V8 Land Rover project

[oldyella]

Took to Landy for its first proper test drive at the old mans forestry site.

When I was towing it there the breaks tighened up then locked on. Had to crack the bleeding screws on the calipers to get it rolling again.

I think the problem is I have an ABS brake master cylinder and need the non-ABS brake master cylinder...

Got to see boiling brake fluid for the first time

Anyway, eventually got it to the site

Threw the truck on the weigh bridge



And the majic number. Only about 80kg heavier than a stock S2a so pretty stoked



Some very average flex in the rear





Found some mud



Front seems to flex OK





Not quite running 100%. Havn't managed 2 figure it out why yet. Might do a compression test just to rule that out.



Didn't smash the remote oil housing off so thats good



Bracket for the fuel tank seems to catch alot of mud..





Realised when I got home I never locked the centre diff. Thought it should have a bit more traction

All up was a pretty sucessful first run

[niblik]

Awesome work dude. Very pleased the first hit out went without any major glitches.

You'd be a very happy chappy then!

Congrats.

[oldyella]

Something better than pics

[oldyella]

Awesome work dude. Very pleased the first hit out went without any major glitches.

You'd be a very happy chappy then!

Congrats.

Yea had a bit of fun. Need to do a few more checks on the engine. The right bank is running lean compared to the left and also the mixture fluctuates around a bit so im thinking it might be an injector.

Not quite sure about the brakes locking on. It might be that i need a spacer between the brake booster and the pedal box to make sure master cylinder is returning fully.

Need to change the master cylinder so will order the correct brake master cylinder and check it out

Like you say, nothing to major so pretty stoked

[MNC]

Loved seeing it dig up that bank in the first vid! Sounds awesome. Well Done!

[keithal]

i saw you towing it up near the top of 3 mile hill

looked bloody cool bro awesome work!!

[ice4x4]

Cool stool....

[oldyella]

Loved seeing it dig up that bank in the first vid! Sounds awesome. Well Done!

I went out on Sunday and put the centre diff lock in and it walked up

[oldyella]

Cheers Fellas,

As I said I wasn't happy with how it was running so I thought I would do a compression test instead of just starting to replace bits.

Highest Compression = 170psi (No2 cylinder only)

Lowest Compression = 158psi (two cylinders but not adjacent)

All the rest compression 160-162psi

So compression is OK and doesn't appear to be the problem

Found No2 cylinder had a suspect looking plug so replaced it. With the plug replaced the performance seems to be.

Idle is fine
off idle is fine
1500-2500 sounds like 7 cylinders
above 2500 sounds fine but could still be 7 cylinders

I also checked for any spark jumping out of the leads once it was dark and couldn't see anything

It is possible this is caused by a blocked injector not flowing enough fuel?

Cheers,

Pete

[NJV6]

If you are wondering about electrical - try running it at night and observing under the bonnet when it is nice and dark. Its amazing what that can pick up.

With my dud injector it was running on 7 all the time.

The other thing I think Pedro suggested was oil pressure - if it wasn't high enough the hydraulic lifters might not open enough?

[Pedro]

Cheers Fellas,

As I said I wasn't happy with how it was running so I thought I would do a compression test instead of just starting to replace bits.

Highest Compression = 170psi (No2 cylinder only)

Lowest Compression = 158psi (two cylinders but not adjacent)

All the rest compression 160-162psi

So compression is OK and doesn't appear to be the problem

Found No2 cylinder had a suspect looking plug so replaced it. With the plug replaced the performance seems to be.

Idle is fine
off idle is fine
1500-2500 sounds like 7 cylinders
above 2500 sounds fine but could still be 7 cylinders

I also checked for any spark jumping out of the leads once it was dark and couldn't see anything

It is possible this is caused by a blocked injector not flowing enough fuel?

Cheers,

Pete

camshaft............ take rocker covers off and wind over or if you dont mind oil flicking around start the engine, i think you will find you are missing a couple of cam lobes which makes it run on 7, you will see this by lack of valve movement when the motor is running, good chance to go to a lumpy cam


Pedro

[oldyella]

Camshaft aye...

If it is will be a bit gutted as I was hoping to get a bit of driving time

Thanks for the pointer though.

I'm hopefully getting a mate who rebuilds aircraft engines to have a look this weekend. He'll be the one rebuilding it if is shagged.

[oldyella]

If you are wondering about electrical - try running it at night and observing under the bonnet when it is nice and dark. Its amazing what that can pick up.

With my dud injector it was running on 7 all the time.

The other thing I think Pedro suggested was oil pressure - if it wasn't high enough the hydraulic lifters might not open enough?

Yip I had a look in the engine bay at night and didn't look like I had any stray spark..

The oil pressure range is an interesting one. Just looked it up in the manual and should have 40PSI at 2500rpm when warm so might just check that this weekend as well.

Cheers,

Pete

[Batfastard]

Cams are cheap now you will get a good cam and liffters from kelmfort cams in ch ch for $325..its easy to do .will give you a big jump in torque and rev alot free .and you will use less fuel as well.

[MNC]

...I'm hopefully getting a mate who rebuilds aircraft engines to have a look this weekend. He'll be the one rebuilding it if is shagged.

Good idea...

[oldyella]

The rear springs would be stiff enough to take the weight of that jet engine

[oldyella]

We'll its been a while and I've got the landy back from central otago after a bit of testing. Not as much as I would have liked tho. But all the same, have identified the following problems.

Fuel return into top of fuel tank (no pipe dropping it down to the bottom) is airrating the fuel, causing fuel pump to suck air. Solved by ensuring fuel tank is completely full at all times (like thats a practical solution in a V8 ) I have a plan involving a standard series landrover fuel outlet to be used as the fuel return...

Overheating problems, particularly now that I have leaned the fuel map with the MSII but atleast it has a bit of power now.

Now that tuning is complete its sounding much more lively and im not so sure there is an issue with cam or injectors etc. Plan to rip the oil filter open an inspect for debris.

Oil pressure low (15PSI not 40). Plan to throw shells in bottom end and see what effect that has as at this stage im far to impatient for a full rebuild . If oil filter looks bad, may have to reconsider.

Transmission doesn't like going into reverse when cold or changing gear although it does come right after its warmed up slightly. Anyone have some useful input on this other than replace the trans.

The bar and guards tom's offroad built look mean



So, onto the biggest problem which is cooling. I have removed the oil coolers from infront of the radiator so it gets more air. Without the oil coolers I can move the radiator forward another inch, which means the old viscious fan fits in with 20mm clearance between fan and radiator. Still need to build a shroud.

I think I'll put an HEI dizzy on to overcome the fact that the fan is going to spash water every where.

Im looking at using one of these bar type transmission oil coolers. Its 30" long and I was wondering if anyone had any experience with them. It would be the only tranz cooler and will sit behind the bar tom built but will get some air flow through the holes in the front of the bar.



This pic shows the holes in the bar im talking about. They are the ones at the very bottom.



I'm waiting for some series 1 bonnet latches to turn up off TM.

Found out non-air bag disco and air bag disco steering shaft is different and I can't get a boss kit for the discovery steering shaft. So I'm currently re-thinking the steering arrangement.

Gearbox tunnel done, pics to come

Runva winch bench tested OK. Pics to come

[niblik]

Any chance of being able to get a small trans oil cooler, like a standard mini radiator, pinned in front of the normal radiator in the central grill's gap? Then run viscous fan and shroud? I'd only worry about the amount of cooling you'd get behind those lower holes when at lower speeds and no fan drawing air over that bar version? In sayin that, they're made fit for purpose. A decent shroud would make immense changes to temps and combined with ya viscous fan would pull air through both frontal trans cooler and radiator.

Hei for the win!!

Great to read ya having fun in it. Any more pics of it? She's a mint lookin rig dude. I'd still accept its delivery to me any day.

[oldyella]

Haha I'm not planning on giving it away any time soon

This is the gear box cover. Folded up out of 5mm checker plate. Nice and strong so it wont get munted when the passenger puts their feet all over it. Shifter mounts in there all right and factory cable reaches



Need to trim a bit more around the transfercase shifter. Also need a mc-massive rubber gearbox boot to cover up the hole.



Proto-type big bottle holder



Got the trans oil cooler sitting in the middle of the grill. Just cable tied in there at the moment to see how it works. Just need to extend one of the rubber pipes.



Will probably space the winch up 20mm so the rope does get bound underneath which Toms Offroad suggested.



Fits perfectly



Shifted radiator forward. Now have about 20mm clearance to the origional viscious fan.



I'm after a series 2 fuel tank outlet pipe if anyone has a spare one...

Get a few more of these bits and peices sorted and hopefully take it out for some action

[tomsoffroad]

Fits perfectly

Choice The winch fills that gap just nicely.

[oldyella]

Yep looks bloody good. Not really sure where I'll put the solenoid yet. Might just leave it on the outside instead of trying to squeese it in the engine bay.

[niblik]

Outside might sound bad but makin the solenoid somewhat waterproof is easier than steam proofing. Steam is almost as suck as Rex.

Almost.

[crazyclark31]

Outside might sound bad but makin the solenoid somewhat waterproof is easier than steam proofing. Steam is almost as suck as Rex.

Almost.

thos runva solinoids are completly sealed so are pretty much anything proof.(not idiot tho)

[oldyella]

Got the series 1 bonnet latches painted up with zinc it.


curiosity got the better of me and I opened up the solenoid for a bit of a gander inside. Thinking of putting some silicon around where the wires go into the remote control reciever. Other than that it looks alright.



So enlight of Nibz's comparison of steam and Rex I whipped up about the bazillionth bracket on the total build to put the solinoid out front. I think im getting better at them...



Then I went to plug the remote in an it wouldn't fit as its a bit close to the bar



My earlier curosity paid off, as I realised I could just spin the thing around like so.



Can you believe this was two beers worth of work

[juz]

Almost done now aye!! Looks awesome! Give me a yell if your heading out on a trip. Could do a Toyota vs. Rover stumpy V8d ute challenge.

[oldyella]

Almost done now aye!! Looks awesome! Give me a yell if your heading out on a trip. Could do a Toyota vs. Rover stumpy V8d ute challenge.

Haha challange accepted! Unfortunately will stay in the garage until early next year. I'v got a bit of a road bike trip around NZ in Jan so I have to stop spending money on the LR so I can afford to go

Keep buggering around on the little bits & peices in the meantime. Surprisingly time consuming

[44jetboat]

mate loving the project

i have a 3.9 v8 in my jet boat. running std computer etc. i had low oil pressure problems . after replacing bottom end shells (finding them in good shape ) i found the oil pump gears had wear. this solved my oil pressure issues)

i run the factory computer /dizzy etc and only had one problem when a injector gave up the ghost. easy fix tho.

[oldyella]

mate loving the project

i have a 3.9 v8 in my jet boat. running std computer etc. i had low oil pressure problems . after replacing bottom end shells (finding them in good shape ) i found the oil pump gears had wear. this solved my oil pressure issues)

I run the factory computer /dizzy etc and only had one problem when a injector gave up the ghost. easy fix tho.

Thanks for the heads up about the oil pump. Will probably just sort both at the same time. Is that something that you can do once the sump is removed or do you need to get in behind the front cover? Was planning on putting it on a hoist for a day and getting it sorted.

[oldyella]

Decided the Landy needed some more brackets. Made up some for the Transmission Oil Cooler.

[niblik]

Very tidy dude.