14 year old seeking advice!

[Firemanshort]

Alan - I wager that metal S3 grill is a Kiwi thing. Everything on your island is the same but just a little bit different.

Ol' Ebben in VT could probably rely on the metal versus plastic test for any rover dug out of a barn in New England.

(Cool capstan by the way)

[GeniusAndHisAssistant]

well, it's official. i got a land rover! if all goes as planned it'll be in our yard on sunday, but things don't always work as i plan them... ha!

i'll post some pics and the serial number once it gets here, but for now i'm one happy boy!

thanks for the tips, and as before, any more would be appreciated!

ebben

[ducttape]

This is going to be a great thread! Congrats!

[GeniusAndHisAssistant]

here's what i've determined: i have a series IIa, bugeye. is this the rover that was not produced much?

rwollschlager gave lots of tips for starting it up, but i have one question: when you say hydraulic lines, do you mean cooling/brake? i know it needs new brake lines, as that was the reason it was parked; the owner blew a brake line going down a hill and parked it in 1982. it was only driven for 11 years and has 88000 miles. ive heard that the running gear is only at half life... music to my ears !

no pictures yet, but they'll come soon.

any more tips would be great...

thanks!
ebben in vt

[Tim Smith]

Hey Ebben. Congrats on the rover! I'm looking forward to seeing your progress.

Normally hydraulics would include the brake system and clutch. If your truck had a hydraulic PTO fitted that would be another story (but a super cool and rare bonus). By the way, only use Castrol GT LMA in the brakes and clutch. Other than DOT 5 which is super expensive, LMA is one of the few brake fluids that play well with the rubber still found in Girling (read: rover) hydraulics. DOT 3 or 4 is going to get the truck going but it will slowly eat away at the rubber, so if you use it then plan to flush the system later.

For your truck though, the cooling system would probably also be included in the replacement scheme. Just the rubber coolant and heater lines though. And that is just because they are so old. I'm sure you could start it and run it with the original cooling lines, if they aren't broken, just to see that the engine is up to par. Eventually though, you'll need to replace them before you can trust in the truck.

Something else you should do is hammer around the frame to find the weak spots. Pay close attention to the front horns (the section of frame between the front springs), under the master cylinders and the rear stretches from the end of the transmission to the end of the springs. If any of that goes "thud" or "crunch" then do not drive the truck as it might collapse under it's own weight. It's all fixable and if you have the time then cut and weld away.

[Revtor]

Ebben, welcome to the party! (It's a slow, leaky, rusting party but a fun one!)

Check the Bugeye Registry thread and compare your trucks serial# to the list, see if you can maybe find it! You can post it there and get it added to the list.

Hydraulic systems use fluid in pipes to transfer motion a far distance. (for us it's brakes/clutch) Its how pushing your brake pedal in the cab can make your brake cylinders move at the far corners of the truck. Imagine if there was a mechanical system of rods and connectors that had to move all that distance - it would be a huge complicated system prone to rusting and lots of friction. Not what you'd want for critical things like brakes and clutches! The engineers use Hydraulics, because the pipes can be bent to run anywhere and efficiently transfer motion. Power steering systems use hydraulic pressure to assist the steering wheel, and the rams on construction equipment (shiny silver rods/pistons) use hydraulic power too - to get the power of the engine to move the digging arms.

Rover also made an accessory hydraulic pump that ran off the trucks transfer case. It could constantly circulate hydraulic fluid under great pressure to drive any number of accessories. Winch, diggers, etc etc. If you have this consider yourself very lucky..

The cooling system uses a pump to circulate water/coolant. Not under great pressure like you brakes or clutch, and its a constant flow, unlike your brakes/clutch which only move when you push a pedal. The coolant circulates through your engine, drawing heat out of the metal, and then when the hot coolant gets to the radiator, the air being drawn through the radiators fins pull the heat out of the coolant.. It then continues on its way back to your engine to grab more heat and give it to the air.


have fun!

~Steve

[Nium]

Welcome aboard! Couple of useful links

http://www.lrfaq.org/index.html
http://www.expeditionlandrover.info/indexPage.htm
http://www.clifton.nl/index.html?calvin.html

Cheers!

[Boston]

Can't wait for my truck to be ready to fire up.

[GeniusAndHisAssistant]

Hi ya'll

Things are going grand here... front panels are off and the drive assembly (front hubs) are coming apart nicely - but the chrome on the swivel balls is worn away over about half of the surface. Are the balls something Ebben can smooth out/clean up and have it work ok? or do you think it will leak oil like a faucet. The swivels are very expensive and we really would like to make these work. Please comment on the ball situation and any advice you have to getting the big seal retainer ring off for the ball seals - they look very distorted/rusty and we hope not to wreck the housings that they mount to. The mounts cost more than we have in the money tin!

A big box came from Rovers North today - Ebben has his work cut out this summer! Ha! fuel pump, brake stuff, yup... lotsa fix'ns to make her safe for rip'n through Vermonts vast virgin forests.

"The Assistant" a.k.a. Dad

the photo is Ebben and his 'real' boss! Ha!

[disco2hse]

Swivels will probably need to be replaced, unless you can get second hand ones that are still good. Hunt around for someone who is wrecking. Check out the parts required from the parts manual and see how much you actually need to replace. You should do the bearings, etc. at the same time, and the bushes too. Front end is something you can't really scrimp on.

Hopefully, there won't be too many other big expenses as you work around.