restoration The 110.

[Nic Jackson]

As always an entertaining read....Good news about the house and the Landy is coming on good too!!!!

 

Regards

 

Nic

[minn200]

Thanks Nic we are really pleased about the house

 

As for the 110 yep it is feeling like I am getting somewhere now which is great because with all of the welding done it's just mechanical and paint paint from here on in

[minn200]

[h=2]Bashing & Bushes[/h]The 110Posted by Nicky Smith Sat, February 13, 2016 13:07:10

It feels like forever since I managed to get some time in on the 110 but seeing as I had sod all to do this morning today was indeed the day to play.

 

Remember not so long ago I was unsure about rebuilding this? well it brought a smile to my face as I opened up the rear door of it this morning realising I had missed the old boy more than I thought and I was keen to get stuck in...funny how things change.

I had one job in mind that I really wanted completing along with a few other little bits that needed finishing off so a potter around day it was going to be.

 

First of all I decided it would be best to start the old boy up to warm him through so the battery was hooked up with me thinking that it would be flat as a pancake after this amount of time along with the cold weather we have had this week but it surprised me to hear it fire up straight up away after just a few seconds of preheat. With a little smile on my face I patted the dashboard as a well done to it got out and dug the old axle I had bought a few weeks ago.

 

 

Now I had no need for this axle or anything on it but it came up at the right money and because I have to change the bushes in the front radius arms I figured it would be easier to do that to a set that was off of the 110 then it would just be a case of changing them over when it came to it.

But before any of this could happen I had to get them off of that axle. WD40 is your friend you know and the bolts have been getting liberal doses of it over the last couple of weeks so the first side came off quite easily after a some gentle persuasion using two spanners to get the whole bolt moving freely first.

 

The other side took a little more effort but after a few choice words the second radius arm was free. The next job ahead though was to remove those tired old bushes...

 

Now I don't have a bearing press or any press of any kind so I had already had the forethought to trawl the internet to see what would be the easiest way to get these stubborn buggers out so armed with a chisel, screwdriver and hammer I set to work first cleaning the muck from around the bush edges then slotting the screwdriver down between the bush metal rim and the radius arm itself.

A quick few hard whacks and the screwdriver was down the side forcing the old bush in on itself so with another set of whacks with the hammer onto the bush itself it was free and clear.

 

"This is easy" I thought to myself as the second bush dropped out as easily as the first.

That was where the fun ended.

 

Could I get the buggers out of the second arm?? Nope they were stuck fast and did not want to play so I had to get a little creative.

By creative I mean brutal. I dug out the metal chisel then set to smashing the damned things down one side with the hammer slipping off of the head of the chisel on a regular basis and whacking my hand. Trying to keep the air clean I hopped around shaking my hand from time to time but those damned bushes were coming out whether they wanted to or not. Sure enough after about ten minutes they were free and the only cost was a throbbing left hand.

 

 

I then took them into the paint preparation area (the back garden) and got out the drill with a brush wheel and managed to get the years and years of rust, dirt and old paint off. Then it was time to put the first coat of Hammerite on it and here's a tip about Hammerite...don't leave it in a cold shed if you expect to use it as it thickens to the consistency of last weeks Sunday dinner gravy and you end up stirring it for ages to get some warmth into it.

 

It doesn't take long to slap some paint around so while I was waiting for that side to dry I went back to the 110 to refit the accelerator pedal properly after it's foot well re-fit.

There seems to be a shortage of nuts and bolts at the Smith household so the ones I used were a little long but not to worry they were made into short order with the grinder after fitting

 

That done I ran back around to the painting area (the back garden again) to put a good coat on the next side of the arms. The results look quite good!

 

When they dried off I could not get the new bushes in for love nor money. I poked sandpapered and scrubbed but all to no avail. Luckily a friend has access to a big press and has agreed to help out after asking "Can you just not do it because you are getting old?" Funny fella he is

 

Then it was time to play with that mystical realm that is Land Rover electrics. Ever since I replaced the rear cross member and chassis the wiring has just been tucked up out of the way waiting for me to feel brave enough to try and tackle it all because I stupidly took no notice at all as to where it all went when I took it apart.

 

So I sat there on the driveway like a dumpy little garden gnome cross legged on a piece of cardboard with my multimeter in one hand a hand full of cabling in the other and a perpetually confused look on my face.

I did manage to get the rear side lights working along with the brake lights and the hazards. The hazards work so well that they come on when you try to indicate in any direction so I figured I must have a crossed wire somewhere to match the ones in my head.

My backside was cold by now and I needed to think about returning some sort of feeling to my hands so I called it a day chucking the tools back into the shed and coming inside for a nice cup of tea.

 

The 110 is coming along nicely now and each job I do seems to be one less off of the list. I am aware that that is obvious but now it feels each step is taking me toward the finishing line which at the moment is getting it a full MOT. There are plenty of plans of what I want to do to the inside and the outside but those are far into the future. Shall it be an overlander? Should it be military? Will it be red or will it be blue? I don't know yet but I am open to ideas for it all if anyone has any.

 

http://www.nickysmith.me

[minn200]

[h=2]Pauses & Patience[/h]The 110Posted by Nicky Smith Sun, February 21, 2016 07:59:56

There is very little happening on the 110 at the moment and this is not just due to the weather. Because we are in the process of buying a house, which is coming on very quickly, and the fact that I actually have the 110 back into one piece as well as running leaves me loath to start to take it apart again.

At the moment I can drive it onto a transporter trailer to get it over to our new home so I am sat here wondering exactly what I can do with it that wont effect it's forward motion...

 

The replacement front seats were dropped off by my good friends yesterday and now they are here sat next to the landy I can see that they will look absolutely superb when they are fitted. I don't think I have ever seen half leather Renault Laguna seats fitted to a Land Rover before but I could be wrong there...

 

So bugger all to report really I will get around to taking a few pics of the seats when the rain stops but apart from that I am a bit stumped on what to do next...

 

http://www.nickysmith.me

[minn200]

[h=2]Radius and Rumps.[/h]The 110Posted by Nicky Smith Sun, February 21, 2016 19:14:31

I did get around to doing a couple of bits today after all much to my own surprise!

First things first though, I need to say a very big thank you to my friend Richard for using his rather large press to sort out getting those bushes into the radius arms I refurbished last week.

You sir are a true gentleman and have saved me hours of messing around trying to do it the hard way round so there is a crate of real ale winging it's way to you as a token of my appreciation!

 

They do look well though...

 

So that's six sets of bushes sorted out and only all of the rest of them on the 110 to go.

Now in all fairness the back of the Land Rover looks like a bomb has hit it and it was far past time to sort it all out. I am trying to get on top of all of these little jobs that mount up before the move comes on so I set to emptying it all out. putting tools away where they belong as well as having a good sweep out. Then I popped my funky new seats that are going to be comfy for me to stick my ample rump on back in there and covered them all up but not before taking a picture or two first...

 

I did manage to somehow get both of the head rests stuck in place only just in and I can't figure out how to move them either forwards or backwards now so I walked away before I got too frustrated and broke the buggers.

 

I did get to thinking on what I should do on the inside of it and I will be going down the trying to get some comfort in there line. I wont be doing any serious off roading in it so comfort is going to be the key with this one...well as much comfort you can get in a Defender anyway.

 

http://www.nickysmith.me

[Tony B]

My advice on Landy bushes. Get some other Bu**er to do them.

[minn200]

Yep You are indeed a man after my own heart lol

[minn200]

[h=2]Locked Down.[/h]The 110Posted by Nicky Smith Sat, February 27, 2016 19:39:02

A dry if chilly day greeted me as I stepped outside with the dog for our Saturday morning stroll. It didn't get any warmer as I took down the greenhouse in preparation for our house move that hopefully is not too far away now and this was one of those jobs that usually end up taking more than you expect and with all of that thin glass you don't want to rush it for fear of nasty cuts or worse.

I have to admit I was well dressed for disaster with thick clothes on plus my babygrow to top of it all so I had no fear of slicing and dicing bits of me I should not be.

 

It's been a proper potter day and I soon ended up on the Discovery's roof to seal up the sunroofs and mid job I looked to my left noticing out of the corner of my eye that both of the 110's front door windows were slightly open but only at the front top corner of both of them?

Seeing as I was up to my elbows in sealant I had to finish stopping the water running into my Disco like I was driving with all of the doors open first before I could investigate.

 

So after a further ten minutes of stickiness that seemed to end up everywhere but where I needed it to be those windows got my full attention. I don't know who wanted to try and get into the 110 but considering if you threw a wet sponge at the door locks they would open for you they could not of had much of an idea of what they were doing.

Both windows had been forced down about 10mm at the fronts only and one of the door hinges had been slightly unscrewed.

I live on a main the main ring road and my neighbours all work different shift patterns so these wannabe thief's must have been disturbed pretty quickly hence everything still being there. They would have been really disappointed as well because I can guarantee it would not of turned over let alone started and this is still the case.

All these thief's have done is make me lock the old boy down tight as drum along with leaving sod all in it worth nicking.

 

The irony is that I had read earlier this morning how Land Rover thief's are targeting the Derbyshire area at the moment and I thought to myself that that was getting a bit close and thankfully mine was sat nice and safe on my driveway.

 

Turns out we are not safe in the city in full view of a major road artery either so make sure you lock them down folks.

 

nickysmith.me ©

[minn200]

[h=2]Moss & New Metal.[/h]The 110Posted by Nicky Smith Mon, February 29, 2016 20:46:55

It has been a busy day today with lots of running around the countryside and the seaside so I am quite amazed that I managed to get anything done at all on the 110.

When we had stopped for an afternoon stroll along the river this afternoon and I noticed that some inconsiderate swine had scraped the rear half on the passenger side of the wife's car with what looked like quite a thick white bumper.

This sort of thing makes me mad because there is no way you could not have noticed your car doing this as they have even dented the plastic rear bumper a bit as well! Why not just leave a note? I would have been happy for them to pay out themselves rather than going through their insurance if they were worried about premiums!

Still what is done is done so I just left it until we got home to see what I could do with it there.

 

This is where the problems started. It was supposed to be a quick five minute job of wipe the dust away apply some paint restore polish stuff I have and see if it worked. I am glad to say that it did work removing 95% of the scratches and I am sure a few more coats will see the whole job finished. But the problem now was that it appeared that it was a bit more than just some "Dust" I had wiped away, the whole car was pretty filthy if I am honest apart from this eighteen inch wide by half a car length long bit of a brightly polished section. I could not leave it looking like that it would drive my OCD through the roof!

 

So I set to getting the washing kit out as well as the jet wash. Wifey's car soon looked nice clean and shiny again but now the Disco looked like it had taken a mud bath so I got stuck in on that. Twenty minutes later that was all sorted but I made the fatal mistake of looking at the 110. I had already noticed some mould on the bonnet that wanted sorting a few days back but now I was actually paying a bit more attention it would seem there was moss growing out of the windscreen surround as well as the gutter above it.

The jet washer was now aimed at this lot as well as the soapy rags and before I knew it all of the living green algae had been removed leaving me wondering how on earth this stuff manages to grow so damned quickly.

Two hours after I started I had a driveway full of shiny motors again.

 

I have a new hinge set on order for the 110 so hopefully that should be fitted this week as well as me managing to finally align the front doors up correctly. I have also got to fit a snorkel on the Disco when I get a chance as well as sealing up the airbox under the bonnet. This week will be a busy one indeed and I am very glad the days are drawing out longer now to help fit it all in.

Who said holidays are for lazing around and relaxing?

 

http://www.nickysmith.me

[minn200]

[h=2]Wiring & Water.[/h]The 110Posted by Nicky Smith Wed, March 02, 2016 07:42:01

Wiring. Old tired brittle wiring. I am sick to death of the sight of the stuff on the 110. The weather broke so I thought I would walk outside wiring diagram in hand to get the rear lights sorted. That was about as good as it got for the next couple of hours.

Honestly I checked it all wired it up and then gave up because now sod all seems to be working and to top it off I made the mistake of opening up the fuse cover only to see the mouldy corroded fuzz on all of the fuses as well as the relays...it is no wonder bugger all works!

Oh well at the damned thing runs ok at the moment.

The 110 is turning into a major project now and if I am honest there is going to be absolutely no rush with it in fact this will probably turn into one of those “Will it ever get finished” projects especially as we have the house move coming up as well along with all of the hard graft that will be needed on that renovation. Still not to worry it will get done in time so I will buy it a proper cover to help keep the rust at bay.

After a final manic giggle to myself when yet another wire broke up in my fingers I turned around to see my neighbour struggling along the pathway with a box the same size as her along with another heavier package in her left hand. I went over quickly to help her with these parcels to be informed they were for me and that the courier had dropped them off earlier. I don't know how me or the courier managed to miss each other maybe I was underneath the 110 muttering madly to myself at the time.

She then said with a grin on her face “You are going to miss this Smith parcel drop off point when you move you know” and she is quite right I will! Maybe all orders will have to made for delivery on a Saturday morning from then on saving lots of trips to the local sorting office.

The big box was the snorkel for the Disco and the heavy one was the new door hinges for the 110. Either were a welcome distraction from the wiring so what to do first?

I went with the snorkel.

I have no plans to make the Disco into an off road monster but I want it to be ready if I fancy a play or some nice easy old fart green laning so slowly I am working my way through it fitting the essentials like diff guards and snorkels “Just in case”.

Out of the box came all of the bits and soon the template was in place...

 

 

I then marked it all up double checking it was all where it was supposed to be after nearly moving the bonnet alarm sensor thing when I did not need to thinking I was fitting a 200tdi snorkel instead of a 300tdi one. Out came the drill so no turning back now...

 

 

Soon enough using the drill and a grinder I had holes all over the wing!

 

 

I offered it up and they were out a touch but not enough to cause me any concern so I removed the plastic inner wheel arch trim (going to need some welding underneath that lot before the MOT) and on the snorkel went...

 

 

It was getting late now so once it was all tightened up and fastened on the passenger door pillar I called it a day. The air box and other bits underneath will be done later this week so at the moment the snorkel is just a fancy ornament doing bugger all!

I would like to get the new hinges on the 110 as well so it feels like I am getting somewhere with it once again who knows I may even give it a lick of undercoat once the weather warms up a touch.

[minn200]

[h=2]Sealant & Stabbing.[/h]The 110Posted by Nicky Smith Fri, March 04, 2016 16:05:45

Sealant. Black sticky as hell gets everywhere but where you want it to be but it does a good job at holding the rust at bay so a necessary evil.

I think I have got most of the main chassis sorted with the stuff but I have left things like the inside of the outriggers where I will be changing bushes over etc for now because it will give a better coating once they are out of the way.

 

The Discovery, as it turns out, is rather more crispy than I first realised and on closer inspection I need to stop stabbing it with a screwdriver in places that look a bit iffy because they always are! Even the rear cross member is going to need some work now for me to be happy towing anything off of it let alone the state of the front inner wings and boot floor. It's like the whole sodding thing wants to die! Well tough titty Disco I am moving house and cannot afford to buy anything else so suck it up buttercup you are getting cut up and put back together whether you like it or not.

 

I had a mate over this morning because his Jeep needed a few patches welding on it's sill but the forecast was snow so we mackled up a bit of a cover to keep off the worst of the flurries that kept coming along. It was initially two patches but as is always the way that turned into four after chasing the rust through as well as blowing the extra hole or two when welding. It all went surprisingly easily until I had to change over the wire reel and now for some reason the feed is not longer constant but it feeds for about three seconds pauses for a second then rinse and repeat? I cant seem to see anything different with the way I have set it up but who knows.

 

Now I know Land Rovers and Jeeps are supposed to be mortal enemies but there would be no issues in an outright fight because Jeeps are just bloody tiny!!!!!! I mean look at the picture the poor bugger looks dwarfed!

 

It's like the weedy kid at school stuck between a pair of bullies! Saying that it's a hell of a lot less crispy than the Disco so who am I to take the micky here?

 

With that done and a sausage cob later (for me the other fella is on a diet which meant I had to eat even more...gutted) my friend was off with his freshly undersealed sill and a warning about the sticky stuff not being set yet and likely to move into his house when he got back.

The snow had buggered off for now as well so I was stood wondering what to do with the rest of my day and I decided that the replacement door bottoms I had bought for the 110 a few months ago needed a little welding tlc so I dug those out and made them whole again in short time even with the welder messing me about. I think it just does not like the reel I have put in it because bugger all I do with it makes any difference at all to the feed.

 

That done and the dog looking at me with it's "Why have you not taken me out for a walk yet then?" face on I drove off to a muddy Blidworth woods where within two minutes I was up to my knees in sludge and so was the dog who thought it was bloody great fun.

[minn200]

[h=2]A Swap?[/h]The 110Posted by Nicky Smith Sat, March 05, 2016 15:46:10

I have had some serious thinking to do this week about life and what is coming up fast upon the horizon. With a new house move along with renovating it there will be little time left for rebuilding my Land Rover 110. Now I don't really want to sell it so I wont! instead I have come up with an idea that might be attractive to some so I will just put it out there to see what you all think.

I am looking for a swap for my “D” reg 110 and my “R” reg Discovery for a 110 or 90 that is road legal and not a rot box.

The 110 is my project that has had all of the welding done to it now including a new rear third chassis, new suspension all round and the bulkhead welded up to boot. It runs drives and stops but the wings are not bolted on nor is the front panel. You can see exactly what I have done either on the Facebook group Just Turned 40 or at www.nickysmith.me under the section “The 110”

It is still a project and will want a fair bit of work doing to it but it's an ex RAF Landy with four bench seats in the back.

The Discovery is an “R” reg 300tdi with MOT until August. 196,000 miles on the clock runs well with no mechanical issues at present. It will require welding for the next MOT on the inner wings at the front and the boot floor will want looking at. It has Boost alloys and all of the tyres have decent tread on them.

I fitted a snorkel last week that seems to be air tight. You could use this to convert the 110 to a TDI if you were so inclined (I was considering it) once the rest of it is up to scratch.

Both V5's are present and in my name.

I am NOT looking to sell them seperatley but am looking to swap them both for a road legal 90 or 110 so I can continue to get to work and back as well as dragging the caravan around on.

No panic if there is no interest as I will patch up the Disco then park up the 110 under cover for a year or two until I get around to it.

If you are interested either message me directly please or email me at Nick@nickysmith.me

I am based in Nottingham.

 

[minn200]

[h=2]Spot the Difference.[/h]The 110Posted by Nicky Smith Sun, March 06, 2016 15:35:12

It was time for the bike to come out of storage. OK I know it's still cold and damp along with the odd snow shower but I missed the feel of the wind and the fun of the ride so out it has come. It's taxed insured and back for a bit of fun.

I cleaned it then got it started after an initial bit of a sulk on it's part as it pulled fresh fuel through. A quick titivate with a dab of paint here and there had it looking well so this morning I hopped on and set off in no particular direction to have a play.

 

Before I parked it up for the winter it felt like the bike was trying to kill me but after today's ride I realise now that a big part of it might actually be me. You see today I had a good think about my riding style whilst on it and once I stopped trying to ride it like all of the sports bikes I have owned in the past and started to ride it like the tourer/adventure bike it is, it stopped trying to kill me and cornered very well indeed!

After a good few miles were under my belt I pulled over to stretch my legs and get the blood flowing through my fingers again and took time to have a good look at it once again.

 

I was home soon enough with the bike tucked up for a few more days sleep and I stood there wondering what to do with the rest of the day between the snow showers.

I had put up the 110 and Disco for a possible swap yesterday but seeing as the offers are not coming in thick and fast of a brand new 110 for my two old knackers I will put the 110 on the back burner just grabbing some work from time to time.

 

This afternoon was a "Time to time" so I got out a couple of tools and did a little on the back end of it but lets play a game. Can you spot the difference?

 

[Caddy]

One photo is the right way up and the other is on it's side (oh, and there seem to be a couple of transfers missing from the windows)

[minn200]

One photo is the right way up and the other is on it's side (oh, and there seem to be a couple of transfers missing from the windows)

 

You are indeed Eagle eyed! Missed something though

[Zuffen]

You removed the metal Land-Rover sign.

[minn200]

Yep The Landy sign is off for now...I had a really busy day lol

[minn200]

[h=2]Axles & Angles.[/h]The 110Posted by Nicky Smith Sat, March 12, 2016 19:45:05

Well what a week. To say it has been busy is an understatement. Work is flat out with lots of retraining of drivers then add to that the fantastic fun that is buying a house well it's been a real blast of late.

The best thing I have had to prove to my solicitors of late is that I have the deposit for my mortgage. So I went to the bank to get them to copy my account passbook to give that to my solicitor who could then confirm to my bank that I hold that account with them so that the same bank that I bank with can then authorise a mortgage with themselves after the confirmation from my solicitors that the money is in an account that I have with them. Does "Jobs for the Boys" ring a bell for anyone here?

Best to leave them to get on with it all eh!

 

Meanwhile in the real world I had more than my usual number of chores today because I have been working well into the evenings all week my little tribe had a long list of things they wanted help with when I woke up this morning. But the day had a most definite hint of spring to it when I looked outside so I was determined to try and find some time to do anything I could think of on the 110. Turned out that that was much much later than I expected but I had noticed that the rear salisbury (I think that's right) was very very rusty so I wanted to grind it all back to see if it was still viable.

 

When I say very very rusty I really do mean so rusty that I would not of been surprised if I worked my way through to the inside of it by the time I was finished...

 

I chiselled it off as well as grinding it off and much to my disappointment more and more rust fell away in big chunks. Then it stopped just before I had hit the far side of the axle it felt lie! There were no leaks which surprised me but I had convinced myself that the diff must be empty of oil so I cracked it open for a quick look. What I found was crystal clear oil so someone at some point must have looked after the mechanical side of this old motor even if they did not look after the rest of it very well.

Seeing as the worst of the rust was sorted I took to spraying it all back up into black.

 

The axle looks ok and probably is good for now but seeing as I have to rebuild all of the rear brake drums including back plates as well as changing all of the bearings at the same time I am left wondering whether or not it would be a better idea to replace the whole thing with a different axle along with disc brakes.

 

After getting Wifey to fish the rust out of my right eye I realised that I had plenty of daylight left so seeing as I had the tools out what could I do next?

I decided on cutting the rusty bits off of the rear tub capping's as they bug the hell out of me each time I look at them!

 

Ideally I could replace these capping's eventually but I wondered how far back I would have to chase the rust so I could see if something could be fabricated up instead of spending money. The nearside was not too bad but the offside was rotten quite away's along though.

 

I am looking forward to get stuck into the mechanical rebuild now but that will have to wait until the house move is done and I am running out of little jobs to do! No swaps were forthcoming so I have been putting some serious thought into what I can do with it as a more long term project. I am leaning towards more of an overlander feel so if and as this has become more long term I suppose I really should go down the TDI route as well.

www.nickysmith.me ©

[minn200]

[h=2]Spring Sunshine.[/h]The 110Posted by Nicky Smith Sun, March 13, 2016 18:55:10

Spring is most definitely on its way and today it made it's presence felt through the blue skies and sunshine that had some warmth to it.

So what better way to start it off than popping off up into Derbyshire to have a good nose around a car boot then after grabbing some sandwiches and a cake hiking up to the top of High Tor so we could sit down enjoying the view whilst we ate...

 

I cannot wait to move closer to this area so we can explore it fully without the ridiculously long drive to do it. There will be plenty of hiking, cycling as well as canoeing and quite frankly I cannot wait for it!

 

The thing with all of that fresh air though is you end up quite yawny so we headed home for a relaxing afternoon which for me meant soon standing next to all of the motors deciding on what I could do first.

 

I changed over a knackered intercooler pipe on the Discovery then it was onto fitting new clips that a friend had dropped off onto the 110's air filter. That went on easily finally giving the old 2.5 N/A engine it's air the way it was supposed to. A quick turn of the key and it fired up into life without missing a beat even though it has been standing for quite some time.

 

 

Whilst I was stood there looking into the engine bay I was trying to decide if it is possible to move the battery in there to save buggering about modifying the new passenger seat I have lined up so I can remove the base of it to access the current battery box. But where would you mount the battery under the bonnet? It already looks crowded under there so any advice on that would be much appreciated!

After checking over the doors, all three of them, it does indeed seem they will all need extensive work on them so they will have to be replaced. I have the bottoms of the front doors but will need a rear door as well as both door tops...best get bargain hunting again then.

 

© http://www.nickysmith.me

 

[minn200]

[h=2]Rust & Rust[/h]The 110Posted by Nicky Smith Sun, March 20, 2016 17:54:18

Can I just say that if you ever end up in a position where you have one or two Land Rovers in really good condition do not make the mistake of selling either one or both of them. Don't get me wrong here I know hindsight is 20/20 but really folks just fix up any landy you have if it is on a good solid base.

 

The 110 has stalled because of the upcoming move which is quite frustrating. So I set my sights upon the Discovery boot floor that was looking a little ropey in the odd place so I set to removing the carpet and insulation to inspect the full extent of the problem there.

I wish I hadn't.

I started by pushing my fingers through the boot floor just about anywhere I wanted to. Then I checked the rear inner wheel arches and quickly wished I hadn't done that either.

 

Crawling underneath it I was horrified to find the extent of the "Hidden" welding that I had missed when I bought it on the chassis. There is patch after patch under there I mean the bloody thing must of been a rot box well before I bought it so here we are back again in rusty city.

The front inner wings are held together by the thickest layer of under seal I have ever seen!

 

So what to do with it. I can repair it again but that will involve a couple of hundred pounds worth of repair panels and home made patches with at least two days worth of work to do it. That is just the boot area not the chassis. The chassis itself is solid enough for now with it's many patches but that does look like a quilt under there. At best I reckon there is a one more year on the old boy tops before anything more terminal sets in providing can find at least something semi solid to weld to.

 

With moving house and the amount of work still needed on the 110 I guess that I should get saving for those repair panels...

 

http://www.nickysmith.me

[minn200]

[h=2]Paint & Floors.[/h]The 110Posted by Nicky Smith Mon, March 21, 2016 13:34:25

I was feeling fed up this morning because I had a large chunk of time before work as I have the pleasure of back shifts this week. The problem with me when I am fed up is that making any sort of decision seems next to impossible. Shall I make a brew? or have some juice? Cheese on toast for lunch or beans on toast?

Sort through the sheds again or have a good look through the 110?

 

The 110 won out in the end but only because I could not decide what to do with myself so I wandered around to the driveway. I nosed through each of the windows and noticed that I had not yet refitted the front floor pans properly so it was back to the sheds to see if I had the nuts and bolts I needed. Turned out I had a far few kicking around so I set to on the floor pans drilling holes in the new foot wells.

 

It turned out to be an easy job really and quite enjoyable to boot. Funny how something so simple can make you feel a whole lot better about the progress you are making.

I dug out what was left of my grey oxide primer and gave the floor pans a good coating.

 

There was literally just enough in the can to do the floors so that has been added to the "Need to buy it" list.

 

I am getting more and more tempted to strip down the front axles, replace the radius arms and then rebuild them all before we move. I shall keep an eye on the weather and decide as the week goes by.

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[h=2]Radius Arms & Rough Edges.[/h]The 110Posted by Nicky Smith Fri, March 25, 2016 18:25:09

Have you ever really stopped and looked at the folk that jog and keep fit? Most of them are not the young and beautiful because, well they are young and beautiful already.

Do you remember that? being able to eat and drink whatever the hell you wanted then still wake up fit as well as looking good?

 

Well if you are young and reading this please please enjoy it to the max because one day you will wake up and notice a pot belly appearing then the real work will begin...

The thirty plus group have to work hard to stay in shape and the forty plus folks even harder. This starts to take it's toll on our bodies but in mind we are all still twenty something so we keep pushing chasing the fountain of youth that seems to have passed us by in a blink of an eye!

But if and when you arrive here can I give a tiny bit of advice. Don't run around in very cheap partially see through leggings.

As I was on the ground about bumper height a rather large lady passed by jogging to her hearts content which in itself is a good thing but she had a pair of these leggings on so everything was there to be seen.

This leads me to the main question I just have to ask...

 

Do you ladies prefer to to jog in thongs? This just seems odd to me because surely it must chafe to hell!

 

Right then onto the 110. I have been working back shifts so have had time during the day to play so with these unexpected extra hours I decided that I should have a stab at fitting the radius arms. There was an axle rebuild on the cards at first but I decided to follow a different path because I was sick of the damned arms looking at me every time I went into the shed.

 

The off side was first up for no other reason than there was more space on that side on the driveway and I didn't have to move the motor.

There was plenty of dust and rust so I was expecting a bit of a pig to get the nuts and bolts undone but they played ball from the off all coming undone very easily.

 

Then I had to remove the track rod end which promptly snapped off of course.

 

But not to worry soon enough it was all off and ready for the new arm to be fitted.

 

The new arm slotted straight into place and with very little persuasion from me it all bolted up with no issues at all.

That was it for the day though because work was calling so I popped the wheel back on leaving the nearside for another day.

 

That day was today because even though I have the pleasure of working just about every bank holiday we have the driver I had in for assessment didn't get past the first hurdle so instead of a ten hour day it was only a short six hour one.

 

Surprisingly for a bank holiday the sun was shining in a clear blue sky and I had the rest of the afternoon to play on the 110. The other radius arm was in sight and even though the first arm was a straight forward and easy affair the second was it's polar opposite.

There was grinding banging a few choice words and lots of prying until the bloody thing finally hit the ground free of the chassis. Not one of the nuts and bolts wanted to come free of their thirty year hold and they fought me the whole way.

 

Still rough with the smooth eh. Once it was off I could get to the very last bit of welding that needed to be done on the chassis and it was with a big smile on my face that it was finally completed!

 

No more welding for a while on the 110! Now you would think that the replacement radius arm would just fall back into place as easy as the other but oh no it did not want to do that!

I had to jack it up pry it sideways just to get the bolts into place but we were not finished there. The back rubber had to be trimmed by a couple of millimetres or the nut would not have never gone on it all! It all tightened up no problem though so finally I could stand back and admire my handiwork.

 

 

 

The track rod end on this side is shot as well so that has been taken off and I will refit all new ends and bar on Wednesday because that is the first chance I will get to do it.

Then if time allows I will make a start on that axle rebuild...

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[h=2]Jet Wash & Train Sets.[/h]The 110Posted by Nicky Smith Sun, March 27, 2016 13:08:29

You know we are buying a house so every penny has top be watched at the moment but luckily for me I get the odd bit of pocket money thrown my way to play with. This usually goes straight out on bits for the Land Rovers but this month I got myself something a little different...

 

After a very pleasant lunch out yesterday with Wifey we ended up at Masson Mills just for a look about at stuff we didn't really want or need. Part of this messing around was trying on new hats ready for next winter. Apparently the one in the picture suits me to a tea I am told...

 

Deciding against the furry mop on top we ended up downstairs in the toy department which in itself was probably a mistake because I am just a big kid at heart.

 

Each time we come here I get side tracked by the Train Sets and the Scalectrix. The ten year old that never left my mind goes crackers over these things but each time after some serious longing and contemplating I normally walk away more than a little disappointed. But not this time oh no this time Wifey "made me" buy a train set!

I walked up to the cashier with a big grin on my face and she just smirked back in that knowing sort of way women seem to do as I paid for my new toy.

 

Not long after we got home I showed my 15 year old daughter and her friend what I had bought and much to my surprise they seemed as excited as me about setting it up.

It didn't take long to get the track sorted and within minutes of the train starting to move the kids had run off to get my Land Rover collection to add to it...

 

So with my impulse buy I had also managed to remove two teenagers from the internet for over two hours and didn't get a looking at my new toy but it was fantastic to see the happy looks on the girls faces.

 

As they were shoving pulling and towing the Landies around I realised that I needed to get back underneath the 110 to pressure wash off a load of oily gunk off before we moved home and went onto the dreaded water meter.

 

With this in mind my job to do this morning before the bad weather hit was just that.

I dug out my heavy duty wet weather gear and got set up with the pressure washer ready to get stuck into the gunk...

 

I mean how are you supposed to get to anything nut & bolt wise under thirty odd years of crap? The pressure washer soon made short work of it though and while I was under there getting covered in gunk and soaked to boot I decided to give the whole of the underside a good wash down in preparation for the final coat of under seal...

 

Looks a hell of a lot better under there now though! And seeing as I did it now on a concrete driveway instead of a gravel one it was a damned sight easier to clean up as well.

A quick engine fire up to dry it off and charge the battery as well as moving it up and down the drive a touch to keep everything moving freely later and today's work was done.

All that is left to do before the big house move is buying and fitting the new rear steering arm next week and that folks will be it for a few weeks I would think.

[Zuffen]

I need to ask; is the exhaust hitting the crossmember beside the gearbox?

 

It looks like it in the photos.

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Nope it's just the angle of the picture