nacnud

Ok time to face the elephant in the room. RUST. Range Rovers are great for hiding it under their exterior aluminium panels. I was hoping I could get it through a WOF with a few patches to the sills and the rear but more I think about it, more I want to do it properly. Hope to keep this truck for a long time. All carpet pulled out to see what lies benith. Front floors bit of mess, some nasty old sealer put over it. Rear floor will need both sides done as well as inner and outer sills and A Pillar. Fingers crossed the bulk head is ok. Doors and tail gates are solid so I am pretty stoked on that. Heat gun needed to remove all the old carpet residue from the paint. Doors solid, will get some replacement trim in the correct colour later on. Or pinch off my other one. Had some scary quotes from panel and paint places on the work, I would love to drop it there and get them to do it all but budget won't allow for that. I hope to dismantle as much of the truck as I can ( its a big Meccano set ). and deliver them bits to work on and then I reassemble... Looking at removing glass, a few other major bits and then the entire side frame can come off which holds most of the problem areas. As per below. Fuck it, he goes - whats the worst that can go wrong...? Lots of bagging and tagging bits. Wish me luck. (also keen to hear some recommendations in Auckland for the rust repair and bit of paint )

Bike looked freaking awesome at the show. Hats off man, good work!

Break in time after a dyno. Came in at 21hp with a solid amount of toque. Pretty happy with that. Scooter rally in 2015 and first run on the new build. Left from Wellington with a loop around the central north island. Day 1, 50kms from start line and team mate had a good seize. Team down to 3. Came across this shop, and this old legend ( I think his name was Bill?) let us use a bunch of his tools and talked for hours. Some amazing bikes stashed in side, well worth a look if you are in Upper Hutt. Open carbs and gravel roads... Great pub though. Late night re builds. Buddy crashed on the way into Waiouru, went on to fix his bike and continue. Gentle Annie road from Waiouru to Naiper was awesome, such a fun road. Finish line in Wellington. Very exhausted after the 1600km. Stoked on how well the untested bike went! Took a while to clean all the grim off it! Fresh coat of tyre paint too More to come if you are still following...

Slow progress! I need to get more time to spend on this thing. Doesn't help another one I had stashed at my parents place in Canterbury has also turned up. Back to Red. Brakes are all on, little spongy still. Might need another crack at bleeding. I borrowed a polisher and got to work last Sunday. First time I have ever polished a car ha! Pretty amazed how the old paint came out. It's still shit, falling off in places and different colours in places but it has a sweet shine to it now! Makes me feel much better about the project. Also removed the vinyl on the C pillar. Last owner put it on to make it look like a later model. Super freaked out to what I might find behind the vinyl but I was pleasantly surprised. Paint is slightly different shade to the rest... Looking at getting the original radiator rebuilt for it. It has had a few patches and repairs and some of the corner folds are leaking. Brad from Auto Radiators in Grey Lynn blew my mind with his radiator knowledge. Priced it at around $950. Ouch. I kinda want to do it, I kinda don't....

Good spotting! Must be. Not many TV200s around

Now for the expensive part! All happening around 2 months before the next scooter rally. Nothing like a deadline to get stuff done... Frame stripped, some extra support welded on known weak points and then off to HPC This was the start of a lot of online shopping and spending money at HPCoatings... Also sleepless nights trying to decided on colour ways for it. I went for a strange old Alfa Romeo GTV colour called Yellow Ochre or AR112. Still a bit unsure as to why I chose this colour after all, oh well it is certainly different. Pretty sure the paint shop also tinted it a bit differently... Panels stripped ready for the paint to go down Expensive bits coming in thick and fast, new big block engine casings, fancy front shocks, digital speedo with fuel sensor, rev counter and cylinder head temp sensor, 30mm Mikuni TMX carb. Time for the engine build. I couldn't have done this with out the help of my mates. A mate Ben spent many late nights helping me out with this build and has an amazing attention to detail when it comes to building anything, especially 2strokes! Great workshop too... I went a bit overboard on this but aim was to make a fast reliable scoot. I went with a kit AFrayspeed TS1 225 kit, mild porting, high comp cylinder head, larger crank, clubman exhaust, AF touring clutch with race springs etc. Side casing going together New 52mm crank installed Parts coming back from the painter in my interesting new colour... To top off my indecisive paint choice I went with this slate blue colour for the rest of the components... Front end going together, disc brake and the new shocks Engine closed up and in the frame Glove box, long range tank, carb and rear guard going on All new cabling and electrics BGM clubman exhaust fitted Rob's bike also getting a TS1 kit and a bunch of go fast bits at the same time. I think all four from the team had their bikes in pieces at this stage First ride! Jetting not 100% but it went awesome! Off to get dyno'd shortly. Scooter rally was only a few days away. What better way to break in a new 2-stroke than 1600km at full throttle? To be continued...

Hey Team, dug out a heap of photos of my old Lambretta project. Warning - a lot of photos and wofting on from the last 4 years or so up to present day so I will split it up into a couple of posts. First off, much like my Range Rover project I blame my parents. Dad used to have a 180SS Vespa and travel all over the South Island on it. They then got me a brand spanking new Vespa PX200 for my 21st birthday which I still own. Any how, all their fault and then my mate Rob's - who let me have a hoon on his Lambretta one lunch time. I was sold, I needed one! So much more fun to ride than the fat bottom Vespa. The hunt was one! It took me a while to find an Italian built Lambretta, most for sale are the Indian ones from the 80s. I got this 1963 Lambretta LI125 Special from a chap on the shore who built it many years ago and really liked matt black spray paint... It had a few trick bits on it and went pretty well. It had a pretty spicy Ralph Saxelby RS175 small block kit on it, ported barrel, suzi piston, snazzy AF crank, 30mm Delorto carb and a clubman exhaust. It was dyno'd around 15.5hp and a lot of fun around town but only really made power high in the rev range, not so good for long distance hoons. Any way, time for some photos. Chronological order up until present day. As I got it, naff GT badge and a lot of mat black paint. Nice Yamaha R1 shock on the rear and the old RS small block. It used a lot of gas but made a great sound. The small tank was soon swapped out for a larger long range tank in preparation for a 4 day 1600km scooter rally (race). Looking back, kind of dug this look. Tyre paint helped! Scoot all prepped for rally. We road from Auckland up to Cape Reinga in back over 4 days. Around 20ish scoots in teams of four and averaged 400kms a day. A few road side repairs and tunes along the way. Clutch cable change at the Cape Reinga 90mile beach run with open carbs... Side panels not wanting to stay on at 100clicks... Any way scoot went great over the four days. Used a heap of 2stroke oil at 4%... My first DGR ride, good fun but a really heavy race clutch and slow a ride was hard work! Next years scooter Rally on my mind. Time for face lift and the need to be faster! Time for a re build that ended up getting really out of hand and still in the process today... To be continued tomorrow...

I finished of the caliper rebuild. First time I've ever rebuilt calipers so I am pretty chuffed with them! Also front lights and grill are on. Makes the rest of it look pretty rough now.

No big updates on Red yet but I did get down to Christchurch for some site visits last week so I got to send some time with the parents and the other Rover... It is a pretty solid truck but needs to go through compliance again as the last owner let it lapse. 1979 and a suffix F so one of the last ones in the suffix range. Nice to have power steering and a few other luxuries that the A does not. This is the good side, other has a bit of panel damage. Tossing up if I should get it through compliance in Christchurch and drive it up or get it on a transporter up to Auckland. Any recommend compliance places in Christchurch?

Choice. If you want to sell them, flick me a message with some photos please,

Awesome cheers for that Torton. Still hunting tyres for this thing. If any one has some leads on some 205R16 that look similar to this tread patten let me know. Everything I find looks too modern and lame. Photo below of the Factory Michelin X M+S on it. Awesome tread but way too old and cracked to fang down the motorway on. Any leads on this greatly appreciated!

Awesome! Would love an old G/S. Keen to follow this build

Love a good cutaway drawing. Correct colour too!

A little more progress! I rebuilt the front hubs and swivel housings. Nice new brake rotors, wheel bearings and coat of high temp paint for some of the bits. New favourite tool - Gift from the wheel bearing gods (Mitre 10). Front end light surrounds and grill powder coated - looks good but the old one had some small areas of filler which hide the small dents. Any recommendations on powder coating places? Hope to get the bumpers and steel wheels done shortly. Front headlights also got a refresh and secondhand light surrounds came up well after an afternoon of polishing. I've started to rebuild the callipers and I hope to have them ready to bolt on next weekend with new flexi and hard lines. The old callipers were seized solid and the pistons are pretty stuffed - luckily the bores are still in good condition! A coat of high temp paint and they are starting to look good again. Assembling bits in the living room. I'm still on the hunt for some bits - if any one has any, let me know! I'll end on a full Barry moment. Factory tool kit that is 100% complete and what looks to be brand new. Half of the bits look like they have never been used! (which is strange if you own anything British). Duncan out.

Pretty slow progress on the Red Rover. Spent the last few weekends sorting out my daily Rover with new brakes, hub seals and full service. Anyhow, started on rebuilding the front brakes on Red. Old discs were stuffed, very pitted and some of the brake lines were blocked as well as some very leaky hub seals and bad wheel bearings. Started by stripping them all down, big job cleaning it up! So much grime! Great fun removing caliper bolts that haven't come off in who knows how long. This week's job will be rebuilding the calipers and hubs with new seals and bearings. Then hopefully in the weekend installing them all with new rotors, pads and lines. Also been trying to get to the bottom of why it seems to be down on power. Starts and idles fine but very rich and plugs are coming out very black. Replaced a torn diaphragm in one of the carbs but still no luck. Think I will just take it to a carb wizard to sort - I have heard Hitec Motorsports in Dury are good. Any suggestions? Looking forward to bolting nice shinny bits on next weekend. Parts hauler is going well now. Wof passed and running well. Looks massive compared to the little Turbo City.

Hey Dolan, any luck with other models, do you get the Michelin XPC in stock?

Hey Team, I have a great hanger space that I am currently renting with a buddy. Unfortunately that might be coming to an end in a couple of months. Anyone got a dry and secure place I can stash my old Range Rover in? Cheers, Duncan

Hey Dolan, thanks for the reply! That would be awesome! So many times people do a restore and put a modern looking tyre on, totally ruins the car imo. They are Michelin X M+S in 205r16. Couple of photos below Also the Firestone Town and Country but I think that is even harder to find. Damn it looks good

Hey Team, I am after a certain tyre for my old Range Rover. Trying to get as close to the factory period correct look as possible. Old Michelins and the Firestones now seem discontinued so the next best is this Dunlop. They are called Dunlop Road Gripper F. In 205r16 or 205/80/16. If any one knows where I could find a set of 5, sing out please!Dunlop NZ are not very helpful.

No real updates yet. Work seems to be getting in the way! Hopefully getting started on a brake rebuild this weekend Anyway, my buddy Kieran who is helping out me took these rad photos with his Leica a few weeks back.

First day getting to know the new ride. Got a new set of tyres fitted and gave it a once over. A few bits aint working and missing a few bits of trim but all seems ok. Can't get over how big it is! 4.2V8 is effortless too. Some serious gas bills coming my way. Next to my buddies 79 today. Need to give the exterior and interior a good clean up tomorrow. First motorway run is alway a bit scary, truck went awesome though. Excuse the potato phone the shot was taken on.

Sucker for punishment. New daily just turned up

Hot damn! That is an impressive disco! I used to have a early 200tdi one. A bit slower than that...

Awesome brochure shots from the 70s.

Also, anyone reading this. If they have any parts for them or know of other two doors let me know! Always on the hunt for more bits.