Thread: What have I done! IIa sitting out front.

Originally Posted by Ozdunc

Next step will be to fit the starter motor with the replaced spring, but that means removing the intake manifold and extractors again.
Sigh......

Dunc,
I think I have read on here that the later reduction-drive starters from a Disco fit and they are smaller and more powerful.

It might save you the hassle of removing the manifolds in the future,

Cheers Charlie

Probably a stuck brush or similar minor problem since there were no prior symptoms.

John

Thanks guys,

Charlie I've got another starter thats been refurbed recently, I just took it off when the main spring failed. I'd chucked this one one as a temporary measure, but like all temporary things they have a habit of staying longer than one intended
And whilst its extra work, its really only 20mins to undo the manifolds and throttle connection. Which I did this morning. The thought of having to do it was more onerous than the act itself!

John, thanks for the pointers. It'll give me somewhere to start when I open it up.

Well that was easy!
An hour all up. 20mins this morning to loosen the manifolds and centre pipe join. Then 40 mins this eve to swap out the starters, put the manifolds back, reconnect the throttle and electrics and turn the key.
How often does that happen? Usually you tell the boss "It shouldn't be long" and 5hours later you're still wrestling to tap out the seized bolt.
Happy days time for a

So I've done nothing with the old starter, except put it in a ziploc bag with some of those little anti moisture sacks, and stuffed it in a box of spares.

Not that I didn't want to do it, but I really need to rebuild the LC steering box first.
Then because stripping down a steering box and rebuilding it before I next needed the LC was impossible, I decided to upgrade Bill's headlights with some halogens. And since I was doing that I might as well upgrade the wiring set up as well.

So I ran some 50amp wiring to a 30amp auto-reset circuit breaker, then on to 2 30amp relays as the power source (30). Split the 2 wires coming from the floor switch. Used the switch side of the wire as the trigger feed on the relay (86), the headlight side of the wire attached to the normally open pin (87) and ran 2 new earth wires from pin 85.




Removed the sealed beam head light and pulled out the old plug and wiring. Managed to save the rubber bung from the back cover and pass through a new H4 plug fitting. Spliced in the wiring, then plugged in the new halogen and reflector, and screwed it back in.
THe reflectors have a plain plastic lens, which is flat, so the front end looks a little different than the traditional convex shaped of the sealed beam.




They work great, much better light output and much whiter light as well. Highly recommended.

Talking of lights, whilst I was doing that, I noticed my new rear 3" lights weren't working properly. Only one tail light and no brake lights.
Turns out even after fixing up the wiring the actual holders are made of toffee. The spring pushing the contacts against the bulb had actually caused the bulb retaining pins to move though the plastic til the bulb actually fell out into the cover.
And on the other side the solder on the contacts had rotated so that the brake light wire no longer contacted.
These are Tiger brand from Britpart.
To get round this I used the bulb holder and wiring from the old 2" lights and the 3" rubber back and cover (luckily the retaining screw spacing for the covers are the same) and all is good with the world.
I can't remember the maker of the 2" light fittings (something beginning with P) but the quality is chalk and cheese, so this fix should last.

Finally after reading Jonno's thread, I bought a TM4. I haven't fitting it, as I'm having a hard time finding a place where I can see it without it looking incongruous. Maybe I'll need to fab up a little metal box for it...

Originally Posted by Ozdunc

Finally after reading Jonno's thread, I bought a TM4. I haven't fitting it, as I'm having a hard time finding a place where I can see it without it looking incongruous. Maybe I'll need to fab up a little metal box for it...

Yep, I understand what you mean. I did change my mind several times about where to fit it. I will be putting in a roof console and initially planned to hide it up there. In the end, the place I chose next to the steering column is pretty unobtrusive and it is easily read and the light from it will not be in my eyeline when driving.

Well its been about 500kms since the new engine went in, so time for a little check over.
Rocker cover off, tappets adjusted. They were mostly correct, a couple a smidge off and one out by 0.02.
Amazing what a difference even those small adjustments make, now it purrs like a kitten at idle.

Dropped the oil, very black and a few metal flakes. Not so sure about that, but I've never broken in a 45 year old engine before. Also the catch bowl wasn't clean so it might be metal flakes from the old engine or any other number of automotive sources. I'll run this new oil for another 500km and check again then.

Pulled out the plugs and did a compression test. V happy with the results. 160psi on 1 and 3, 157psi on 2 and 4.
This is 15-20 psi up on the old engine.

Plugs looked ok, possibly slightly lean but I think OK. Number 1had a tiny bit of oil on the underside of the curved bit of the electrode, so a small bit of blow by. I probably need to drive a bit harder now.

No 1 plug


No 2 plug


No 3 plug


No 4 plug

Nothing much to report so feel free to skip this little entry.

Over the last couple of weeks, I've just done those little un-exciting jobs like tiding the wiring, putting it inside conduit and making sure there are no rub points.
Removing the dash to find out why the 12V outlet had suddenly stopped working, checking all the connections, having it all work nicely, then stop working again as soon as I screwed the dash back together again.
It works now, but I await Mr Lucas' return...

And then I found some always live wires just sitting in the chassis, awaiting some poor unsuspecting sod to lie in a puddle and lick the chassis.

Tightening the U-bolts at JNSW's suggestion has quietened the suspension considerably, but I need to fettle with the springs to stop them catching with the chassis mounts at the front.

Rego is due soon, so I adjusted the brakes ( another job that was surprisingly easy - I was expecting seized adjusters) and was checking the truck over only to find the rubber gaiter on the handbrake and the hi/lo lever are completely perished. They're only 2years old max, the rubber quality must be pants.
I've ordered some new ones, so has anyone got any tips to help preserve the rubber this time around???