Hi, I am looking for some advice and opinions from members with experience with Land Rovers.
Here is my Defender.
MOT's until Feb 2014, taxed until August 2013. 160,364 miles on the clock. Paint and body need some work, looking at repainting it in the future.
I have found one spot on the chassis, on the passenger side outrider which will need welding (no problems there, a few years ago I cut my teeth arc welding up the chassis and floor panels on a Triumph Acclaim), other than that the screwdriver and hammer test found no other problems. will clean, red oxide, stone chip, chassis paint/waxoyl as I go.
The doors however were bodged by one of the previous owner, body filler and rivets used to hold it together.
I will be effecting temporary repairs to strengthen the frame tomorrow, some welds and plate, eventually I will get the proper repair sections and rebuild them, or if absolutely necessary replace them. All the locks will be changed as one door is missing the key mechanism and I have a different key for every remaining lock, parts already obtained. Drivers side inner lock release is broken, looks like a bar is missing, I will compare it with the other door when I remove that card, the passenger door has the same failure pattern as the drivers door.
The bulkhead has the usual rust in the upper corners, drivers side not to bad, passenger side a bit more involved but ultimately savable I believe. Are the YRM panels any good?
Windscreen seal has perished, door seals are falling apart at the bottom. I will replace the windscreen seal when I do the bulkhead, the door seal I will patch with gutter sealant for now, with plans to replace as funds allow.
Temperature control lever is stuck on hot, dash is coming apart to inspect bulkhead so will deal with that later.
Roof lights are not wired in, these are not a priority so they can wait.
The things that have me worried are the rear nearside suspension strut (?)
the gaiter has failed, not sure if this means I have to replace the strut or if it is salvageable?
The Transfer box is leaking, there is a small puddle on my drive at the moment, after fifteen minutes of sitting still it seems to have stopped, so maybe this is a gasket issue. There is a clunk when changing gear or taking my foot off then on the accelerator, is this backlash? My reading on this forum and others leads me to believe that maybe the splines are worn, or worst case scenario given the leak that the mainshaft need replacing, any tips on diagnosing this or other possible causes.
Gear changes, once I got used to the box and clutch, were quite smooth without grinding, so I think the box and clutch are OK for now, will probably replace the clutch within a year or so if there are no problems.
Rear diff leak, another gasket failure?
Heard a squeal at full steering lock when reversing, could this be related to the clunk mentioned above or is there something else I should check?
Another thing is that the viscous fan has a maybe a cm of play on every axis when tugging on it with the engine off, however there is resistance when spinning it. Should this be taken as a sign of failure and should I remove it now? I think I will end up going the electric fan route as one of the previous owners removed the cowling and never replaced it. There are two unmarked toggle switches, one on the dash and one in the ashtray (?) which don't appear to do anything which may mean that this was done before and then removed, I wont know until I get the multimeter out and trace the wires. What would be a good fan to source for this that also covers the intercooler?
Oil on the engine below the rocker cover, didn't seem to be any fresh oil there when I got home, might just be the gasket or mess left over that was never cleaned off, won't know until I degrease and run the engine, plenty of oil in the engine, but it is as bit black, no sign of water mixed in and no evidence when that last service was carried out, however there is a garage receipt for the fitting of a replacement timing belt 20,000 miles ago. So Bearmach filters ordered and 8l of 10w40 Semi Synthetic sitting in the shed.
Break squeal so they will be done next before I drive it again.
Most of the rear interior panelling is missing, but I am very handy with a glue gun and hardboard ( re-panelled a rover 214 with a faux suede fabric many years ago)
Engine starts first time every time, no knocking, smooth idle, revs up and down smoothly and was quite happy pulling along at fifty on the way back to my place, of course I may find something wrong as I go along.
Boy, was it fun to drive, noisy, a little slow to accelerate compared to my usual drive, and the seat need raisers (1" bar stock?) for comfort.
I have loved the design and utility of this Vehicle since I was a boy, and circumstance recently made me decide to live what dreams I could so I brought this after viewing another in Thornbury. That one the owner couldn't start, the chassis seemed to be in reasonable condition, but there was even more oil over that engine bay than this one, all four tyres were different his overall manner was off, shall I say (and in his advert he stated driven daily, when trying to start it the said it had been standing there a month!) made me walk away. This one was one of the few in reasonable distance from me that I could view it, there was another one in Chippingham that the owner seemed to have taken care of but it was hardtop conversion and I wanted (Maybe wrongly) as close to factory station wagon spec as possible.
As a bonus I found inside a Clutch Claw with keys and a farm jack which I believe is a T-Max, as well as a CB which my brother is having (HGV Driver)
On a side note, are there any instructions on fitting an additional in-line fuel filter as I am interested in running this on SVO and Biodiesel at some point inn the future.
Looking forward to your feedback.
Here is my Defender.
MOT's until Feb 2014, taxed until August 2013. 160,364 miles on the clock. Paint and body need some work, looking at repainting it in the future.
I have found one spot on the chassis, on the passenger side outrider which will need welding (no problems there, a few years ago I cut my teeth arc welding up the chassis and floor panels on a Triumph Acclaim), other than that the screwdriver and hammer test found no other problems. will clean, red oxide, stone chip, chassis paint/waxoyl as I go.
The doors however were bodged by one of the previous owner, body filler and rivets used to hold it together.
I will be effecting temporary repairs to strengthen the frame tomorrow, some welds and plate, eventually I will get the proper repair sections and rebuild them, or if absolutely necessary replace them. All the locks will be changed as one door is missing the key mechanism and I have a different key for every remaining lock, parts already obtained. Drivers side inner lock release is broken, looks like a bar is missing, I will compare it with the other door when I remove that card, the passenger door has the same failure pattern as the drivers door.
The bulkhead has the usual rust in the upper corners, drivers side not to bad, passenger side a bit more involved but ultimately savable I believe. Are the YRM panels any good?
Windscreen seal has perished, door seals are falling apart at the bottom. I will replace the windscreen seal when I do the bulkhead, the door seal I will patch with gutter sealant for now, with plans to replace as funds allow.
Temperature control lever is stuck on hot, dash is coming apart to inspect bulkhead so will deal with that later.
Roof lights are not wired in, these are not a priority so they can wait.
The things that have me worried are the rear nearside suspension strut (?)
the gaiter has failed, not sure if this means I have to replace the strut or if it is salvageable?
The Transfer box is leaking, there is a small puddle on my drive at the moment, after fifteen minutes of sitting still it seems to have stopped, so maybe this is a gasket issue. There is a clunk when changing gear or taking my foot off then on the accelerator, is this backlash? My reading on this forum and others leads me to believe that maybe the splines are worn, or worst case scenario given the leak that the mainshaft need replacing, any tips on diagnosing this or other possible causes.
Gear changes, once I got used to the box and clutch, were quite smooth without grinding, so I think the box and clutch are OK for now, will probably replace the clutch within a year or so if there are no problems.
Rear diff leak, another gasket failure?
Heard a squeal at full steering lock when reversing, could this be related to the clunk mentioned above or is there something else I should check?
Another thing is that the viscous fan has a maybe a cm of play on every axis when tugging on it with the engine off, however there is resistance when spinning it. Should this be taken as a sign of failure and should I remove it now? I think I will end up going the electric fan route as one of the previous owners removed the cowling and never replaced it. There are two unmarked toggle switches, one on the dash and one in the ashtray (?) which don't appear to do anything which may mean that this was done before and then removed, I wont know until I get the multimeter out and trace the wires. What would be a good fan to source for this that also covers the intercooler?
Oil on the engine below the rocker cover, didn't seem to be any fresh oil there when I got home, might just be the gasket or mess left over that was never cleaned off, won't know until I degrease and run the engine, plenty of oil in the engine, but it is as bit black, no sign of water mixed in and no evidence when that last service was carried out, however there is a garage receipt for the fitting of a replacement timing belt 20,000 miles ago. So Bearmach filters ordered and 8l of 10w40 Semi Synthetic sitting in the shed.
Break squeal so they will be done next before I drive it again.
Most of the rear interior panelling is missing, but I am very handy with a glue gun and hardboard ( re-panelled a rover 214 with a faux suede fabric many years ago)
Engine starts first time every time, no knocking, smooth idle, revs up and down smoothly and was quite happy pulling along at fifty on the way back to my place, of course I may find something wrong as I go along.
Boy, was it fun to drive, noisy, a little slow to accelerate compared to my usual drive, and the seat need raisers (1" bar stock?) for comfort.
I have loved the design and utility of this Vehicle since I was a boy, and circumstance recently made me decide to live what dreams I could so I brought this after viewing another in Thornbury. That one the owner couldn't start, the chassis seemed to be in reasonable condition, but there was even more oil over that engine bay than this one, all four tyres were different his overall manner was off, shall I say (and in his advert he stated driven daily, when trying to start it the said it had been standing there a month!) made me walk away. This one was one of the few in reasonable distance from me that I could view it, there was another one in Chippingham that the owner seemed to have taken care of but it was hardtop conversion and I wanted (Maybe wrongly) as close to factory station wagon spec as possible.
As a bonus I found inside a Clutch Claw with keys and a farm jack which I believe is a T-Max, as well as a CB which my brother is having (HGV Driver)
On a side note, are there any instructions on fitting an additional in-line fuel filter as I am interested in running this on SVO and Biodiesel at some point inn the future.
Looking forward to your feedback.
