroughly fed up

Right, had the lot out. Engine oil is black, no signs of water etc. Coolant is milky/green with a tiny film of oil on top which could have washed off the chassis as it pee'd everywhere. I'll refill everything and flush the system through when I get the time (but now I'm 3hrs late for work! lol). I took the thermostat out, but am confused about how you remove it from it's housing. Haynes suggests it just pulls out but mine seems to be stuck in solid. Not good? So the head gasket probably isn't to blame as there oil/water havent mixed, but a loss of compression could be likely unless it's the thermostat playing up. The heater is probably airlocked so that's why thats not working. I think we're getting somewhere slowly now! Thanks again for all your help guys, I'll keep posting up what I find.

Didn't manage to drain the coolant but noticed it seemed gunky but not oily. perhaps just some dirt and it may be a bit old. Also, when squeezing the rad pipes, the thermostat rattled like it was opening and shutting with the pressure (engine off and cold) I assume this is a good thing cos it means its not stuck shut. Am I checking the temp of the block itself by holding the thermometer up against it? Not sure it could just be that though as it surely wouldn't affect the heater? EDIT: The oil in the engine is low again so it must be going somewhere. Water doesn't seem to be dropping though it is a bit manky and milky. I'll do an oil change asap and check state of it. Need to get the rad out when I have more time as well, but it doesnt have a drain plug and I dont have a socket set long enough to get to the hose at the bottom.

I have been smelling a bit of diesel exhaust on startup lately.. more so than normal. Haven't checked the hoses but will do afterwards. How hot should a 200tdi get? Because even after its "overheated" you can quite happily put your hand near the engine and it doesn't feel that warm, I'm gonna go out and drain the coolant now so if the head gasket's had it I guess it'll be easy enough to see with oil in the coolant?

Headlights weren't on and it was a fairly dry run. The engine is maintaining normal operating temp until you push it hard -lots of revs or high speed. Then it will increase to high temp but stay constant. Thoroughly strange, like the thermostat is faulty, Trouble is that still doesn't explain the heaters blowing cold air? Got myself really confused with this one now! Does anyone have any photos of the thermostat housing on a 200tdi as the only photos in the Haynes are of the 300 and I want to be sure I'm dissembling the right part. Would the water in the expansion tank be getting hot even if the thermostat wasnt working and nothing was being directed through the rad? Sorry for all the noob questions but I have very little free time especially in daylight hours so I want to try and get it right as quick as possible!

How much coolant do you need to lose before there's a chance that the thermostat won't be submerged and reads incorrectly? I don't know if this applies to the 200TDi but it certainly does on a friend's Honda Legend. I'd expect some quite rapid changes with that though. It first started getting hot after a revvy little climb (showing a fourtrak how it's done! ) but we'd already been up that slope half a dozen times in the afternoon. Even then it wasn't getting any hotter on the guage than a pushing it on the motorway, It shot up when we left the site 15 mins later and headed down the main road. The thing that gets me is that the engine sounds and pulls fine, and you can't feel a lot of heat coming off it. Put it this way, the gauge is showing its very hot yet it doesnt seem to be giving off much heat to the air when you put your hand near it. I would expect her to feel and sound quite ropey.