Night Train

I wouldn't fancy being without windscreen but if it floats your boat.... I drove a S1 with no screen or doors (or seat belts) for a week about ten years ago on a 15 mile motorway commute. Wasn't fun especially as it was winter. I was working on it at the time and my regular commuting car broke down so I used it. I didn't get any interest from the police, work just tutted at me.

So, would anyone have an old rotating beacon they could spare for a good cause then? I am looking for one for a part of a stage prop for my local amateur dramatics troupe. Needs to be really slow turning though. I don't need the amber lense or the reflector, just the rotating bit around a lamp holder. Just trying my luck but if someone can spare a knackered one then please pm me. Thank you.

I'd love a 101 too. The closest I ever got to one was having a tug of war with one at a charity show. I was in a standard S3 safari against the 101 and we kept loading bodies in the back of each as ballast after each pull. Great fun until the 101 eventually dragged me backwards, while my wheels were going forwards, and my front diff blew out. A really big diesel chassis cab 101 would be a blast to romp around with!

I wonder if any of my year 10/11 kids at college are selling it. It reads much like their coursework (as typed by their classroom assistant). Maybe I should mark it with corrections and send it back in the questions section!

We used to use steering rack bellows if the hole in the floor wasn't too big. MGB ones are good too.

I'd second Bosch. Given the need I would go with Bosch in most cases. Even my home appliances are Bosch.

Looking at the image I think you are saying that the helicoil tap handle would not have the clearance to turn all the way round? I made an adaptor to extend mine. A bit of square tube welded onto an old 3/8 drive socket and I then used my socket set T bar. The next problem could be that the holes are not deep enough to tap fully and you then may not get enough turns of helicoil in there. Then there may be clearance problems if the first turn of the helicoil, the bit the insert tool locates on, can't be knocked off and that could also shorten an already short hole.

I have a wonderful 20+ year old Bosch SDS pnumatic hammer drill. Absolutely love it for drilling masonery. Absolutely carp for drilling steel. The SDS system has proved superbly tough for over a quarter century of hammering through brick and concrete but the SDS chuck has a tiny amount of play in it. This is not a problem in masonery drilling but when a 1/2" chuck and adaptor has been fitted then the play translates to a few millimeters of play at the tip of the drill bit. This makes it more difficult to drill accurately. I use a conventional rotary only drill for drilling in metal as the whole set up is shorter, more stable and more accurate. I also get a better speed range for metal drilling this way.

A single phase motor would be the way to go IMO. Get the power, speed, shaft size and mounting details of the three phase motor and look on Ebay, or where ever, for a suitable replacement. I tend to get three phase equipment with an easily accessible motor and just replace it with a single phase. It is sometimes possible to change the wiring when you have 5 wires (3ph, N and E) to run on single phase but you lose a lot of power and starting torque so it isn't worth the effort. It is what my Dad used to do when it suitable.

I think the HiCap tub is a good looking trailer. I was tempted to do that and bought a Sankey as a chassis for it but it was going to be too short, too high and too heavy for my needs. I finally built my trailer from a 109 roof and a 88 roof. I used a caravan suspension, coil sprung trailing arms, and built a chassis from 50mm x 2.5mm box. The side panels are 3mm aluminium sheet, the rear doors are plywood for now and the floor is T&G floor boards. Notice the wider arch on the rear of the roof. Several gouges out of my back and shoulders forced me to make that modification. I am well on the way with my second trailer, built on the same suspension but with an extending drawbar so it goes from 8 foot loadbed to 15 foot. The body is made from two folding plastic pallet crates at 1000mm x 1200mm each. Gives me flexibilty of flat bed, two segregated boxes, one large box, extending pole trailer for long logs and a self loading crane at the hitch end of the drawbar.

Ahhhh, thanks. I think the six month thing must have been relating to the tail lift on the basis most end up with people riding up on them.

You would need to check the legality of the braking system. Braked trailers have to have a proper automatic reversing brake and I don't think car (Land Rover) type brakes would be allowed. It would be easier to replace the axle with a proper braked trailer axle, either with its own Indespension type suspension or a beam axle on the Land Rover suspension.

Many years ago I was moving a stone gatepost, about 400kg or there abouts. It was one of a pair I 'nicked' from next door by pulling it out the ground with my 110 V8. I made a little two wheel trolley to lay it on for moving it about. The trolley had small pnumatic tyres as the ground was a bit rough and it would be easier that way. So my friend and I jack up one end of the post and slide the trolley under it in the centre so it balances and we manage to wheel it across towards where we are going to plant it in the ground. My end of the post is on the ground and I reach under it to sweep some large bits of gravel out of the way and my friend thinks we are about to move the post again and so he leans on his end causing the post to 'seesaw' his way. I shout 'No!', as my hand is still under the post, and he lets go. The post comes down and lands on my little finger. But as the tyres are pnumatic they allow a little bounce and so the post comes down twice on my finger just to compound the damage. To say it hurt would be an understatement. It hurt so much that my friend commented that it was the first time he had ever heard me swear! I carefully removed my glove, now full of blood, and found a finger end burst open like a ripe tomato, finger nail off to one side and visible bone and meaty bits. A&E said that there was no point stitching it or giving me a local as the repair would be quick and simple but awkward to stitch or inject. They just pushed all the bits back under fingernail and taped it up in roughly a finger shape. It is now fine as they did quite a good job of it. All the scaring is under and around the edges of the finger nail and the only sign of injury is that it is a little fatter then the finger on the other hand.

I think that is a really good idea. The only downside is having to stand in a hole to work on it comfortably. However, many years ago I had a bog standard Machine Mart engine stand. I didn't like it and wasn't very confident in its ability to hold an engine. It was also awkward to mount an engine onto and felt unstable when I turned the engine to work on it. I eventually sold it and the chap who bought it rebuilt a V8 on it and then the stand 'tripped up' as he moved it around sending the V8 crashing to the ground and damaging it. So I like the idea of an engine stand that is close to the ground, stable on four proper castors and allows the engine to be flipped and turned for working access. Excellent stuff, when are you going to market it?

That looks so nasty. You are lucky to be up and about yourself. Hope you don't have any more serious injury showing up in the future.

I found this problem as well when I first used rivnuts and SS screws. Copper grease sorted it then too. I think it is a SS issue.

I like that. I should make one up that has carpentry tools on the crown and have it in my college workshop!

I might have to do this properly then. The crane is going to be removable both to reduce the theft risk and unnecessary weight. I would only fit it when I need to use it but the rest of the time the trailer would be used for work, so it would be fitted to a working vehicle in that case. I'll scrub the idea of a tail lift as it wouldn't be removable either.

Good one. I had a hazard light problem with my 1970 MGB in the 90's. The MOT tester said that they flashed too slow to pass. His solution was to remove the switch for the duration of the test!

Does anyone know about the LOLER (The Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998)? I am going to be fitting a small, 250kg, crane to my trailer and possibly a small tail lift. Although I am self employed I do not employ anyone and I am unlikely to use the crane for any of commercial work based lifting, mainly shifting stuff I buy for renovating my house. Would the regulations still apply to me? I can and will inspect the equipment for my own safety anyway but would I also need a formally quallified inspector every six months? If this is too far off topic then please delete but I was thinking of asking here as many of you seem to have workshop cranes and and lifting equipment for your builds. Do any of you require LOLER inspections? Thanks, NT

I used to have a cheap Argos one and it lasted about 8 years before it was worn out. I then bought another one and it I broke on first press. I changed it and examined the second one and found that it was absolute rubbish. The casting for the air connection was made out of worse die casting then Matchbox cars and the fittings were almost threadless. I could only just use it by carefully pressing each stroke on a flat surface as any enthusiasm would cause it to bend and break. I now have an electric compressor as mentioned in the Tools and Fabrication forum.

I now have a TC501 Miniair made by Ding Hwa Co Ltd and checked for EC conformity by Kwang-Tsan Chen. It looks like this one on Ebay. However, it was free! But is is 240v, however, I have an inverter in the boot! Having used it I must say that is really rather good. I inflated a completely flat tyre on my trailer, 155 70 13, and it took about 2 minutes to get to 45psi. The specifications say: 1/8hp 80psi max 20lpm I also repaired a puncture on a tubeless wheel barrow tyre and it managed to reseat the tyre on the rim. It is so quiet that it is almost inaudiable out doors on a quiet road at ground level when I am standing next to it. Not bad for a freebie.

Not got photos as it was a long time ago, early 80's, but the job was fairly simple to do. I first placed a lump of wood across the back edge of the set box to level things up a bit and then just placed the seat over the top and sat on it. I then shuffled about a bit taking the seat with me until the position felt right and straight. I then reached down with a marker pen to mark where the edges of the seat runners touched the front edge of the seat box for lateral location. I then took a straight line up the front face of the seat box to the seat squab to see how far it over hung the seat box. With that done I could get out and slide the sliders back and forth to get them located in such a way that they didn't stick out from the seat box too much but still allowed movement in both directions. One bolt was fitted to the front of each runner by drilling through the seat box and it was bolted down with the original metal spacer ring. I could then measure the height difference at the back of the seat box, with some packing until the seat felt level, and make up a hard wood strip. One rectangular block of wood cut on the correct slope gives both side packers. The bolt holes were marked in the wood to match the runners and drilled with an Augar wood bit and a bit of gas pipe pushed in. With the wood packer bolted to the seat box on the front bolt I could square up the wood to the seat location and then drill through the seat box. The seat was then bolted in with big, massive 'penny' washers to spread the bolt load across the seat box aluminium. The wood doesn't need to be much, I used a bit of 40mm thick oak off cut on edge that gave a nice 40 mm wide packer. It does restrict access to the seat box storage but the seat slides a long way so it wasn't too bad. Also there is a lot of under seat space between the seat squab and the seat box for reaching in.

I fitted MGB seats to my S3 many moons ago. The MGB seats have a lot of slide in the sliders and I know you don't want/need sliders but they allowed the seats to go a long way back (as well as forwards). The seats also recline and tip forward and have a nice adjustable headrest. MGB club shops etc can supply new leather, vinyl or cloth covers. I made my own. In an MGB the seats runners sit on two strips of hard wood about 6mm thick each with clearance holes for two thick steel spacers for the bolts. I cut two new hard wood spacers on a taper to fit the slope on the Land Rover seat box to make it level and then, using two of the MGB spacers at the front and two bits of 1/2" gas pipe as spacers at the back, I bolted the seats in. Raising the back of the runners does two things. It makes the seat level and it allows the seat runners to go further back over the seat box upstand in into the space behind the seat giving further backwards movement. At least it does on a Safari as there is no bulkhead behind the seat. Really comfortable, for me at least, and if I get another S3 I would do the same again.

I run lots of old Bosch, Makita, DeWalt and Hitachi power tools, ac and battery. Most are over 20 years old and the youngest is over 15 years old. All better then the rubbish that sells on a shop brand.