Where has it all gone wrong? Two half days work on the Goddess in the last four weeks? Admittedly Dangerous has been busy, No. 1 Son has been distracted and SWMBO played a blinder on the bank holiday weekend with her Christmas present. For a woman who has nearly everything, i.e. me, the Goddess, some sheep and a garage full of automotive junk, I had to come up with something for her Xmas present last year so I made some of those homemade vouchers for DIY, a day with the parents-in-law, gardening etc. What I didn't do was add the rider that one offer can not be used in conjunction with any other offer or on consecutive days. So what did I get? A day each of DIY, gardening and the parents-in-law over the bank holiday weekend
So what have we been doing? I've been skimming brake discs for No. 1 Son
While he's been stripping the cab and removing the RHS front lights
Burger! One is fair rusted but not through to the inner chrome reflector surface
The master cylinder/servo is back from reconditioning with all new parts.
So the braking plans. We've had lots of suggestions ranging from using the DAF brakes to upgrading to air brakes from the later RL's. I made the metaphorical trek to the mountaintop to consult the Bedford gurus (Norman Aish of Bygone Bedford Bits and the Morters of Bedford Spares). Their advice was keep it standard as they had good brakes due to the weight carried and the RL only went to air brakes due to the Army wanting to tow trailers as well as them being fully loaded. Due to the wonderful complexity of
regulations of using a classic commercial loaded we'll be getting an MOT and that should clear up any concerns about brakes and engineering.
Next job was to address the (Natural Born) Killer Dowel Pin or KDP. This item is either the biggest threat to a 1989 to 1998-1/2 12-valve 6BT or it's the biggest load of hysteria since Y2K. There are countervailing opinions on most of the forums and it just seemed sensible to do it while the engine was out. What happens is that a steel dowel pin is pressed into the cast iron block during assembly which aligns the aluminium timing gear housing to the engine block during assembly. Over time, vibration and heat cycling can cause the pin to inch out entirely. When this occurs, there are 3 scenarios possible. (A) the pin falls out, bounces off the timing gears and ends up in the bottom of the timing case without causing any damage. No one is the wiser. (B) the pin can fall out and be forced against the aluminium housing and cracks it before exiting or falling to the bottom of the case. The drive is covered in oil. Finally (C) which no one wants, the pin comes loose, jams between the timing gears and causes catastrophic failure with the pistons hitting the valves and the engine destroys itself.
There's a kit from the States at over $100 or you can buy the crank oil seal and and timing case gasket a lot cheaper over this side of the pond. The kit does include a longer bolt and a blocking tab. I elected to make my own using the standard bolt and a spring steel tab,
With the timing case off it was obvious that the pin wastill in place and deep in the hole. Never mind put blocking tab in
then just pop the new crank seal in and seemples. Not a chance as it was a real burger to get properly fitted.
We also re-torqued down the rest of the timing case bolts as they've been known to loosen after a few 100k miles with similar consequences.
While Dangerous and No. 1 Son were putting her back together I removed more stuff off the chassis and found to my cost the folly of cheap spanners
Also had the intercooler and rad apart to find some sort of paper towel between them and both partially blooked by mud
Ordered a shifter that converts the ZF 5-speed to a top=shifter like the one below
Also ordered one of the recommended Transit Di alternators with the vacuum pump on the back. We'll use one of the old air tanks as a vacuum reservoir. The alternator will charge 2 x 12 volt batteries with a series parallel switch to get 24 volts through the original starter motor. We'll use the original air compressor to charge my portable tank and be able to run air tools in the paddock. That should make me popular.
And finally for this installment the difference between a Cummins and some other diesel engine (Land Rover). It was suggested that I might like to fit a van diesel or SUV diesel but the Cummins shows why it has 5 times the life.
That's not a diesel rod, this is a diesel rod
Cummins crank vs A.N. Other
So what have we been doing? I've been skimming brake discs for No. 1 Son
While he's been stripping the cab and removing the RHS front lights
Burger! One is fair rusted but not through to the inner chrome reflector surface
The master cylinder/servo is back from reconditioning with all new parts.
So the braking plans. We've had lots of suggestions ranging from using the DAF brakes to upgrading to air brakes from the later RL's. I made the metaphorical trek to the mountaintop to consult the Bedford gurus (Norman Aish of Bygone Bedford Bits and the Morters of Bedford Spares). Their advice was keep it standard as they had good brakes due to the weight carried and the RL only went to air brakes due to the Army wanting to tow trailers as well as them being fully loaded. Due to the wonderful complexity of
regulations of using a classic commercial loaded we'll be getting an MOT and that should clear up any concerns about brakes and engineering.
Next job was to address the (Natural Born) Killer Dowel Pin or KDP. This item is either the biggest threat to a 1989 to 1998-1/2 12-valve 6BT or it's the biggest load of hysteria since Y2K. There are countervailing opinions on most of the forums and it just seemed sensible to do it while the engine was out. What happens is that a steel dowel pin is pressed into the cast iron block during assembly which aligns the aluminium timing gear housing to the engine block during assembly. Over time, vibration and heat cycling can cause the pin to inch out entirely. When this occurs, there are 3 scenarios possible. (A) the pin falls out, bounces off the timing gears and ends up in the bottom of the timing case without causing any damage. No one is the wiser. (B) the pin can fall out and be forced against the aluminium housing and cracks it before exiting or falling to the bottom of the case. The drive is covered in oil. Finally (C) which no one wants, the pin comes loose, jams between the timing gears and causes catastrophic failure with the pistons hitting the valves and the engine destroys itself.
There's a kit from the States at over $100 or you can buy the crank oil seal and and timing case gasket a lot cheaper over this side of the pond. The kit does include a longer bolt and a blocking tab. I elected to make my own using the standard bolt and a spring steel tab,
With the timing case off it was obvious that the pin wastill in place and deep in the hole. Never mind put blocking tab in
then just pop the new crank seal in and seemples. Not a chance as it was a real burger to get properly fitted.
We also re-torqued down the rest of the timing case bolts as they've been known to loosen after a few 100k miles with similar consequences.
While Dangerous and No. 1 Son were putting her back together I removed more stuff off the chassis and found to my cost the folly of cheap spanners
Also had the intercooler and rad apart to find some sort of paper towel between them and both partially blooked by mud
Ordered a shifter that converts the ZF 5-speed to a top=shifter like the one below
Also ordered one of the recommended Transit Di alternators with the vacuum pump on the back. We'll use one of the old air tanks as a vacuum reservoir. The alternator will charge 2 x 12 volt batteries with a series parallel switch to get 24 volts through the original starter motor. We'll use the original air compressor to charge my portable tank and be able to run air tools in the paddock. That should make me popular.
And finally for this installment the difference between a Cummins and some other diesel engine (Land Rover). It was suggested that I might like to fit a van diesel or SUV diesel but the Cummins shows why it has 5 times the life.
That's not a diesel rod, this is a diesel rod
Cummins crank vs A.N. Other