'84 Land Rover ex-MOD 109, OM606 hi-cap

I've been racking up yet more miles in the 109 over the last few months. Flew through the mot again and the engine feels a bit smoother with the softer engine mounts fitted. The turbo now maxes out at 18psi, outright acceleration is almost the same as what it was when hitting 25-27psi but there isn't the same amount of smoke coming out of the exhaust. I think the turbo was just heating up the air reducing the density, but the pump was seeing the pressure and fuelling to suit.

I've seperated the original single feed from the inlet manifold that was joined into the pump boost reference port and boost gauge into three seperate ports for the pump, wastegate and gauge. Eventually I plan to run hard lines to replace the washer tubing, that can wait until some other time



Another job that needed doing was making a new tunnel cover since the original had been pretty well hacked up to make room for the LT77 lever and already had some big holes in it





And I've bought a new ragtop to suit the hi-cap body





And roll up sides







And the important stuff



With it suddenly getting dark I figured after driving it for a few years it was about time I removed all the 24volt dashboard bulbs which simply didn't give out any visible light, and put new 12volt bulbs in! It makes such a difference being able to see the gauges at night and not rely on light being relected around to illuminate the dashboard





And on the subject of lights I've screwed a cheap led lightbar on the front. It is very good as a spot, so combined with the mainbeams there's a lot of light thrown everywhere forwards



And not forgetting I've wired up the reverse lights so can see where I've going backwards! I'm using a set of front sidelights with 21w bulbs in. I wasn't expecting the light output to be very good and had plan b in mind of wiring up a pair of small led spotlights underneath the tub. The light output is pretty good so I'll leave them alone unless I do find I need more rearwards nighttime visibility



Then we had that really chilly week. The heater is good in the 109, but I've noticed on the motorway airflow appears to drop off a bit. I think the heater feed on the side of the wing must be in a low pressure area at speed so I've made a little ram air scoop to help draw air in at speed











Now there's more consistent airflow from the heater driving down the motorway and along the backroads.

Very interesting thread. I have followed the journey, on and off; please forgive me if I have missed this issue. Re the improved snorkel design, have you by any chance also addressed the potential issue of water ingess into the axles, gearbox, transfer box, etc..., when playing in floods; ie. by fitting a suitable wading kit to these areas, thus then having raised breathers all round?
If you have, sorry for the interuption. Keep up the good work.

It still has the original fit military wading kit for both axles. Rear is piped into the chassis and the front curls up round the bulkhead near the heater. Eventually they'll be re-routed further up with new breathers fitted to the transmission



I broke the plastic top first time out playing, a branch took it clean off! Also having it pointed inwards should avoid it filling with water/spray and dirt. Being an old Land Rover with upright screen water loves to be splashed up at the screen so there's a real risk of even a moderate deep puddle being splashed up to the roof. Where I work it floods bad and I can easily have water thrown over the cab into the bed if I'm over-enthusiastic!

Great work.

What plans do you have to water proof the Heater blower intake as I would think not being without a heater would as important as the engine water proofing?

I think you might run into issues with rainwater ingress. Some form of gutter/drain to allow rain to find its way out before getting into the heater box and blower motor might be worth considering.

Oh, and I don’t know about wet feet, I’ve had cassette tapes float out of the window before. 🤣🤣

In case you are interested, Bryan at Design & Development Engineering has now released the parts needed to upgrade your Series front axle to Stage 1 V8. ie uprated 24 spline halfshafts and related bits to convert to CVs:

www.designdevelopmenteng.co.uk/store/Land-Rover-Stage-One-V8-c24646570

Give him a ring to discuss what's involved. That cuts out all the guesswork.

Well - all I can say is you have good taste sir.

Yes, I too am waiting for the stub axles although would prefer them in the early imperial bearing dimensions. Keep a beady eye on that Facebook page 😚

Pricey - but physically available:

www.designdevelopmenteng.co.uk/store/Land-Rover-Stage-One-V8-Stub-Axle-p223054848

It's been a busy few months trying to sort out my garage, go to work and some household diy going on. But with the improving weather I've been able to tick a few more jobs off my list on the 109

First off was fitting a new transmission mount to replace the bodged up solid mounts. The rubber mount and brackets came from a 200ti Discovery and should work fine with the 300tdi Discovery engine mounts already fitted



With some measurements I cut up some 30mm box steel and marked it up to cut and weld it to drop down and back from the original chassis mounts to the central transmission mount









The original mounting plate was welded onto my new crossmember the it was painted and fitted







Vibrations and rattles at idle almost entirely eliminated now!

Next up was tearing down the front axle to fit the Detroit Truetrac and upgraded driveshafts and cv joints





One of the front shafts is just starting to show signs of twisting in the splines



The diff has been holding up fine, nothing visibly wrong with it which I am suprised at considering how much abuse I've given!