andyborris
Posted a lot
Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose.
Posts: 2,158
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In the words of the Talking Heads "My God, What Have I Done" I didn't know what I was getting into at the time and if I had, I'd kept my money in my pocket! About 2 (ish) years ago life was a bit c**p, I'd had 3 minor strokes, which forced me to retire a little early, my relationship looked like it was going down the pan, I was bored and very down. So I did what any self respecting RR would do, I started to look for an interesting car, that car being a 1970's Toyota Land Cruiser FJ. A guy near me was importing FJ's from South Africa, went to look at a couple, the Diesel Troopy. Which was very slow, noisy and almost a total wreck of a car, while the beautiful unfinished pick up restoration needed more work than my very limited facilities and money could provide and the usable, spend a couple of years improving it, pick up was sold. So I gave the guy my budget and asked him to call if he found anything.....then I saw this It was a genuine Lightweight, with Army chassis plates but now modified. There been a lot of work carried out, as close to a ground up resto as you could get without it being a total restoration. New galvanised chassis, new bulkhead, parabolic springs and new dampers, seats, overdrive, new brakes, rebuilt drivetrain, rewired (we'll come back to this one!) and a Rover 3.5 engine. My kind of Hybrid! The only fly in the ointment was that the engine had been cooked and cooked so bad it had seized! It was now just a kettle, it boiled faster than the Tefal kettle in the kitchen. But did that stop me, you know the answer. Justifying it with things like "it'll stop me being bored", "Land Rover spares are much cheaper than Toyota ones", a deal was done without me looking at it! A man and a transporter was hired, it was "up North" somewhere, he declared it as good as it looked in the photos, I paid for it and the next day it was outside my flat. I drove it off the transporter and parked it. 4th longest drive in 2 years.
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andyborris
Posted a lot
Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose.
Posts: 2,158
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Dec 20, 2023 17:48:50 GMT
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When I say "4th Longest", I've only driven it 4 times and it overheated each time. Still a good looking motor, I think. So I buy some Imperial tools, having sold all mine before I moved. Did I not mention that that at the time I lived in a first floor maisonette in Ashford Kent? Without a garage, just a parking space and nowhere to keep tools except on the shared landing outside the front door. I set to and pull the heads off, they go away to be skimmed. I'm advised that because I've skimmed some early heads (tin head gaskets) I should fit the later composite head gaskets and the "torque to yield" bolts. 2 bolts set the torque to yield by stripping the block threads. Heads off, threads repaired, new gaskets and bolts and I go again. 2nd ever drive and it's still a kettle and I can see the exhaust gasses in the coolant. Now this reads like a weekends work or 3 days at most, but I'm decorating, walking dogs, spending time with friends and just having a life. And when I need a part, it's 3 or 4 days waiting for the post. "Good" 2nd hand heads acquired, fitted (more gaskets, bolts etc.), then 3rd drive and it's still a kettle. I'm sure I'm not the first and not the last person to be had over by an eBay seller, doesn't make me feel better though. I'm sure I'm fitting the head gaskets correctly, (still sure), so it's either 2 sets of duff heads or a problem with block. Off the come the heads and I try a crack tester spray, the results are inconclusive. Meanwhile I've sourced a ex-TVR 4.0 with injection complete engine down near Weymouth. I buy a small trailer and go and collect it.
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andyborris
Posted a lot
Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose.
Posts: 2,158
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Dec 20, 2023 20:47:44 GMT
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Because I haven't got a garage (or even anywhere to work on the car if I listen to landlord!) I pay a local Land Rover specialist to fit the engine. I ask them to just remove the old engine that I've made ready to lift out and replace it with the new engine, I'll do all the rest. They complain that they can't move it because the brakes are too tight, new shoes were fitted during the rebuild and the car hasn't been driven enough to bed them in. They loosen the brake shoes, I'll need this so I can pushit back into my parking space on it's return. A week or so it's back and I'm £750 lighter. I can't use the injection manifold because I haven't got a ECU, so the twin SU's go on. Or would go on because this engines obviously had a head skim and the bolt holes don't line up. I'm guessing the inlet manifold was skimmed to match, I try bolting it down and end up stripping about half of the threads in the heads. So I Helicoil the threads, even the ones that haven't stripped and try again. Must've got one the holes drilled slightly wrong, because a bolt bent! I did do this with heads in situ, so off come the heads and I try the 2nd pair of heads again, more gaskets and bolts. No longer a Kettle, but only because it will not start. Problems with SU carbs, before I can pluck up courage and buy a pair of rebuild kits, a very reasonably priced Edlebrook carb and manifold appear in my Facebook feed. I'd had good experiences with these carbs before on a very nice (till I crashed it and broke my back!) MGB GT. So it was delivered and fitted, started almost 1st turn of the key and .....yes still a kettle. So I send these heads to V8 Developments and wait, wait a long time, to be fair I did change the spec of the heads to save a few quid just as I got to the head of the queue. In-between, had a big accident that wrote off my Jeep. Acquired a 2nd dog. And spent a month in France
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Last Edit: Dec 20, 2023 20:50:10 GMT by andyborris
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Dec 20, 2023 21:16:29 GMT
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Yeah, but apart from that, it's good? I have been following your overheating thread but can't offer anything constructive.
I'd love a V8 series Landy, but after reading this.... I'd still love one.
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Dec 21, 2023 17:01:26 GMT
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Just a thought have you checked that there is no muck jammed into the bottom of the holes for the head bolts, it's surprising who little will lead to them bottoming out and giving an incorrect torque setting especially if the heads etc have been skimmed.
It's probably not advisable but in the past after cleaning them as much as possible I've put an extra washer under the head bolts to allow them to torque up without bottoming out.
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Dec 21, 2023 17:38:22 GMT
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My dad once had an old Mercedes w108 which started overheating. He changed everything but it kept doing it. In the end they discovered a hairline fracture in a cylinderwall.
Seeing you already changed engine it's not very likely that this is your problem.😅
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Dec 21, 2023 22:14:18 GMT
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as long as it doesen't foul anything a thick washer washer under the head bolt on an alloy engine is a good idea, probably not an issue on a RV8 but when I used to work on YB cosworth engines the head would deform under the head of the bolt and lose gasket clamp, obviously still need to be sure you have the correct thread engagement.
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andyborris
Posted a lot
Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose.
Posts: 2,158
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Dec 21, 2023 23:55:54 GMT
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So after the 3rd (I think) head gasket, I’d purchased some Head studs from TWS in the USA, not cheap, about the same price as ARP, but better quality with more thread engagement into the block, thicker washers and multi point nuts. I figured that the way I'm getting through stretch bolts, they'll pay for themselves in no time! And I think I've just about broke even on the cost vs stretch bolts by now. Anyhow, on return from France it was decided to move to somewhere with a garden, with space for me to work on the Landy. Budget means we look at South Wales, which is fine by me, because (for various reasons) I love the place, especially the Brecon beacons or in Welsh "Bannau Brycheiniog. The end of my road now. A house is found, purchased and now I need to get the Landy to move under it’s own steam (pun intended) Another Elring head gasket is brought, along with an expensive valley gasket, no more Ebay specials for this build, want the inlet gasket to line up with water and inlet ports properly. Care is taken fitting the V8 Developments heads and when I try to fit the valley gasket, it doesn't line up! However, when I remove the rubber end seals, it does, which tells me that the people who make the gaskets, both cheap and expensive, haven’t checked if there design measurements are correct! It was better quality though. Anyway, with some expensive Loctite gasket glue, the inlet manifold is carefully fitted (stage torqued, new bolts and correct order of tightening) without the end rubbers. 1 bolt strips a bit of thread, but luckily in an easy to get at place, so it’s helicoiled with out removing the manifold. Not bad for aluminium that’s undergone a huge number heat cycles in the last 40 or so years. And it runs, no bubbles in the coolant, which is good. I don’t let it run for long, I need it mobile to load it on a trailer/transporter. Because remember the brakes that had to loosened to move the car at the workshop when the engine change was done? Well, during the summer, while I was waiting for rebuilt heads and not knowing I’d be moving, I’d refitted the brake shoes. The shoes were almost new, still un-bedded, so I had a choice of brakes that sort of work (tight) or ones that didn’t (loose). And now I needed an engine to pull it out of the parking space because even on loose, I couldn’t push it. I'd also fitted a new camshaft and lifters after retuning from France. The old one looked like this: I went for a Newman Camshaft Phase 1, which should increase the low down torque and a set of their lifters. With the camshaft and the capacity increase, I'm hoping for a strong torquey engine....not a fast boil kettle! Must apologise for the lack of cool pictures, never really intended to do a Readers Rides, but it’s being kind of cathartic for me, an unloading of all the frustrations I’ve had over the past 2 years and not just the ones caused by the Landy kettle!
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andyborris
Posted a lot
Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose.
Posts: 2,158
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Dec 21, 2023 23:57:29 GMT
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My dad once had an old Mercedes w108 which started overheating. He changed everything but it kept doing it. In the end they discovered a hairline fracture in a cylinderwall. Seeing you already changed engine it's not very likely that this is your problem.😅 Jurys out this one!
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andyborris
Posted a lot
Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose.
Posts: 2,158
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Dec 31, 2023 14:03:12 GMT
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After a few days re-arranging the new house, I hire a trailer, return to Kent and collect the Landy. I load it with tools, car parts, camping gear and other, left behind stuff that wouldn't fit onto the movers van. The Landy drives onto the trailer, which is good because the trailer winch isn't working!
6 hours later I'm back in Wales after a very hard drive through some bad weather, the Jeep (not the one in the pictures!) has performed very well, towing the loaded to the roof Landy easily. Even the MPG seems to be about the same as when I made the journey without towing.
The Jeep Grand Cherokee has been a very good car, if a little thirsty. The first one saved our lives after being T-boned on a country road by a new Range Rover, it’s predecessor, a Fiat Panda would’ve been folded in two by the impact.
Next day I unload the Landy, park it alongside the house and return the trailer. Then a few days are spent unloading it and finding space for all the stuff it carried.
So few weeks have passed and I figure it’s time to take a drive, to find out what needs to be done.
With a freshly charged battery, I get it running. Takes a while to run and doesn't manage to run even slightly smoothly, with lots of stalling. Once it’s running in a reasonable fashion, but still cold according to the temp gauge, I drive it out onto the road.
And it can shift, scarily so, given that the brakes aren't really working! No self-centring to the steering, the clutch pedal needs to be pumped to change gear, so I resort to clutch-less shifts and then after about 5 minutes of driving, the needle on the temp gauge suddenly hits the stop on the wrong side of the dial. No slow climb of the needle as I was driving, just “BLAM”, too hot.
The kettles back and fully functioning! I let it cool for a bit and then take a 2 min steamy drive back and park it.
Which brings us almost up to date and I promise to start taking photos from here on!
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Dec 31, 2023 15:02:57 GMT
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Through everything you have been afflicted with I see no mention of assessing coolant flow through the radiator?? I had issues with an escort (the mechanical version) and it ended up being either rad weld or egg whites that loved to move about en masse but not show themselves when I back flushed the bloody thing seventy million times or so....... By the way, what made a Lightweight a Lightweight because the wee bit of alloy they've trimmed off wouldn't do much?
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andyborris
Posted a lot
Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose.
Posts: 2,158
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Dec 31, 2023 15:34:17 GMT
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Didn't think of this, but it's now had 3 different sets of heads, 2 different blocks and the radiator it came with, plus 2 new ones. Trigger had nothing on this motor!
Lightweight is a bit of a misnomer, although it's about 200Kilos lighter, the bodywork was re-shaped, (won't say re-designed for obvious reasons!) so 2 of the things could loaded into a Hercules Transport plane side by side. I think this also reduced the weight to bring it into the safe loading range for slinging below a (I think) a Westland helicopter. Proper Ministry of Defence name is Truck, 1/2 Ton General Service. I think mine was a FFR (Fitted For Radio) because of all the extra wiring.
I seem to remember (long time ago) seeing standard Land Rovers being slung and carried by Westlands, but I think lots of alarms would've been sounding in the cockpit!
If I've got my facts wrong, I apologise. I'm 67 now and the 17 year old me seems a very different person and I hardly know him anymore!
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That's a smart lightweight you have there. Are all the radiators you have tried the standard 4-cylinder rads? I would try running a V8 rad, that belongs to the engine, ideally with the viscous fan as well. Lightweight refers to it being able to be stripped down quickly to make it light enough to be air-dropped I believe. The doors do lift off, and several other body parts can be removed in minutes, without tools. In complete state, they are not any lighter compared to a civilian landy I don't think.
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andyborris
Posted a lot
Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose.
Posts: 2,158
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Yes, all 4 cylinder rads. Lots of people run Landy V8 conversions with the 4 cylinder rad and without problems and I'm not sure if the Stage 1 Series 3 rad will fit. I think that's why the front of Land Rovers changed, to fit the bigger rad.
I can get a 4 cylinder rad in alloy that (the manufacturer) claims will provide 40% more cooling. Not cheap.
Anyway, I'm of the opinion that it's something I've either done or failed to do which is causing the overheating. And investigating whether a bigger rad will help is on the list.
I do have a fan shroud on the rear of the rad holding the fans, which have some bearing on it, mainly because the fans didn't switch on when it overheated the last time!
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fredje8v
Part of things
96 Daihatsu Atrai
Posts: 186
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How about the waterpump, is it still the old one. Bad pump would cause it to cook in the engine while the radiator and heater are still ice cold. Broken thermostat (or incorrectly fitted) would cause the same issues
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andyborris
Posted a lot
Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose.
Posts: 2,158
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How about the water-pump, is it still the old one. Bad pump would cause it to cook in the engine while the radiator and heater are still ice cold. Broken thermostat (or incorrectly fitted) would cause the same issues Timely of you to mention the water pump! Anyway it's back on the drive. Which sounds very grand, here's the reality. I post a thread, looking for advice and sympathy and get both. I also realise that the rad fans didn’t come on when it started to overheat. I’ve got an old switch in the workspace, so I'll fit a by-pass switch. Workspace sounds very Hi Tech, again this is the reality!. Still much more in the way of facilities then I had back in Ashford. So I wire it to the Rad Fan Switch in the top hose, then swap the positions of said switch and the pump by-pass outlet, switch is now lower and by-pass is higher. Re-wire the relay for the fans, making it simpler, 1 relay for all 4 fans, no more of this 2 stage activation at different temps malarkey! Decide to slightly re-route the capillary pipe for the new water gauge and while snipping the cable ties that hold it place, I also snip the capillary tube too! Would you expect anything different! Hit the internet and order a fancy Stepper motor temp gauge, install it and find that it’s wildly inaccurate…..from a supplier I’ve used many times and who I trust. Still, the return process was free, easy and no quibble, shame about the holes I drilled to fit it. Meanwhile a new water-pump arrives, so alternator off, rad out, pump off. New one on, remove and re-check the Gates thermostat, still working and opening at the right temp, opens all the way too. Old pump may have been the original, but doesn't really show any wear apart from some minor corrosion. Make a minor adjustment to the bottom hose to remove a slight kink. The bottom hose is 2 hoses and a joiner, the original joiner made by a previous owner was responsible for the overheat which prompted the sale of the car. It lacked a bead around one end, so blew it’s hose off and dropped all the water and seized the engine. Leading to a fed up owner who’d had enough and it's sale! Remove the inaccurate coolant temp sender, which looks very different to the one shown in what are the worst instructions for installation, I’ve seen for a long while. Packed back into the box and returned to supplier with the gauge. Now it’s almost Christmas and I can’t remember a day it hasn’t rained! Whilst I was wiring in the override fan switch, I discovered that the indicators and lights were no longer working, whether this because was I’d been rooting around behind the dash or just because...so I decided that the re-wire I was going to do in the summer, needed to be done now. When I’d brought the car it had been described as “re-wired”. This was true and not true at the same time, it had lots of new wires, but not in any sensible way. Lots of what looks like house wiring cable, fuses doubling as wire joiners behind the dash, as are all the fused relays. All this is spliced into the original military spec wiring. Military spec means a lot of extra electrical stuff that’s now been removed but the wires have been left floating about, which means only sticky tape is standing between working lights and a big fire. The dash is held in place by 5 metric socket head bolts, so if the fuel pump relay blows it fuse and you haven’t remembered the metric Allen key set, it’s call the AA! When I first took the dash off (to see why the wipers didn’t self park), my first urge was to quickly refit the dash and walk away, whistling with an air of nonchalance and a “nothing to see here” kind of stroll! So over Christmas, I spend time with a AES catalogue and order wire etc. I’ve mostly kept to the Lucas wiring colours, but some of the shorter bits of the loom won't be in the correct colour and trace (be close though!), however the important bits will be. I’m being kind to any future owners here, I once rewired a Ginetta G15 in just red and black……. black being all the earth wires! (Delivered today) To hopefully replace this. No doubt this'll be the first of many orders....I'm bound to have forgotten something! On a slightly different note, I've used Buzzweld chassis guard Lanolin oil on the non galvanised parts of the Landy, I've also taken pictures of the rusty bumper bolts, to see how they stand up to the Welsh rain after treatment. I'll report back in the summer, if I remember! And finally, enough photos? Nearly didn't have any, had no way of uploading photos till I found the weird, which nothing else uses USB cable. In the attic, of course. House moving....!
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andyborris
Posted a lot
Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose.
Posts: 2,158
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Today I did the most important task in rewiring my Land Rover, I made a start. I started with the what’s probably the most complicated part of the Landy’s wiring, the ignition switch. It carries the power from the battery to every other component, either directly or via the fuse box. Once I’d worked out what terminal did what on the switch (it’s unmarked!), I laid in the wires for the main feed and the fused feeds to the coil, ignition light, oil light and horn and the 2 warning lights that run via the dash. The coil is a direct feed. The white thing in the picture is a multi-connector, this will replace the Lucas 5 pin terminal on the indicator stalk. As far as I know, I can’t buy the female version of the Lucas connector and I don’t want to reuse the old one by adding another set of connectors to the wires. Shame, because both parts are in very good condition. 2 of the white wires in the picture should have a coloured trace, being different circuits. I’m hoping that by using different coloured heat shrink at the ends, the circuits can be traced, they’re not complicated circuits, a one wire warning light, so it should work. I did plan to wire the horns direct from the switch to avoid the complication of a relay, each horn draws about 3.5 amps, but I’m unsure if I’ve got enough wire that’s rated for 10 amps. So I’m leaving that for now, but apart from that, all the Brown wiring is done. Well, when I say done, I mean fixed at one end, the other end will only be fixed once everything is in place, then cut to proper length and sleeved. The wiring that came out had lots of excess wire, which was sort of wrapped back upon itself because it was (sometimes) a foot too long. I think this is bad practice, it adds to the voltage drop, generates extra heat and just looks awful! I’m keeping track by highlighting the completed circuits on the diagram. And a written description too. This shows how I’ve wired the horns to the switch, but not all the way to the horn under the bonnet. I’ll probably test the circuits for continuity tomorrow. I find the hardest part of this to be the actual routing of the wires, avoiding heat sources and making it looking neat. The hardest circuit to fit is the coil, it’s only one wire, but it passes around the engine and is the only wire to do so. I may make some other circuits (lights mainly) go in the same direction, to provide support and add strength inside the sleeve. At the moment I’m thinking of using expandable braided sleeving to wrap the loom, with heat shrink at the ends and joints. Then heat resistant sleeving for hot spots like the wire to the starter solenoid which runs near the exhaust manifold and can’t take another route. A Febi Bilstein electric fan switch has arrived, to replace the 2 stage one that didn’t stage anything! Checked and it’s spot on, which is nice. I'll fit it tomorrow and that'll be all I'll get done on the Landy, because then I'll be side-tracked by new LED tube lights for the kitchen!
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thomfr
Part of things
Trying to assemble the Duett again..
Posts: 640
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If the temp switch jumped up I wonder if you had an airlock somewhere in the system!?
Thom
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73' Alfa Giulia Super 64' Volvo Duett 65' Volvo Duett 67' Volvo Amazon 123GT 09' Ford Focus 1.8 06' Citroen C4 Exclusive
71' Benelli Motorella 65' Cyrus Speciaal
The difference between men and boys is the price of their toys
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andyborris
Posted a lot
Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose.
Posts: 2,158
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If the temp switch jumped up I wonder if you had an airlock somewhere in the system!? Thom Yes, I did think that myself. I'll try backfilling the cooling system next time. Anyway, it has been suggested that using the new kettle "that was purchased especially for the new house" is not the best way to test a radiator electric fan switch, no matter how new and clean said switch is. Please bear this in mind when working on automotive cooling systems. Or copying anything I do.
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andyborris
Posted a lot
Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose.
Posts: 2,158
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Jan 12, 2024 17:42:42 GMT
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I’ve been plugging away at the Landy’s wiring loom, it’s been a bit nippy here in S.Wales, so it’s hard to do more than about an hour without time indoors. The fingers just stop working. Anyway, a good few circuits laid in, behind the dash looks a lot tidier now and the wires are starting to stretch out to the lights etc. at the extremities of the vehicle. Not the final finish, it'll be tidied up before dash is fitted or the column cover goes on. A couple of issues that have appeared, 7 core trailer wire has been used to service the rear of the Landy, I’m going to leave this in place and splice it into the rest of the loom. The rear section of the loom is run through the chassis. My understanding is that it’s a bit of a faff to do this on a bare chassis, let alone a car with the body and mechanicals in place. I’ll cover the bits that show in the same expanded braid sleeve as the rest of the loom and it shouldn’t notice too much. The headlamps also look like they were fitted before the wings! The shells are held in place with small stainless metric bolts and nylocs, 3 are difficult to access and one’s impossible with the wings fitted! So the house wire will stay in place, it works, it just looks awful because of the colours. I’ve used the correct colours inside the car, it’s just the bit by the grille that looks like it should have a 13 amp house plug on it! And finally (for now!), I’d planned on using Lucas bullets and connectors on a lot of the loom, certainly the bits on display, to keep a sort of “period” look and because it’s easy to split one wire into a multiple feed. E.G. light switch to lights a 4 way connector can take the feed from the light switch and split it between front and back and side to side. I’ve used them before very successfully and was confident of repeating that success. I’m either doing something wrong, (which I doubt, because some have worked) or it’s poor quality parts. They either don’t crimp enough to grip the wire or the end of the bullet is “bitten off” when I apply more pressure to try to get a good crimp. I think whenever I’ve used them in the past, it’s been a non brass bullet I’ve used, but I can’t find anyone who sells those now. Waiting for a new coolant temp gauge to arrive, have decided to stick with a Durite mechanical gauge, haven't been able to find an electrical gauge that offers the same accuracy, for the same price. Once that's fitted, I can refit the alternator and then all the wires that start it and keep it running have been fitted. I could drive it, hand signals only though!
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