Thread: Gav's 101.

So, had a good day today. Got the alternator and wiring finished. Got good volts too. The old Lucas unit punched out 13.5 volts with pretty much no load on it, and dropped to 12.8 with the headlights on. New one sits on 13.9 volts no load, and.... 13.9 volts with the headlights on, so a vast improvement. I'm going to see if there is an improvement with the lights after dark.

New bracket to support the shifter also completed and installed. Engine cover back on and a quick fang up the highway shows all is ok.

Next on the list is getting the batteries installed how I wanted. Both batteries fit easily as it turns out, and were easy to get into place - once Mick showed up and had a look. I thought the back panel of the battery box was spot welded, but Mick said his was screwed on - and is was. Another check of mine showed it was screwed on as well... Doh! Should have seen that, but thanks Mick.

Yet to clean everything up, and mount the brackets to clamp the batteries down, but it will all work. There is still plenty of room for the little aux fuse panel I have in there, as well as the solar panel controller I want to fit. Should have all that done tomorrow with a bit of luck.

So, Corowa is one step closer...

Both batteries are N70 size. The cranking battery is a Delcor 27H-710 which is a high cranking capacity version of a standard N70 - 710CCA instead of 600. I grabbed this one from my mates workshop stand as the terminals were on the correct side for what I needed. The Auxiliary battery is a Fullriver deep cycle, 100 AH which will be running a fridge and a few LED lights. Charging will be though a simple relay switched by the ignition at the moment, but a Traxide kit will find its way in there soon. I am fitting a small solar panel reg in there as well, so I can plug my panel into the system. I am doing it that way to minimise voltage drop from the panel to the batteries - I get 17 odd volts then instead of the regulated 13. Whatever output. I have an identical setup in the L322 and it works beautifully. The alternator will do the lions share of the charging - no DCDC stuff clogging up space here.

Plenty more done today. Finished up all the dual battery wiring, checked and cleaned up front brakes. As suspected I have a slightly weeping wheel cylinder on the LHS, but I'll do that when the new brake line set I'm ordering turns up. Save on having to bleed the system twice. It's not getting on the shoes, so no biggy.

All packed up, trailer attached ready for Corowa - just waiting on final sign off of my leave tomorrow morning...

So, my 'new' alternator out of the RRC works fine and provides plenty of punch, but I found on the way home from Corowa on Monday that it howled like a banshee when under high load - ie straight after I left camp for about an hour as the aux battery took a fair old charge after sitting around for a couple of days. Once the load died down, so did the noise - if I flicked the high beams on, it could be heard again.

Not sure if it is just the bearings?

Any thoughts?

Could have been the fan belt slipping under load.

No, defiantly not the belt, I tightened that last night and it still does it. It is a really high pitched whine - much higher than a slipping fan belt. I'll whip it out on the weekend and have a peak. Just want to get it sorted before Melrose.

Oooooh, look what just turned up...



I'll report back in a bit once I've stuck it in and been for a blat...

I'll be interested to hear how you go with this, as I've been looking into it myself.. I have a slight vibration between 90 and 110kph, and have attributed it to the front output shaft joint angle and having not used a wide angle joint, but Im going to have the prop balanced and Im also prob going to remove the third front leaf as its fairly harsh (which will lessen the prop joint angle slightly).. Have run the vehicle off the ground with diffs locked to see what's happening and both welded props are true.

One thing I did learn about using double cardon joints is that the shaft end with the single uni has to be virtually straight with the diff (diff nose pointing up), as the cardon has the two joints close which corrects the 'speed up/slow down' effect on a normal prop.... something that is not the case on a 101..... I've also looked at tipping the front diff nose up (as I have with the rear), but due to the axle clamping system, it has to be done in the tubes.. Will prob do it on my spare axle! Keep us updated Gav. Cheers for now.

Ok, new front double carden shaft installed and tested. Went for a good run up the freeway to get everything nice and warm, which is when the old shaft was at its noisiest.

So, how did it fair I hear you ask???

All in all - extremely well.. Is it now 100% quiet on over run? - no. It is however about 95% better. The only time it makes any noise at all is only at the very point where everything in 'neutral' if you know what I mean? - and only over about 80KPH.

Ok, a bit more detail... All when engine, gearbox, driveshafts, etc at operating temps.

Around town 50 to 60KPH
Before - any off throttle was accompanied by some sort of noise - from a little to a lot depending on where the throttle was.
After - no noises at all, no matter where the pedal is - its like driving it without the front shaft in - 100%.

At 80KPH
Before - same as the slower speed stuff. Any off pedal usage would make a noise of some description.
After - slight noise only at that neutral point. Lightly off the throttle or full off throttle and there is no noise at all.

At 100KPH
Before - similar to above, but full off throttle made no noise until the speed dropped a bit, then it would start again. Light off throttle scared the **** out of passengers and sounded like the world was coming to an end.
After - no noise at all with light off throttle or full off throttle. Only a very narrow band where the noise comes in, but you actually have to try and keep it there, it's not constant like it used to be,

Summary - I am very happy with the results, but not 100% sure if the improvement is due to the double carden joint, or just because everything is new and tight. The slip joint in my old one was flogged out, so maybe a bit of both?

Also, no vibration through the driveline at any revs, or at any speed, so everything is well balanced. I did get a slight vibration at 85 to 90 before, which again could have been due to the flogged out slip joint.

Anyway, I'm happy. From order to receiving it was just over a week. It is also a much beefier unit than standard, so should last a while.

Oh, and no - I haven't put a boot on the slip joint yet - I thought I had a spare, but of course I can't find it... I'll fit one next week as the box is coming out on Wednesday night.