minn200

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

[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! 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

[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... 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... 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... 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... 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... 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... 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.. 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... 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

[h=2]Book Promotions...[/h]MusingsPosted by Nicky Smith Sun, December 27, 2015 09:28:15 Well I am trying to get my head around this online twittering and book promotion nonsense...it makes my head hurt...I'm going outside to play with the Land Rovers instead. www.nickysmith.me

[h=2]Merry Christmas!![/h]MusingsPosted by Nicky Smith Fri, December 25, 2015 10:16:24

[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... 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... 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... 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... 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... 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

[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... nickysmith.me

[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! 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

[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... 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... 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. 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

[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....

[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... 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... 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! 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. 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.

[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... 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... But 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... 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... 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. 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. 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...

[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... 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... 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... 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... 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... 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... 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... 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...

[h=2]Rainy Days & Diarys[/h]The 110Posted by Nicky Smith Sun, November 15, 2015 18:02:39 It's only November but my diary is booked every weekend from now until Christmas fitting family and folk in across the board to say hello to making the effort to actually meet up because as I get older life does seem to get in the way of such things. So yesterday we had our great friends up for a day out at Chatsworth House which is all decked out Christmassy like along with a rather large Christmas Fair/Market thing which was nice until the heavens opened heavily and didn't stop from that point on for the rest of the day. That just about sums up how the weather has been since I bought the 110 whenever I have had a chance to work on him so when this morning it was raining again I set to buying some more essential parts off of my list for him online so I can get the front end rebuilt which has wiped me out financially but those bits along with what is hopefully being delivered from a friend as well this week sets me up to sort the whole front end up to the rear bulkhead sorted. I will add the costs up as we go this week and as parts are delivered so it stays true but I finally feel like I am getting to the point here I can actually get stuck in from next weekend now without fear of everything grinding to a halt because I have forgotten to buy a nut and bolt! Costings. 110 PROJECT & DELIVERY £1500 PILLAR REPAIR PANELS £70 FILTER KIT 2.5 NA £12 FRONT SHOCKS PAIR £27 SUSPENSION TURRETS PAIR £10 TURRET SECURING RINGS £7 RADIATOR MUFF MILITARY ARIEL £5 FRONT SPRINGS FAN BELT CAMBELT KIT STEERING DAMPER £62 TOTAL £1693

[h=2]Accelerators & Horns[/h]The 110Posted by Nicky Smith Sun, November 08, 2015 16:07:28 The rain had stopped. I looked out of the bedroom window and was astounded that there was nothing falling from the sky so first things first I had to take the motorbike out for a short run to warm the engine through because it had been sat on the driveway for the last week. That done I decided that some time on the 110 was just the ticket so I set to sorting a few tools out in the shed but when I turned around to walk out to the driveway the heavens had opened once again so what else could I do at this point but go and make a sausage cob. Cob and tea done the rain had eased off once again so I ran outside and ended up looking at the 110 wondering what to do today with it but I soon settled upon what seems to be my nemesis on it at the moment...the injection pump. This bloody thing has been a pain in the backside since I replaced the leaking O ring it has simply refused to run once the throttle arm is replaced but this time I had a trick up my sleeve I had borrowed another pump off of a friend to compare what I was doing and there was one spring I had been putting on wrong so I set to rectifying this mistake. Stripped down again then put back i the correct order I was sure it would just fire up first turn of the key but as it turned out I was wrong. It just turned over and over not firing so I sat on the wing looking in wondering what to do now? Everything looked like it was in the right place but something was obviously amiss but what that was just eluded me. At this point my youngest daughter called me around back for some advice on stripping down her scooter panels so I had ten minutes away from my problematic pump. When I returned I had decided to strip it all down once more then fire up the engine which was not a problem with the arm off so I started it up then being mindful of the spinning radiator fan and fan belt putting one bit on after another then the springs came into play finally tightening down the nut on top of the throttle arm. That was when the engine cut out. Hmm interesting. The nut is a locking one so I wound it back half a turn and then twisted the ignition key again to hear the engine spring into life! I checked that the accelerator worked, which it did a treat, then that there were no leaks at all coming form the injection pump, which there were not much to my surprise, and I let the engine warm through properly which it has not done in some time... What next then? Well I set to running through all of the electrics again making sure of what exactly worked and what didn't. Indicators...checked out ok along with all of the other lights even the wipers and washers worked but my luck ran out on the horn making any noise at all. Oh well couldn't moan about that so I decided to check through to the horn to see what the issue could be. I removed the grill and the problem was soon obvious because you see there was not a horn there at all so no wonder I couldn't get any sound... nickysmith.me

I have to admit that soundproofing is high on my list of priorities! While the front end is off I will seal the whole bulkhead up then soundproof it all completely then it will be onto the roof and sides internally for a dose of the same. This one is going to be my keeper so I will be getting it all bang on right for me! No sympathetic restoration this time it's mine and who wants a people carrier 110 restored anyway?? The weather has been against me all bloomin week but hey ho can't change that I will just jump on it when I get the chance.

[h=2]Rain & Frustration[/h]The 110Posted by Nicky Smith Fri, November 06, 2015 15:17:48 My family is spread far and wide across this big boulder we all live upon and to say we are an interesting mix of folk would be an understatement. Do you know that TV program called "Modern Family" that is supposed to be an exaggeration of what a family can consist of mix folk wise today well that has nothing upon my lot in fact they probably wouldn't have made us into a TV programme because no one would have believed it! Thinking about it that could be a good series of short stories there I may well pen into that at some point... Anyway Wifey and I set off to see one of my many siblings who lives in Dublin also meeting his new girlfriend in the process. This was going to be my third trip to Dublin city but it was the first time I would actually see any of it because this brother is a musician and we usually just ended up in a bar getting drunk over a couple of days but not this time folks I am older and wiser then throw into the mix that I cannot tolerate any sort of hangover any more (the last one lasted three days) I determined we were going to see this fair city this time and what a city it is! We had a great time exploring the place on a budget even taking in a guided tour which was fantastic and walking for miles and miles and miles to boot! You must do the Guinness Storehouse visit if you are over there that was fun and you got a pint at the end of it...which was nice. Well the weather was fantastic after a foggy start first thing on the Monday morning so I was hoping that it would be nice for the week when we got home because we both had it booked off of work so a trip to Derbyshire was also planned to climb Jacobs Ladder along with some much needed time on Pukkah the 110. Nature on the other hand seems to have other ideas on our plans because from what seemed like after the minute we landed back on home turf the heavens opened and have not stopped since. No worries I thought it wont last that long I will just have a lazy day then get around to doing a bit on Friday...it's still raining. Now funds are a bit tight this month but I have gathered a few bits up for sale and got shot of them so I could then invest in a few bits for the 110 so with nothing more pressing to do I tooted off to Paddocks to buy a few bits with Wifey in tow who bought me a nice lunch out Price update time then. There's a few bits piling up in the shed now and more on the way which I will add on once they arrive but once the weather breaks I am set and raring to get stuck in before the really cold weather kicks in. Costings. 110 PROJECT & DELIVERY £1500 PILLAR REPAIR PANELS £70 FILTER KIT 2.5 NA £12 FRONT SHOCKS PAIR £27 SUSPENSION TURRETS PAIR £10 TURRET SECURING RINGS £7 RADIATOR MUFF MILITARY ARIEL £5 TOTAL £1631

Yep I am considering the TDI route while the front end is off but we shall see....as for being more refined the diesel engine will be a bit better on fuel and the springs are a touch better than the leaf springs!

[h=2]Front End Fun.[/h]The 110Posted by Nicky Smith Sun, November 01, 2015 19:24:00 Been a busy day really today because it was a bit shorter for me than usual. Imagine my surprise when I woke up this morning to see the start of daylight creeping through the side of the curtains it left me a tad confused because it is normally pitch black when my body tells me it's done with sleeping so I turned to look at the little digital clock on my left that informed me it was 3 minutes past seven in the morning...that meant I had slept for about nine hours straight last night something that I have not done for years and I felt surprisingly refreshed instead of that beaten up slept too much groggy feeling you normally get from too much sleep. I lay there relaxed and at peace with myself and the morning lay ahead of me I realised I had no desperate need to do much of anything at all. The day lay ahead and we had made no plans so I decided to be really naughty after my lie in and drag that relaxed feeling out by getting up ignoring my clothes throwing on my dressing gown which got a knowing look off of the dog who was waiting for me to take her out that that was not going to happen and then headed downstairs to stick the kettle on and not do much of bugger all. What a way to start the day nice and relaxed not rushing off anywhere after a great nights sleep I could get used to that! So after a brisk walk in the woods with Wifey I decided to at least have a bit of a go at the 110 starting with getting the front end of it off of the ground to make working on it a bit easier... The offside wing needs to come off so I can start repairs on the bulkhead there on the door pillar then onto the foot well but before any of that can happen the wing needs to go so first things first the wheel came off which showed me yet more rust in places I had not noticed on the witches hat/suspension turret which is scrap as is the shock absorber... Surprisingly enough the spring looks ok but seeing as I have to strip the rest off I will refit it all with a 2" lift all round not because I will be off roading it a great deal but just in case I do! With that decided I set to removing the rubber arch enough to be able to get to the blots holding the wing on... I managed to get all of those rusty buggers out eventually and it is now all set bar a couple of screws to come off and away showing me the full extent of what lies ahead but why leave it there I hear you ask? Well the beef roast was coming on and the light was fading fast so I decided to end the day the way I had started it...relaxing. nickysmith.me

[h=2]Making Plans...[/h]The 110Posted by Nicky Smith Sat, October 31, 2015 12:19:32 Right then after the sun had risen and some time had past after me getting out of my pit just before 5am not being able to sleep and after watching my neighbour the night shift cab driver come home I set to seeing if I could get the 110 to start again. I walked up to the local petrol station seeing as I had time to kill enjoying the early morning stillness that is rarely found in a big city. Diesel in and a fresh battery fitted I set to removing the throttle arm and linkage from the injector pump to see if that made any difference. The keys in the ignition I turned them clockwise not expecting a great deal to happen other that the noise of the starter turning relentlessly over so imagine my surprise when the engine fired immediately into life! Now this pleases me a great deal because it is one less problem to deal with but there is still the issue of refitting the throttle arm and springs correctly because how ever long I look at it and what ever way I turn things over I cannot see for the life of me what I have done wrong there to make the engine not start! So if anyone would like a cup of tea and some cake that can fix it feel free to pop around Satisfied that at least it runs once again I decide it was time to get to grips with all of the problems this 110 has and make a plan of action an order in which to do things just one step at a time so the whole project doesn't seem so damned overwhelming. First out was the middle front seat because that really wont be staying and will be replaced with a cubby box... Then the hammer and screwdriver came out bashing all of the rusty spots I could see because it's not worth pretending that a bit is ok if it is not. I started in the floor pans... Didn't take long to make some good sized holes! Then I checked the chassis and quite frankly the rear cross member is now a mess it's shot along with the back part of the chassis on the drivers side. A new extra extended piece will be needed so I best get saving for that! I already know the steering wants looking at a full service will be needed the rear axle is rusted to hell and I expect the brake system will need an overhall. The bulkhead is ok-ish but both of the front door pillars want replacing. It will require repainting then a new set of wheels and tyres fitting. Hell folks I have bought me another full on rebuild project here! So the plan is quite simple from here on in....sell it. Nah only joking I will start from the front and work my way back through doing the bodywork initially then when that is all good I will paint it then move onto the mechanical side of things. I did get to have a play with my new welder today as well on an old piece of metal I had kicking around and what a difference that bit of kit will make! No more pigeon **** welding for me dear reader oh no its nice and smooth all the way from now on! My old welder must have been in an awful state for longer than I realised because using this one is like colouring in pictures with crayons. One more project it is then I have to admit feeling better now that I know what I am up against. Costing wise I reckon I can get it sorted on this side of another £1000 if I box clever and buy wisely but we shall see how well I do on that at the end of it all because I will keep a full account of what's being spent as we go along. I am sure there will be some more laughter and tears over the upcoming months but I aim to keep the hospital visits to a minimum this time! See you on the other side... nickysmith.me

[h=2]Bigger than I thought...[/h]The 110Posted by Nicky Smith Mon, October 26, 2015 18:35:21 I am feeling a bit despondent a little sorry for myself and I shouldn't do because I am a lucky fella with a great Wife great kids and in all fairness I have more than I need in material possessions not that I am rich but the bike is pretty new for me and we have had Wifey's car from brand new so all in all nothing to complain about. But the 110 is becoming more and more of a project each time I look at it or explore something new it throws up more problems to be dealt with. We are moving next year so there is a bit of a deadline there because I would like it to be road legal by then but I have to admit I am sitting here wondering whether I have another project in me or not. I am feeling tired after fighting that nasty bug that was doing the rounds last week that knocked me off of my feet literally! I cannot remember the last time I could not get out of bed due to illness so again just there just proves how lucky I am but I cannot help feeling a bit fed up with it all. Thing is I want a Defender and I have one sat there ready to be built to my spec but it will be a mountain to climb so where do I start with it? How far do I go with it? Do I go for a full strip down and rebuild or a patch up and play? At the moment I just feel like selling it I wont do that I know that deep inside unless I literally run out of money bit a quick fix it is not going to be! I will stop moaning now and sorry for down beat feel of this post but sometimes it makes me feel better to put things into written words and don't tell me you Landy lovers out there haven't at some point thought about throwing the towel in at times...

Pumps and Parts. The 110Posted by Nicky Smith Sun, October 25, 2015 15:33:21 An extra hour in bed then as the clocks went back....made no difference to me really so I sat in the kitchen early this morning enjoying the peace and calm of a quiet morning whilst the rest of the house slept in. As I sat there I figured out that this is going to be my third project in 18 months and if I am honest it will be my last big one. I am tired and the thought of doing another major overhaul is daunting but I am trying to take solace in the fact this will be my keeper so I sucked it up and after a quick trip to the car boot where I bought bugger all I set to having a look at the injector pump leaking like Niagra falls issue. Looking at the injector pump and with no idea how it came apart apart from a quick internet search that pointed to the o ring being fubar in the throttle linkage I decided to start there taking it apart but a word of warning there are two springs behind it... A 10mm nut held the arm in place so first that came off showing me a bolt left behind... I easily removed the plastic cap then I set to picking out the white plastic asher quickly followed by a rock hard o ring. I had one the same size in the shed so I popped it into place with the use of a couple of electrical screwdrivers then I popped on the arm minus the springs fired up the old motor and hey presto no leaks!!!!! Feeling smug with myself I set to putting the arm back on it and the springs back in place under the watchful eye of a new supervisor ho appears to have taken quite a liking to the 110... Once all the arm and springs were back in place I went to start it up again and bugger me it wouldn't. I looked around and realised it was below low on fuel so hopefully it's as a simple fix as popping some diesel in it but the battery has gone flat now and I had no diesel to hand so onto other things while the sun still shined. Next in line was to see if I could take the half turn play out of the steering so I set to adjusting the steering box. First of all I had to get the front wheels off of the ground with a couple of jacks then I set to undoing the securing nut on the steering box and adjusted the centre with a flat head screwdriver clockwise a half turn at a time seeing if it would take up the play at the steering wheel... It did indeed do it to some extent but at full turn there is still about a quarter turn on the steering wheel so I suppose that a replacement box is needed but hey ho it is a project after all. With all of that done and dinner calling me inside I decided to call it a day. I need some fuel putting in the 110 before I can check to see what's wrong on that side of things and quite frankly I had had enough for one day. Yes the thought a third project on the bounce is daunting and at times I wonder why I do it to myself instead of just saving up and buying a nice motor that will tow our wobble box where ever we want it to without the need for constant maintenance but hell I suppose there would be no fun in that at all.

No problem

Hey Sam just go to this website... https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/ You will create an account then ask The ministry of defence under the freedom of information act for the details where your motor served but you must give them the vin number and the forces registration should be on the vin plate as well looks something like 44-BF-56. They get back to you pretty quickly as well

[h=2]Mud & Oil...[/h]The 110Posted by Nicky Smith Sat, October 24, 2015 15:12:38 Do you remember when your Mum & Dad said time passes faster as you get older but when they said that you were in your late teenage years and time is measured in months not years? I do and it was brought to the front of my mind when my eldest daughter proudly told me that she and her boyfriend had been together for a whole six months "Which is like forever!" Jeez it was six months ago since I last needed not to get up during the night to take a pee and it feels like last week! How I wish to have a summer that feels like a lifetime again with nothing more serious to care about than how many hours I get to lie in before my next lecture after a night out on the booze. Still I have had my turn at that and it is now someone else's namely my children and that is as it should be. Seeing as time passes so quickly I thought it best to actually do something to the one ten but with the weather promising to piddle down all day to which we were not disappointed I decided to start at the beginning with it and give a good clean so I could see what exactly I am dealing with. This started with a quick trip to the shops to pick up a karcher jet washer that was on a half price offer then after getting kitted out in some wet weather gear I set to removing years of grimy oily covered mud. Remember how dirty the engine bay was well its a bit better now... The steering box maybe fubar as there is over a quarter free play on the steering wheel before anything actually happens so there's a job to look into. Then it was onto the chassis and my oh my was there a multitude of crap on that from front to back! In fact there was soo much crap I had to power wash the driveway off after I cleaned it but that's a job done that was on my list anyway. After some serious lying down in the wet blasting off anything that was no longer solid the chassis is not really too bad it will need the drivers side rear cross member welding up along with two new door pillars, I could just patch these but it will probably take longer than just replacing them and seeing as I am going to have to take the doors and wings off anyway I may as well just do it right, and a couple of patches in the floor wells. The battery box is just about at the point of no return so I will weld a new one in there as well but all electrics work bar the horn so another bonus there. Then there was the outer bodywork which thankfully has no big holes but the little jet wash that could managed to blast off a lot of paintwork but better that now than after I have repainted it... Other news to note is that the Merlin report came back and the life that was lived before for this old one ten was not really very exciting. It spent all of it's forces days with the RAF at Waddington presumably by the number of seats fitted just ferrying folk around the base. Still it doesn't matter to me because this one will not be a historic restoration nope this one is mine and mine alone it's going to be my keeper so I will be modifying it to suit me for years to come that apparently will pass in a flash unless I am trying to remove a stubborn bolt that is. So I am going to need some sheet metal lots of underseal and o rings for sorting out the injector pump. The tyres are shot so will need a set of those and the suspension is well past it's best so replacements will be sourced but the question there is "to lift or not to lift" while it is in pieces. There is a salisbury rear axle and more mud on the bottom of my driveway than there is in the back garden but I now know where I am heading with "Pukah" which is nice but the dark evenings are headed back our way with the clocks going back on hour tonight so I will have to try and slot in little bits of work on him whenever I can because this will be my first Winter project on the driveway and I am expecting progress to be a bit slower because of it. Just as well I bought me a new insulated set of babygrows then eh