Mark

Les, Don't want to start an argument or anything, but isn't the colour of a ceeform socket to do with the supply type? ie blue for single phase 240V, yellow for single phase 110V, Red for three phase 220/440V ? The size of the socket is related to the current rating - the most common being 16A (ie the type Caravans use) but I have used 32A, 63A ans 120A Blue ceeforms in the past, and the same in red for three phase... Cheers Mark

bugger!

Trev, they seem to appear on eBlag fairly often too.. Mark

Would be good to hear from the man himself though... Mark

Now then, this thing looks kinda familiar, where have I seen this sort of thing before? Hmmmm Oh yeah, on the front of my truck!!! [notice the roller bearings for the main gears) Thought this was suppoesed to be all new? :P Mark

Steve, Have a look at fitting one of the X-eng x-therm switches rather than the kenlowe 'stat. As you say the fan that is on there is somewhat huge (and sounds like a turbine) but that engine does run warm so don't skimp on the cooling. Cheers Mark

Are you removing the Kenlowe then Steve? Mark

not off hand, but I can probably find out... Mark

Probably just the fact that I am running what is essentially a very small machine with a flat belt drive, and that there really is no load going on whatsoever. Even when I start to take what I consider to be a heavy cut it isn't working the motor or the machine hard at all. If I were to try an run an air compressor of something that was actually stressing the motor the story would be quite different I suspect! Mark

Mostly I am using the read out on the front of the inverter to tell me what it's current draw is. Whilst simplistic (and therefore probably wrong) I have also run the inverter and motor combination with a simple analogue ammeter inline with the supply. The two readings were pretty much in sync. I would have thought that the read out on the front of the inverter was designed for specifically this usage in mind?? Whilst the inverter is not current generation, it is not that old, and is a Micro controller affair so may well have a dgree of power factor conversion built in. (If anyone is interested, it is a Hitachi J100). Anyway, it works, it dosn't get hot, or blow fuses. Cheers Mark

I thought billing was under new management, hence the re-negotiation... There was a press release a while ago saying thet the show was safe for a few years to come, but I think it was from the illustrious Richard Green, so I would take it with a pinch of salt... Mark

You may be thinking of 'LR Fasteners'? I presume they are still about, but they were never an online operation. I'm afraid I don't have thier contact details to hand either. Mark

John You are of course right. I use my inverter with the speed turned right down to start, and gradually increase the speed untill it is where it needs to be. This should reduce the initial spike that happens when you start the motor. The current draw on my 1.5kW inverter (running a 3kW motor not recommended) is about 3A at the absolute most! Nige, It's not that tidy at the moment - The picture was taken just after I moved the mill in, so everything was tidied in order to fit it thorugh the door! Cheers Mark

I replaced a lot of my steering compnentry this week; track rod, drag link (sumo bars), TRE's/balljoint and steering damper. I was however quite surpirsed to find that my steering drop arm was loose on the output shaft from the steering box. The drop are was quite worn, and would move quite happily. Could I suggest, since no-one else has, that you also check the state of the splines in your drop arm? Mine is like a different car to drive now! Cheers Mark

Well, I turned 27 last weekend if it is any comfort to anyone... It has been an interesting year, let see what happens next.... Cheers Mark

I am running my milling machine at home with a 3 -phase motor off an inverter - nb, not a phase converter. The inverter was about £150 second hand, and allows me to constantly vary the speed of the 3-phase motor, which is a far better solution than buying a singlephase motor of sufficient horse power to run my mill. The inverter came from a chap who advertises here quite often (not a trader, but mor of a sideline for hime). He was very helpful, and told me what sort of thing I needed, and also helped me set it up. Simonr is also runnig his mill from some form of inverter.. What are you trying to run off it? What sort of power? IMHO this is a much better solution that converting to a single phase motor. Oh, and here is a gratuiitous picture of my mill to show you what I am running... Cheers Mark

Don't know what you lot are complaining about. Check out my new Laptop Bag for work... Mark

So far I havn't removed the drop arm, or even un done the securing nut - But it is definatly loose! I can only assume it shouldnt be (but may account for some of the play in the steering! Guess it would be easier to just get the drop arm with the ball joint already in it... Cheers Mark

I started to take the drag link off tonight, as I am changint to sumo bars. However, The end of the drag link has the ball joint attached to the drop arm from the steering box. This has caused me some concern as 1) i cannot separate the ball joint from the casting on the end of the draglink, and 2) the drop arm appears to be very loose on the splines on the steering box. The ball joint seems quite shagged, so can I get the joint alone, or do I need to replace the entire droparm from the steering box? Also, shouldn't this be pretty tight on the splines? Cheers Mark

Having aquired some sumo bars at Billing, I want to fit them this weekend. Hoever, since I have a disco, rather than a defender, I need to move the damper to the drag link. The kit supplied to do this with the sumo bars assumes that you will use a defender damper which appears to have a differnt fitment to the disco one (defender = loop/pin disco = pin/pin). Question is, since I already have a nice shiney new disco damper, does anyone see any problems modifying the supplied mount and using that on the drag link? ta Mark

Steve, Have a look here: CrewCab Build. There is a whole load of stuff on building the truck, but there are a couple of paragraphs about the roof build. I realise this is for a much larger roof than you are thinking about, but it might give a few ideas... Cheers Mark

don't get your hopes up! Mark

Have you had a look on discoweb - there are a number of people running modified D2s in the states, but I don't know how extreme they are. Mark

Sounds good! Make sure you do put a post up in the members vehicles section. I have to admit that I think you will still struggle to find the genuine switches, even for a series 3. Have you also tried Land Rover Classic parts (long shot, but you never know). Sorry I can't be any more help. Cheers Mark

Hi, I am sure if you can find the address of a lucas dealer, then you could deal with them over the phone. There is one I have used in Kent, but I should imagine that dosn't help much! What are you looking for the indicator stalks for? a series one, two or three? The earlier (S1,2) type is no longer available new, and are supposedly hard to find good examples of. If you ask nicely, or put a wanted ad in the claissifieds section, you might find what you are after! Cheers Mark