Thread: Gav's 101.

Yeah, you’re a right Dr Phil... 😆

Chucky is back on his feet with his new Welles! Now, I have a question for the brains trust. Before I fitted the power steering box, the standard steering was super heavy - those that have driven 101’s know this. Those that haven’t it’s a whole new world - you can barely - if at all, turn the wheels when not moving if you’re on concrete or bitumen. It actually winds up so much tension you think somethings going to break and I think more than one owner has done just that - busted the steering box which is quite weak.

Now, I haven’t got the engine running and haven’t actually got the hydraulics plumbed up yet so imagine my surprise when I had a test of the steering now the conversion is done and the wheels turn quite easily now. Even with the massive 315 rubber under them. The concrete is reasonably smooth but not super smooth by any stretch and I guess the tyres have that waxy coating on them but they still turned what I would consider MUCH easier than before. It also doesn’t feel like it’s winding up like it did before and everything that I could see looks super solid so overall very happy. It also has less turns lock to lock, so go figure... Not upset as you can imagine but a little perplexed. 👍

The new rubber is around 15mm smaller in overall diameter and probably closer to the original size. No clearance issues at all - there’s oodles of room everywhere. The tyres do stick out around 50mm on the back and 80mm up front from the side of the vehicle so I have ordered some 100mm wide insertion rubber to make some flares out of and also some wider mudflaps.

Hopefully will drive him out of the garage tomorrow under his own steam although there’s still some work to do to tidy up a few loose ends, that can happen outside as the Jag is long overdue to get back in there. 😁

A0010E92-74CF-4685-9EFF-4C523F7430DC by Gavin Gregory, on Flickr

A4A18359-8950-4A46-87FA-793BD17954CB by Gavin Gregory, on Flickr

F5C2BEE6-BD04-4723-8E4B-E535A1A93E4B by Gavin Gregory, on Flickr

AE9F2900-0881-4C19-8EC1-E1501EAD1D1D by Gavin Gregory, on Flickr

Awesome! Looks good, and thankfully, no ugly weights on the outer side of rims after the tyre fitment.
Good stuff.

Yeah, they did well - they said they all balanced easy and all the weights are inside. 👍

The colour isn’t right though - needs to be a smidge darker, so they will get repainted when I find the right tint.

Colour looks fine...
Are ya over thinking it?? All looks good mate.

RIGHT! Now back to the model Railway. Lovely job, & I can visualise the happy look on your mush. Well I could if I knew what your normal mush looked like that is.

I'm a tad puzzled by your remark though, about the "weak steering box". How come for a Military vehicle this was not picked up by LR &/or the MoD. Seems to me the last thing one needs is a crappy steering box when one considers the terrain it would need to operate over. I realise it was an ADF vehicle but it would have been built to MoD specs shirley?.

Originally Posted by 16PMark

Colour looks fine...
Are ya over thinking it?? All looks good mate.

No, colour is wrong, plain and simple - it’s an ex British RAF vehicle, that green is just wrong. Will fix that in due course - not overly fussed right now but I can’t take it to a show or anything like that - I might as well paint them pink. 😁

Originally Posted by 4bee

RIGHT! Now back to the model Railway. Lovely job, & I can visualise the happy look on your mush. Well I could if I knew what your normal mush looked like that is.

I'm a tad puzzled by your remark though, about the "weak steering box". How come for a Military vehicle this was not picked up by LR &/or the MoD. Seems to me the last thing one needs is a crappy steering box when one considers the terrain it would need to operate over. I realise it was an ADF vehicle but it would have been built to MoD specs shirley?.

Steering box is a known weak point - in an otherwise almost bullet proof vehicle with huge axles, CV’s and swivels. Not sure why, just is. My guess is that this is the only box they found that would work for the forward control setup. The housings have a tendency to crack. Mine was fine when removed but it only has 50,000KM on the clock from new and some with much higher KM have certainly suffered this fate.

Doubtful I’ll get back to the railway this weekend. Tomorrow is a clean up, move the 101 day and Sunday will be spent on the Tractor. I am doing a few bits in the background in it - glueing track down and have started the scultamold to build the landscape, but nothing much to take pics of at the moment.

... And stop calling me Shirley...

The colour seems like for like based on your pics. I think it's the 'sheen' of ya new paint that is creating the issue? The reflecting light makes them look a little lighter...
Maybe?? Just me???