HoggyN

Unlike the 10" brakes the 11" brakes are twin leading shoe so both shoes 'self servo' when you are going forwards - but the reverse is true when going backwards!

Actually I was cheating a bit! The car was built in Australia and had a novel mechanical forced articulation system that interconnected the front and rear axles. It has featured before on this, and other forums. I think you posted on one of the threads - as well as the chap that built it. I do have some other pictures of the articulation system somewhere. I'll try and dig them out, and find a link to the original forum thread

The hybrid in the pic above didn't seem suffer any clearance problems running with the centre spring See here

If the axle rotates about the SLU then, in theory, even if it doesn't have any travel at all, articulation shouldn't be compromised. In practice... I've considered keeping the light duty springs at the axle ends and replacing the SLU with a heavy duty helper spring. It should maintain good load carrying ability with a low roll resistance necessary for good articulation. Like this...

Source: Road Vehicle Aerodynamics, A J Scibor-Rylski The diagram above gives some idea of where to cut cooling holes (OK it's not a Range Rover but it gives the gist). If you want air to go out make sure the holes are in the area with the arrows pointing away from the car. If you want air to go in... On a Range Rover the boundary layer is of the (very) turbulent variety so it won't make much difference whether the vents point forwards, backwards, sideways or normal to the surface. Vents on the sides of front wings are also likely to be in a low pressure area so will pull hot air out (like on a Mini or a Maxi - through the front wheelarch).

Possibly not very. You have to be careful with bonnet scoops as they don't always do what you expect. The reason being that, with most cars, there is high air pressure at the back of the bonnet and low pressure at the front (which is why heater air intakes are very effective when positioned at the base of the windscreen). A low, forward facing scoop generally gets little, if any, ram effect - and the faster you go the worse it gets.

Thread size is M10 x 1 I've just made a set of metal pipes up and I think they were about 14" - 15" long before I bent them.

I do remember, in the dim and distant past, ripping the end clean off a rear shock while running with no check straps. Some people believe that shocks have an internal rebound bump stop. I'd hazard a guess that most shocks don't.

I fitted the full Rocky Mountain kit to my S1 a few months back. I haven't fitted the check straps yet - and I've had no problems. More worrying, to me anyway, was the way that the shocks ran out of upward travel before the axles hit the bump stops. I ended up lowering the bump stops but was a bit surprised because Rocky Mountain supposedly spent some time developing the kit.

If you really want some sleepless nights try this

I've used steel ones in the past (on a fully balanced screamer in my TR7 V8). They weren't used for any high performance reason - they were just a lot cheaper than a new set of alloy ones. They aren't handed like the originals but I can't say I noticed any difference once the rocker covers were back on. Don't forget to check the lifter preload and, if possible, the cam timing. Although if it's out there is not much you can do about it without spending money!

IIRC They were/are used in the construction of steam boilers as a means of stiffening where a plate has a tube passing through it. Metal aeroplanes are also absolutely ridlled with them. In that application you get the maximum stiffness with the minimum weight. I've used them for years in diy fabrication. If you haven't got a lathe you can form them by hand over a tube or even a large socket. Takes ages but it looks the business. I've always known them as 'swaged holes'.

I'm putting a 1972 Range Rover back together from boxes of bits and need some pictures of the engine bay of an early car. Can anybody point me in the direction of a suitable source? Ta

I think it is because the B pillar is too far back with the seat adjusted to its most forward position. There is a danger that the belt would come off the shoulder of any shortarse sitting in the seat. It was obviously a big deal because, reputedly, the law had to be changed to allow the Range Rover integrated seat belt solution. I find it a pain in the bum because the seats can't be made to recline.

Err.. Yes. Twice actually - it was all very interesting but none of it answered my question

Is there an easy (cheap) way of telling whether a engine has suffered from a 'porus block' problem? I mean by pulling it apart. I've got a 3.9 under the bench that I'm about to rebuild and I don't want to waste time and money on a duff block.

Kuhmo KL71

Not sure if this is the right place to put this, but I noticed an alternative to the Sodbury Sortout advertised on Ebay of all places. Land Rover Clearout BTW I have no connection with the organisers or anyone else invlolved.

I take your point about getting clogged with mud. This car will be used mainly on-tarmac so not really an issue. I think my desire for vented discs stems from a major brown trouser incident following almost total brake fade in a TR7 some years ago. The 110 route is an interesting option though.

An excellent thread. I'm just about to do virtually the same thing - and I didn't even have to ask! I'm keeping the SUs though - for that period look.

Thanks guys. The axle is of 1972 vintage and is most definitely Imperial. I think I'm going to take a chance and order the vented discs.

Can anybody tell me if ventilated discs are a straight swap for solid discs on a non-metric front axle. BTW I'm intending to replace the calipers at the same time.

Why not just get one of these? It's four wheel drive, has a petrol/electric hybrid option and being over a 100 years old would be tax exempt. Not sure if it's on the Power Shift register though Source: Wikipedia

Good luck! I had to take mine off the A frame, stick in a huge vice and then weld a spanner onto the nut to get it off. The problem with the socket is that most are chamfered at the end so they just jump off the shallow nut. I tried grinding the edge down square but to no avail.

Thanks both. The ghastly gold will be gone. www.glass-uk.org