Expedition Portal: The Land Rover 109 IIA Build

[Ray Hyland]

Glad the mat worked, and I was impressed that you cut them with a utility knife. I ended up taking a sawsall to mine.

 

[Ray Hyland]

Or 5/16th Whitworth. For those who might be interested, I have a spanner gap chart in my web site. Only the last couple of years of Series production had metric fittings. Otherwise, the axle assemblies, gearbox and transfercase were mostly Whitworth.

It never hurts to own a partial Whitworth spanner set.

3/16 - The little nuts holding the transfercase bottom plate and I think the retaining bolts for the big swivel housing seal
1/4 - Common use
5/16 - Common use on the transfercase. You will need a 5/16ths socket for the nuts inside the transfercase holding it to the gearbox
3/8 - The transfercase mounting bracket fixings and a couple other places

You might also consider a 7/16 and a 1/2 spanner. They are not as commonly used as the other sizes and you can normally get an adjustable spanner in where these nuts are located.

Awesome TeriAnn, that will be a helpful shortcut as I work on the Series 1s.



BTW - I am still looking for a cheap set of Whitworth tools, anyone got a set they don't need anymore? Or a few spares in the tool roll?

 

[DividingCreek]

Anyone who wants to learn to drive off road should start in a series rover or early CJ. No p.s., low power, poor brakes, small tires, standard tranny. There's a lot to do, a lot going on and you have to make the vehicle do what you want.

Couldn't agree more, but clearly we are from a different time. I grew up in Virginia's Blue Ridge driving dad's 71 2a and my own first purchase was a 62 CJ3B.

Neat project Matt. I regularly drive home with only front wheel drive in my Defender from off road venues, these problems aren't unique to a series. Stripped drive flanges, broken axles, drive shafts twisted in two, all still happen with a tdi 130.

 

[UnfrozenCaveman]

...I am still looking for a cheap set of Whitworth tools...

I'd like a line on some too...

Now remember Ray ...

Good / Cheap / Fast...


Pick two

 

[TeriAnn]

I am merely pointing out that your post, based on some rater dubious observations, came across as condescending.

What you took as condescending was actually me trying to be helpful by pointing out a few things that are not always obvious to new owners. I was trying to help him get settled in to his new truck by pointing out a couple of common gotchas.

You seem to think that the 'new owner' despite his demonstrated experience is incapable of reading a manual and exhibiting mechanical competence.

Actually those comments were pointed directly at you and your arguing that it didn't matter what the manual said about specs. Not at the new Series truck owner. It was aimed specifically at your argument that if you didn't have the correct calibrated tools and stress analysis capabilities it wasn't worth the effort to try and do things right.

Your post came over as trying to teach grandma to suck eggs.

I meant no disrespect to anyone other than you. I took offense at your coming out of the blue arguing that bolts could break from fatigue and not from over torquing when I suggested that it was a good idea to torque bolts to their factory spec. And your arguing that people's torque wrenches were out of spec anyway so whay bother. And your arguing that tyre places always have tools that are at least 25% out of spec and it doesn't matter if the guy at the tyre place torques the lug nut down to 75 lb ft or 115 lb ft. (A land Cruiser nut torque spec). And Your arguing that it doesn't mater if a Land Rover's tyres are properly balanced or not. I know for a fact that a Series truck behaves a lot better on the highway with properly balanced tyres and the front end aligned to within factory spec.

You have no way of telling how these bolts failed but chose to present a subjective observation as factual to support your case.

You are correct that I have no way of knowing how the flange bolts on my truck failed before I bought my truck. But I do know that they will fail when over torqued and provided the factory torque specification as a helpful suggestion in case the new owner was unaware that these bolts had a factory torque specification.

I do know through that I torque my flange bolts to the factory spec and in 34 years I have not had any failures on what are presumably 51 year old flange bolts.

The two volume workshop manual contains a lot of material for a new owner to go through and memorize. All I was doing was pointing out a setting that the new owner may have been unaware of. Before you came along and said that it doesn't matter because the torque wrench is likely out of spec anyway.

Thousands of Series Rover owners will prove that in this application, while correct torque is good, it is just not very sensitive to it so it hardly requires special mention.

hummm. Then I wonder why the factory bothered to set a torque spec for these bolts when there are so many on the truck that do not have a specified torque value. if it does not matter, why did they bother to specify the bolt torque????

It is also quite laughable to think you are making a credable effort to achieve a 5lbsft tolerance on a torque by asking the tyre shop guy nicely.

There is more than 5 lb ft difference between the 75-85 lb ft Series Land Rover torque spec and a 115 lb ft Land Cruiser torque spec.

If you care about torque you always check it after leaving the tyre shop

I have done that and made sure the people doing the work know the proper lug nut torque spec since I was once stranded with a flat tyre because I was not strong enough to get the lug nuts off with the lug wrench I had. Shop guys frequently think Land Rover is made by Toyota and look up Land Cruiser specs.

Good mechanical practices are always desireable but the series Rover is not a racing car. The truck is 40 years old and should be maintained accordingly. I am not arguing. I am pointing out that your post, in spite of your 34 years of experience, demonstrated a lack of understanding of this.

It appears to me that you are being very argumentative and yes I am being argumentative back in response to what you have said.

You have had a lot more experience than I across a lot more trucks. How long have you maintained a single truck?

I still stand by my statement that Land Rovers respond better if you try to keep them within factory specifications than if you maintain them haphazardly as if the factory specifications don't mean anything. With your attitude about not caring about factory specs, your shop is a place I would avoid like the plague.

 

[ltngaines]

Is this really what Expo has become? If so, I don’t want it. People complaining about grammar and arguing about what people post,I hope this has not turned into a Harvard grad only website.Me I still like Beer more than Champagne. Loosen up your ascots. Have alittle fun, dont turn this site into this; e•lit•ism or é•lit•ism ( -l t z m, -l -)
n.
1. The belief that certain persons or members of certain classes or groups deserve favored treatment by virtue of their perceived superiority, as in intellect, social status, or financial resources.
2.
a. The sense of entitlement enjoyed by such a group or class.
b. Control, rule, or domination by such a group or class.

 

[MattScott]

Holy off topic batman!

I respectfully ask that you take the argument outside of my build thread, please, I don't want to be in the middle.

 

[LR Max]

CHANGE PLACES!!!!

There, fixed.

Matt, so you are running around in front wheel drive only? Ugh. I did that for a while with my 109. No fun when you can feel the non-constant velocity of the U-joints. When is your replacement arriving?

Also I feel your pain. I'm going through "magical transmission time" with my 109...so...fun.

 

[JSBriggs]

BTW - I am still looking for a cheap set of Whitworth tools, anyone got a set they don't need anymore? Or a few spares in the tool roll?

King ******** still makes quality Witworth tools, or you can try Ebay. Snap on and Proto used to make them but the are a bit hard to come by these days (and can be a bit pricey too).

-Jeff

 

[MattScott]

I was lucky that the Series I found had a Fairey Overdrive already installed on it - it makes a huge difference on the highway.

One of the downsides to it, is the frequent maintenance associated with it - you need to check the fluid weekly.

I took it a step further and visually inspected the gears for damage.

 

[DividingCreek]

wow that doesn't look good.

 

[MattScott]

wow that doesn't look good.

What doesn't look good?

 

[JSBriggs]

I took it a step further and visually inspected the gears for damage.

Its not the gears that go bad, but the bearings. As I mentioned before, make sure you keep all the parts you removed (gear,nut, cover plate, etc) in the truck so if you are on a trip and the OD goes out, you can at least gain 'regular' drive back.

-Jeff

 

[1leglance]

weekly check of fluids..
wow that doesn't sound fun or easy
but at least it is on a rig you like
and it gives you a reason to check out other things

 

[MattScott]

weekly check of fluids..
wow that doesn't sound fun or easy
but at least it is on a rig you like
and it gives you a reason to check out other things

When you really think about it, a weekly check of fluids should be fairly standard on vehicles that see a significant amount of off highway miles.

I always have tried to at least check engine and transmission levels weekly.