dmulally

So I think the vibration drama may have been solved. I got some Urvan wheels from a car yard for $25 each and swapped the rears over. Vibration gone. Super frustrating as they got balanced 6 months ago when I got the tires put on. Now I'm wondering if the Imp vibration is the same thing as the same place put those on. I've spent so much money trying to dial it out of both cars so if that's the Imp's issue then I'll get my tyres done further afield. The worst part is that until the tyres are rebalanced I have to drive around with skinny Urvan stockies. My social points in Martinborough have taken a dip that's for sure. But seeing as I'm Aussie and under the age of 90 I was already tanking.

This is my Lister L and the noise is hard to describe. The below pic has the original exhaust but I swapped it for one that ran up and out the shed wall then down to a barrel of water. It sounds like an old washing machine on spin cycle rather than exhaust banging. It has a priming cup that is that small brass upright before the head. If that uses petrol to crank it, it'll run on most anything after that. With petrol it runs the strongest but with stale fuel or kero it just misses a few beats and the momentum keeps it going until it can ignite off another kick. That machine there ran Wellesley College in Wellington during WW1. It now runs a simple alternator. I haven't experimented with my diesel lister which is roughly the same size and runs a lot stronger. It's a lot more modern being from the 1930's. The L above is from 1912 iirc.

= I have a few of them. One I run as my backup generator for my off grid setup. I have a petrol and a diesel lister that both seem to run on just about anything combustible.

So you're saying to cut off three coils. Gotcha.

Took it for a drive into town this morning and she was a peach. Thankfully I didn't have to rev the engine to stop from stalling at crosswalks with concerned pedestrians hurrying to get across. I think the front springs could lose an inch or two. Thoughts?

I think I solved it but will need to take it for a good run tomorrow. Looking positive so far though after a quick lap up the road and back with no dramas. I took out the primary idle jet (I think) and blew it out a few times and cleaned it out. Back in and idles nicely now.

It has a new filter on it too. Zero issues at full throttle so Im not sure it's that. It's behaving like a vacuum leak.

It has been working like a champ for 6 months though. I'll give it a crack however.

Hi All, Still chasing down that vibration and I'm up to getting the wheels rebalanced. They were supposedly balanced when I put the new tyres on but I'm running out of things to swap over. Anyway I'm having a more immediate drama with the 4g63 at the moment. I'm having problems with a really rough idle. I have bumped up the idle screw to help but it's not a fix. It will cut out when coming to a stop in neutral and cough and fart at low rpms. Driving is fine. I used some wd40 and when that didn't work I tried the laughing gas to check for a vacuum leak. Couldn't find anything apparent. I took out the idle screw out of the weber 32/36 ( @Bearded Baldy is that what it has?) and cleaned it and put it back in and no joy. I haven't touched the timing but when it's out it pings it's nut off at revs. Another thing which may be of note is that it has pretty bad run on/dieseling. I know how to fix that in a small block chev but not on this. Happy to take a video if that helps.

Been a while since I updated this but there have been a couple of things done. The brakes got sorted. Turns out I had to adjust them so there was quite a bit more drag than I would have normally done. I had to swap over some components too but I forget what those were. Probably a slave. I had it all booked in for LVV so I could at least get the list of works to do whilst I am not working and after a long and comfortable drive I thought Id check the fluids. Blown head gasket. Typical. So I cancelled the inspection and parked it in the shed to stop bird shit from landing on the gravel. The ea81 I picked up from @cubastreet just got finished being fully reco'd and I have grabbed that. Seems a waste putting such a nice engine in such a cursed car. Anybody have a gen 1 brumby or baja bug floating around they want to offload? Anyway when I cbf'd Ill drag it into the workshop and switch the engines over. It was diabolically fast with the 1600cc so with the ea81 it should be a lot of fun. Because I'm going to forget, the engine builder said I need to run the break in oil and plain water for 500kms then oil/filter change with 20w/50 semi synthetic or mineral oil with fresh water and the additive he gave me.

Unrelated but why do they call it goon? In my native cuntry that is what a box of wine is called.

@HumberSS has bullied/groomed me into looking at a shitbox that is living in a container in Swannanoa. Old mate suggests the 21st or 24th of August but Im sure that can be sorted. It's mostly a is it a total piece of shit or an actual write off type eyeball. If anybody can help please sing out. Cheers Damo

1978 I think.

Hi All, I want to run my SIII Landy as roofless. I have seen quite a few on the road but haven't really looked too closely how they are doing their seat belts. Options are: Put on the truck cab for WOF's Run lap belts (which is what it has now) Run a belt bar (which I have but doubt they were factory) The more I look into it the worse it gets! Anybody got any hot tips for what other landy owners do with soft tops that get through WOF's no worries?

Youre a legend thanks!

Hi All, This is driving me nuts but I can't find a gearbox mount for this thing anywhere that fits. I got one from Rock Auto that was similar...as in it will bolt into the cross member but is way off on the bolt spacing and height is way off. I do have the option of cutting the old mount apart and welding on the tops but the rubber will be pretty close to it and I'm worried about melting it. The original one is a lot thicker where it mounts to the box too. Anybody know where to get a gearbox mount from?

I honestly can't remember sorry. I think it was from some place in Auckland. EDIT: Found it. It was from Amazon. It's been pretty good so far but there is a point for podcasts/audiobooks that is either too quiet or too loud one click apart. Fine on the open road but stuck in traffic can be a little annoying. Completely unrelated but I'm 80% deaf so I'm sure that has nothing to do with it.

Throw it at a series land rover and record the results.

So sadly the vibration is still there. It isn't there all the time but I want to get on top of it. Sadly I have been given the wind up at work so it may have to go onto the back burner for a while as it's a money pit. But I'll have a tinker with what I have and see if it gets sorted. I have the engine on a slight tilt and have a feeling that may be it. Righting the engine will mean redoing all the mounts, exhaust, oil fill tube and depending on how much it changes things the half shafts. But I think that will be unlikely as the VW cv's have a lot of travel. The kingpins are back in and reasonably ok. The passenger side one has a bit of play (ironically before I "fixed" them that was the good side) so if I left it alone it would have no play and Id have a working speedo! Yeah that is still on the fritz. The brakes also dont work but I have a feeling it is because when putting the drum covers back on the shoes moved and I need to re-adjust them. Something isnt right in there as there is no air in the lines. Into the shed it goes for a while.

I have the balanced half shafts back and ready to be installed. The guys at Lambert Engineering in Masterton were fantastic and took me for a tour of the shop and showed me the machine they use to balance it. Looks like something from the 70's and Im gutted I didnt bring my phone for a photo. I'll get that and the kingpins/stub axle installed in the car this weekend and see how it goes. Would have done it last night but I flew to Auckland to pick up the XJS fresh from getting the head gasket repaired. The AJ6 is such a fabulous engine. Going up long steep hills at 100kph on cruise control and never dropped a gear. Just a shame it pissed down most of the way so I couldn't fling it round the corners.

So whilst I am fitting door rubbers and re-hanging the doors I am plotting my next move with the stype. I saw a busted fuse in the dash so swapped it out. Smoke then started appearing from behind the clock so I whipped it out. The fuse didn't blow but was glowing hot which was fun to extract. I could either set out a list of things that need doing such as headlight wiring, cleaning any random hot wires floating around the engine bay (it was a positive earth when I bought it) and taping up any of the old wiring so it looks cleaner. Or I can rip the entire thing out and start from scratch. The biggest problem I have is that apart from a couple of things (headlights, hisser carb and tacho), everything works. Including the indicators, ignition and all gauges. I guess I'll have a think about it. Probably the biggest ball ache will be getting the old loom out as it is bundled pretty tight and being that old is tough as wood. You can see some of it below. It has zero flex. I have to fully rewire the Land Rover because it has 2.5 looms stuffed into it (yet still nothing works) so perhaps I'll do that to get some practice in before I do the jag which has a lot more circuits. I quite enjoy wiring. For the Imp I didn't do it from scratch but created a separate loom that is fully fused/relayed where required. It's relaxing. If I'm to do the jag I'll probably pull out the dash to do the wood trim at the same time which will give me more access.

So I ended up taking out the kingpins and hand reaming them in situ in order to get some more movement. Sadly even though I only took off half a mm there is noticeable play in both sides. So in case anybody is wondering it isnt a job to be done on the car and the should be done on the bench. Pretty crazy that some bushes need machining and some don't. And there is no way to know until you assemble it really. I have about 30 extra bushings so I can have a bit of a play. Only difference is that I have to drill the grease hole manually which shouldnt be too hard. The half shafts are still off being balanced so I'm trying not to be too bothered about it. To try and "relax" I have dragged the S type into the shed. I really need to get it ready for a wof. So far I have drained the old fuel and tuned the carbs. Installed the radiator properly and the grill. (The grill can only be installed with the rad out). Bled the clutch. Fabricated some alternator brackets to convert from the dynamo that didn't work. Changed the dash bulbs to LED. Installed a new bonnet release cable that actually works. And now I'm working on installing the door trim and hanging the doors so they shut properly. When the Imp fucks off the hoist I'll get around to bleeding/renovating the jag brakes. Easier said than done with the jag irs as to get to the bleed nipples you have to take the rear forward shocks off to even get to them!

Bit of a frustrating week on this shitter. Was hoping it would be going to LVV this weekend but those plans were scuppered by silly things that really could have waited until after certification. It used to have a bit of play in one of the kingpins and to pass a wof I would just pack it with grease on the day but even then it was marginal. On the highway it would wander a little bit so there was definite cause for concern but not anything dramatic. So being the dickhead that I am figured I'd change the kingpins. What a cunt of a job. One side took about 12 hours and the other was 45 minutes. The shitty side went in a little crooked so the retaining pin which mates with the surface of it wouldn't fit. So when it was done there was an obvious binding in the steering. So back out it came. Once it was all buttoned up there was zero play but now there are two greater issues. One is that it is way too tight. I have greased it thoroughly but it's still like when a car loses a power steering belt. Add to that and it doesn't self centre when coming through a corner. Massive change from the old sloppy steering that's for sure. I put it up on the hoist and thought about my life choices as I worked the wheel side to side for ages but I can't really tell any difference. I'll regrease it I guess and keep driving it a few more times to see if that loosens it up. On top of that shitfight the speedo stopped working. I changed the wheel bearings as I was feeling frisky and since then it doesn't work. I cbf'd diagnosing that problem for now so will put that on the back burner. How it works is that a little gear catches a cam inside the dust cover which turns the cable. I think my fucking about on the kingpin dislodged or broke something. Joy. Pretty sure I have spares so I'll get to that when I'm not sick of the sight of it. Finally that vibration is a real thing. It isn't getting worse but I dislike it. I need to get the L200 tailshaft rebalanced next week so will see if I can take the half shafts in and get them balanced too. If that doesn't turn out to be it I'm parking the cunt up and double tarping it behind the hay pile! I have more relevant projects than this little cunt.

Sorted the overheating issue. Thankfully with the first fix. That was to swap the booster pump upside down so the outlet was at the top. Wasn't too tricky. Just extended the wiring and welded on a bracket to hold the pump. I made the wires quick connect incase I want to put in the bigger pump which I'll likely need for the heater. The car actually ran very cool. I bled the car with the bum in the air and in the morning I'll check the fluid level. It needs a flush anyway. Below you can see the temp gauge and it has hardly left the starting mark. By this time yesterday she was blowing steam and the gauge was pushing 100 degrees. The other thing I did was add some basic mesh filters. I still haven't sorted out a custom filter yet but I'll get around to it. Super frustratingly there is a vibration over 50mph. It is minor but can deffo feel it. I don't remember it being there before so what I'll do is take off the intermediate engine mount I made and see if it's still there. I don't think it's something that would stop LVV but I want it to be right too. It really really needs a wash. I ordered some new door rubbers so as soon as they come in I'll give it a decent bath.

I just run my air hose over a rafter from the compressor and the water separator near the gun end. Not sure if the rafter thing does anything but makes it easy to get the hose out of the way when I'm done to hang on the wall.