Thread: The Grey Ghost - a Rolling Restoration

Soooooo, I've been sitting here patiently waiting for an update... Did the Grey Ghost make it to the Mechanics for its Roady and other things? Is it running? So many questions... what are the answers???

Don't keep me hanging mate - have you got any news you can pass on?

Cheers - Gav

Well.. Ahh.. Errr.

I went down to the Mechanics on Saturday morning (as excited as a school kid).

"Sorry - the workshop is full at the moment, it will have to be sometime next week"

I went home, cleaned the Grey Ghost a little...

And that's it - unfortunately I'm still waiting...

I will chase the Mechanic up if I haven't heard anything by Wednesday.



Regards,
The Grey Ghost

Hi All,

Not a lot to report - the Grey Ghost is at the mechanics, and he has been "slowly" working on it:

* I got him to install the Clutch Slave Cylinder

* I got him to bleed the Clutch

* He's having fun bleeding the brakes - interestingly the fronts are fine, it's the rears that are giving him trouble....

* He recommended (and I have ordered) - new Engine Mounts and new Gearbox Mounts

* The Grey Ghost didn't want to start initially, but after he pulled out the plugs and cleaned them up, it "starts first time and purrs like a kitten now"

* His apprentices (and a customer that once owned a Series 3) are amazed at how great a 50 year old car looks.

Hopefully not too much longer now...

Regards,
The Grey Ghost

Hi All,

Not much more to report... I made the mistake of saying to my local mechanic "this is a weekend car, give it a full service, check all of the work that I have done, and give me a road-worthy."

That was 8 weeks ago...

In that time The Grey Ghost has had:
Full Service
New Battery
Installed a new Clutch Slave Cylinder
Bleed Clutch
Bleed Brakes (a pig of a job according to the mechanic)
5 x New Tyres
1 x New Battery
New Engine Mounts
New Gearbox Mounts
Swivel Pin Repair Kit / Gaskets
New Front Bearings
1 x Tie Rod

So hopefully, fingers & toes crossed, I get to finally bring The Grey Ghost home soon.

I have held off posting pics until I have the RWC in my hands!

Regards,
The Grey Ghost.

Hang in there - it sounds like it is almost done. The wait will be all worth it when you have the RWC and can screw the number plates on.

Looking forward to seeing it on the raod - Gav

Wow, fantastic job mate!
I spent most of my uni lectures browsing ebay pages for series landies
Honestly, If I thought I could hide it in someway that would stop my mother from killing me, inventing re-animation and reviving me just to kill me again if I dare bring home another Landrover I'd do it!
Looking forward to seeing the Ghost when it's finished
Cheers
Muppet

Hi All,

The Grey Ghost still isn't ready - but it is getting very, very, very, close.

The mechanic now believes that he has found the problem with bleeding the brakes.

The mechanic found that when he clamped the rear flexible brake line off (and thus the rear brakes) - the brake pedal was rock hard and worked perfectly. From that he deduced that the problem was with the rear fixed brake lines (which are brand new) or the wheel cylinders (which have been re-sleeved). When he removed the bleed nipple, he noticed that there was marks on the underside of the bleed nipple and thought that there should be a ball bearing in there to make those marks... Checking one of the front wheel cylinders confirmed this to be the case!

The mechanic thinks that when you loosen off the bleed nipple, the bearing moves and allows fluid/air to move around it - and out of the bleed nipple.
Then when you tighten up the bleed nipple, the ball bearing is forced up inside the end of the bleed nipple, and thus closes off bleed nipple from any air getting in..

What happens when the ball bearing is missing? Even though the bleed nipple is closed, he ends up sucking air back through the lines...

He discovered that both of my rear wheel cylinders are missing the ball bearings, although he can see marks on the underside of the actual bleed nipple..

I checked my old (damaged) wheel cylinders - and some of them have a bearing, some don't... I took down all of my spare wheel cylinders, in the hope that he can take the ball bearings from the spares and use in the ones on the car.

Is all of the above correct? It sounds plausible to me..

Is there a standard ball bearing size for the wheel cylinders? (This Landy is a 1961 LWB, but I am already working on my 1960 SWB and so am wondering if I will have the same issue...)

Fingers crossed! Closer..

Regards,
The Grey Ghost.

Your analysis sounds correct. I'm not sure whether all bleed nipples have ball bearings - these are shown in my Series 1 book, but not in my Series 2a book, and I suspect both their presence may not be uniform, particularly if you have aftermarket cylinders. Same goes for the size. One thing that is certain, is that if it looks as if it should have a ball, it needs one! The ball will be used because it provides a hard, accurate sealing surface, which would otherwise be expensive to produce on the screw - although I suspect improved manufacturing methods may make this less expensive in more recent years.

John