Thread: Meet my 90, and share the adventure.

Originally Posted by Baytown

Great work Mitch.
Im going to investigate if I can fit Wayne’s Airbox when the LS3 gets installed in Sept.
They refit the OEM airbox so with any luck, it’ll work!
Ive missed your tool reviews!👍

Get Andrew to do it for you while he is fitting the new motor. He has fitted some of these already

Originally Posted by Baytown

Great work Mitch.
Im going to investigate if I can fit Wayne’s Airbox when the LS3 gets installed in Sept.
They refit the OEM airbox so with any luck, it’ll work!
Ive missed your tool reviews!👍

Cheers Ken,
As long as you are not going a LS3 big turbo setup (but please tell me you are)... I wouldn't see how you couldn't swivel the top plate of the airbox to a spot suitable for the front inlet of the LS3, and just hook it to a suitable hose that will handle the vacuum that the small block will pull. The bottom part of the airbox can should remain unchanged- as long as snorkel and guards/wheel tubs remain unchanged.

I don't mind the odd tool purchase. If it makes a job faster and/or easier, it's worth it in my opinion. Picked up a new Knipex tool earlier this week. It may even make an appearance some time next week!

Thanks fellas, and yep, I’ll get Les Richmonds to fit the airbox after discussion on how to provide the best required induction.
Mitch, re the engine, I thought that they are the naturally aspirated LS3, certainly not the Superchargedunit, but I’ll be looking into any suitable forced induction that can be legally installed. Engineering certification is the issue re turbos and superchargers I believe.

...and all the other problems that 800HP will bring.

Originally Posted by Toxic_Avenger

Time for another update.
I'll get the fun stuff out of the way first:

Smoker is complete:


Cooks nice food. I've been making brisket beef short ribs, and also tried to make a ham (pork shoulder ham).









In other non-LR stuff, been getting into a few tool refurbishment projects.
Rebuilt this bench grinder:



Also painted up an old pipe vice - great for driveshaft refurbs if / when they ever come along.




...And A record #3 vice (I'm sure you can see a colour scheme trend emerging)


Air-conned the shed with an ancient window rattler! First world problems, huh?




In the land rover space, not a lot has happened since the last update, although I have been tackling some maintenance items in preparation for an outback trip over easter.

I installed a nugget box. Because I like shiny things, and I drew the line when I once again found mud on clean side of the airbox, and the MAF sensor.


Install was fairly painless, just a bit of a bother holding my tongue in the right spot while getting covered in solicone and using my other 3 hands to try and wrangle the flexi hose onto the box itself, then clamp it all together. A helper would have made it quicker.

Maintenance wise...
Coolant flush
Removed the coolant today, as I don't believe it has been flushed in it's lifetime (well not that I know of since I have owned it).
This was done via the fuel cooler hoses on the LHS chassis rail. Drained about 8L. Will refill with Nulon red long life stuff, which meets the correct ford spec this motor apparently needs.

Silicone throttle body/intake manifold hose replacement
Took the opportunity while the coolant was drained to install the BAS throttle body elbow which is the final link in the attempt to keep the puma failed intercooler hose faults at bay.
This allows a lot better access to the area through removing the water pump from the block. With it out of the way, there is sufficient room to pull the pump up and away from the work area.
Still a pain in the arse job, and 100% would not want to do it again in a hurry, but well worth the peace of mind.

This is the job done, I got a pic showing the orientation of the T-bar clamps (need to be in a specific direction so they don't rub on the coolant hoses).




With the water pump unbolted from the engine, with hoses still attached, it can easily just be pushed up and out of the way.


Thanks to Tombie for the recommendation.
I shared a moment with the Landy, and with a few grunts and a few swift thrusts, the hose install was done. I gotta say though... those people from Kentucky sure do make a foul tasting jelly...



Another observation (on a serious note) is that once you wade thru the rat's nest of coolant hoses, the puma seems like it has some decent access to the key engine parts. Which brings me to the...

TOOL REVIEW

Knipex locking hose clamp pliers


For years I battled with a set of pliers to undo pesky coolant clamps on my cars. I almost lost an eye a few times.
I got my hands on one of those cable actuated flexi clamp ones, but not ideal for many applications and clip sizes.
Then I graduated to a set of locking long nose vise grips. 60% of the time, they worked every time. I thought I had this game nailed...
But then, one day when I saw these, I yelled out "shut up and take my money!" and despite the sales guy being somewhat alarmed, I got the pliers, and avoided any charges of being a public nuisance.
They are great for all those spring clamps which Infest the puma. The tips have heaps of grip, swivel to allow you to get the clamp around objects, and this particular version locks in place. Well worth the investment IMO.

Maybe one day I will work out a way to get a much cleaner and streamlined cooling system. there has to be a better way that 15 different hoses, and 30 different joints.

That's a great slow cooker. Slow cooked meat is delicious.
Our daughter's partner made a similar slow cooker out of a gas bottle.

The last week has been punctuated with some land rover parts gathering, and installing.

I have owned the mule for 5years, 10months and 52,000km to date. 32,000 of those km are mine. While it's not a show pony, those have been some fun kilometers.

While I don't really plan to move this car on any time soon, I think it is worth while keeping a record of the maintenance work I do to it, and to keep on top of the components which age due to kilometers or time.
So to that end I've been developing a bit of a spreadsheet to consolidate maintenance intervals of key vehicle components, allow for forward planning of work (and parts!- which are sometimes a bit more difficult to get than some of the other vehicle makes out there), and consolidate the bits of info that lives in the service manual, parts catalogue, and other sources online.
Simple stuff- like 'what's the wheel nut torque' and 'how much oil and what grade do I need' are some simple questions but devilishly hard to find in the workshop manual (FYI puma oil capacity lives in the owners book- not listed in the service manual surprisingly!).

So I started >>this thread<< to try to consolidate and gather this info, and get some feedback from the hive-mind. With some luck, when the document is somewhat complete, it can be shared to others who wish to take the reigns of their own vehicle servicing.

So on to the work done last week:

Fuel filters were replaced. A very easy job. no tools required either!
The LR uses a filter style with a keyed rim on the filter body, so a little different to some of the other styles out there. The last service kit I threw through the car used a 10 series Fuel Manager brand filter (p/n 36995), which I tried to source through Diesel care- who supply a range of this brand of filter in their kit. Unfortunately the stock level of this in AU was zero units... so I had a bit of a wait. So I caved and forked out 135 clams for a genuine LR item- WJI500040. At least it arrived overnight!
The secondary filter I also changed, and the parts for that were the more common and higher flow rated Fuel manager 100 series p/n 36693. On the shelf- winning!

Coolant flush
I renewed the coolant, mainly because it is an easy job, and now I have a starting point and product which I know and have documented.
The Coolant drain process is simple-
Locate the fuel cooler (on inside of passenger side chassis rail) and use a scissor type fuel line disconnect tool on the two bottom connections (the water inlet and outlet). This tool slides inside the connector, and allows the connector to slide off. Coolant will go everywhere out of both holes (the hose and cooler) so it's a real bukkake party! (the Japanese use the word to describe a dash or sprinkle of water- the more you know).
I used a Wynns coolant flush product with water and a short drive to get rid of any residue in there (Guilty as charged- I had topped up the reservoir a few times with our hard tap water), so couldn't be a bad thing.
Replacement coolant was approx 10L of Penrite red OEM coolant which meets the WAS-M97B44-D spec as per FSM.

Fuel cooler connections


Undo with one of these:


I also replaced the thermostat.
This has always been a bit foreign to me- weird that it has 3 outlets.
I marked it up with the coolant flow path, it effectively just cycles coolant around 1 side of the thermostat valve, and when it reaches full temp, it will then allow full flow through the radiator core.


After refill, the coolant bleed procedure is:
Fill expansion bottle to cold level. Undo bleed screw near heater tap.
Tighten bleed screw, then Start engine, rev to 3000RPM for 1 min,
Let idle for 5
Top up as necessary. Occasionally bleed via the screw as needed.
Eventually thermostat will open and you'll be fully bled.


Oil change
Nothing crazy here, used more of the stash- the Castrol Magnatec Professional A5 5W30 p/n 3369740. About 7L- until it registers correctly on the dipstick.

Tyre rotation
Did another tryre rotation- the order is:
Rear tyres go to the front on the same side
The spare goes to Rear Right
Front Right goes to Rear Left
Front Left goes to the spare position.

Other maintenance
Greased the prop shafts. Easy enough job.
Also checked the diff fluid levels - Both bang-on. The front is showing some leaking of the swivel grease into the diff- it has that moly grease colour.
Transfer case needed approx 300ml top up of the Motul Gear 300 75w90 that I used last time. It has the ubiquitous intermediate shaft leak. I might fix that when I schedule the intermediate shaft... some time in the future.


So that should round it out in time for the trip to the corner country over Easter.
The plan is to go Bourke, Louth, Tilpa, White Cliffs, Packsaddle, Tibooburra, Cameron Corner, then the cut line back to Bourke, Lightning Ridge then home. So should be a good amount of dirt roads.


This brings me to the next

TOOL REVIEW

Olight S2R Baton II LED Torch



Got this as a gift from a mate. It's a great bit of kit. approx 1150 lumens ('enough' in layman's terms), and a sexy copper construction to-boot!
I've been abusing it for a few months now, and it has got the the stage where it is no longer bling bling, but now has its own patina and character.
Great for the glovebox / cubby box, can be recharged by USB, and has a magnet base which is how it recharges- I find myself sticking this to metal parts under the car as it holds it's own weight- Brilliant!

Came into its own on max power for checking coolant level in the expansion tank:

Originally Posted by Baytown

Thanks fellas, and yep, I’ll get Les Richmonds to fit the airbox after discussion on how to provide the best required induction.
Mitch, re the engine, I thought that they are the naturally aspirated LS3, certainly not the Superchargedunit, but I’ll be looking into any suitable forced induction that can be legally installed. Engineering certification is the issue re turbos and superchargers I believe.

LS3?,....VERY good, & LRA have done a few so you've definitely gone to the right place.
The supercharged version of the LS3 is the LSA which can be bought as a crate motor, a magnificent piece of gear,...430KW, & tremendously docile,..can be driven by a little old lady to church on Sunday, but put the pedal to the metal,.....awesome!!
I spoke to Andrew a few years ago about this engine & I think He said words along the lines of engineering / legal difficulties with this engine into a 90, so I think you're right on that one, I don't know if that's still the case or whether there are different rules for different models? I had a look at a black 90 into which LRA had placed an LS3, & it was a very neat job. I never went ahead,...a bit above my budget!
Looking forward to hearing more.
Pickles.

Hey Toxic Avenger,

I see you are travelling down the darling?

I will be travelling down from Qld around the 12th/13th April , to arrive in Adelaide on the 16th then meet up with a mob for our biannual William Ck meeting and onto the Simpson then all the way down the state to finish at the Woolshed Brewery ,around the 30th, then I trek by myself back up to Qld by an as yet undesignated route. Fun hell yeah.

I do something similar in August as well with basically the same mob.