Evan

+1 for giving it to Autoblast and paying them to deal with it, A+ people to deal with.

I understand older versions are free until the end of the year (that's what the email I got said anyway) /switch to Fusion360.

the Salisbury version or whatever? does it have a 44 up front?

upgrading the Defender?

What's everyone using for their air lines/fittings and how are they finding them for longevity/leakiness? Hard or soft lines? push to connect fittings? Swagelok fittings? duct tape? Paging @Nominal, @sheepers, @MRWEST, @_Matt

Temperature has dropped and work has slowed. Have been deliberating over engine choices for aaaaages, was pretty set on running a M104 (basically a Merc RB/JZ), other alternatives included an M271 (supercharged 4 cylinder thing) or an OG M180. I flip flopped for about 18 months until this popped up on trademe for $1 reserve, it's mine now. So I brought a 54 year old engine that 'ran when parked' 20 years ago sight unseen. It's not an L series Datsun donk but rather a Mercedes M180 which is what these cars originally came with. It doesn't look half bad under the rocker cover but even with the plugs out and a bar on the front pulley it has no enthusiasm to turn over so could be seized, more investigating required..

A man with silly hair in Hawaii bet you to it (skip to 5mins if the link doesn't go there automatically)

Plot twist: It's a donor vehicle for the MS75

Someone school me up on scoots pls?

Masked up and sprayed the other side and the underside of the floors as far back as the rear seats (note all the OG underseal the blaster couldn't get off), left the trans tunnel in case it needs some clearancing for the trans I want to run (Mercedes 722.6) I need to drop the rear diff to do the underside of the boot, but before doing that I thought I should really install the bags and some wheels and put it on the ground to see how it looks, so I did. Managed to unlock the next level of sketch city in the process with mystery blocks of wood used in precarious manners to get it down off the axles stands. That's as low as you'll get one of these without taking an angle grinder to the body which I am unkeen to do, I also don't think the rear diff would enjoy any more articulation. sills are about 100mm, front cross member about 70mm and rear diff about 50mm from the ground respectfully. Now have the classic problem of the jack not fitting under it.

Have now seam sealed the front right inner wheel arch. Also got the car up on axle stands and off the trolley thing it's been on for the last 18 months and seam sealed the under side, no pics of that. Masked up the front left inner wheel arch and top coated it with Wurth 'Gravel throw and underbody protection'. I don't want to use the full fat bitumen based underseal as it's a prick to get off in the future if you ever need to - a lot of the underside of this car is still coated in it as the blaster couldn't remove it and I don't have the patience to lie on my back with a heat gun and scraper to get it off, so it can stay. This stuff seams to be favoured by those in the Porsche circles online so we will see how it goes (means I have Porsche parts on my car now right?) has the added benefit of coming in a rattle can, not sure if that means it won't last but it takes a bit of effort to scratch it once its dry.

Still plodding away, got a pair of Slam Specialties RE5s for the front, would of likes to run the larger RE6s up front but they're a bit marginal for clearance on the diameter front and I'd rather not risk having a bag rubbing on something. Hot glue gunned some mounts together, all designed to be bolt in: Full Squash (onto factory bumpstops), followed by full droop - looking like I'll need limiting straps at full droop to stop all the weight hanging from the bag. Back when this was at the panel beaters I made a day trip with Ned to Mercworx is Tirau in search of a new boot, as mine was full of cheese. took a punt on one that had a dent in it but look solid. Finally got around to getting it blasted and primed at Autoblast and, other than coming back in the wrong primer and having a couple of dents in it, it looks ace - not a spot of rust in it. New one on top of old one: Have started seam sealing the underside, started with the front left wheel arch. Initially tried masking up the lines to give a cleaner finish but have decided that isn't worth the effort; a finger swipe gives the best outcome. (as an aside when Wurth say their seam sealer is 'brushable' they're using that term very optimistially) Hopefully have the underside seam sealed by the weekend touch wood.

I wonder if the original carbs for those manifolds had different throttle shafts that didn’t have a nut on the end but instead a flange like the below with a linkage running over top of them to actuate them from the outer ends

I'm just going to leave this here for future reference/anyone else who's interested https://www.aliexpress.com/af/weber-throttle-bodies.html?SearchText=weber+throttle+bodies&d=y&initiative_id=SB_20190323183021&origin=n&catId=0&isViewCP=y&jump=afs

Machinery House have a sale on this month

well its worth $100 at this point right... Marginal cost pricing says the ship is coming back regardless so the return ride should be $50. All part of my quest to be like UJ.

Any idea what it would cost to ship the Chev back to the mainland?

However PA10 is whats saved the bottom 4 inches of Gregs Valiant.

I should add that the rear bag mounts aren't my original idea, they're based off this photo: Which belongs to this car, which lives in Wanaka

Context: Factory rear upper spring perch looks like this: Mount slots over the top like so: just need to bolt it to the floor to stop it falling out/moving at full droop (which it shouldn't anyway as it's tight on the cone of the perch). the weight of the hanging arm, axle, wheel etc will be supported by either the shock at full extension or a limiting strap if the shock isn't fully extended - I don't want it hanging off the bag, in which case the rivnuts only have to hold the weight of the top mount. Obviously a captive nut on top side would be ideal but the bit of floor directly above that is buried under the box section between the back of the seats and shock mount, which I want to avoid cutting into if I can The cert man might not like my ideas so it might still come to that...hopefully it seems like a good idea?

A couple of weeks ago I was window shopping for a welder, it was one of those things I'd been putting off in favour of paying/bribing someone else to do it. Anyway after scrolling through various brochures there was a Weldtech unit I was going to go purchase, Coincidentally I caught wind of one of the guys in the workshop at work had just purchased the same unit along with an additional tig torch for doing his own tig welding; however after he got it he realised it didn't do AC Tig so was no good for the Aluminium welding he was wanting to do. So he offloaded it to me along with a trolley and tig torch for less than the retail cost of the unit itself, score I thought considering he had only turned it on twice and the mig torch was still in the box. So with some larger diameter tube, the aforementioned welder, a new helmet, gloves and bunnings gas bottle I was more or less able to finish off the top mounts for the rear bags Bolted everything together for a test fit I just need to drill a hole through the side of the top mounts for the airline and a hole in each of the 3 tabs you see at the top of the mounts, these slot into 3 recesses in the factory spring perches on the car, by drilling a hole through the spring perch and fitting a rivnut the entire rear bag setup is a bolt in affair, no cutting or welding to the body necessary - which means it can be swapped back to coils at the drop of a hat. Now for the fronts....

Probably worth trying to get as many glow plugs out as possible (even if only one bank) and then spin it to verify that it will spin over freely (preferably by hand to avoid junking that starter more then it already is if there isn't another one on the Island)

Are the glow plugs still doing their thing? EDIT: Beaten

I was following one of these the other day and noticed the rear windscreen piece below the boot spoiler thing, that pretty much makes it a Lamborghini Espada

Like a tiptronic gearstick where you'd expect that pulling it back (like in a sequential box) would go up a gear but instead it changes down