Range Rover Classic- back from near death

[happykid55]

My beloved 1975 2 Range Rover tragically caught fire in the engine bay 2 weeks ago, destroying both carbies, brake and clutch master cylinder, and just about all hoses and electrical wires (including leads and distributer cap ect.) beneath the bonnet .
The fire was started by poor wiring between the dual batteries (not me but a previous owner) the positive ran over the engine, inevitably wearing through and shorting on the engine (which is earthed) this quickly lit the fuel lines and the rest is history.
this all happened out the front of my house, after i had driven it. The fire brigade got rid of the fire but not without damage caused.
I thought i might aswell start documenting what i have done so far to fix it and what i will do in the future, just incase somebody cares.

the fixing began with a trip to the wreckers where i was able to get a new intake manifold with carbies and associated hoses for the price of the 2 carbies which i thought was a steal! i also got brake master cylinder + reservoir and clutch reservoir, plus various odd and bods that were destroyed.

below is the engine bay after the fire, the new master cylinder and clutch reservoir after being installed, the old ones removed and the engine with the old intake manifold and carbies removed.
there will be more to come, im still waiting on a wiring harness to fix all the destroyed wiring and once that is done the new intake manifold with carbies can go on.

[happykid55]

Here is a couple of photos of the girl in all of her glory.

[Scouse]

Good to see that it will live another day :).

[eb220]

Sad to see her get damaged, but looks like she'll be even better in the end.

[happykid55]

That's very true, its given me a chance to fix up any of the dodgy wiring and renew some of the 35 year old parts that probaly weren't far off anyway

[happykid55]

Ive replaced all of the damaged wiring, turns out it wasn't nearly as bad as my first impression was.
However a piece tore out of the back of the alternator,it had 2 terminals and was made of some sort of fibrous material destroyed by the fire, i can't remember what it was called but it was an external something (maybe regulator) but after lots of looking at the auto electrician they had one in stock from about 20yrs ago (he tried calling to get another but bosch didn't even recognise the part number) and the alternator was back in business.

[bee utey]

it had 2 terminals and was made of some sort of fibrous material destroyed by the fire, i can't remember what it was called but it was an external something

Brush holder. Obsolete since 1975 or thereabouts, replaced by an integral regulator/brush holder assembly since that date.

Looks good, your progress.:)

[happykid55]

put the inlet manifold plus carbies on today and connected all the hoses required.
she runs awesome when the choke is out, but when the choke is backed off the engine revs up and down by its own accord and then stalls. At high revs it runs well also until the throttle is backed off and the same thing happens again.
i pulled the carbies out and pulled it apart a bit and made sure the injector and needle were free of any crap, but they were spotless on the inside.
im starting to think that its got to do with the mixture and tuning.
any ideas would be appreciated.
i cant fiddle with the tuning just as of yet because i dont have the tool required as my old carbies had the mixture screw adjuster on the bottom.

[bee utey]

Sounds like its lean at idle, double check for vacuum leaks, especially along the manifold faces. Water in a tin and dribble it along the gasket edges.

[happykid55]

Sounds like its lean at idle, double check for vacuum leaks, especially along the manifold faces. Water in a tin and dribble it along the gasket edges.

i gave it a good once over for vaccum leaks in any of the lines, but i didnt check the manifold, i used a new gasket and cleaned both surfaces pretty well but ill give it another look.

[happykid55]

The car is pretty much finished, the fuel/running issues were a combination of the mixture and a vacuum line blocked. It was leaned off the whole way on the mixture screw, so ive brought it back to 2 1/2 turns and its running well but im going to try get it on the gas analyser to get it right. The second batter still needs to be wired in, and a few other small things are missing but for the most part its working.
The car runs better than ever with more power than it used to have, maybe due to the newer model carbies that ive put on? Or because it just got a good clean out and a lot of new parts.
Thanks to Pete from Range Parts for bringing the tool to tune the carbies and helping.

[Homestar]

Well done mate - most people would not have the perseverance to fix something like this, so well done and a big thumbs up. :BigThumb:

Just remember to carry a fire extinguisher from now on... :p

[Pierre]

And I'll add my congratulations on a job well done. Perserverance and care will add to your success.

Cheers

Pete

[happykid55]

Still working out the kinks, went 4wding on the weekend only to find that the diff lock wasn't working, when i got home i checked it out and where the vacuum line for the diff lock plugs onto the intake manifold, the vent/screw thing had been blocked by the manifolds previous owner and no vacuum was getting to the diff lock to engage it. I it drilled out and presto vacuum and difflocks!
Another little problem solved.

[Phil257]

Good to see you have it running again. When there were ample early rangies in wrecking yards, many of them seemed to be there due to engine bay fires, good yours didnt join them.

I noticed yours was due to the duel battery wire running over the engine. What have you done with this wire now? Many in the wrecking yards seemed to have had a small front hit and shorted the battery terminals on the bonnet.

Does anyone know other causes for engine bay fires and how they can be prevented. I'm currently putting my 73 together, and while I'll carry a fire extinguisher, I'd rather prevent it from happening all together.

Cheers,

Phil

[happykid55]

Mine was due to the dual batter isolator not being wired properly, who ever had set it up had linked the two batteries by a wire across their positive terminals. I have re wired it and put the new wire which is similar, across the engine bay but i ran it up near the alternator and across with the rest of the main wiring loom that comes through the V of the engine and then across to the second battery, keeping off the engine in all places and having plenty of slack. i ideally id rather run it infront of the radiator but it proved to be a bit difficult so i did it that for now and ill eventually change it. ill put up a photo of the wiring tomorrow because i think the last one i put up was before i had re-wired the second battery.

[Scouse]

Can you connect the isolator using the earth leads?

This is how I've seen the old marine switch type dual batteries hooked up before.

[happykid55]

Can you connect the isolator using the earth leads?

This is how I've seen the old marine switch type dual batteries hooked up before.

That's interesting, I never thought of doing it that way.
I'm going to suss it out tomorrow

[happykid55]

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2012/03/35.jpg
there you can see how i wired the positive to the isolator, its the thick red wire which runs where i described, over behind the alternator and the air conditioner compressor to the isolator located near the second battery, which is in the same place as the main, just on opposites of the engine bay.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/05/1784.jpg

[mark2]

Good to see you have it running again. When there were ample early rangies in wrecking yards, many of them seemed to be there due to engine bay fires, good yours didnt join them.

I noticed yours was due to the duel battery wire running over the engine. What have you done with this wire now? Many in the wrecking yards seemed to have had a small front hit and shorted the battery terminals on the bonnet.

Does anyone know other causes for engine bay fires and how they can be prevented. I'm currently putting my 73 together, and while I'll carry a fire extinguisher, I'd rather prevent it from happening all together.

Cheers,

Phil

Needle and seat sticking open causing petrol to be pumped up into the carb vent tubes and fill up the charcoal cannister which then overflows onto exhaust...

Dual fuel vehicles which havent been run on petrol for a while are particularly susceptible