She is alive - Miss Piggy is alive

[101RRS]

Well after 18 months of slow progress, Miss Piggy finally went in for her roadworthy and LPG cerification. The mechanic did some head scratching and the other mechanics all got there cameras out but common sense kicked in and they decided to treat the 101 like any other car.

Result - 100% pass.

Here tester is taking Miss Piggy for a drive and the brake test.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e334/gazzz21/Onherwayforroadtest1.jpg

Arriving back after a successful test.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e334/gazzz21/ComingbackfromRoadworthy1.jpg

They noted the vague steering and went over it quite carefully but noted that there was no slack in the system.

$1200 later - number plates and 12 months rego :).

The LPG system is still a bit of a worry. I drove for 50km yesterday on LPG and it worked well but the engine would not idle when you pulled up to lights - it would stall and would not restart on LPG and I would have to start on petrol. Yet - in my driveway it idles quite happily on LPG.

On the way to the roadworthy the truck was missing on LPG and the mechanic said the thingy was freezing up - not getting hot water. But the day before it all ran fine - then I realised I hat the heater on - the LPG installer had used the heater pipe to get the hot water for the LPG - now that I have the heater working properly (noting there was no heater when I bought it) when I turn off the tap the LPG also gets no hot water. Not an issue at the moment as I can keep the tap cracked open a bit but I will have to look for alternative plumbing for the LPG.

So the 101 is on the road, I will replace all the oils and fluids over the next few days and then wire up some lights inside. The 101 ain't no speed machine - cruises at 80kph indicated - 75kph GPS - on a freeway 100 should be OK. Yes I do have the 101 rumble and it is bad when it happens but easy to drive through.

Later the overdrive will be going in, then the rear diff lock and then the front diff lock. Then turn the mind to things like improving the brakes and steering.

So I am on the road:)

Garry

[Dinty]

G'day All, Good one Gary, it's always good to get to the end of the road 'kinda sorta' LOL cheers mate Dennis:angel:

[Dave Jump]

Congratulations Gary!
It makes all the blood and missing skin worthwhile. I know what it's like to get a roadworthy on a 101. I had to completly pad the rollbar to make the tester happy. Apparently I could hurt myself!
Enjoy.

[d@rk51d3]

Well done. ;)

Time for some fun. :cool:

[Psimpson7]

Congratulations. Looks fantastic. I am very jealous.:)

[Outlaw]

Very nice... great work :D

[101 Ron]

Fantastic news and I am happy for you as I think the last few weeks have been the hardest so far in the restoration.
You now need to get some miles in miss piggy to iron out any bugs.
Yes the cruising speed for a stock 101 is 8okph / 50 mph.
The 101 will go to 80mph stock ,.but the strain on vehicle and driver is not worth it.
It looks much better now with the canvass top on.
Regards ron

[101RRS]

I also have 8 litres of olive drab in the garage so a quick paint job might be the go if I have time on my hands. Don't like the idea of the preparation though as the current paint is peeling - though if it looks OK from a distance that should be good enough.

I also need to put all the 101 stuff back on like the pintle hooks, rear bumpers, winch fairleads and so forth. Still quite a lot to do but at least it can be driven - an engine tune up will not go astray.

Thanks for all the comments.

Garry

[p38arover]

Congratulations. Looks fantastic. I am very jealous.:)


^ Wot he said! ^

[Shonky]

Looks great Garry!

Congratulations! :D

[Phoenix]

how different does she look now to when you got her. Great work!

[Lotz-A-Landies]

Great work Garry, it's been a long and arduous task for you.

Am looking forward to seeing it at the Winter Rally and on that note I have asked Iain Reed and Monty Jones to see if they can come along too, so that would be four 101s.

Monty's 101 needs to be rego'ed I suggested Hysteric but that'll take time and Iain is pleading with SWIMBO for another trip to Oberon.

Diana

[101 Ron]

There is a bloke in the AMVCS who has a 101 as well and comes to every winter rally but usually drives a Studebaker......there is a chance he may take his 101........may be five?

[tas101fc]

geeeezzzz

Garry thats enough to give a bloke a guilt trip.

Spose Ill have to break out the spanners now too.

Well done looks like all the late cold nights have not been in vain.

Hope all the small bits come together for you.

PS 80km/h in a 101 is ok as I here your only a 60km/h driver:p

cheers TAS101FC

[Dave Jump]

Hi all.
When's this winter rally? I could use a trip out.

[101RRS]

geeeezzzz

Garry thats enough to give a bloke a guilt trip.

Spose Ill have to break out the spanners now too.

Well done looks like all the late cold nights have not been in vain.

Hope all the small bits come together for you.

PS 80km/h in a 101 is ok as I here your only a 60km/h driver:p

cheers TAS101FC

No cold nights as all the work has to be done outside - it is just too friggin cold. Day time on a cold Canberra winter day is bad enough - earlier in the year it was the opposite - to friggin hot.

On the 80kph aspect - I was surprised how accurate the speedo is - at 80 indicated - real speed is just a few kph slower - but not as slow as 60:lol:. I did about 80km yesterday and when I hopped into the freelander this morning I thought something must have been wrong - the steering and brakes were so light - seems I had quickly got used to heavy steering and hard brakes on the 101.

Yep - the more 101s on the road the better - better get going:).

Garry

[101 Ron]

Hi all.
When's this winter rally? I could use a trip out.

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/lroc-sydney-general-chat/84717-lroc-sydney-amvcs-winter-rally.html

[101RRS]

I got flashed by a cop car just around the corner from home this evening but I was on low beam. However I thought I would double check the lights and it would seem low beam has been wired up to high beam switching and vice versa ;). I think where the wires are crossed is in a large dual replay that had been installed to manage the lights.

Other than that all is going well - bought some cup holders today - gotta get your priorities right :).

Garry

[101 Ron]

Great minds think alike.
I fitted cup holders to my 101 too.
My shot gun riding 7 year old would spill his drinks etc while I was taking care of the driving side of things.
After having success with them on the boat I purchased two for the 101.
They are cheap folding plastic things from K mart and are mounted on the engine cover.
Where did you fit yours.
I am happy to see you got priorities right .
Ron

[101RRS]

I got two from BCF that can take big bottles or little bottles. I initially thought of the engine cover - but decided on some that mount on vertical surfaces - like the door windows.

However, I have decided to mount mine on the windscreen - either side of the centre pillar at the bottom - they are not on the line of sight, are within reach and being held by suction caps are easily removed. I also bought some small cheap plastic gadget boxes from Bunnings to sit on the engine cover for things like the phone, my handheld 5w UHF, change etc - these also work well.

Driving happily along the freeway this afternoon at a nice cruising speed and got overtaken by a postie on his postie bike :(.

Garry

[Lotz-A-Landies]

...Driving happily along the freeway this afternoon at a nice cruising speed and got overtaken by a postie on his postie bike :(.

GarryGarry

It must be great after all this time to be driving Miss Piggy, I can just about see the grin from here.

Diana

[Sleepy]

Congrats Garry, Very fine looking machine. :cool:

[Dave Jump]

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/lroc-sydney-general-chat/84717-lroc-sydney-amvcs-winter-rally.html

Bugger I'll be working in Nz!

[tas101fc]

Dave I have got an adress for the guy in NZ with the coil sprung 101 and other asorted landrover toys if you would like to look him up.:)

[101RRS]

I have just been driving the 101 around town where the '101 rumble' was showing up. I took the front driveshaft out yesterday and it is basically OK though the UJs and splines have been lubed with moly grease. Handbook says use general purpose grease on the splines - I guess the GP grease has a lower melting point that is more appropriate to the splines. So I put it back together with the general purpose grease.

The proof would be in the driving so I decided to take it up into the mountains. I saw a letter that advised Parks NSW had closed Mt Coree for the winter which I thought is strange as the track is all rock and very hard to chew up. As Mt Coree is only 20km from my place I thought I would go and check it out.

So here is where I wanted to go - hopefully to the top.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e334/gazzz21/04082009001-1.jpg

Driving over there the rumble had substantially decreased and was non existent under 80kph (did get up to 115kph downhill and it drove quite well).

Off the main road on onto the wet clay tracks the sand tyres I have worked well but making the climb up the mountain it was mainly first and second as the engine would not pull anything better. The noise in a 101 is not too bad - the engine is quiet in the cab but the exhaust is very loud and this is where the noise comes from.

With all the bouncing around, doggie was not happy - Mintie is 12 and prefers the comfort of the Freelander but she did mange to get dog slobber all over the windows.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/

The rear end on a 101 slips and slides under brakes when going downhill and this showed up in the slippery conditions. The rear brakes on a 101 basically do not work in the unloaded state so the so the rear attempts to overtake the front in slippery conditions. I think if the 101 is to be used unloaded most of the time it would be better that the load apportioning valve be removed.

Overall the 101 went quite well and was reasonable quiet and comfortable.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e334/gazzz21/04082009003.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e334/gazzz21/04082009004.jpg

When I got to the Mt Coree Summit road I found there was a gate and this sign
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e334/gazzz21/04082009006.jpg
They must have dug up the rocks on the road and replaced it with dirt because as it was, it was really an all weather track - I bet it is now going to be closed more than it is open - taking away one of the shortest and easiest drives around to get to a great view.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e334/gazzz21/04082009007.jpg

Then back home - all went well. On the way back the 101 rumble started coming back so I think a quick squirt of grease into the splines before each trip may be some help in reducing this annoying 101 trait.

Cheers

Garry

[oliver1981]

Hi garry,

great to see you on the road with the act plates. Did they give you a tough time at rego? Drop me a line when you next heading for the brindies and i will tag along in the jalopy.

Cheers

[101RRS]

Hi garry,

great to see you on the road with the act plates. Did they give you a tough time at rego? Drop me a line when you next heading for the brindies and i will tag along in the jalopy.

Cheers

Tag along would be great. I was able to get all my roadworthy stuff done via my local LPG guy - did a standard roadworthy and LPG certification and passed all OK. I didn't have to go near the grumpy old men except to pay my money.

Was a lot all easier than what I was anticipating.

Cheers

Garry

[Lotz-A-Landies]

Great to see it on the road.

Spoke to Ron this morning, he is having trouble with his ISP and is off-line till the problem is fixed, something to do with infrastructure.

Also confirmed with Iain Reed, he will be joining us for Saturday but didn't get an overnight leave pass.

Seeing 3 101s off road together will be a rare sight. Looking forward to it! :) :)

Diana

[iain reed]

nice one Garry
see you there i'll be the one in the big green thing .. looking forward (no pun intended) to seeing all 3 in a row

[101RRS]

nice one Garry
see you there i'll be the one in the big green thing .. looking forward (no pun intended) to seeing all 3 in a row

Great - I think we will all be there in our big green things:). See you there.

Garry

[tas101fc]

Please remeber the number 1 rule no pics didn't happen

have fun all:)

[DODGE]

Gday garry

I havent been on for a while. great to see the old girl all licensed, now its time to enjoy. the three 101s together will be a good photo opp if it comes together. enjoy:D

Cheers gaz

[101 Ron]

Just got back.
Pics to come.
Miss Piggy went well.
Four 101s showed up.

[101 Ron]

I was too busy doing things again to take many pics, but I know others will send pics to post.
Garrys 101 at the junction of middle fire trail and licking hole fire trail.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2009/08/1389.jpg

[101 Ron]

Lunch on the way out at Brass walls .
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2009/08/1387.jpg

[101 Ron]

Silent Ck
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2009/08/1373.jpg

[101 Ron]

Retreat river
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2009/08/1369.jpg

[101 Ron]

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2009/08/1368.jpg
Silent CK

[101 Ron]

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2009/08/1367.jpg

[101RRS]

Hi all - well Ron has posted heaps of pics on my 101 so I will not put up any more on this thread.

I bought 'Miss Piggy' in January last year as a non goer and from the start decided not to do a restoration but simply bring the he back to presentable, usable and reliable condition.

Over the past 18 months the main areas of work have been the electrics, all aspects of the brakes had to be replaced and the the rear cross member required extensive rust removal.

In April, Ron invited me to attend the Military Vehicle Collectors winter rally - and foolishly I said yes - then I realised I would have to get in and finish her:( over a cold Canberra winter. Ron's 101 was getting lonely on the trips and wanted another 101 for company - in fact we ended up with four 101s on the rally - Ron's, mine, Iain Reed's Misguided 2 and John Potters.

Any way I managed to to get Miss Piggy registered Wednesday two weeks ago - just 10 days prior to the rally.

As can be seen from Ron's pic's - I not only made it to the rally but survived relatively trouble free and everything worked well. Ron managed to fix my boat like steering and diagnosed my ongoing starter problems. No unknown issues showed up on the trip (except I have a bastardised front driveshaft). Oh - when driving on the flat around Lake George I could not resist the temptation to find out how fast a 101 would go and the speedo showed 120kph and the GPS showed 113.8kph.

Over the past 18 months a lot of people have provided support and help with the project and to all of you I am most thankful - in particular 101 Ron who has been of help - big time. Also Lotz a Landies who has provided advice on lots of landie issues and helped with an infected thumb on the trip - also thanks to the other 101 owners who have offered encouragement.

On arrival back home yesterday we went straight up onto the ramps so the starter motor can come out tomorrow for some work. I need to put in my spare steering column but thanks to Ron's work that it not such an urgent task now but will have to be done soon.

Next jobs are - put the winch cable back in, install the rear locker, put in the overdrive, put in the front locker - but we are fully operational now - and thats what counts.

Thanks to everyone who has helped or provided encourgement.

Cheers

Garry

PS - Once Ron starts a trip report :-) on the weekend trip to Silent Creek - I will put some other pics of the four 101s and other vehicles and the emu there - I don't think we managed to get a pic with all four 101s together - but did manage two pics with three 101s in each - mine is in all pics of course.

[iain reed]

what fun we had... thanks to all especially Ron for all his hard work organising the outing it was great to see 4 x 101's out in the field doing there stuff
i had a great time and we should do it all again... maybe when it is warmer
great to see miss piggy going sorry about your thumb
talk soon:)

[tas101fc]

Good Work boys, great pics, hope all had a good weakend and getting home in one peice is allways a good result.

PS The shame I now live with, the guilt is starting to get to me too.:(
will need to break out the spanners very very soon.:o

[101 Ron]

Incase some people missed the LROC Sydney thread .....more pics there
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/lroc-sydney-general-chat/84717-lroc-sydney-amvcs-winter-rally.html

[iain reed]

NICE PICS RON
well done
thanks again :):)

[Dave Jump]

Cheers for the pics, looks like everyone had a great time.

[101 Ron]

I am waiting on more pics from Josh (the man from the south coast 4wd club with a Mitsubishi) who is very handy with a camera.
(I want the 101 pulling 10 ton Mack pics)

[Lotz-A-Landies]

....PS - Once Ron starts a trip report :-) on the weekend trip to Silent Creek - I will put some other pics of the four 101s and other vehicles and the emu there - I don't think we managed to get a pic with all four 101s together - but did manage two pics with three 101s in each - mine is in all pics of course.Not true! :)

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2009/08/1204.jpg

Also not true! :D :D

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2009/08/1226.jpg

I didn't realise the difference in the size of the Series Vs 101 windscreen till this pic! (Even with the issues of perspective taken into account.)

[Sleepy]

Great pics Guys! I love 101's .........and any LR FC for that matter.

I've got 2500mm clearance on my carport...........is that enough ?:angel:

[101RRS]

Not true! :)

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2009/08/1204.jpg



Yeah, yeah - well done - spotted your pic later :D

Garry

[cooee]

hi guys
great story and great photos impressive photos :Dglad you all had great time
cheers cooee:)

[rar110]

thanks for the pics. The 101 are an impressive looking vehicle. What size tyres are they 9 x 16s?

[101RRS]

What size tyres are they 9 x 16s?

Yep though some have 255x100 16".

Garry

[101RRS]

I have now put up 2500km on the 101 since it has been back on the road. On the first major trip up to Abercrombie National Park everything went pretty well. 101 Ron sorted some steering issues and there will be more work required in this area. Idle, particularly on gas needs to be sorted but the engine seems to running all Ok. Ron noticed that my front driveshaft has some non original bits and I will have this sorted in due course.

For the last two weeks it has been my daily runner around Newcastle and has been attracting a bit of attention - the novelty wears off after a while. The oil leaks have started and I now have a major one from the rear main crankshaft seal (can this be done with the engine in place?).

There is a top drive shaft guy in Newcastle and after a lot of discussion and looking I am getting a new front shaft made - it will have larger high angle UJs, high angle yokes, longer, heavier, larger diameter splines and a larger tube. My current driveshaft is all quiet for 100km after it has been greased and I think that it is pushing out the grease through the breather hole. The new shaft will have a smaller breather hole. We also looked at double carden joints and CVs - all is possible but at a cost.

I need to fix a perished rubber filler pipe - can only fill the 3/4 of a tank with petrol but I am getting 260km out of my LPG tank. Next jobs are put my overdrive in, put the rear locker in and then later the front locker.

So there is still plenty to do but I pleased with how the 101 is running.

When driving back from Newcastle to Canberra yesterday I noticed a Landcruiser tray back coming up on me in the next lane - as it pulled up beside me it slowed to match my speed and the youngish passenger was hanging out of the window with a camera taking Miss Piggy's picture. When the guy finished the pic, he had a grin from ear to ear and gave me a big thumbs up - that made my day.:)

Cheers

Garry