secondjeremy

I sought out the replacement for the sealing compound specified in the S3 wrorkshop manual and used it carefully, fitted a new seal and assembled the whole thing very carefully trying to see if I could produce a box which didn't leak - and the oil still migrates to the transfer box (and the ground) Bath sealant next time I suppose.

Changing gear was very hard work - the lever needed to be forced to get the thing to engage. Synchro cones as it were look very worn to me. There should be a number of fine radial cuts in the bronze as well as the slots. There is also the question of the marks in the cone support pillar which suggets something has been running eccentrically and touching - and causing noise?

I've seen eccentric wear on the cones and attributed it to a broken or misplaced synchro spring. The springs go soft with age and fall out. I used some aftermarket ones that seemed very strong and had slightly longer tails than the genuine ones. The change was truly apalling. Bearmach ones looked very similar to the genuine article and gave a nice change action.

I rebuild them - and hear tales about the problems that can arise with classic car works. There's a lot of work in doing one properly - and probably a considerable outlay on parts. Stage payments are therefore a reasonable way of proceeding. One of the things I find most frustrating is the customer's attention span. I mention this as there are many ways of building a sound and smart vehicle and I try and produce wehat the customer wants. Inevitably it takes some time to explain things - but its never very satisfactory when the customer looses interest and says 'I'll leave it to you - you do what you think is best! - So I don't know if I'm expected to strip all paint off to bare metal or strip a fairly good engine and rebuild it to newish standard! Stage payments should I think be structured so that the person doing the work isn't out of pocket and gets paid for the work he has done fairly often. I like to structure things so that a payment becomes due when a certain stage has been reached (Eg new chassis fitted with suspension and overhauled axles - then new brakes, overhauled gearbox, repaired and overhauled bulkhead and so on). So I'd say the most important thing is to reach a proper agreement for the work - what is to be done, when, how much and when payment is due. THEN WRITE IT DOWN. If you can't reach agreement on all or any of these matters - what chance is there of the job being done quickly.

The springs hold the thing in the engaged positions or the neutral position. If you cut the rings off and sought to rely on the centre selector ring and the springs it might work but there may be trouble with the ring movement not being restrained by the synchro rings and moving too far. When new the synchro rings have sharp grooves and wider grooves to cut through the oil film on the cone and assist the rings to provide enough friction to do their job. Maybe if you destroyed the grooves etc (ie machined flat) you'd achieve the desired result. This type of synchro has no baulk rings and so doesn't impede the gearchange action in the way that the 1st-2nd synchroniser does on a S3 box. Push too quickly on a 1st/2nd synchroniser and it resists - this one merely crunches. In fact it works rather well considering it was designed in the late 1930's but the length of the lever etc are part of the design - slowing the movement to something that it can cope with.

I suppose to get the correct torque you could replace the castle nut and pin with a suitable self-locking nut. Often I find the nuts are nicely pinned but loose - so things crush up or shafts stretch over the years.

There are 4 versions of the S3 box - suffix a - D. B&C are similar and have improvements to 1st/2nd synchroniser and reverse gear. D has 'coffin-shaped' interlocking teeth on certainly 3rd and top synchroniser - they still drop out of 1st and 2nd if the nut at the back of the mainshaft works loose. There were no special 'heavy duty' boxes - look at the parts book. Some of the parts are the sme as those used in 1948.

What about something like a 'Rotoflex' coupling? I know they were used in some 60's - 70's cars but they're also used in industrial machinery - perhaps I've seen small ones?

Grease bolts used to be used in leaf sprung trailers - maybe a trailer axle manufacturer still makes them.

I use roof and gutter sealant - soluble in white spirit, spreads nicely especially when its not freezing - and readily available. Seems to work OK.

might be worth reading this: http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f31/ford-transit-2-5-di-conversion-help-req-d-21051.html

You could try using Loktite on the nut in a position where wverything turns nicely and see what happens. By and large if the nut is loose a S3 will jump out of 1st and 2nd on the overrun. S2's (non-synchro) don't seem to suffer much - probably as the engagement is by sliding gears rather than the small movements of the synchro units.

Series 1 original 2 litre engines are brilliant starters - and should start 1st or 2nd turn every time - due to the electric fuel pump ensuring that the carb is full before the engine turns. They really only need a tiny battery.

No - seized cylinder. If the hose had collapsed - both sides would be the same. Pistons often seize when vehicles are used infrequently.

Later shaft joints will have the sideways movement controlled by the nut on the end of the halfshaft in the drive flange - and so must float sideways in the intermediate bearing. Tracta joints fall apart - and so the end float of the inner part of the shaft must be controlled - hence the type of bearing originally used.

What oil are you using? Land Rover recommend 20-50 - so if you're using a 15 - 40 or similar it may be a bit thin and show a low pressure at idle. Speeding up the idle is OK especially if the original speed was very low. However if its idling really fast just to keep the light out - you've got problems. Some of these engines seem a bit prone to oil surge on braking - make sure its at the full mark. May be worth giving it an oil and filter change.

Worth looking at the nut on the back of the mainshaft especially if you have a S3 box. Take top cover off transfer box - and see if strange looking castle nut is tight. It should be locked but often you can see it move even while locked if you try and move it. If loose it allows the change of thrust from drive to overrun to move parts on the mainshaft - which then slip out of engagement.

I think the later windscreen bolts are metric threaded - so it would be M8. What the crossover is I don't know.

I drill a round hole then file it square with a triangular file. Doesn't take long.

Series 1 should be positive earth. It'll probably run perfectly well if you put the battery in the wrong way as well but this shouldn't be done accidentally. (To change polarity you may need to remagnetise the dynamo (press cutout flap on regulator down and immediately pull it back) and the coil terminals should be reversed.) Battery is an 069 or 072. Loads of Varta ones available on e-bay for about £60 or slightly less. Next day delivery meant just that when I bought one. The battery is the same size as discoveries, Range Rovers etc (certainly till recently) You should get this size - other similar ones may have terminals the other way round and be difficult to fit.

You can often bleed brakes through the inlet pipe - simply slacken it off and let the air out!

Well it seems to be a black silicone RTV sealant - so no-doubt someone else makes it. Why do you need something better?

Have a look at the boot at the base of the transfer lever - there isn't much travel on the lever into the high position and anything in the way can cause problems. Is the lever on the right way? It can take a bit of fiddling if the bottom brackets have been disturbed. If the pivot is a bolt, does it need spacing or replacing with a bigger one? Are the selector rods themselves free? They can get dirty/rusty and the cover over them above the front output shaft flange can fill with dirt. Removing this, digging out the dirt and cleaning and polishing everything can help. This is more likely to interfere with 4WD High. This is one of the more reliable parts of a Land Rover!

Do you have a 'Metal Supermarket' - they specialise in supplying small quantities. Probably much cheaper to collect - even if it means asking them to cut the steel for you.

Did you use exhaust paste/sealant? If so its possible surplus has blocked the pipe. Land Rover exhausts shouldn't need it - generally joints are dry - and SWB silencers use a gasket. Possible this has been omitted and paste used instead.