robin craig

Howard, have you had a chance to read my email about my thoughts? Or may I post them here? R

Welcome to the forum and welcome to the world of the 2.5 na diesel. FYI you do not have a "Defender 110" it is a "Land Rover 110". The name change happened later. Pet peeve of mine, I know it is a sub atomic hair splitting detail. Have you joined OVLR? Robin

These are Otokar produced vehicles in Turkey photographed recently. I think they were on this forum in another post about 6 months ago or less. I understand the mindset is that it was easier to destroy them all than deal with "military kit" going out into the public domain. Part of it is a poloiticalpressure from other vehicle manufacturers not liking seeing their potential customers for new vehicles scoop up useful practical vehicles second hand. his happened at the end of the second world war also. It is sadly the trend of governments around the world to scrap rather than sell off kit. R

Perhaps Fort Newhaven is still going? http://www.newhavenfort.org.uk/ There is the monument to the all those, including the Canadians lost at Dieppe that has been moved agin apparently, here is a link to the town's website and info http://www.newhaventowncouncil.gov.uk/war-memorials R

welcome from above you in Canada very similar interests and vehicles R

Dear Ross welcome from another ferret lunatic. why don't you amend your profile so we can see where you live in the world and pictures are a must R

Tor, you need to post some photos, honestly your avatar one really does not give us much of a clue what you up against. I really want to see what kinds of sheds you are working on R

Very nice looking in a scale that is pleasing to the eye. Building quite the range in your products. Robin

Well, if your not going to pull it apart then for goodness sake clean the insides very carefully, mine was very dirty. R

This vehicle and at least one other were sold off through Withams a while ago. You will have to use the "way back machine" portal to find the adverts. R

I cant exactly answer as my memory even from last winter when I did mine is already hazy. As far as I can remember you likely could but here was my thought process, why not do the whole thing and start again from a known baseline? I reall want a reliable vehicle so it all came apart. It is a bit of a daunting process. I think that the T case side could be left in but there is a seal between the gearbox and T case and you might as well take it apart as you are cheapening the job IMHO. Here is mine coming apart, not that the differential assembly has been removed as per the manual. R

I agree with Too Tall, we have that engine in trucks and boats and other applications. So many variations as to ancillaries. As quoted the basic block and head are the same but that is where the similarity ends. If you looking for a donor then you are going to have to have the two side by side and swap the bits over as you go. The injection pump could be different or set up differently. R

Although very sadly my memory and detail recognition is not up to scratch I likely saw your vehicle back in 1967 as the Maresfield Camp was down the road and we went past the place on a regular basis and I think they had open days that I was taken to. I was still in a single digit age at that time. R

send me your email by PM and I have some info to send by pdf, can cut and paste to here, not that brilliant. R

Welcome Richard, I own two Ferrets myself and maintain two more and one Fox for my sins. Happy to chat etc about issues. PM me for email and phone contact points Robin

Very nice, congratulations! Now you need an FLPT to go with it. We have a Mk 2A out here. Notice your version doesn't have the roller on top of the tailgate R

It might give some of us mere mortals more of a chance of helping you by telling us what Sammy is? I am assuming it is a CVR(T) Samson and you can't change from forward to reverse with a racing J60 R

I tend to agree with Richard for the same reasons. The 2A had no fluff fluff padding, no plastic grille, good milspec chassis goop externally and the over riders om the front bumper. My early fascination as a kid was with the Matador. As an adult my love for military vehicles started with the military Land Rover. Very, I say again, very, few Land Rovers meant for civvy street interest me one iota. Driving past the barracks at Uckfield on the bus on the way to school gave me daily glimpse of them. I love honest built for a job working vehicles. The military Land Rover for me was the basic load carrier, people mover, cross country bog simple fixed with a Swiss army penknife and some binder twine and some wire vehicle. I will admit that we had a series one as a child that did just that. Off down to the lake with tools, off to Ardingly for some tarmac. Loaded with fish eggs in a crate from the railway station. Through the snow in the winter, shooting brake for dad and friends. The Land Rover was so widely used it was part of our daily life. Sure it was kind of good at everything but not a star at doing anything or put another way "neither fresh fish fair fowl or game". Sure it was comfortable but it felt basic and simple and without pretentions. Sure it would never set a land speed record but they just chug away and get there in the end. I think it was Tom Barton (oft quoted Land Rover engineer) who said that "the longevity of the Land Rover is directly indexed to the discomfort felt by the driver". I know that the British Army at BATUS found that out the hard way when squaddies swapped the leaf sprung series trucks for the coil sprung Land Rover 90 and 110 and 127, and don't call them Defenders 'cos at that time they were not called that, even that fact is fast being forgotten. The softer ride of the coil sprung vehicles were rolled after being driven too fast for the conditions and then the lack of strength in the top of the then galvanised windscreen and the lack of the twin roll bar behind the driver killed and injured many soldiers. Yes, while the 90 looks sexier if that is possible, and the 127 is my fave of that era anyway, it is the series 2A 109 soft top on bar grips that is my mental image of what is THE Land Rover. Robin

Ruxy, thanks for the info old cam bearings were:- qty 1 BL6952/1 qty 3 S9390S block bore is 1.965" Cam journal is 1.841" Does this look normal? R

So if I understand Mike's post there are two camshaft styles, one metric one imperial, anyone know the sizes? R

Sorry for the late reply but here goes. The old style bar grip tyres have a single band of rubber in contact with the road all the time. There are no gaps. You will have lots of problems and risk coming off the road. I live and operate 2 Bedford MJ trucks in Canada. I do have experience with what I talk about. Once there is enough now or especially ice on the road you will be relying on your forward momentum to get you up the next hill, if you have to apply power or brake that is when you will experience the joys of those tyres. R

Gents, Thank you so very much for the info so far. Let me explain the situation more clearly. I am causing the engine to be rebuilt at a different location 2 hours drive away. I am not the re-builder. The re-builder has refused to get involved with the vaguaries of Trans-Atlantic parts ordering and the b/s involved which is large. I will pass the info on to him and try a different supplier in the morning. He is about fit to be tied at the moment and is threatening to throw the job out of the shop. At the other end management is champing at the bit to have the truck running. Any other comments gratefully accepted. R

We have ordered parts twice for this rebuild job and received the same part number of unfinished bearing sets twice, in their current state they are about .015" too big They will be awkward to turn down. Does anyone know if they only come unfinished? We have no capability to line hone the block with them installed, they would have to be mounted into a jig and put in a lathe and pressed out again and then installed to the block, a whole rigamarole we do not want to do. Any suggestions please? R

Why did it come out through Withams so late? Was it part of their "secret" stache of trophies? R

I think you will find some of the Concord books by Bob Morrison on Operation Granby (first Gulf War) show some RAF Regiment vehicles with enough views that you can figure it out. There may have been an article by him in Land Rover Owner under his column called Military Scene but I can't be sure. I di post a similar question about "recce" series 3s a while ago but not much response. All my reference material is buried in a sea container right now as I'm building a house i'm afraid. R