sowen
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,245
Club RR Member Number: 24
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The old Rover 2000 and 2200 engines from the P6 were fitted back in the day. I believe Perkins Prima conversion kits are still available and they are almost identical in fitment to the Rover O,M and T series engines so in theory you should be able to bolt one of those straight onto the existing gearbox. 2ltr twincam turbo if you're so inclined!
Then again do you want to do something different with the Volvo idea? Anything can be made to fit if you really want. Ford V6's and Rover V8's are the most common petrol engine swaps out there with off the shelf adapters back in the day. Even the Rover V8 could give better fuel economy than the 2.25 petrol on a run with the right gearing!
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sowen
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,245
Club RR Member Number: 24
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Car Advice - Strange Brief sowen
@sowen
Club Retro Rides Member 24
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I have a TD4 Freelander as my token modern car. I do a mix of motorway, A/B road driving and rough tracks over about 60 miles each day and am just hovering around 38-40mpg
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sowen
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,245
Club RR Member Number: 24
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I'll be there. Got I list of stuff I want/need....
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sowen
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,245
Club RR Member Number: 24
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cracking work ive been eyeing up a tru-trac for mine actually, well i think i have, its the gear based auto torque biasing one? (similar to quaife, torsen etc) for me its the only one that comes in 10 spline rover flavour. Yes this is the geared one. Some good and bad reviews on Youtube, though some of the better vids show the wheel spinning then 'locking' which is what I want. I've noticed there isn't much offered for 10 spline diffs anymore. Not suprised as the shafts are tiny and everything post 300tdi as far as I know is 24 spline? cracking work ive been eyeing up a tru-trac for mine actually, well i think i have, its the gear based auto torque biasing one? (similar to quaife, torsen etc) for me its the only one that comes in 10 spline rover flavour. Go for the 24 spline Ashcroft ATB truetrac copy. They also do 24 spilne HD half shafts for series rear axles which solve all the problems. No good when 10 spline is the only option available like on a front axle, unless loads of money is spent on custom shafts etc. It is good however that Ashcroft are selling uprated 24 spline Rover type shafts for the series models, though even with series Landy's climbing in value, too many owners are penny pinching and will happily snap shaft after shaft rather than invest in something that won't break!
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sowen
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,245
Club RR Member Number: 24
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Battery And Starting Problems sowen
@sowen
Club Retro Rides Member 24
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Sept 26, 2019 19:01:44 GMT
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Stick the multimeter on it when it's cranking, sounds like there'll be a big drop and it's lost it's capacity.
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sowen
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,245
Club RR Member Number: 24
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Sept 23, 2019 21:42:56 GMT
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Last Edit: Sept 23, 2019 21:43:45 GMT by sowen
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sowen
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,245
Club RR Member Number: 24
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Sept 23, 2019 21:07:51 GMT
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I've had a couple of my cars running on Megajolt prior to going full Megasquirt. Plenty of maps out there for a variety of setups, not to mention it's dead easy to tweak and test the mapping yourself. I've not tried Nodiz but have heard it's just as good? And if you're a big immature child it's possible to retard the timing on overrun to get some pops and bangs out of the exhaust.....
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sowen
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,245
Club RR Member Number: 24
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Sept 20, 2019 17:23:45 GMT
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How much do you want to pay, do you want a fully mechanical diesel or would an ecu be ok?
Mercedes OM606 is a good engine (got one in my Land Rover), tuneable, and can be had with auto or manual once you find the bits. They came with an EDC pump so need an ecu to control, and I think it was well integrated into the host car but I believe there are aftermarket controllers available. Mechanical pumps can be swapped in, but those are desirable, rare, and thus pricey. Standard comes with a front bowl sump, but rear bowl sumps are available from later engines, though again since those are sought after for 4x4's etc they're also getting pricey.
BMW have a good selection of inline 6 diesels too with a variety of transmissions and I believe some of the older versions are mechanical injection? Not sure how much effort would be needed to get an ecu controlled BMW diesel to run out of the host car?
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sowen
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,245
Club RR Member Number: 24
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Sept 16, 2019 21:16:34 GMT
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....and the winter work begins! Watching with interest as you’ve made me want one albeit OM605 flavour...I don’t think this thread covered the engine transplant and gearbox mods/ install is it on another? Yep, the annual winterisation! Doing far more than planned, but all part of the long term plan hence having half of the parts already. I've got all the pics on my laptop of the conversion, and will eventually be doing a second custom bellhousing to suit the different length of the stubby R380 input shaft. That job has been pushed down the list since the LT77 is coping admirably, and with a sprung friction plate on order to replace the welded dual mass and solid friction plate combo should last a fair bit longer without any attention. All the pics were on my other Land Rover thread, but it could be worth my effort now I know what does work to put something together here?
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sowen
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,245
Club RR Member Number: 24
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Sept 15, 2019 19:38:29 GMT
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If anyone had watched any of the longer vid of me driving about the farm then they would've heard a screech when changing gear. This screech mysteriously began the day before the offroading weekend and has been steadily getting worse. Expecting the worst with a failed clutch release bearing I ordered a heavy duty one and happily it arrived with an aluminium carrier instead of the standard plastic carrier which is known to melt and fail without warning. Having finished off paving the area infront of the garage during the week I could now devote some time to pulling the engine out of the Land Rover to replace the bearing and do some other minor jobs, plan being to have it all back together by the end this weekend. I've been buying up a few things, so set them out ready to fit. A new water pump with metal impeller, a wastegate, new clutch release bearing and a Detroit Truetrac for the rear Off with the front wings, radiator, intercooler etc for access And out came the engine revealing the failed release bearing Looks like the bearing had seized and was spinning on the plastic carrier. It's caused a little damage to the pressure plate fingers too. The bellhousing was cleaned up and the new release bearing greased up and fitted Since I've done approximately 7000 miles with this setup that was thrown together from junk as a trial I thought it best to investigate further as to why the pressure plate fingers were sitting odd. Off it came and out came the friction plate which looked as good as it did when I bodged it up years back to get it to fit the Land Rover gearbox! But look closer..... It's cracked in a few places around the outside. I have no idea how long it'll last, maybe a few hard launches or thousands of miles? Anyway, I have a spare Sprinter single mass flywheel which I was planning on preparing to fit when I eventually get round to rebuilding my spare R380 gearbox. It only needs a spigot bush turning up in the lathe and an uprated friction plate which I'll order in the week. So with the engine now stuck out of the Land Rover, I removed the water pump expecting the impeller to be plastic and falling apart.... And no, it's metal, and is bigger than the impeller in the new spare water pump! As there's nothing wrong with the old water pump that's going back in, and now I know it's a relatively easy job to replace should I ever need to. Then there's the wastegate, or lack of. I've seen 27psi, and usually that's about the point where the engine blows a hose off, but it doesn't feel any faster over 20psi. I've taken the old vacuum wastegate off and made a simple bracket to hold a tdi wastegate on. This should help preserve the turbo and transmission And since the engine isn't going immediately back in, and one of the old engine mount rubbers was beginning to collapse I've chopped the brackets off the chassis and plan to fit 300tdi rubber mounts Now I've got to order up numerous spare parts and metal so I can crack on with fixing the clutch, making the new engine mounts and shimming the locking diff. Since it's all in pieces and not going anywhere I may also make up the transfer box levers, make a new stainless hard intake pipe under the inlet manifold, plumb the raised air intake in and revisit the glowplugs....
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sowen
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,245
Club RR Member Number: 24
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Aug 31, 2019 20:46:32 GMT
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This is the first time I've seen someone fit a Defender seat to anything for, "comfort"! I like the Defender seats, they fit me really well. Got a set in each of my series Land Rover's too. This is the first time I've seen someone fit a Defender seat to anything for, "comfort"! I have a leather discovery seat fitted to my (non-runner) Westwood garden tractor, but I guess that’s a bit different! I quite liked the collapsed seat in my old Disco, fabric though, even if the rest of the vehicle was half leather!
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sowen
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,245
Club RR Member Number: 24
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Aug 29, 2019 17:06:39 GMT
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And here's another video from the offroading trip
Both the 88" and Discovery have mud tyres, though not as aggressive as my Insa Turbo Special Tracks, and are both tdi's. I find it funny how both struggle through the mud hole yet my 109 powers through with no loss of momentum!
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sowen
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,245
Club RR Member Number: 24
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Aug 29, 2019 17:03:48 GMT
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That sounds very happy bimbling along to itself. Yep, it's a nice background burble to accompany gentle progress 2 weekends ago went out in a series land rover with a EDC OM606 and was very surprised at just how much quieter it was than a 200tdi. Night and day difference even though it had no sound deadening whatsoever. Cruised beautifully too. Winner. Yes it's such a difference the OM606 and the tdi, I think mostly down to the difference in harshness of indirect and direct injection diesels? The 606 has a long power band compared to the short window of power the tdi gives too. I've said it to many people before, I'd prefer a stock 2.25 diesel over a 200/300tdi as they're just too noisy and vibrate loads. I'll watch those vids later, engine hasn't blown up yet!
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sowen
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,245
Club RR Member Number: 24
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Aug 27, 2019 17:32:35 GMT
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I uploaded this video of some of the GoPro footage I took from the first day of offroading over the weekend where I had the camera stuck on the roof of the cab and on the side of the canopy frame. Bit of an epic at 29 minutes long, mostly exploring the site and the limitations and capabilities of a 109 in a pay & play site. Some bonus recoveries in the vid too
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sowen
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,245
Club RR Member Number: 24
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Aug 27, 2019 17:07:11 GMT
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Great to see this at RRG and the weekend looks great. Pity my wife won't let me take _her_ Discovery off-road. It's hers until work needs to be paid for then it suddenly reverts to being ours! Yep good to see you too. Problem with offroading is you start getting the bug, then the confidence rises, then you get stuck, and if you're unlucky you break something and still have to somehow get home! I've removed a lot of clay from the underside, about half a bin bag full so far and the front swivel assemblies are still packed in the stuff. Gained a few extra scuffs in the paint and bent one of the rear tub lower skirts too. Also contemplating buying a Detroit Truetrac lsd for the rear to give the 109 that little extra help from getting stuck crossaxled. It got stuck twice, first time bellied out in deep ruts, and being a series they slide easy so was a quick tug back out, and the second time it got crossaxled and a little bouncing got enough grip to allow it to pull itself along. Great pictures and video. With regards to speed: I found the steering the main problem preventing a car on leaf springs going fast being the agricultural steering; But this has been solved on this car already with a modern steering box. Other wise, there is no reason why it can't do a ton. I personally would change the brakes to discs though. I know drums can work on the street, but whenever they got wet or muddy, I found it impossible to ever brake in a straight line again. Daan They should to the ton in standard form anyway, the factory was doing it back in the day. I still have a diagonal drag link from the steering box down to the axle so any undulations in the road require immediate correction regardless. As regards to brakes, something I had never really thought of until earlier when comparing post offroading issues with my brother who took his series down for the weekend was that he had terrible wheel balance issues where mud had fallen off the brake disc onto the wheel and knocked the wheel balance right out. With drums, there's not enough room for the mud to collect in quite the same way so I had no extra wheel wobble than I had before considering how much additional weight I was carrying! In the future I'd like the Heystee disc brake kit, but not yet.
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sowen
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,245
Club RR Member Number: 24
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On my offroading weekend I got lots of videos of the 109 in action, quite a few of it being used as a recovery truck! I reckon I can make a few Youtube compilation videos of many of the clips me and my friends took of it and the others in our group
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sowen
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,245
Club RR Member Number: 24
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Minor update time. After fitting new drums I've been racking up the miles again, and struggling to fill the fuel tank removing the seat, unscrewing the floor plate and re-assembly is reverse of removal etc. Bought a civvy underseat tanke with external fill as a temporary measure until I get round to making the auxiliary tank behind the cab Then in the run up to RRG I noticed it was getting harder and harder to start. After a little prodding about I've found four of the six glowplugs have failed. So off came the wing and inlet manifold, and I spent 4 days struggling with them seized in the head In the end I only managed to replace one, and left the 3 snapped glowplugs. It starts with a little assistance on the throttle so it's just good enough. With RRG and a planned weekend offroading trip imminently coming I've had them soaking in penetrating oil so the heat should help loosen the carbon ready for the next removal attempt Whilst at a local Land Rover show I picked up a pair of what I think are hi-cap rear light guards. Having the extra military lights on mine they don't fit, so out with the grinder and welder and I made them fit! Light guards done for now until I beef up the mounting points Also got round to beefing up the bullbar feet. It's dead handy for hanging on when clambering about, but was a bit wobbly! Now it's bolted to a solid part of the front bumper Also finally got round to the wiring and plumbing for the rear fuel tank. I now have functioning dual fuel tanks switchable by the flick of a switch! Suddenly I have a decent respectable range between fill-ups that I didn't have before, easily filled from the two external fuel fillers, luxury! Then RRG happened, and the 109 performed faultlessly except for a bit of tyre scrub chucking it about the lanes laden there and back Now the tyre scrub could be a bit of an issue, since I'm running smaller than standard wheels (ride and handling are vastly better), and I was booked into a weekend camping trip offroading and needed my Insa Turbo Special Tracks fitted which are substantially larger. So I smacked the wheel tubs a bit with the sledge hammer, fitted the Special Tracks and set off on Friday evening for the campsite! Only other prep I did was remove the exhaust, and weld a flange on the downpipe after the turbo so I could easily unbolt the lower exhaust that hangs below the chassis and made a short straight pipe side exit.... And now I'm back, and the 109 was amazing in a pay&play site for 2 days! The only damage I got was bending the rear fuel tank up 3/4" from dropping the back end hard and the tyre scrub was a complete non-issue Have I ever said old series lwb Land Rover's with OM606 engine are amazing? Well they are
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sowen
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,245
Club RR Member Number: 24
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Aug 21, 2019 16:57:59 GMT
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Change the tyres to quad ones, normally 8" on the rear. Because those original ones are turf savers, not very grippy with even the slightest bit of mud!! I put quad tyres on my mower/play machine, plenty of grip until you get to really wet and boggy ground. A mate has offered a pair of 8" knobbly quad tyres for it. They'll get swapped over in a few days time as we're going offroading soon and taking a few mowers with us
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sowen
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,245
Club RR Member Number: 24
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Aug 20, 2019 20:32:47 GMT
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Of course it's got to also look like an offroader, so I had a rummage in the old tat pile and found a set of my old spotlights that used to sit on my Land Rover, and bought a practical waterproof cover for the seat And then it was onto making the exhaust. I'd previously had the engine cranking over and it spluttered a few times, but was so loud I made the decision not to annoy the neighbours with all of it's 12 horses until I'd made a new exhaust system for it. The bodged elbow was unbolted and I knocked up a downpipe out of odd bits of stainless steel tube and elbows The muffler was packed with household fibreglass insulation and welded shut, and then fitted. This led to the next problem, getting it to turn over with compression. The starter drive is pretty well mangled up and would benefit from being replaced, and it struggles to turn the engine over. I'd been jumping it on a spare leisure battery, so the next logical step was remove the small mower battery and fit the leisure battery under the seat! No excuses, with the carb reset it fired right up! Now with the engine running and a week to RRG I wanted to make it even more 'offroader', and less army. After some pondering it struck me I still had an old crappy trailer winch under the bench and tried it for size Decision made, it needed the winch and recovery points all round. I chopped up some 40mm box steel and made a front bumper welded to the chassis and added some 6mm steel brackets front and rear to hold a set of 1ton bow shackles Then a small frame was welded together for the winch to sit on and it was bolted to the front bumper to make a demountable winch! At the same time I relocated the spotlights to the top of the bonnet and wired them in to come on when the headlights were already switched on and bolted a towball to the back of the chassis And a little more trimming was done to the bonnet mount bracket and the chassis was trimmed to give more clearance for the trackrod on articulation Then some inspiration hit me, it needed a name! Out with the stencils and some yellow paint I had in the gun from spraying some other stuff.... The Offmowder With the 'build' practically complete, I still had the test drive to complete before I could claim success. First attempt was a complete fail finding the carb full of water and some more water still in the fuel tank (fixed by covering the cap in duck tape). Second attempt was on the Thursday as I was loading the Land Rover ready to leave Friday morning, this was the point I found out if it was to be a static exhibit or motorised transport. It fired up and did a few circuits of the garden. WIN Loading it proved to be a bit more fun, they're not exactly the lightest of things weighing somewhere around 180Kg, though with the mowing deck removed and winch, leisure battery and car seat in place I guess somewhere around 170Kg would be a realistic guesstimate of it's weight? 1st gear and it sat at the bottom of the ramps spinning it's wheels! With a mates weight it drove up into the back of my Land Rover, approx up a 30 degree slope! The Offmowder survived the washed out RRG campsite pretty well, recovering my mates stricken friction drive mower at one point until I succumbed to the boggyness and got stuck in the mud myself! Was it worth it? Hell yes!!! I have some plans for the Offmowder before next year, making it more driveable, capable and faster! Foot throttle Brakes (I broke the brake caliper) Fix the transaxle (no reverse) Rear suspension Pulley swap or two speed transfer box Front driven axle Wire up the winch Raised air intake Tyre chains or knobbly tyres Tighten the loose steering Tune up the engine for more power Underbody protection And anything else that crosses my mind!
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sowen
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,245
Club RR Member Number: 24
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Aug 20, 2019 18:43:11 GMT
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Well RRG has been and gone, and the little campsite transport project was a success! So some more details on what I built. Seeing as so many people take these old mowers and modify them to go faster and lower, it's the almost default assumed outcome. I felt like something different was needed, and it would need to be useable in a more confined space where speed wasn't such a concern. The idea settled on making a mini offroader out of the tractor, being as it already has impressive ground clearance, half the work was already done! I do like the patina of the original red and creamy white paint scheme, but it wasn't what I was after, and having a big tin of NATO green still floating about I chose to spray it green all over. The stickers, seat and lights were removed and a quick scrub with thinners to prep and some masking of the labels and it was sprayed green And a test of how much the front axle would twist Two blocks of wood, not good enough by far. The front lights were re-wired, no idea why they'd been cut, but they work now, and being 21w bulbs aren't blindingly bright but more than enough to light up the ground infront Then onto the front axle Much better! I notched the bonnet support brackets about 20mm and it doubled the articulation of the front axle, just enough to put one wheel up a car ramp And whilst I was at it I fitted a spare Land Rover Defender seat. My back is ruined so a comfy seat was needed, and an old collapsed and torn Defender seat fitted with some box steel welded to the rear pan!
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