Stormin

More from today.

Went along Saturday as a day visitor with family. Weather held all the time we were there but rain came as we left and may have spoilt the evening drive out for a few. Good selection of vehicles there. Diappointed not to see a Ward La France again but there don't seem to be many in the North. Also a noticeable shortage of Scammells (just the one) compared to most other events were they seem to dominate. The one Scammell, a rarer Pioneer variant and a very very nice matador complete with 5.5in gun.

Looks a very compact unit, not much floor space used, especially compared with the swing arm type adjacent. I thought your home place was work and you were self employed?

Seem to remember my form 654 had the wrong chassis number on as well (from Withams). One digit entered twice or something similar. I put correct chassis number on forms at DVLA and didn't have any trouble they mustn't have noticed the slight error. :whistle: I wouldn't say the MJ was uncomfortable but then I've had leaf sprung Land Rovers aplenty. Steering is almost unmovable whilst stationary but not that bad once moving even slowly. No need to go to the gym if driven regularly. Why would you really need to be steering whilst stationary anyway?

I think there's plenty over twenty years old. Civilian 2 wheel drive versions of the 45 were around from the mid eighties.

Not unlike the Land Rovers that went before them then, once any particular drum has got wet!

Where do the air actuators come in then? Surely if the air actuators where mounted on the walking beams it would've been simpler. No problem with lack of movement with flexible air lines. No problem with brake balance as pressure would be equal in all cylinders. Looking at the Scammell system there can't be more than too actuators on the rear brakes. If one of them fails or a link rod is damaged how much braking force is left. Particularly a problem on a pioneer I feel with no front brakes. All those link rods are prone to damage. Looking at Andys I can see one is severely bent.

That is cheap! For a comparison I've been doing my own blasting. So far it's cost me more than fifty quid in grit and diesel for the compressor just to do rear half of chassis and rear axles, plus a few brackets. The initial cost for the equipment is also higher.

I think it was down to reliability mostly. Maybe the high centre of gravity and narrow track as well, led to a few roll overs I believe. Sure someone else will know more if you post a question specific to RB44s.

The old MJ almost fits the bill once down-rated, it'll take a coms pod. Later versions with the refurb have a small centre seat (and I mean small). Problem comes when towing your other motor. Anything over 750kg unbraked trailer and you're into HGV territory, it's effectively and articulated vehicle so Class C+E required. The reason I got rid of my MJ was even with third seat fitted it just wasn't practicle for three people in the cab. They're a very narrow cab with wide wheel arches. What about the Reynolds Boughton RB44, they have a three seater cab. I've seen ones with a small radio or command body on the rear and they should tow a Land Rover no problem. Not well regarded whilst in service however.

You realise once you've cleaned it all up you are going to have to replace a lot of the sticky gunge to keep it all working smoothly! Unless you're going to place it in a museum. :whistle:

Just checked here:- http://www.mod-sales.com/direct/vehicle/,26,/19107/Leyland.htm and they're listed at 6.5 tonnes empty. :shocked: I new they were heavier than the old MJ/MK but didn't realise how much. Nearly a tonne more, although I believe payload is higher too. Bad news is that means you won't be able to downrate to 7.5 tonnes for non HGV use. Better to get the licence upgrade anyway then you can drive almost anything and even put it to commercial use.

Yes it's over 7.5 tonnes gross weight so needs a HGV class C. Not sure about down rating the Leyland Daf. I believe the minimum payload after downrating now has to be 2 tonnes. I think the Leyland Daf may be a bit too heavy, just over 5.5 tonnes in 4x4 form, to allow this.

You must have a cheap source of wire brushes! I quite like the blue for the engine and transmission. Gives a nice clean look to everything and easy to spot oil leaks. May have to give my engine the once over with the spray gun again when I'm done.

Definately not a LT85 box. LT85 boxes are an aluminium casing, it would have come with a very long bellhousing for a V8. Not sure what bell housing is fitted. Most Land Rover after Series era had external webbing to casting. It may be out of a Sherpa van. I'll second what Pinkie said about the shroud for fan. It's ineffective all that way from the radiator and ally heads don't take well to getting warm.

Engine position doesn't look too far out for a 200Tdi. They are very close to bulkhead, just room for a heater pipe to pass behind. 300 Tdi was mounted much further forward using a longer bellhousing on the gearbox, had room for air filter between engine and bulkhead. Looks like it is a Disco box diff lock lever is behind gear stick. Turbo is on top as a 90 engine, but could be just that manifold has been swapped. Engine mounts look very much like Series 3 items. From memory Tdi ones are much more bulky, but the basic engine block is the same as a Series or 90 four cylinder petrol or diesel so no reason these mounts can't be used. I think the idea behind the large Tdi mounts is to reduce noise and vibration.

If you are mounting a body on it should be a case of putting a three point mounting for it on the exsiting chassis. Unimog's are popular with overlanders as they already have this system for body mounting. Not too mention bombproof mechanicals. The plus side of the MJ is you can't really get any more simple mechanically.

Stone is spot on. I did exactly the same thing with mine direct from Whitam's. Only thing i'm not sure of is the Test exempt. I got mine tested at local SVA costing £50 before down plating. He forgot to add cry :cry: when you see what you get from SVTech for your £350, four bits of metal plate about £10 worth. If you are thinking of putting a box body on and lots of kit watch the weight. Downrating only leaves you 1900kg of load capacity. That could quite easily be eaten up with expedition equipment. Are you sure you want to use an MJ? Thirstier by double than a diesel Land Rover, slower than all but the most knackered Land Rover (56mph tops). Heavier steering than any Land Rover and much much harder to recover if it gets stuck off-road. Have you actually driven an MJ yet?

Any more details, where exactly and what times, further details? Looking for something to do over the weekend and maymake the trip.

Remember that block could be rigged for a triple line pull so the max line pull would be 5 ton to reach max load at connection. All lifting equipment is rated as a safe working load so there is built in over capacity to allow for shock loads, wear and tear, etc. Question is how much of that overcapacity is left after many years of use and abuse?

LOL, at thought of getting Snap On to custom build you a tool. They're way too expensive as it is. Probably be cheaper to swap the engine.

A 30 ton tank would not need a 30 ton line pull to move it unless it was suspended vertically (off a cliff for example). Even if seriously bogged in mud it would probably only need about 15 tons of line pull. Looking a that block it could be arranged to be overloaded using a 7.5 ton line pull winch as follows:- Snatch block connected to imovable object. Line from winch vehicle wraps around sheave and back to winch vehicle, around another pulley block and back to the snatch block on the load this time terminating on one of the end fixings. This gives three lines at the snatch block each with 7.5 tons load. Total load on snatch block 22.5 tons!

I sold mine on last year. I seem to remember idle could be turned down to about 500rpm, when warmed up. There's a hand throttle knob in the middle, next to the stop cable. It's useful on cold starts and for building up air pressure. Max rev's were around 2500rpm at a guess. Cruising speed seemed to be about 45-50mph. Max would be about 60mph down hill or with a tail wind. If it's been stood a while grease the propshaft joints and watch the brakes for grabbing on the first few applications. Enjoy the journey!

And as if by magic one cab appears on ebay.. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260400887621&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:GB:1123

From my experience alternators use a live feed to introduce a field to the coils. That's the one connected to the charge light. Only dynamos are `flashed' as you put it.