Thread: '70 IIA Wagon questions

Thanks for that drifter. As you can see, while you were busily typing me an answer, I was busily typing in the question. The suffix is "G", as you suspected - also recorded on the data plate mounted to the cab side of the firewall.
Cheers
John B

Went and picked up the S2A this morning. The breakfast news had said that train services were disrupted due to the bushfire south of my place so I figured I'd drive all the way in to work. Then I discovered the LPG was flashing into the red LED and one fuel gauge shows empty and the other shows 1/4 tank. Also I know the handbrake doesn't work so decided I'd better head home and use the Nissan today - is that how Land Rover ownership normally starts?

So I was a little excited when I finally got home and headed out to see the new toy.
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Looks much better without the roof tent on.

I took the cover off the spare tyre on the bonnet to discover that it's a 7.50 x 16" whereas the tyres on the car are 31/10.5 x 15".
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I then pulled the seat bases out and hinged the back forward to discover a nice little surprise.
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That'll be to go with the Kenwood stereo mounted in the overhead console. A Series LR with a CD player!!
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I checked all the electrics (after the stereo stopped working when I changed the channel!) and found all but one of the 9 lights at the front actually worked! All the rear lights worked, including the high mounted work light that switches from the dash. All the mod cons!!
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I took it for a short drive in the paddock. Engaged 4x4 in high range and then switched it into low range. Dumped the clutch and all four wheels spin, so that's a good start. (My paddocks are all soft sand). Pretty much everything seems to work with only a few minor things that don't.

Can almost see the smile on your face from the East Coast!
Great Series you have there, look after her and she will reward you for many years to come.

So I got to spend a bit of time with the new Landy today. (I'm going to have to come up with a name I think). Anyway, I wanted to take the wheels off but found there's no wheel brace and I don't have a 1 1/16" socket. I did go and have a look at another S2A the same year (1970) that's for sale for $500 but it was locked up in a yard and we couldn't raise the yard owner to come and open up. I'll go and have a look during the week. I'm hoping (long shot) that it has a wheel brace tucked away in it somewhere. I'm looking at it with the idea of it being a spares source for original 16" wheels to replace my 15" sunraysers and maybe the tie-rod and other steering link ball joints are better than the ones I have and maybe the handbrake too. The one for sale has a rusted out firewall and probably chassis so a parts source, although it is a genuine 2.25 LR 4cyl engine. The guy selling it would be happier if it was to be restored but happy enough that it doesn't go to a scrap yard.

I got the stereo working again but also discovered during a drive that even with the 200W amp and the volume up you still couldn't really hear it over all the other racket. When stopped at the lights I'd have to keep turning it down to avoid deafening the people in the cars in the lane next to me ... or even behind me!. Eventually I turned it off and enjoyed the drive. What a great way to travel. Really enjoyed it. Be even better when it stops wondering all over the place after I sort out all the wobbling balljoints in the steering system.

Now, onto my questions for the day. Driving in a 90kph zone the car well behind me was maintaining the distance rather than catching me. This was a long, straight and wide road with good visibility and little traffic. My speedo was showing around 45mph and the tacho about 2,800rpm with the 186 Holden motor buzzing along nicely. I thought maybe the speedo is a little pessimistic? So when I got home I opened up the folder of receipts that came with the car and found a receipt for purchase and installation of a pair of 3.54 diff's. Can anyone tell me a little more of what this means? Does it explain my suspicions of incorrect speedo if the speedo drive comes from the gearbox output? Next drive I'll take a GPS with me and see if I can get a correlation for the speed from that.

Cheers
John B
Ps: Did I mention I really enjoyed my drive in it??

G'day All, The std diff ratio is 4.7 for a Series2A, it could have diffs out of a S3 stage 1 they ran 3.54 I'm sure, but certain if I'm incorrect somebody will correct my 'mistake, I wouldn't be dumping the clutch too many times in low range something will give bigtime cheers Dennis

Good to hear that you are enjoying it John!

Paddock have wheel braces at ridiculously cheap prices - I bought one and I have been very happy with it.

Using the GPS to check the speed is a good idea. You can check if the 3.54 diffs have been fitted by:
1. Jack up one wheel and support the axle on a stand.
2. Make a chalk mark on the propellor shaft next to a prominent feature on the axle, or mark the axle housing as well.
3. Make a mark on the tyre at any convenient position - 6 o'clock next to a tool on the ground would be easy.
4. Rotate the wheel in any direction one complete revolution, whilst someone else observes the propellor shaft and counts off the number of times the chalk mark passes the datum mark. If the answer is 3 and one-half then you have the 3.54 diffs

This ratio will give the Holden engine an easier life by reducing the revs in top gear,

Cheers Charlie

Originally Posted by chazza

Good to hear that you are enjoying it John!

Paddock have wheel braces at ridiculously cheap prices - I bought one and I have been very happy with it.

Using the GPS to check the speed is a good idea. You can check if the 3.54 diffs have been fitted by:
1. Jack up one wheel and support the axle on a stand.
2. Make a chalk mark on the propellor shaft next to a prominent feature on the axle, or mark the axle housing as well.
3. Make a mark on the tyre at any convenient position - 6 o'clock next to a tool on the ground would be easy.
4. Rotate the wheel in any direction one complete revolution, whilst someone else observes the propellor shaft and counts off the number of times the chalk mark passes the datum mark. If the answer is 3 and one-half then you have the 3.54 diffs

This ratio will give the Holden engine an easier life by reducing the revs in top gear,

Cheers Charlie

Hmmm. That didn't work out quite as expected but I think I have the answer. Firstly, thank-you for your response Charlie. I did as you said but the prop shaft rotation was less than two. So I changed tack slightly and turned the wheel 10 times and counted the prop shaft rotation at 17.75 times. (Too much time on my hands??). That works out to 1.775 prop shaft rotations to 1 wheel rotation. Hmmm. Multiply it by two and it looks nice at 3.55. Could this be right based on a diff action splits the drive between two wheels but I only had one wheel lifted? I can't get my head around it but the numbers look good then.

I removed the radiator top and bottom hoses and the bypass hose, as well as the thermostat, today. I discovered that the "crunchy" feeling I felt when squeezing the top hose was in fact just an internal shaping spring to prevent the hose from being collapsed. The hoses were all in pretty good condition but I decided to press ahead with replacing them and keeping these as emergency spares. Interestingly the bypass hose seems to be a 202 Holden one, so I wonder if they've put a 202 water pump on the 186 to improve flow? Anyone come across this before? So the replacement hoses are ordered - 186 rad hoses and 202 bypass hose.

Noticed the thermostat is a 71DegC one. This might explain why the temperature gauge reads so low? So I have replaced that with an 82DegC one which seems to me more like what I'd expect on a 0.5Bar system. I'll see how that goes but I also wonder if the electric fan kicks in early so might check the thermoswitch on that. I think it's mounted in the top tank of the radiator which might explain it switching on when stopped on hot days.

I pulled the indicator switch apart as it was loose. In the process figured out how the rubber wheel does the auto cancelling function that wasn't working. I was amazed at the engineering that's gone into the design for this switch. I'll take it apart again one day and take some photo's of the mechanical detail of it. Brilliant. The switch now doesn't wobble and the rubber wheel has the pressure it needs to return the stalk to centre when the steering wheel turns.

I took the spare wheel off the bonnet. Does anyone have a photo of how the wheel is supposed to be bolted to the bonnet? I suspect the block of wood with a hole drilled through isn't correct.

That's it for now. I'll try and fit the new hoses and refill the system with Tectol coolant during the week. In the mean time I have several items in my "watchlist" on eBay so will do some shopping tonight. The mission next weekend will be to look into the dud handbrake issue. I also have been given a lead to a series 1, so might chase that down.

Forgot to mention something: I discovered the clamps at both ends of the tie-rod were completely loose. If you look closely at the photo I posted earlier in this thread you can actually see that the clamp is undone.

So not only is there insufficient clamping force on a SIIA clamping to the threads of a SIII tie-rod end but my clamps weren't clamping at all! I'll take the tie-rod off and see how much of the rod is actually threaded over the tie-rod end.
Cheers
John B

Another day, another question...
The top and bottom radiator hoses arrived today so my wife picked them up for me. They're not right. The picture on the shop counter PC looked the same as the old hoses I held up to compare but the new hoses are slightly different - different enough.

So does anyone have an idea of what radiator hoses are likely to have been used with a 186 Holden motor if not 186 Holden parts?
- The bottom hose is too "tall" - that is the straight length between the bottom turn and the top turn is too long.
- The bottom turn is also not quite "sharp" enough. The top hose is slightly long, which could be trimmed, but the turn is not quite tight enough and so the hose "collapses" a little when forced to bend a little tighter.
- The bypass hose is a 202 Holden part and works fine so I am suspicious that I maybe need 202 Holden rad hoses. Anyone know if they're similar shape but slightly different dimensions?

I'd spend some time at the shop again but I'm going to be away on sites for the next couple of days.

Cheers
John B