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[h=2]Cop Outs & Cock Ups.[/h]The 110Posted by Nicky Smith Sat, November 21, 2015 16:03:23

At very short notice I ended up working away most of this week training the happy folk of the Spennymoor depot who in all fairness really joined in with the training which makes it more interesting and even sometimes fun! It rained a lot up there the wind was howling around the walls of the hotel I was staying in and my thoughts went out to those folk that live on the streets because it must of been bloody awful for them.

The only casualty I found upon returning home was one of my kayaks had taken a flying lesson over a five foot wall cracking the base of itself six inches in on one end so I will have to buy some fibreglass resin and see if I can make it water tight again.

 

I Was supposed to be heading off to see my brother and his family today but as I sat down last night I felt exhausted so I cried off that trip to Bristol because I could not face another five hours of driving on top of the countless hours I had spent behind the wheel already this week. Christmas is fast approaching so we will have to make up for it then and if you are reading this little brother we will ;)

 

After a very pleasant sleep I awoke and wondered what to do with the day...first up the old dog (not Wifey really it was the dog) decided it was time to go out for a walk so I obliged not realising just how damned cold it was out there nor how breezy and my mind turned towards the 110 that was sat on my driveway that could just be seen from my meander with the dog.

I don't want to do another project if I am honest I just want to jump in and drive it I really regret selling Brian the Discovery but what is done is done and cannot be changed so after a quick breakfast I donned my babygrow and went out to get started on removing the front end to 1) Open up the bulkhead for welding then 2) Start off with changing over the suspension on the front end and I mean all of it!

 

The grill came off quickly and easily then I set to removing the stubborn bolts for the front panel...

 

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The offside was easy enough but the nearside bolts were going to take a little more force so I popped on the ratchet extension and promptly slipped like a clumsy fool bashing the ratchet handle into the now exposed radiator, cursing myself I went right back to the stubborn bolt in question and managed to free it off and it was then I noticed my gloved left hand was getting a little warm...no not just warm but damp and warm...

 

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Talk about six sorts of stupid!!! As if i didn't have enough to do/spend on this 110 I as in ME have cost myself even more money and time because I am so bloody clumsy!

I dug around in the shed and found some polystyrene to divert the flow because I still had a couple of bolts to remove and Pukkah just wanted to pee on me where I needed to stand...

 

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Five minutes more of me buggering about and the front panel was off. My feet were like frozen blocks of ice at this point I was feeling a bit low with the whole project thing so I went inside for a nice cup of tea.

As I stood in the kitchen supping away on my brew talking to Wifey I pondered once again whether I could be bothered with this project. The Mrs just looked at me then said

"Sell it if can't be doing with it. That is of course if you want to quit...have you ever quit on any of your other projects over the years before?"

 

Bloody women throwing the gauntlet down to me thinking I was going to fall for the whole reverse psychology thing.

I went back outside and carried on in the cold.

 

How many nuts and bolts do you need to hold on a wing?? Lots is the answer and then of course you have to remove all that is attached to it like header tanks etc and please please if you find yourself having to remove a wing do not and I repeat here do not forget to disconnect the lighting wiring that runs through it before you try to remove it from the rest of the motor or you will end up looking like a right tool like I did for the second time today.

With the wing removed the true extent of the pillar/foot well rust became quickly apparent and the suspension really was in a sorry state...

 

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Time to ignore the bulkhead bit for now as I am starting from the front end here so I cleaned back the rust on the base of the suspension turret then whacked on a smaller socket than the 13mm that should have been used due to the rust issues and off they came. Then I undid the bottom of the shock from below the spring eventually and the whole lot lifted out...

 

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It had indeed seen better days but I had more to do here I still had to get that rusty sloppy spring out of place and it was here I wondered what I had to do with it. I knew how to do a Discovery one so surely this had to be the same right? I convinced myself I as probably wrong then had visions of the spring shooting out of its place across the dual carriageway through me first so I called a friend who has one of these and asked him if I was right. Turns out I was, thanks fella it's nice to know I am not that many sorts of stupid after all, so I set too jacking the axle down taking the tension off of the spring and with a little bit of gentle persuasion form a medium sized hammer the old one popped out of where it had been sitting for a great number of years.

 

I forgot to take a picture at this point so forgive me but while the spring was out I treated the whole of that chassis area to a good scrub down and undersealing before fitting the new spring in place after checking about twelve times I had the correct spring for the drivers side. Then I popped the replacement cone along with new retention ring and shock into place tightened up the nuts then stood back to admire my handy work...

 

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This process had taken me longer than I care to admit at this point but I am hoping the other side will be a bit quicker now I have the process sorted in my head. While I had the underseal out and the wing off I decided to seal the wheel arch of it up as there was some surface rust showing and seeing as apparently I am not going to be quitting on this project I may as well do it all properly...

 

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The driveway looked like a bomb had gone off on it with tools everywhere as well as rubbish and rust so I started on a big clean up that even included getting the brush out! It was while I was brushing away a black Range Rover pulled up with an Irish chap in it who had just finished an event at 1:30pm in the afternoon and was going to sell me a generator "cheap as chips." Jeez do I look like I just fell out of the tree or what and knowing this scam and the fact I have a 110 sat on the driveway which like to be stolen a lot at the moment (how disappointed would they be with my rust bucket if they did!) I became rather unfriendly with him not aggressive mind just shirty enough for him to quickly bugger off but not before I got his registration to which I did not hide the fact that I was taking it down.

 

With that little bit of nonsense over I set back to my sweeping chore and gathered up about half a Land Rover in rust and then decided to call it a day because the thought of sitting on the freezing cold concrete removing another wing was not exactly appealing. All locks were locked after all of the security devices were put into place as a deterrent for any low life passes and I may just dig out the webcam and set that up looking at the driveway just in case.

 

I feel better now I have made a proper start on him the fact that one thing off of the list is now done my rhythm for the build is returning but that bulkhead is going to need some panels soon as it looks like a Swiss cheese...

 

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[h=2]Barking & Bushes.[/h]The 110Posted by Nicky Smith Sun, November 22, 2015 15:02:54

I am not quite right in the head.

No really I am not I am convinced the rest of the world is quite mad and only I see what is truly going on but thankfully I keep this to myself for the most part so don't tell anyone ok.

 

So yesterday I managed to take all day just changing the offside suspension but my OCD would not let it rest there because who in Gods name would only do half of a job eh? Well certainly not me it literally kept me awake last night and when I slept the fact the nearside needed doing was in my dreams. Wifey asked this morning what my plans for the day were and I was thankful to hear the "my" bit because I was already dressing for the messy work of dealing with the nearside suspension on the 110. I umm'd and rrr'd for a few seconds and asked if she had anything she wanted to do which she did that did not involve me for a few hours so I had free reign to get stuck in.

I opened the bedroom door to find the dog sitting in the doorway looking at me hopefully because I had had the cheek to get up make a brew and take it back to bed to drink before she had had her walk so my cheeky get stuck into the landy had a price after all.

 

When the mutt was happy I set to stripping out the passenger wing and if anything the suspension on this side actually looked worse than the other side...

 

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There was rust galore everywhere under there and would the bloody nut free off on the bottom of the shock no dear reader it would not. Eventually though I managed to crack it just as my neighbour walked past asking how I didn't feel the cold sitting out here on the driveway to which I replied "Layers chap, it's all in the layers"

Happy with this he disappeared into his warm and generally far more sensible house for what smelt 20 minutes later like a full English fry up...lucky bugger.

 

At this point I had managed to smack a smaller socket onto the turret bolts and snapped them off in short order and the shock and turret were free. They were definitely worse than the other side...

 

www?ShowFile&image=1448203238.jpgBut no worries I had the new set ready to roll and with easier placement of the jack onto the axle because there were no steering arms or boxes in the way the old spring soon popped out as well. A quick slap of underseal around later and the new spring along with turret retention ring were in place so I popped it all together ready to tighten up the nuts.

This is where the fun really started.

 

Could I get the bottom nut in place on the shock absorber...no no I could not. I pushed I pulled I shoved then used tools to hold the shock down but I just could not get the nut started on the thread. In the end I resorted to trimming off a little of the bush and that solved the issue but this whole process took about half an hour.

Still when all done it does look good or am I the only freak that gets off on new car parts??? I bloody love new car parts...

 

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Part of the process of getting the nearside wing off was to move the air filter out of the way and that was a proper mess and had not been changed for donkeys years. Luckily I had one in the shed so a quick swap sorted that issue and this may just be in my head but the engine seems to run better for it too.

With all of this off I had a look at the foot well and yes this needs changing along with two other patches I have managed to find...

 

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Just as well I have bought that new welder eh!

Now the time had come to pop the wheels back on drop the 110 off of the axles stands and see if the new springs had made much of a difference to the ride height. Now considering these are standard springs I was very surprised to see that Pukkah now sits a good 2-3" taller on the front end! The sag in those old springs must have been awful and I suspect they were the ones fitted from new in the factory.

 

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With that all sorted I had a little drive up and down as far as I could on my driveway and path to settle the springs into place then set to treating the rust on the rear bodywork just because I was sick of seeing it if I am honest and the rest of the motor has plenty enough underneath without waving more of it at me everytime I walk past it.

 

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I will need to source some new cappings for the rear of the tub before painting but that is way down on my list of priorities.

 

The weekend has finished with me feeling a lot better about what lies ahead now on this project and what a difference a day can really make. The front end suspension is now in place the 110 still drives and much to my surprise still stops when you use the brakes considering what they look like and I am starting to see a time line and order in my head on what will be done and when. Isn't it amazing how different you can feel once you have made even a little bit of progress on something because yesterday morning I could have quite happily sold this little shed of mine but today well I don't think I would see it go...

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[h=2]Welding & Water[/h]The 110Posted by Nicky Smith Sat, November 28, 2015 17:33:53

What's your first memory? I mean the real first memory not the one you wish it could be or the memory of a photo that you have been shown from your very early life. I literally remember becoming self aware one morning in my bedroom, I lay there looking around knowing who I was that I was safe but I could not recall anything from the day before. I knew that there was a yesterday but what I did or why I did it I had no idea and try as hard as I could nothing would come forth from my memory. Then my Mum came into my room and I knew she was my Mum all was safe and now the fact that I could not recall yesterday or anything before didn't really matter so I went back to being a kid.

 

Weird eh but there it is the first thing I can recall with any clarity and that still doesn't seem as far away as the end of this project!

 

I sat around early this morning wondering how early was too early to get the grinder out and start on the 110's rather vast amount of welding without upsetting the neighbours so once 08:30 arrived I thought "bugger it" and started to set up for the morning to get some done before the promised rain of the afternoon made an appearance.

In my eagerness to get on with it I forgot to takes any photos at the start but you have seen the rusty bits already so I cut those out and ground back to bare metal to get welding to. I needed a couple of patches doing on an outrigger so that was soon sorted...

 

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As you can see I decided against removing the whole floor panel because the metal really is solid on most of it so a patch out but the a full width floor panel welded in on both sides for added strength then sealed up nicely...

 

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I only had one real issue through any of today's welding and that was there seemed to be water dripping off of the roof from melting frost just where I wanted to weld each and every time of course but sod's law does like a laugh and today it was at my expense.

So with those bits done I set to sorting the door pillar so first the door had to come off which is a straight forward job just four bolts to remove and the first three undid no problem at all but the fourth did not want to play in any shape or form at all. First of all it broke my heavy duty screwdriver that I have had for years then the whole head somehow just disintegrated so out came the drill and off came the door.

With that done I ground off all of the old pillar and stood back to get the new one to offer up into place and then as I looked up I realised that I really was past the point of no return here whether it was going to rain or not!

 

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I have never done a door pillar on a Land Rover before so I sat back and had a think (which is no easy feat for me you know) of what I should do here in what order. I set to with offering the pillar up into place then popping a couple of tack welds at the top then at the bottom. Then I set the door back into place using the remaining two bolts that were still serviceable closing is onto the latch setting it to the correct position.

A quick weld along the top sealed the deal there and then I drilled through the new with the old making a hole that I turned into a spot weld bridging the two down the inside. On the front of the bulkhead side I seam welded the new panel and hey presto folks it sat true and unmovable.

 

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One side down and I was really feeling like I was into the swing of things here then I felt the first drops of rain arriving. It was good timing really because I needed to eat and the driveway looked like a bomb had hit it so I set to putting it all away being content with the fact that I was halfway through the front end welding already.

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[h=2]Getting it warm.[/h]The 110Posted by Nicky Smith Thu, December 03, 2015 16:12:21

I have been working night shift for a few nights this week far from home in County Durham and hats off to you folks that do this full time because I do not know how you manage with it at all. Night shift is so foreign to my body I don't know whether I am coming or going. I have averaged three hours sleep per day over the last three days with my system refusing to believe that it was a good idea being awake at those odd times at all.

I awoke to my alarm at around midnight or last night or this morning whatever you want to call it and set out to teach two classroom sessions about four hours long each. Then I had the pleasure of driving home back to Nottingham straight afterwards but by the time I had finished up at work this end and got home it as around 2pm. I just wanted to go to sleep there and then I am shattered and as soon as my body realised we were home rather than in a hotel it relaxed big style! Problem is I have to be up at 5am to get to work for another day of training so I need to push through to at least 8pm before letting sleep take me in a massive way to it's relaxing black void.

So out came the coffee along with any small chores I could find in the house but it was when I looked out of the window I remembered that I had had a couple of deliveries while I was away for the 110 and they were in it waiting for me to have a look at them.

 

There were a pair of door bottoms bought off of a friend that were in pretty good condition needing just a little work doing to get them bang on right because I am seriously considering putting the correct military style doors back on the 110 rather than the updated Defender type doors it has on at the moment. Happy with that I set to opening the massive cardboard box that ran the length of the 110's rear and as expected it held the new rear third chassis I had ordered and it is in perfect condition with no dents from delivery which was nice! I don't know why folks always knock Britpart I have never had a problem with their bits to date and the chassis is made well enough for the price painted well to boot. I will of course treat it again anyway for rust prevention to maximise it's life while I slowly save up for a galv chassis and new bulkhead for the 110's next reincarnation in a few years time.

 

That done I decided to start the engine up and run it to temperature pulling through the injection cleaner along with the fuel. I must change the oil and filter soon and while I have the front end off as access will be so much easier as well as hopefully reducing some of the smoke from start up. The oil is as black as night and who knows when it was last changed on the old boy!

I had a bit of a tidy up and looked at what welding needed to be done but it started to rain along with the fact I can barely keep my eyes open so I decided that that was probably just asking for trouble and headed back indoors to stick on another pot of coffee.

The weather looks a bit pants for the weekend again but I am hoping for a few hours of dry at some point so I can crack on with the welding that needs doing on the driverside of the bulkhead.

Or maybe I will just sleep....

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[h=2]More Cars & Cutting.[/h]The 110Posted by Nicky Smith Sat, December 05, 2015 16:47:00

I am turning into a fair weather rider on the motorbike, after my off last winter I cannot be bothered with riding in the cold wet windy weather that's now making an appearance so I have been quietly looking in the background for another Land Rover to run for the winter months and then sell on again come the springtime. I'm not bothered what it is it can be a Discovery Series whatever but not a freelander because I want to be able to sell it on again easily and I only have a budget of £800 to play with.

First thing this morning we set off to look at an N reg Disco and it ran fine with new tyres but was pretty rusty on the usual places to the extent that I would have had to do a fair few repairs before selling it on again and in all honesty there is already one project on the driveway and I do not want another one! I want a winter car that I can just get in and drive maybe give it a service but that's it and the bike wants parking up until the warmer weather rolls back in.

 

A little disappointed we headed home where Wifey then went off to do shopping stuff so I dug out the grinder as well as the welder again to attack the offside door pillar on the 110. Wifey has taken to calling it "Pie" now because "Pukkah" is "boring and they make pies" she says...yes my wife is mental.I set to removing the door and then grinding out what was left of the old pillar...

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So with all of that old metal cleaned off I then grabbed the new pillar offered it up into place then tack welded it up after securing it with all manner of clamps so it wouldn't move...

 

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That done I set to welding it up again properly and it was now that I ran out of wire. Wifey still had the car so I jumped onto the motorbike to shoot down to Machinemart in town who charged me a bloody fortune for some 0.9mm wire then battled the high winds home again. The winds were so strong I was blown onto the wrong side of the road so I thought to myself "There's another reason for a winter car". Home once again I finished up my welding after knocking the pillar into shape as I went along and making spot welds were needed as well.

 

Once it was finished I popped the door hinges back on they really will need replacing on both sides as they move about 5mm on their old pins. Then I put the wing on and to my horror there was a massive gap at the base of the pillar! I wondered how I would cure this whether I would just bolt the wing back on pulling the base over a bit more or taking the pillar back off and starting again. I took two steps back to look at it from a different angle and it was then that I noticed that the front end of the wing was resting on the radiator bracket so I put it into it's correct place and the gap promptly disappeared.

 

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By now with the days extra excursions to boot I was losing the light so it was time to put the tools away and leave the foot well until the next time I get a couple of spare hours.

When I got indoors I was subjected the yearly ritual of dragging the Christmas tree in and sticking the lights on it. Then dear reader as I wrote this post there was happiness and merriment from my good lady Wife and two of my daughters as they hung the decorations on it making as much noise as possible as they did so!

 

If you know of a Landy in my budget of £800 with a decent MOT and not a rot box please get in touch via Nick@nickysmith.me

 

nickysmith.me

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[h=2]Fair Weather Rider[/h]MusingsPosted by Nicky Smith Sat, December 12, 2015 14:49:14

Well it has finally happened they say it comes to us all in time but I never thought that that day would ever truly arrive for me but today my friends it has come. Gone are the heady care free days of having no fear of falling down along with not noticing nor caring what the weather is doing outside. The wind rain sleet and even snow used to be no more than an irritant at most but over the last twelve months now I look back it seems these things have been bothering me more and more so much to the extent that I have hung up my helmet the coat is folded and put away into a box and my gloves left out to dry one last time you see dear reader I have become a fair weather rider.

 

Bring on the laughter bring on the ribbing because I do not care at all if you do (this seems to be another positive of growing older) I now like to be comfortable and warm and not in fear of my life from slipping off of my big in the wet and cold and icy conditions. Nope bugger that for a game of soldiers the bike is getting one more proper clean then going into storage for the winter to be sold off in the spring and replaced with another sports tourer. I will not spend another winter freezing my fingers off or peeling a frozen cover from my bike in the early hours of the morning I am at most going to scrape the ice off of the windscreen if that I may just go out ten minutes earlier fire up the engine and let the heaters do their job so I have a toasty motor to get into. Yes I will have to sit in traffic a bit more but this I do not mind I shall stick on some nice tunes to listen to instead of just hearing the wet wind whistle through my helmet!

 

You see folks I have bought myself a new toy. The 110 is going to take some time to get sorted with this winter weather we have so another plan had to be hatched. MY long suffering Wife listened patiently to my, I thought, brilliant reasoning why I needed another car of my own then sighed looked at our banking (she does all that stuff I am useless in fact we would have a fleet of Land Rovers on the driveway if I looked after the money and no food in the cupboard's) and agreed a meagre budget I could play with. This was a couple of weeks ago and with the budget I had I knew it was to be a challenge as to what I could buy so I waited and I looked and I found lots of rotten scrap. I waited some more as well as enlisting the help of some friends who then started to look for me too passing on their findings on an almost hourly basis. Still there was nothing around worth driving in this well under a thousand pound budget. I hunted high and low even making myself bored of the process if I am honest (this is highly unusual for me I love buying cars!) then another glimmer of hope came up.

I went to see not expecting much due to 197000 mileage on it but I was pleasantly surprised. It drove well enough the gearbox seems good and the interior bar the standard hole in the drivers seat is quite pleasant. There is some heavy welding on the chassis but although it looks ugly it is sound. It sits on some boost alloys (I think) has an MOT until August next year so apart from a service it's a get in it and drive job through the winter months!

 

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There is also a bull/nudge bar in the boot that needs refitting so that's a bonus! It is staying standard though because once the 110 is done this Disco will be up for sale again but at least now I get to stay dry and warm over the winter commute to work and the 110 can have a more leisurely rebuild to a high standard rather than having to rush it. What a nice early Christmas present!

 

nickysmith.me

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[h=2]Not a lot doing.[/h]The 110Posted by Nicky Smith Thu, December 17, 2015 21:01:32

I have done bugger all to the 110 over the last week or so which is frustrating as hell but a combination of the weather, Christmas fast approaching as well as hour changes at work for the next few weeks have left me with no daylight hours to play with until what looks like will be the new year. Thankfully I have a week off booked mid January so as long as we don't have an unexpected cold snap full of snow I can have quite a bit of time to finish off the welding as well as fitting the new rear 1/3 chassis.

 

Once we get to this point it is all mechanical so hopefully straight forward enough and at least pay day will have come and gone sparing me a few more pennies for whatever parts are desperately needed. As for the Discovery I bought last weekend that seems to run ok, it does not overheat sat in the 7 mile traffic jam to work every morning which is a bonus and the only thing I have had to do so far to it is replace the air filter in it as it was blacker than any filter I have seen before, in fact I am amazed that the poor bugger was able to breathe at all!

There is a tappety noise from the engine not a low down it's about to die sort of sound more like a constant clicking so that could be anything from tappets out a lift pump to a brake vacuum pump so seeing as it's not affecting power or getting any worse I will let it develop and become a bit more obvious. I am not chasing noise by throwing money at unneeded parts just yet.

 

I have been asked to help out onsite shunting for a few weeks whilst we get over our peak period and my God I did not realise just how damned unfit I had become lately! I ache in places I forgot existed on me so it has enticed me to carry on the fitness regime once more when the daily hell at work comes to an end. A friend of mine a couple of years ago changed something in her life for one month every month for a year. Instead of making a long list of new year resolutions that normally end up falling by the wayside smaller more manageable things were done that if the effect was good after a month it became a life change and if not well it went out of the window and either way you moved onto the next challenge for another month.

I will give a real effort myself this year and feel free to join in if you want to or just sit on the sidelines and poke fun if you prefer once and if I fall down with it.

 

January is quite an easy one for me to choose as I have noticed my chocolate intake going back up to greedy fat bastard levels of late so I will give up sugar for the first month. Not naturally occurring sugar but the manufactured shove it in chocolate and cakes and sweets and pop and more cake and my biggest Achilles heal biscuits.

So that will start on the first of the month and end on the last day of the same month...who's daft enough to join me?

 

I would say that every month the 110 will be finished but that would be plain stupid because now I have my tappety Disco to get me to work I can take the time to build him properly, well I have until the Wife makes us buy a house so it best have a garage on it somewhere...

 

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[h=2]Foot Wells and Boxes[/h]The 110Posted by Nicky Smith Sun, December 20, 2015 16:54:06

Well what a surprise of a weekend this turned out to be! Yesterday we had the pleasure of seeing our good friends renew their wedding vows in a cracking little church then we got to catch up with our other good friends all afternoon before a gentle drive back home.

On that drive Wifey asked what my plans were for today as she was off doing some kid Christmas party thing and there was no way she was subjecting the poor little dears to yours truly, so a quick check of the weather forecast showed a good dry day and welding up the 110 immediately popped into my mind.

 

I started the day being a lazy sod and laying in my pit until half past seven much to the dogs dismay who wanted the usual crack of dawn walk. After pottering around for a bit doing one chore or another the light had come into the morning ( I will be so glad once we get past the shortest day on Tuesday and start heading back towards more light in the mornings again) and I dug out the grinder, welder, sheet metal and some tools to get stuck into the drivers side foot well. This foot well was more of a pain because obviously you have all of the pedals in the way and some or all have to be removed depending on how bad the rot is in there.

A good poke around made the holes as big as they were going to get...

 

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It looked like a Flintstone's car at this point so out came the grinder and I cut back and back and then back a bit more until I found the good metal after removing the bolts from the accelerator pedal. Luckily there was plenty of good metal before I had to remove either the brake or clutch pedal which pleased me no end and I marked up the new panel trimmed it back into the shape I needed and set to offering it up into place.

It was at this point the singing cyclist came slowly riding by, I could hear this chap from a good distance away before he rode by happy in his own little world with a pair of huge headphones on his noggin singing at the top of his voice oblivious to everyone but the folk singing in his ears whilst simultaneously waving his arms around to the music.

This brought a smile to my face because he seemed so happy and the fact he could ride a bike no handed singing like his life depended on it whilst flinging his upper limbs about, good for him.

 

Out came the welder now and the two panels merged pretty painlessly without me blowing any holes where they were not supposed to be then soon enough it was done. A quick slap about of underseal saw it rustproofed for a while and I could no longer see the suspension through the floor...

 

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With that done and a quick sausage cob in my belly I wondered what else had to be done whilst the welder was out not including the rear 1/3 chassis of course. I remembered the battery box was pretty awful so went and had a poke around there to see if a whole new box would be necessary or whether it could be welded up for now. I was pleasantly surprised to find I could weld the bugger up so again I set to poking big holes in the battery tray first...

 

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I ended up being able to make a few either end of the tray floor so I measured up the sheet metal and replaced the lot! Halfway through my endeavour the singing cyclist made a return pass still in full gusto but now somehow managing to balance a pair of swollen shopping bags on either handle whilst giving a repeat performance of before...bloody show off.

 

It didn't take long to get the ends welded in and sealed up again...

 

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So that is the bulkhead just about done welding wise unless I find something else I have missed and is a big step in the right direction to getting this 110 back onto the road. For me it is a big hurdle over in my head because now the landy is just about as watertight as a landy can be once more and I can start looking at the mechanical side of things a bit more as well. I did wire up the battery again to give the old boy his weekly warm through and true to style the engine fired up in a cloud of smoke first turn of the key.

As good as it is though I am tempted to just get a 300tdi conversion done now I have the Discovery to run about in and whilst it is in bits on the front end, that will give me a bit of extra power better fuel economy and hopefully reliability. We shall see what the funds are like towards the end of the build and make the call then unless a really cheap complete engine turns up of course.

 

So a great day with loads done but as I looked onto the driveway it seemed there was more rubbish on it than I had ever seen before so I gave it a quick sweep up and my word there was a honking great pile of rusted metal and rusty dust to get into the bin...

 

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I expect that will be it until Christmas and the New Year are done then I can get stuck into the rest of it but family do insist on seeing you at this time of year, so if I don't get to speak to all of you good folk before then have a great Christmas whatever it is you are doing with it :)

 

http://www.nickysmith.me

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[h=2]Disco's And Defenders.[/h]The 110Posted by Nicky Smith Sun, December 27, 2015 16:28:12

How was your Christmas then? Was it full of festive cheer spent with your loved ones over eating on meat,sweets and anything else you just fancied having a nibble on?

Mine was a nice affair I have to admit, Christmas day saw me preparing and cooking a nice beef roast and over indulging on puddings only leaving the house once all day and that was to change the spare wheel on the Discovery so I could justify being bloody lazy the rest of the time to myself.

One day is enough though for me I am not one to sit around idle watching the day pass me by and if I am being honest here when it got to about 8pm on Christmas day I did start to feel I had wasted it but everyone needs some downtime I am told.

 

Boxing day found us travelling down to Kettering Northants to see my siblings (all 5 of them on this side of the pond) and their other halves and their children as well as Mum & Dad of course. I dropped off the first car load of us and presents then set off to collect another one of my wayward children and her boyfriend a 20 minute drive away to drag I mean bring them into the festive celebrations.

After too much food again with a stomach that was quickly resembling a wet gremlins back the game of getting everyone home started again as well as teh drive back up to Nottingham. I do like Christmas, I do love to see my family but I do like it when it is all over and you get home undo your trousers before Stripe and his menacing cohort burst put your feet up and....relax.

 

So today was only Sunday which was great because it meant no work...at all! Well I say no work I mean the physical got to go there and do something kind because I had a load of work sat at home linked to the books I have published and New York New York a 3 day whirlwind tour only being a few days old needs all sorts of promotion via social media which just confuses me, makes my head hurt and I would rather find any excuse not to bother doing it. Wifey went out shopping, the youngest headed in the opposite direction shopping, the eldest was still stewing in her stinking pit upstairs and I was left looking at the screen of my laptop. It was right then I remembered that the oil and filter to finish servicing the Disco had arrived on Christmas eve and I chucked on my babygrow headed straight out to the driveway to get stuck into this most urgent and important of tasks. When I got to the Discovery I recalled i had reserved a 200 piece socket set at Halfords that I had used my Christmas vouchers to buy so I went there first babygrow and all because the engine oil needed warming up to drain properly.

 

I walked into Halfords looking like a cross of an RAF engineer in a flight suit and a pirate with my black bandana...I could not have cared less I was not looking at the laptop screen and it appeared that I was giving some kids in the store a little amusement as they were pointing and sniggering at me from behind the end of the aisle. I would have given them a bit of a slap but they were about three and I didn't think their 6 foot 3 Dad built like a brick house would have been too impressed so I settled for pulling faces and sticking my tongue out at them....which they thought was great and I have to grudgingly admit made me smile.

 

This set has me quite impressed and when got it home and opened it all up it was like having some car porn sat on the kitchen counter...

 

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That done I dug out the big blue bin that I drain all of my Landy oil into seeing as the drip drain away one I bought a few years back only holds five litres there tends to be a bit of a puddle left over on the driveway and quite frankly I am sick of cleaning that sort of stuff up as the race starts as to who can get across the public pathway at the bottom of the driveway first...me or the oil slick.

I don't know who last tightened up the sump plug but my money is on a 300 pound silverback with a four foot power bar. After a bit of struggling the plug came out and oil as black as the night itself poured forth missing the edge of the tub for all of one second the the oil dance began again...

 

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Once that mess was cleared up I got into position to battle off the oil filter. I have never had an easy oil filter change ever and if the sump plug was anything to go by this would be no different. I reached up with both hands gripped the filter tightly and with all of my effort started to twist in the direction to get the bugger off.

Imagine my surprise when it loosened up straight off the bat and quickly twisted off completely! I was grinning like a Cheshire cat and quickly got the replacement filter fitted into place. As the oil was draining I set to checking the diff's for oil, all good there, but I could not for the life of me get the plug out of the gearbox to check that. I feared that if I put any more pressure onto that plug I would rip it from its casing! That will have to be dealt with in due time.

 

New engine oil in I fired it up and the old 196,000 mile engine sounded much happier apart from the tick of the tired brake vacuum pump which will be replaced once the gasket actually arrives.

 

That all done my attention turned towards the 110, seeing as I was already dressed up to the nines in my finest "fix the landy " attire and the day was dry "I may as well get stuck into something on that" I thought to myself. The rear suspension was next in line on the to do list so I set too getting the old boy up on a pair of axle stands and the rear wheels off. I was confronted by years of spiders webs and dirt...

 

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With those tentatively brushed off without an army of angry spiders marching upon my arms I attacked the shock absorber first. Right then I should point out here that this is a job I have been meaning to do for a few weeks now and each time I thought I would have a chance the next day I have nipped out and sprayed on some penetrating oil to help with the rusty nuts. This has been done at least six times now so all of those nasty looking rusty nuts came off like they were brand new! I then jacked the axle down gave the spring a good few whacks with a hammer and it popped out no problem. Then I offered it up and took a picture of what I was to replace it with...

 

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Feeling smug of how easy my day was going I set to scraping off the rust and then the first hurdle of the day hit home. The bottom spring mount was well past and sort of serviceable repair...

 

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Hmm I don't think even the welder would be much use here so I will order myself a new one. Added to that the bump stop was rotted to hell so that will need sorting at the same time. I was not going to put all of the new bits in place just yet though so I treated the top spring mount area with a good dose of underseal and popped the old spring back into place to act as a bit of support...

 

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As I am writing this I am treating myself to a cheeky bottle of Bombardier Burning Gold to which Wifey has just had a rather large slurp and commented

 

"That would be nice with some lemon in"

 

Honestly you cannot educate some people!

Still where were we? Oh yes onto the other side to see if that was in such a bad condition. Wheel off and cobweb city once again..

 

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But thankfully no major rust issues on this side. It all came off and went back on again with next to no bother at all apart from a few extra big whacks with the hammer to get the spring out of place...

 

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It was about now the heavens opened so I took that as a sign to put the tools away and call it a day. I left the copious amounts of rust I had cleaned off underneath the 110 as I am sure they will still be there next time I get a chance to play!

The afternoon was then spent with a cheeky trip to send a parcel to my other daughter at Uni and a quick look at a house we had seen online that was just up the road. We don't want to live just up the road nope we want to live in Derbyshire because we bloody love it over there but this house looked particularly nice but when we went to have a nose around there was no room to put up a garage which for me when we move into our own home after leaving a rented one is indeed an very important must. As long as there is the space for one I will build one, I would prefer it already to be there but if I have to build it it will be to my perfection spec!

 

Now I really think that the next time I get a chance to do much will be in the New Year so I will see you all on the other side folks ;)

 

www.nickysmith.me

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[h=2]Sun Rise & Suction[/h]MusingsPosted by Nicky Smith Fri, January 01, 2016 17:03:27

It is no great secret that I don't really booze any more, I think we all have a finite amount of boozing in us and I used most of mine up by the time I was 40 and these days I enjoy a drink or two rather than a skinfull because any more than that and I have a hangover for days! So you can imagine New Years Eve holds no great appeal for going out and partying as there is nothing worse than being sober amongst a crowd of people how are rather merry.

The last two years has seen me staying at home away from the crowds then getting to bed trying to sleep through all of the fireworks and text messages but this year I decided that I wanted to do something a little different.

 

I unexpectedly got New Years Day off of work which has never happened before so the plan was to get up very early and drive from Nottingham to the Peak District, climb Mam Tor and watch the first dawn and sunrise of the first day of 2016. Much to my surprise Wifey agreed to come as well so we did indeed get up way before the Larks chucked the dog into the boot of the car, she was particularly up for an early walk which was another surprise because she is really lazy and normally just looks at you like you are stupid if you try to get her up in the dark, then drove up to the base of Mam tor.

The dawn was just breaking in the east so we jumped out of the car chucked on warm clothes and started to climb. There where a surprising amount of other folk waking and climbing all looking to see the sunrise so I was not as original as I thought. When I say other folk there was about another ten spread out over two peaks so we were in no way bothering each other and most of them were proper photographers.

 

We found a spot between the peaks and watched the sun come up which was just astounding and amazingly was Wifeys first ever sunrise! If you have never seen a sunrise make the effort one day it is fantastic!

 

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The plan was to do some serious hiking once the day had broken but do you know that nasty diarrhoea bug that's doing the rounds? Well turns out it was my turn with a chronic stomach ache I thought I could walk off and I as doing ok until Wifey slipped over on the frozen flag stones and we decided to turn back to wards the car. It was a few minutes after this that the wind arrived in a howling freezing gale and it seemed someone wanted to get off of the hillside as soon as possible...so we did.

 

It is amazing how quickly you can find somewhere that is open and has a toilet you can use when you think that within the next few minutes you will have to sit on the dogs towels to get home! That issue solved we took a steady drive through Derbyshire had a cheeky cooked breakfast out because now I was bloody starving hungry then headed home.

 

Being back home by lunchtime meant I could do a few little jobs on the Discovery that were building up the main one being replacing the Brake vacuum pump. This has been ticking away merrily since a few days after buying the Disco and needed to be sorted before I was happy driving it any sort of distance and I have not actually changed one before today.

It really is a straight forward job! I thought I would be battling bolts out of the engine but nope they all undone easily enough and within minutes the old broken pump was out and the old gasket removed. This is not the most easily accessible part it has to be said especially if you are a short arse like myself and the best way to get to it is with a small step ladder then lying along the wing with your knee near the battery so you have no fear of falling off of the edge! What a sight I must have been and I had to get down twice to wish the neighbours who were passing with smirks on their faces to wish them a happy new year!

The replacement pump dropped in with the new gasket just as easily as the old one had come out and a quick test drive to check everything was ok proved that all was well as well as the brake now working much better.

 

This was all achieved using my new socket set as well, there is nothing like that feeling when you get to play with your new toys! Then it was onto supervising my youngest daughter doing a few bits to her project scooter while I heated and peeled the old plastic coating off of the nudge bar that came with the Disco because it was cracked and coming away in places. I want to get this treated and fitted back on quite quickly because it has a couple of good recovery points built into it. Although I do not want to be off roading the Disco in any major way I would like to partake in some old git gentle green laning and as such will just do a few gentle additions to the old boy.

 

The doors did opened on the 110 to get some tools out but by the time I had done everything else I was loosing the light of the day so called this first day of the year quits for outside playing.

 

It is going to be a busy year this one with all we have planned and I aim to fill everyday! I wish you all dear readers a Happy New Year may it be prosperous and I truly hope you all enjoy it in whatever way you have planned :)

 

nickysmith.me

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Happy New year to you and your tribe.

Big fan of your restorations threads, your a real inspiration to many of us guys and i am sure most of us

can relate to the ups and downs triumphs and tribulations you have gone through and the one's you haven't, yet :red:.

Keep up the good work and don't forget, your not alone all us guys are right there with you cheering you on from

this side of our screens.

Look forward to the rest of the 110's rejuvenation story and of course yours, and don't forget if it aint broke just fiddle

with it for a bit and see what drops off. :D

I have just ordered your book, looking forward to reading that.

 

Mal.

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Thanks Mal that really is appreciated chap :)

 

Oh I am sure that there will be plenty of ups and downs yet to come! Lets face it any old motor does seem to like fighting back on any sort of restoration that drags it kicking and screaming back into active service!

 

I hope you enjoy the book and even if you don't thanks for buying it and would you mind leaving some feedback on amazon for me please :)

 

All the best

 

Nick

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[h=2]Frames And Lists[/h]The 110Posted by Nicky Smith Sun, January 03, 2016 14:06:32

They say age catches up with us all, if we are lucky enough and it seems much to my surprise that it does. I started having to wear glasses a few years ago now for driving, then for watching TV or working on computers then I got to have two sets for doing theses things as my sight got just a little more worn out. This is not a problem as such but if I did not put either on in the morning I could usually potter about for hours no problem at all with seeing what I was up to but this morning it turned out it was the first day I could not actually do that either!

Now my mind is telling me that I am not any older than 26 and I will not wear out any more ever but my body seems to be betraying me and if it was either of the Land Rovers I would be ordering a few new parts! Funny really because I am fitter now than I have ever been but the forties aches are starting to appear but I refuse to grow old oh no I will be a big kid until my best before date passes and I move onto whatever lies in store for us all next.

 

I did not have an early start today,it is Sunday after all, but I was out on the driveway for 9am trying to beat the rain that the radio weather folk said was on it's way in. Over the weekend I had dug out the old A frame bar that came with Blue the Disco when I bought him and stripped off the cracking plastic covering using a heat gun and wallpaper scraper. This was a bit of a chore but only took about an hour or so keeping my hands warm in the cold before I then gave it a quick coat of Hammered Black Hammerite paint leaving it in the shed to dry over night.The reason I wanted this back on the Disco is so I can do a bit of gentle green laning from time to time and this frame has built in recovery points on it so it saves buggering about having to buy then fit something else...make and mend do and all that!

So this morning I got set up and the old Disco looked a little bare on the front end...

 

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I undid the bumper bolts and offered up the frame, it all but fell into place for the bottom bolts which I slid easily into place then I pushed it up to do the top bolts and it was here the problems started... It should have been an easy four bolt do but nope the frame had been "bumped" at some point and bent back enough that I could not get it with 20mm of the bolt holes I wanted to use. I moved it up and down from side to side I even took the bottom bolts out to see if the top bolts would go into place but no the top of the frame just dug into the bonnet no closer to it's goal than before.

I took a step back at this point to have a brew and a think but the only option I could see was to drill a couple of new top holes in the brackets so I shoved the drill through the chassis on each side to mark the place the new holes needed to be, took the whole thing off and drilled the new markings through.

This took some doing as it turns out my metal drill bits are pretty tired and need renewing but after lots of noise that I expect my neighbours loved on a Sunday morning the deed was done and the frame fell into place no problem at all!

 

I stood back to admire my handiwork and liked what I saw there, yes it is a little lower than it should be but none the less it looks well enough and will work perfectly for towing me out of where ever I get stuck!

 

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The rain started then right on queue so tools down packed away along with a quick escape indoors.

You may be wondering why I am doing these few bits to Blue seeing as he was just to be my winter motor that would be sold on again but it has been proved once again that I have possibly the most understanding and best Wife kicking around on this small ball of a planet we live on because when we were chatting about moving house this year last night we somehow got around to talking about how to get the stuff moved again as well as parking spaces that would be needed at the new place when she said "you will need three spaces plus the bike"

To which I replies "I thought we would be selling Blue by then?"

She just smiled a gentle one sided smirk and said "Let's face it Nick, Blue won't be going anywhere"

God I love that woman and what I did to deserve her I have no idea but she really lets me play with the big boys toys and keep them too!

 

Once indoors with another brew in my hand my thoughts turned to the 110. I have a week off coming up in a couple of weeks and I intend to make some serious headway on the old boy then by at least getting the fuel tank out, new rear 1/3 chassis welded into place with the fuel tank treated and put back into place if it is still serviceable and if not I have a plastic Discovery tank stood waiting in the wings to take its place.

A list was needed then of what I need to pick up for this rather large chore and so far it looks like this...

 

New nuts and bolts to attach the chassis to the body on the rear tabs.

New Nuts and bolts to hold the body to the chassis mounts underneath.

New nuts and bolts for the tow bar and Nato hitch.

Tin of Underseal.

Tins of waxoil for inside the chassis.

Wire brush and Wire brush for drill.

Another roll of welding wire as mine is getting a bit in the low side.

 

I think that's about it as I have the grinding discs etc to cut the rotten bit off already in the shed and even as much as I would like too I don't think I can book the weather to be dry in advance in fact knowing my luck it will probably snow that week!

If it does I ill shovel it out of the way and just crack on as long as I am not fighting a blizzard or torrential rain as this is the last big welding hurdle to overcome and I cannot wait until it is behind me.

 

nickysmith.me

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[h=2]Paint & Oil[/h]The 110Posted by Nicky Smith Sun, January 10, 2016 15:50:57

Now I am not one to use a modern mobile phone to it's full potential in fact most of the fanciful things it can do are either genuinely lost on me or I have very little interest in doing whatever it is supposed to do along with the fact that I get very very frustrated with the damned things when my own lack of understanding means they don't do what I want them to do. So with that in mind you can guess I am not a big fan of any sort of "App" but I have come across one I do like and I even managed to fumble around on the internet with my phone and install it without crashing the mobile or bringing in a virus that would do that for me.

Once installed I even managed to figure out what to do with it and hey presto I have managed to convert photos of all four of the Land Rovers that I have owned into a painting and they do look really good!

 

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I am not going to put all four of them up in this blog but feel free to have a look at the Facewipe group "Just turned 40" to see them all there.

 

A free day today and against the norm in such days the ground is dry with the sun shining brightly in the sky pushing forth a meagre warmth but lets face it it does not matter if it is cold I always feel better when the sun is out, it just makes me happy to be alive when I am outside on a day like that.

 

Wifey is feeling rough and wanted to do as little as possible today so there was no guilt of pottering around outside on the Land Rovers instead of being out and about in the countryside on this glorious day.

First stop was Blue the Discovery because his gearbox had sounded a little loud this week which sounds odd but you know what it is like once you have heard certain noises you tend to have an idea of what the issue probably will be and the issue I thought I had here was that there was either very little or very old oil in the gearbox so I drained the lot out after having to worryingly use a breaker bar to get the filler plug undone.

 

As I thought there was next to bugger all oil in the box and what was there was very old so while it was draining the last few drips out I set to fitting the pair of sump guards I had bought. This is just the first step of what will be a slow process of putting just a few gentle off road/green laning modifications Blue is going to get. Once on all shiny and new they looked good though.

 

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After making sure I had put the drain plug back in I filled up the gearbox with oil getting plenty down the inside of my forearm in the process, I have to say this is one of my least favourite jobs as I tend to end up greasy covered in oil and without a doubt somehow having to managed to ruin the clothes I am wearing under my baby grow!

 

Then I had to top up the engine oil as I erred on the side of caution when I changed that amount wise so half a litre saw it right and for some reason the coolant expansion tank caught my eye so I took the cap off but the level was good with no signs of anything nasty going on. My gut though told me I was missing something and it took a little while to twig the coolant as completely clear, so just water there with no antifreeze and this became my next job seeing as the weatherman has forecast a pretty cold spell coming up. This did not take long to do in fact it took longer to get the engine up to temperature and the coolant flowing nicely around the block mixing up the antifreeze with the water than anything else.

 

That done and parked up with me satisfied all was well for the little bit of winter we have coming I looked to the 110 and that off side rear suspension I walked away from a couple of weeks ago as I did not have the parts to hand to seat the new spring. This I had now along with the new securing bar so off with the wheel and out came the old spring and what was left of the rusty plate.

 

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I had to grind away what was left of the old bump stop plate at this point as well so that is something I will have to get around to buying then welding back into place along with a new bump stop itself but the more I look at things on the 110 the more I realise now that I will be stripping back just about everything on it and refurbishing it.

 

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The rusty spring plate and old securing bar along with the nuts and bolts that held it on had to be ground off as there was no way that they were going to be coming off by the traditional methods. Once off I gave the whole area a good dose of Hammerite seeing as it was not going to be accessible until the next time it was all taken apart and who knows how long that could be!

 

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New plate new spring new securing bar all came out of the shed and put into place. There was more room than I thought for doing up the nuts than I thought here which was a pleasant surprise as I thought it was going to be a bit of a pain with my sausage fingers! Once it was all set into place and secured I jacked up the axle seating the top of the spring in the process then fitted a new shock absorber to finish it all off nicely.

 

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Time for a brew as I sat back admiring my handiwork. My thoughts soon wandered to the fact we are house hunting at the moment and I mentally ran through the properties we have seen over the last couple of weeks, there is a clear leader at the moment but it is up in some daft "Modern method of auction" which after reading the small print with it is a load of tosh with no end date and many restrictions against a potential buyer along with lots of added costs that are unnecessary so if we do put an offer in on the house it will be on the condition that we follow the traditional method of house buying or they can keep the place. I am not being grumpy here but I will not be messed about or have the family set their heart on something only to lose out on it at the last minute because no doubt a mysterious bidder will arrive and up the ante...folk must think we just fell out of the tree honestly.

 

Once I snapped myself out of that daydream I decided to make a start on getting the rear cross member ready to be cut off next week (weather permitting). I chucked WD40 over just about anything that would need to be undone and started with getting all of the nuts and bolts off of the rear tabs that hold onto the rear bulkhead. It didn't take long really with it all moving quite easily so that after a happy twenty minutes playing twister by myself on the driveway I had them all off.

 

www?ShowFile&image=1452440493.jpgTurned out that the six middle nuts were welded to the rear of the tub which was a surprise, the rest of the bolts looked in good repair so I grabbed an old food tub used for housing the unlucky bugs that were my Bearded Dragons dinner popped them all in with a liberal dose of WD40 and left to soak and be reused later. This is quite a handy trick for keeping things separated until you need to use them again saving the usual hunt around to the last missing bit that you need when reconstructing.

 

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I sat thinking of what the next job was when I realised that I could not be bothered with it. I was getting cold even though I was sat on cardboard and my enthusiasm was leaving me so rather than force the issue I set to cleaning everything up and putting the tools away. I have been using my new Halfords set and loving the feel of it and again recommend these to anyone that wants a half decent set of spanners and sockets that do not cost the earth for hobby wannabe mechanics like me. There was yet again lots of rusty crap to be swept up that left me wondering if the 110 was actually loosing weight through this rebuild process...

 

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www.nickysmith.me

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[h=2]Snow & Steel[/h]The 110Posted by Nicky Smith Fri, January 15, 2016 19:20:48

Well Winter has arrived properly the last couple of days with early morning windscreen scraping, driving to work wrapped up like a toddler going out to play in the snow along with the car heaters only just getting warm by the time you pull into your work car park.

The frost looks fantastic normally best appreciated from behind your warm and cosy houses front window with a steaming hot cup of tea in hand.

 

So what sort of idiot would be happy as hell that he has a week off of work starting right now that he can climb under a rusty 110 to disconnect the whole rear end of a rusty chassis and replace it with a shiny new one? Oh that would be me of course!

 

Now it is cold and there is even a little snow forecast on Monday to be thrown into the mix just to keep me on my toes but I am determined that over the course of a few days, in short bursts between nipping into the house to thaw out that I will get this back end sorted because it is the last major piece of welding that needs doing to the old boy and in my head the brow of the hill on this resto.

 

I got home to a rather large parcel waiting for me in brown paper packaging that I did not recall ordering but my name was on it so I opened it eagerly to see what was inside but also having the thought in the back of my mind that you would not have dared opened such a package a few years ago that you were not expecting because it was traditionally from the seedy back street mail order companies that only supplied items to aid personal gratification...most folks now just jump onto the internet for that sort of thing now!

 

In the parcel were a few of this months copies of "THE LANDY" newspaper and I was amazed to see that they had dedicated just over three full pages to "The Project Has Landed" on this months write up of the book. Now don't get me wrong here they are publishing the whole book word for word but just taking exerts in a joint promotion type exercise which is fine by me and it genuinely still surprises the hell out of me to see my name and ramblings in print in yet another new place, it will not make me rich in fact it makes just about bugger all but pleases me none the less that it makes a few folks laugh or smile.

 

Now biggest decision for this evening is what type of alcoholic drink to have and exactly what else I will do next week to please myself because, you see the Wife will be at work along with the kids at school so it is just me and the dog...how will I cope?

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[h=2]Frost & First Cuts.[/h]The 110Posted by Nicky Smith Sat, January 16, 2016 16:42:20

Hurrah! It is the first Saturday of many (we are a bit odd in our house when we have a week off everyday is Saturday until the last Sunday...if you understand what I mean) and I was awake bright and early at stupid o'clock because my body thought I had to go to work. Not to worry I am long past fighting myself over trying to sleep more or forcing a lie in when I don't need them so I hopped out of bed getting a disgruntled muttering form the Wife about it being still dark and headed out for a wash to be met by the dog with the usual "Are we going for a walk then?" face on.

Yes, yes we were because I love the early morning in the city while everyone sleeps but my oh my was it a bit parky this morning it was that nippy I actually put my winter coat and hat on to go for a wander amongst the hard frost that covered everything in a coat of frozen white. I the Land Rovers looked really nice wearing their white coats...

 

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After getting back in with one exhausted dog I woke Wifey up because we were back on the house hunt again first thing with a couple of viewings one of which has become a contender but as you should in such matters we are not in a rush and will sleep on it for a few days as well as looking at the area at different times of day and night.

 

A cheeky sausage cob whilst we were out saw me in good ste ad when we got home around lunchtime to get started on the sorting the 110 out in the mid winters sunshine.

First though I emptied out the bargain set of Defender 110 G90 wheels I had picked up last night from the Disco so I could use it of the need arose...

 

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A rub down and repaint will see these wheels ready for the 110 when it finally gets around to MOT time after the rebuild.

It was then onto the 110 itself to start the preparation for the rather large chassis repair that is needed this week. First off the fuel tank had to come out so I had to remove the filler and overflow fuel pipes which should be easy enough after all they are only jubilee clips right?

 

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Wrong.

 

The clips would not budge for love nor money so after five minutes of buggering about I got the grinder out and put short play to them. I was not worried about damaging the pipes themselves because they had turned hard as stone and could do with replacing anyway.

That sorted I undid the easily undid the nuts holding the tank in place at the front and back then tried to remove the tank...

 

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It was when the tank would not come out of place that I realised I had been a bit eager here and had forgotten to remove the fuel pipes along with the electrics for the fuel gauge. I shifted the tank back into place and proceeded to snap off both of the fuel pipes, destroy the earth wire for the fuel gauge and break both the sender wires.

Apart from that it all went swimmingly!

 

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I used the tow bar support arms to support the tank again as I lowered it out of place and they came in handy as an extra pair of hands. The tank itself is in surprisingly good condition but the fuel that came out was full of rust that had to be filtered out of it before I popped the little that was there into the Discovery.

 

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I have rubbed down the cross member ready for sealing up before I fit the new chassis section and refit the tank...

 

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The rear exhaust silencer was in the way and seeing as it was rusty as hell with holes in the pipework I made the job easier for myself with the grinder when it was removed.

 

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It was about now I had had enough of lying on the floor in the cold so I dug out the new chassis section for a look at it and I have to say I am not looking forward to cutting the old chassis away because if I bugger it up I will really bugger it up!

I will measure then remeasure then measure again. At this point I will have a brew along with a bit of a think and then measure it all up again before making the first cut.

Now as usual I will be totally honest when I do it but hopefully it will all be good news when that bit comes around.

 

The next job will be to disconnect the rear lights and feed the loom back along the chassis a bit so I don't destroy that when the old part gets cut off!

It is going to be a busy week!

 

www.nickysmith.me

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[h=2]Hmmm Snow.[/h]The 110Posted by Nicky Smith Sun, January 17, 2016 07:43:07

I had to open my mouth didn't I. In a passing tongue in cheek comment I said all would be good for the work on the 110 chassis as long as it didn't snow on my week off...

 

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Bugger.

 

lol at least it has not settled on the drive so work can carry on as long as that's all that falls from the sky! I wont be doing anything else until tomorrow anyway so hopefully some would have melted away :)

 

On the plus side it was a fantastic walk with the dog early this morning who loves the snow rolling around as well as ploughing the fields with her nose in the stuff and the city does look very nice with the overnight white coating it has received...

 

 

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[h=2]Crying & Crossmembers[/h]The 110Posted by Nicky Smith Mon, January 18, 2016 17:40:32

Social media can be a fantastic thing with its instant access to lifetimes of information and the fact that you can be anywhere in the world on a webcam seeing places you may well never visit in the real world as well as all of the like minded friends you can make on there. But the other side really saddens me, first thing this morning because as usual I was up before the dawn I was on Facewipe and there were a plethora of hatred posts ranging from hurting animals to hating people.

I am not going to preach from a soap box here but people come on people just live and let live, pass on a smile to folks you see look into different ways of life and cultures before you spin off in a mainstream media frenzy of hatred make informed choices. Chase the fun things in life use your energy to laugh as much as you can because God only knows there are enough tough times in our lives as it is!

 

Right then enough of that and speaking of tough times I had my yearly visit to the Dentist this morning and I swear that bloke is only a Dentist because it causes folks pain he really is a sadistic bastard! "A quick scrape and polish" damn I thought he was pulling my teeth out by removing my gums first and with no pain relief either!

Now I am a man and as such I do not cry, well in public anyway, but as I was lying in that chair I seriously had to hold myself back from giving the chap a quick slap and by the end of the five minutes of hell I did have water amassing at the corner of my right eye...it was just the bright lights you know!

 

When I got home I looked at the 110 and knew it was time to tackle the chassis, the weather was good it was not too cold and inside my mind this was turning into a massive hurdle so head down arse up and best be getting on with it!

Now does the back of anyone else's project Landy look like a bomb has gone off inside of it???

 

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This was the first step of the day because tools seem to be going missing and I am sure most of them were in the rear twilight zone I have been developing...I was right!

That done I dragged out the new 1/3 chassis and its box opened it all up so I could measure where and how much I was going to be cutting off of the old one.

 

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It was at this point I realised that I was getting ahead of myself so I went back into the rear tub and started to try to take the back panel off of both sides in order to access the wiring that needed to be disconnected so the wiring loom could be fed back through the old chassis. This kind of set the mood for the day because the single bolt and phillips head screw that held each panel in place were knackered and unmovable by traditional means.

 

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I looked at the 110 and firmly informed it that I was not going to be playing games with it today and headed out to the shed to get the grinder...that made short work of that problem.

 

That sorted I laughed at the fact whoever wired up the old trailer socket on it used only yellow wiring, no seriously look I had to take a picture of it because I could not believe it myself!

 

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I could not put it off any more now I had to start on the chassis so I measured up from a few different places and marked up the old one where I thought it would need cutting.

 

www?ShowFile&image=1453137491.jpgOnce it was marked up I put lots of axle stands and a jack in place to catch the hold chassis when I made the cuts then I went off for a cup of tea for 10 minutes. The reason for that was I have been dreading cutting the chassis off because if I buggered it up it means I would need a whole new one and think as hard as I tried I could not find an excuse or reason good enough to explain to Wifey why needed a grand in cash.

 

When I came back I triple checked my measurements and marking, again, then I checked once more! Nope couldn't put it off any more everything looked good so I fitted a 1mm cutting disc to my grinder (I hate using the really thin ones I think I am going to end up with a broken one in my face...Jesus I am turning into a worrying old git these days) then set to on the first cut.

All went well and after a few disc changes the rusty old one was off...

 

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Looking at the pictures you can see how rusty it really was and way beyond any sort of proper repair! What I DO NOT recommend is dropping this very heavy rusty piece of crap on your shin when moving it out of the way because it really does smart a touch! At least it took my mind off of my visit to the Dentist!

The chassis underneath looked good and the rear end looked all lost and lonely now its backside had been surgically removed!

 

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The wiring loom took some feeding back through into the new chassis and I re-taped it all up before I did. I also set it so it sits in the middle of the chassis using tension to keep it out of the way when welding.

 

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Now we would see if I had made the right cuts or not as I tried to offer up the new chassis... If you are going to attempt to do this particular type of work on your Land Rover may I suggest getting someone to help you as it is bloody awkward trying to fit a new piece this size by yourself but it was possible using the axle stands and a jack oh and the high lift.

 

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It was tight...I mean really tight to get onto the old chassis but with some gentle persuasion using a sledge hammer it went nearly all the way into place. I did use the nuts and bolts on the tabs at this point as well. I put them all into place which kept the chassis in line and helped by putting some extra tension/force moving the replacement chassis exactly where it was supposed to go.

My measurements were all good much to my now smug satisfaction (I mean it is my why was I worrying??) the whole thing had lined up a treat!

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Sounds easy doesn't it? Well it was straight forward enough but this process of lining up and banging and bashing took about 45 minutes until I was happy with the end result, after all I hope this will be on here for quite some time.

The back end looks good now though with no more rusty holes...no one likes a rusty hole...

 

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So first job tomorrow is to finish cleaning off the metal then clamp it all up and get the welder out. The reason that none of that was done today was because it was getting darker, colder and I had had enough for one day. The weather looks like it is staying dry until Friday so lots of pottering can be done without having to rush, I don't rush any more...

 

http://www.nickysmith.me

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[h=2]Early Starts & Seats[/h]The 110Posted by Nicky Smith Tue, January 19, 2016 16:39:29

It's getting beyond a bit of a joke now, I am on holiday it is time to relax and do just what the hell I feel like while all of my family are out of the house and this should start every day with me sat in bed with a nice cup of tea watching the news for just a few minutes...ten would do!

But nope my body is on work time and I am wide awake around five laying there staring at the ceiling until six because I refuse to get out of my pit before I would normally start a shift at work!

Oh well if that's all I have to complain about eh, at least I get to see my youngest every morning before she leaves for school because there is no better start to the day than being mostly ignored by a teenager.

 

Now my oldest daughter informed me that she was going to buy a motorbike because she has started working full time and would like a bit more freedom and independence than the bus network can currently offer her.

 

By "she was going to buy" I should of put

 

"she decided she wanted one and looked at Dad because he was the one who would be looking for it"

 

Now this did not take me long really just a few days with most of that time letting her sleep on it a bit before she spent her money and changed her mind instantly after buying it leaving me to sell the bike back on again.

This fad will probably only last a few months so I told her to set a budget of £500 and I managed to find a 62 plate Chinese 125cc with 2 miles on the clock...seriously!

A husband had bought it for his Wife who liked the idea of it then rode up and down the road twice, popped it into the garage and promptly left it there for three years.

 

The battery was shot so they put a new one on and delivered it to my door for the princely sum of £450. It will need an MOT now due to being over three years old but apart from a brake lever switch all seems good so it's going on Thursday after which my eldest daughter can insure it and I can have the pleasure of teaching her to stay shiny side up.

 

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By the time I got back in this morning from organising that lot it was 10 o'clock, tea time, which I drank while taking the first wheel off of the 110. The order of the day was to weld up the new chassis that was fitted yesterday so out came the correct tools like some big hammers and clamps to shape the metal around the old chassis giving an easier and stronger weld.

It did not take long to jig the offside into place ready for the welder to come into play.

 

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You can see in the picture I also used some old wood to keep the lower part of the chassis flap in place by jacking it up first then gently lowering the jack down with the wood in position. This gave nice tight fit and before I knew it I was merrily welding away after adjusting the feed speed down a touch as it seemed to be flying through at an alarming rate.

 

I was struggling a little bit here because I got a rusty bit of metal in my right eye yesterday and today it seems a little "gunky" although thankfully there is no metal left in there!

It was soon all nicely welded up into place so just a bit of a grind down saw it bang on as did the messy underseal.

 

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That side done I jumped around to the other and it was more of the same although three people "had" to talk to me while I was under the 110 two being my neighbours and the last being the postman who as it turns out is a bit of a Landy nut and sat himself down on the path for a ten minute chat so if your post as late today it was probably my fault!

 

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It is a nice feeling having the last major welding obstacle behind me now as the rest of the rebuild feels like plain sailing because the rot has been removed.

Now I am not saying am lazy here or anything but after two days of lying underneath the 110 for one reason or another I had had enough. I was feeling tired, not as young as I used to be you know, so I put the tools away and went into the back garden because there was the old chassis just sat waiting with lots of bits that needed to come off.

 

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I set too with it and every nut and every bolt came undone easily, not one of them fought me! I had the whole lot stripped off in less than ten minutes.

 

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I will be keeping the NATO hitch and handles but that drop tow ball is of no use to me. I want to fit a drop plate to the 110 so I can easily change over hitch types without sacrificing ground clearance.

 

When we were out for dinner with some friends (yes I do have some real ones) over the weekend I was given by one of them a half leather interior out of a Laguna so I could modify the front seats to fit the 110 and drive in some comfort! Now this is a bonus as I wanted to put some different type of seats in it to make driving it over any sort of distance bearable and the fact they are free means I really don't mind adjusting them to fit :) Thanks again chap if you are reading!

The rear seats will be made into a garage bench seat for drinking cups of tea on. I don't have a garage yet but it is a must for whatever house we end up buying over the next few months.

 

Tomorrow will be a proper day off though as I intend on doing just whatever I damned well please be it a walk in Derbyshire or a lazy day stuffing my face full of crap or going out for a bike ride, I will not be working on the 110 or any other mechanical device.

The leg is bruising up nicely from dropping the chassis on it so I doubt I will doing anything too strenuous!

Having said that don't be surprised if you see another update because I decided to potter doing nothing in particular and ending up working on the 110 again!

 

http://www.nickysmith.me

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[h=2]Lazing & Loitering[/h]The 110Posted by Nicky Smith Wed, January 20, 2016 16:31:13

My body has caught up! I woke up early around 4:30am needing to pee, which in itself shows the years are marching on because I never used to have to wake up and pee during the night but it is now becoming an all to regular occurrence, then I hopped back into bed thinking there was no way I would be able drop back off but drop off I did not waking until Wifeys alarm jolted me out of a very nice dream involving working in my own very large garage on the 110 at 07:45.

 

Bright eyed and bushy tailed I hopped out of bed made a cup of tea then thought "Bugger this" and hopped back into bed with me brew to watch the news. The news was crap but relaxing with a little internet time in no rush to get up or do anything was just what the Doctor ordered.

 

But I could not be doing this all day so after a while I was up and about again looking what to do with my day seeing as it was wide open before me. I started by putting the freshly charged battery on the eldest daughters 125 which fired up a treat and then I grabbed my little tin of Hammerite to give the Disco's nudge bar thing another quick coat of paint as the last one I put on was a bit thin in places showing a little rust through it.

 

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That done I remembered the 110 fuel tank could do with a lick of paint and seeing as I had the kit out now I may as well give that a quick once over before I put it all away.

 

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It looked a lot better once done.

 

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The pick up pipe broke off in a rusty mess when I removed the tank so I have spoken to Paddocks who have one in stock so I will pop over there in the morning to collect that and a couple of other bits I need as well.

Seeing as I was out and loitering on the driveway I decided to sort out the wiring under the chassis for the rear lights.

This started with trying to fish out the rubber from inside the chassis that protected the wiring loom and after a few rather blue minutes I had managed to get it all the way through.

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I did not mean to leave it on the wrong side of the chassis in the first place but hey I am human and forgot before I welded the lot up! So once I had it out I could then set it right which took all of thirty seconds with two flat headed screwdrivers.

 

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Then I looked at the wires realising I had taken sod all notice of what went were before I removed them in the first place and thought "bugger this" again and decided to get the dog and go for a walk in the woods. Much to my surprise my daughter even came along for the 3.2 mile stroll which pleased me no end as we had time for a good catch up.

 

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The sunshine was stunning today through the trees and considering I was not going to do much of anything Land Rover wise I managed to get quite a bit done!

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[h=2]Scrap & S***e Traffic.[/h]The 110Posted by Nicky Smith Thu, January 21, 2016 16:22:21

Well it's Thursday already to all of you normal folk but Saturday for me again! The week has been a bit funny time wise I feel like it's Thursday/Saturday already! but also it's onlyThursday/Saturday and I have got loads done!

 

Either way it is what it is, with the winter frosts still holding fast as I woke up at stupid o'clock again to a world of white in fact it was that white this morning I did a double take to make sure it had not actually snowed overnight but thankfully no it's just freezing. The week so far has been a touch on the fresh side working on the driveway but today we had a bit of wind as well that really cut through you as you lay under the Land Rover.

 

I am getting ahead of myself here though so lets back track to first thing when the garage collected my daughters 125cc bike to take it away for it's first MOT. I have not heard from them so far so hopefully all is well there and it will be dropped back off tonight.

There was quite a pile of scrap metal amassed in the back garden so I dragged it all onto the front of the driveway as there are lots of scrap metal folks who drive up and down the ring road so it never hangs around long.

 

www?ShowFile&image=1453391756.jpgThere was just a small pile so I set a little note on it reading "Scrap Metal (not the Land Rovers!) which always seems to attract a bit of attention.

 

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There was going to be a quick trip to Paddock Spares this morning for a few bits so I could get the tank back in place and the 110 running again before tomorrow and the predicted rains that should be coming. I needed to get a pick up pipe thing for the top of the tank (I forget the correct name now), a tank cradle because mine never came with one and I am informed they should really be fitted along with another rear spring base.

No problem I thought to myself just a quick pop there and back again not forgetting the jubilee clips that I needed from Halfords on the way home.

 

08:45 I left my house for what at worst should have been a 90 minute trip all in...

11:50 I got back onto my driveway.

 

You may think I stopped for some kind of fun along the way or got distracted by something pretty and exciting but oh no dear reader it was the typical "Nick is out on his own driving so lets send out the "Delay Him and Wind Him Up Squad"

Honestly you could not make it up! As soon as I got into to Derbyshire on lanes with no chance of overtaking for ten miles I came upon a learner bus driver.

Now this in itself is not an issue we all have to learn and start some where, oh no the issue was the fact the bus never went faster than 20 mph STOPPED every time traffic came from the opposite direction and took every corner at approx 4mph...have you ever been to Derbyshire? there is a corner every 30 yards! The instructor needed a slap because there were many places to pull in and let the tailback of of 30 plus cars pass by taking pressure off of the learner themself and the frustration of all of the people behind them away.

You could see the panic on the learners face as he looked in the mirror every 10 seconds the poor bugger! So no where to pass for ten miles and that's how far it was behind the bus.

 

Still no problem I enjoyed the scenery then when the time came up I passed the bus quite easily rounded two bends and hit a long line of traffic waiting at temporary lights that let through three cars at a time in either direction. Trying not to lose my cool now I looked again at the rolling hills of frozen white and went over my order list again in my head. My turn to rush through the lights came and soon I was stood at Paddocks service desk all keen to buy the parts I needed and head home, the problem was I was the only person stood at the service desk. I rang the bell and waited, rang it again waiting some more, then I rang it again a bit more insistently and still no one came. After ten minutes of this crap I just rang the bell...constantly. Funnily enough within 20 seconds someone popped their head through the door and asked "Are you being seen to?" to which I replied with my nicest smile "Nope".

 

All of the parts showed on-line as in stock so of course I only managed to come away with the pick up pipe thing some nuts and bolts along with the spring plate. Maybe it was payback for sitting on their bell. Never mind I was in no rush for the tank cradle I could just bolt the bugger back into place like it was when I bought it for now.

I had to get back home first so sod going back the way I had come in I was going to go through Matlock & Matlock Bath instead.

 

Yea, that was a mistake.

 

To cut a long story short we will just go with multiple road works, temporary road surfaces, several temporary sets of lights, three tractors with trailers and a horse riding school that must have been out on a charity event to see how many horses they could get in a line two wide whilst riding from Matlock to Nottingham.

 

I nearly forgot to get the jubilee clips but remembered at the last minute!

 

Right then I was home and hungry now which was not surprising as it was now lunchtime so refuelling was done first then I got the fuel tank out to fit the new part to it.

All 5 screws easily came undone on the old pick up pipe part then it was replaced along with the new gasket and off under the 110 I went. When people ask me next week where I went for my holiday I will reply with "Under my 110" because I know just about every bit under there now!

 

Soon enough the tank was in place with the fuel pipes attached.

 

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At this point I did wonder to myself whether I had the fuel pipes the correct way around or not so que me chasing the pipework back from the front to check but everything looked good..I think. Once the filler and return was plumbed in I set my attention to the nearside spring seat, this was ok-ish that's why I had not replaced it at the same time as it's opposite but then I thought if I am going to do this I may as well do it bang on right.

 

It took just minutes to undo the shock pop the spring out grind the old bolts off and put it all back together again. I then took away the axle stands the whole chassis has been resting on for weeks and weeks and for the first time since changing all of the suspension for new it sat on all of it's own rubber....lopsided.

 

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www?ShowFile&image=1453393699.jpgIt does not look much in the pictures but there is a definite lean to the near side of an inch or two. It may be the spring or shock but both are new and I fitted it as it should be done with the correct spring on it's labelled side.

 

www?ShowFile&image=1453393850.jpgSo if anyone has any ideas or if I have done something glaring obviously wrong please feel free to rip the mick out of me but shout up with what it is too please ;)

 

In all honestly after the type of day it has been I was not surprised or overly bothered either so I popped off to the Petrol station and grabbed six litres of Diesel and chucked it into the 110 to see if I could get it running once again.

 

I did not prime the pump, I did not bleed the fuel system either because I had taped up the end of each fuel pipe as I removed it from the tank so other than a little bit of air I figured what the hell lets just go for it and fire it up using what was already sat in the lines.

 

It has been a few weeks since it was last started up so I turned the key to the preheat setting for a good 20 seconds then clicked it forward once more and it fired into life! After a few seconds I increased the revs a bit so that if any air in the system did work it's way through hopefully it would keep going until the diesel hit home once again self bleeding as it went.

 

I need not of worried as it ran fine and true with no hiccups and very surprisingly no smoke when cold. There is only clean fuel in there now so maybe the fuel I took out of it was really old...you remember that fuel...I put it in the Discovery...best top that up then eh to thin the old stuff down a bit.

 

So there I sat happy as a pig in poo until I got out of the drivers door to see a small puddle of diesel on the floor under the bulkhead.

 

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That was soon traced to a small split in the brittle fuel line that must have happened when I was messing around with the tank at the back pulling pipes in all directions as I worked on the chassis. No worries I just taped it up for now which is holding and I will replace all of the fuel lines from front to back before I am done.

 

It has been a good week on the old boy, all of the major rebuild structural work is now done so the road ahead now lies with the more enjoyable mechanical rebuild bits. I still have to finish under sealing the whole chassis but the rot has been dealt with and the rest will be plain sailing because I now have a good base to build upon.

I bought this 110 thinking it would be a quick "patch it up & play" motor but it would appear that I was very wrong. My heart sank at the thought of another rebuild I did not think I had it in me again so soon but as we have got to know each other I have started to enjoy myself once again. The old boy is growing on me.

What this says about me God only knows but there is no rush to be done with this and it will be done right, it is being rebuilt for me and only me not a sympathetic resto like the last one nope I am thinking of what I want to use it for and what I want to do in it.

 

So far I have no idea...

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[h=2]Wheels & Work.[/h]The 110Posted by Nicky Smith Tue, January 26, 2016 20:24:57

Well they say time passes quickly and here we are already at the end of the second day of work. The only problem with being back at work is that it is dark when I leave then when I come back home again so the 110 naturally takes a back seat.

 

Before this heinous time had come upon me I managed to get one last set of bits done for the old boy on Sunday in the form of starting to sort his wheels out. They were standard military lots of coats of green grey and sand along with some sort of sticky black thrown in just for fun!

 

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Out came the sanding brush that fits in the end of the drill and I took the worst of the rough edges away gave them a good wipe down then dug out the grey oxide paint.

I have not decided on what colour the final product will be on the 110 yet so these will be left in primer for now until that tough decision is made!

 

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Now the reason I am not sure what colour it will be is because I thought it would just be green again and I had a tin of it in the shed and I had a go with it on one of the wheels thinking that would be another job ticked off of the long long list of things to do.

 

I was wrong. I painted it and stood back to admire my handy work and instantly I did not like it...at all.

 

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I wondered if it was because it was wet, so I let it dry out. I still did not like it so maybe I am ready for my style on this motor, it will be my own design.

No harm No foul I just dug out the sander again along with the grey oxide and soon enough they all looked the same again, sitting there just waiting for me to decide what colour to go with...

 

http://www.nickysmith.me

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[h=2]Taking a Look & Tank Guards[/h]The 110Posted by Nicky Smith Sun, January 31, 2016 08:07:29

It is not often I am stuck for words on how to explain how a day has gone both in my life and on either of the Land Rovers but this morning I am sitting here struggling with it. The fact that it is Sunday morning and not Saturday evening that I am writing also puts play into how hard it is to get the words down onto the paper.

But I have decided to throw caution to the wind by just writing away and then not reading back over it in order to try to convey what has been going on over the last 24 hours!

 

It started early with yet another house to view. I liked the look of this place on-line so did Wifey so off we went. The house was spot on, there was a lot of work that has been half done but that's half less of the work I would have to do and we like the area a great deal anyway as we have been looking over that way. Good sized rooms detached house with a garage car port and enough land to create hard standing/driveways to put the numerous and growing amount of vehicles we seem to have. It's a dorma bungalow type place at the bottom of a cul-de-sac so nice and quiet and most definitely a place we could grow old in if we wanted to.

I am a big believer in following my gut and we kept the vendor busy for well over an hour going around and around the house checking it over in all the places and ways you need to when looking at a house. My gut told me in a big way this was the house and the price was well within budget leaving us enough a month in our wages to do the place up a bit at a time.

We thanked the vendor and set off into Derbyshire for a walk along the first part of the Monsal Trial then into Bakewell for lunch...

 

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As we parked up at the start of the walk we had been chatting all of the ins and outs of the house we both liked so much so we thought "bugger it!" and called the estate agent with an offer because at the price it was up for we knew it would not be around very long. Of course it was not the full asking price but hey you have to haggle you know it is expected!

 

With that done we started our walk not expecting to hear much at all for some time.

 

www?ShowFile&image=1454228288.jpgWe were wrong, very wrong. Within 30 minutes my mobile was ringing with the estate agent calling back to say "No the offer is too low" fair enough I thought it was a cheeky offer on a low priced house anyway but before I could say anything the estate agent then said "But she will meet you halfway price wise"

There was only a delay on me responding because I was so surprised! I of course agreed straight away and the house was bought!

To say we were pleased is an understatement as we danced around on the trial like kids whist the sheep looked on at us as if we were mad!

 

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So we are buying a house...our very own once again and Wifey has already planned the next three years work for me on it so I hope it all goes through ok!

 

When we got back I needed a bit of down time and seeing as I had an hour or so of daylight left I naturally headed off to the 110 to see what I could do to it for a bit whilst I had a ponder over the days events. The first thing that came into sight was the tank guard I had bought, if you remember the 110 did not have one fitted before and in all fairness I had decided not to bother with one at all but this brand new one came up at a price I could not say no to and I thought "why the hell not keep it in good fettle eh!"

 

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It's only four bolts after all so shouldn't have taken too long. I was wrong again for the second time in the day (not that unusual if I am honest) it took all of the day light to shape and fit the bloody thing with the bolts going up and down on both ends more times than a hoar's knickers!

 

There was some swearing I have to admit that turned into maniacal laughter after a while as I pried pushed pulled and lifted it to get around the mountings it needed to fit on but finally it was all in place with me slowly taking turns to wind all of the nuts up into place.

 

www?ShowFile&image=1454229055.jpgIt looks good though and I am glad I have fitted it as it finishes off the bad end nicely. Yes it is underneath where no one else will see it but I know it's right under there now :)

So yesterday was a big day indeed that we had no idea was coming, as far as we were concerned we were off to take a nose around yet another house that would not be "quite right" and a walk. We ended the day owning (hopefully) a new house and looking around the one we are in realising how much we have to do to get ready for the nightmare of moving it all again.

Hope fully this will the last one for a long long time....

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