Colin Lindsay

Ooooohhhhh... nice.

Yes Iain... been there too many times! Taken a car, modified it, tuned it and added all sorts of nice bits... then sold it and someone else enjoyed all that work! Thankfully I've more or less better sense these days.

I was thinking that by the time you pay for all those bits, you may as well have bought a Vitesse...

No, he's just realised what the Vet did to him. No protrusions. Is that a catastrophe?

Yikes!

I've no excuse, having had Defenders, Series 3s and my fav the TD5 Discovery. i made the mistake of assuming that as Landrover suppliers the parts would be fit for those at least. You learn the hard way.

I must admit I looked at that post and thought: 15 or 16 inch protrusion.... hmmmm. I reckon it would probably feel okay. Not offering, though.

Even my nipples are green....brake nipple covers, that is. The black ones that came with the caliper refurbishing kit are too small, and too hard to stretch. Thankfully I have a bag of green ones to replace them with. The caliper repair kit also had retaining clips that were far too short and allowed air, and therefore moisture, up the back of the seal. Binned and replaced with the old ones. The type 14 calipers I'm using on the 1200 have cleaned up very well; I have replacement pistons in both mild and stainless steel but these pistons are very good with no pitting nor damage to the chrome. The seals are always a bit fiddly but much easier than the late GT6 versions I also did recently. If Storm Ciara wasn't blowing my roof off at present I could do a 'before and after' shot but I'm not risking my life out there, even with a caliper or two to weigh me down... Following your advice Pete I've gone for a solid prop; blasted and just repainted. It was a bit of a problem to sandblast it but I got there eventually. I've also had to buy replacement UJs as the Britpart ones I bought are rubbish, so I've gone for more GKNs even if it means no coffees out next week. I would have had it all fitted this afternoon but forgot to order diff bearings along with the oil seals, so that will hold me back another few days. I'll crack on with the handbrake cable fitting and adjusting the levers under the car while I'm waiting.

I did, too... have you seen my thread on rubbish UJs? Today's gripe is brake caliper refurbishing kits... I've rebuilt one of the type 14s I'm using on the Herald and despite the seals being awkward to fit with only two hands they got there eventually... almost. The spring clip that holds them in place is half an inch - at least - shorter than the original. Do they just put these parts on a sheet of paper and draw round them? Thankfully I hadn't binned the originals and could reuse them; they actually were quite good. We really do need to complain more... or at least, I do.

You don't need end float for side shafts; it's only four allen-key headed bolts that require re-tightening on reassembly. I've just finished two and they're simple enough. A spring clip holds the bearing on; it'll press off very simply then there's just an oil seal to push out. Reassembly takes minutes. I don't think (needs a second opinion!) that you even need to take the diff off. If it's the front (pinion) seal that's a bit more complicated. It might be just a blocked breather; reach up in round, just above the rear bush, and you'll find a split pin - jiggle it about and free up the hole it sits in to let pressure out as you drive and things warm up.

This is the dilemma. Sometimes we use original parts simply because they're what was fitted at the time, and after losing paint, patience and probably skin, go to the more modern alternative which fits first time. Modern brake line clips will do nicely.

Never mind Corona virus, I almost had a coronary but a bottle of Corona will help later.

So.... just terminals 1 and 2 (earth and live respectively) - mine isn't fitted so I have no cables to guide. NEVER EVER believe that you should wire it back to front in order to overcome a worn drive gear... this was bandied about in the early 1990s and of course I tried it, and melted the loom. I bought a new loom and connected it up, using the old and incorrectly marked loom as a reference... oops. Lots of smoke from under the dash. I think when I refit mine there'll be an inline fuse too. Given the price of replacement motors I didn't want to fry those too, so thought I'd ask. Thanks!

Just spent the last two hours trying to fit Britpart UJs to a Herald; actually the first hour trying to fit them and the last hour swearing, gathering up needle rollers and trying to remove them again. They are rubbish. For anyone tempted to try them - I got these from a reputable Landrover specialist - they are boxed Britpart, with the code number TVF100000 and supposedly for Freelander 1. There is a small metal collar with a very flimsy rubber seal that detaches if you even breathe on it; I had one fitted and reckoned it was quite tight, so removed it again to find that the seal had come off and gone down inside. Once disturbed the seals just fall off, the tin collar distorts really easily, and the needle rollers all fall about inside. I dug out a GKN version and had it fitted in thirty seconds. If you look at the heavy rubber collar on the GKN and compare it with the thin metal collar on the Britpart version, you'll see why they're so hard to fit. I'm debating sending the remainder - I bought four - to Britpart to check if they're really counterfeits. Now I have to order two more and wait for those arriving...

The Herald single speed variety. I've melted two wiring looms over the years wiring these up wrong (in one case, to be a smart ass, and the other, forgetting what I had done originally and melting the replacement loom) If I want to test a few of these with a 12v battery, which wires to what for simple, non-thermal testing?

Just being a critic, Simon, as it's easy from the comfort of a warm study... Last thing I want, after all that hard work, is a simple fail on the MOT that has you head scratching and thinking "Why didn't I see that?"

Try softening them in boiling water for a time first. I had to look up the spec and confirm that it's the same setup as the Herald, but mine for the Herald are quite soft and fit with no problems. The ones on Rimmer's site, for example, look to be very solid and thick rubber. I don't know if it would be wise to advise cutting them in half; might work in the short term, but no idea if it would affect their longevity.

The Mintex site has a very short warning which states: Avoid hard or aggressive braking for the first 200 miles. I've managed to find another site which claims: Steady braking for the first 50 miles, avoiding emergency stops. From the leaflet with the pads, it says: "Bedding in Procedure Apply 2-3 Light Applications of the brakes at 30mph down to 0mph Apply 3-4 Steady Applications of the brakes at 70mph down to 30mph Leave as long as possible to cool down. DO NOT LEFT FOOT BRAKE"

Are you allowed to have clutch and brake lines touching like that? (Bit on the bulkhead with cable tie holding them together) I always believed they had to be spaced apart to minimise damage from rubbing?

Or simply speed related? Something blowing about underneath when over a certain speed? Make sure it's not the rad moving back into the fan and hitting the blades as air resistance pushes it back - check everything that might come into contact with fan blades.

It does. I have a number of solid-prop spares, plus both Spitfire with the sliding joint and a GT6 one (too short....) - you reckon the solid Herald type is better? I took the engine to the TSSC meeting last night, got a professional opinion from one of the members. "It's f&&ked." This morning early I was checking addresses for a recommended Engineering Company 50 miles away, when I found one 15 miles away... I had the block in the boot so was with him just after 9am, he turned out to be a great character and had all the Triumph data in huge folders on his shelves. His first opinion is that we'll get away with +20, maybe +30, he'll only know once it's bored but reckons his first estimate of +20 will be accurate. He's one of these older guys who works out of an incredibly cold, low-roofed shed on a very quiet back road, but has masses of old stuff sitting about and you can tell by the style of, and the marks on, his tools that he's been doing it for years. It was fascinating to watch him working with gauges, measuring the wear of the bores and doing calculations with a pencil. Reminded me of my father-in-law! I can see him getting a goodly trade from me if he turns out as I hope. He says modern pistons are poor metal, and wants me to source Hepolites, and of course the only set I've found of +20s only has three pistons. He's to make a few calls and get back to me. Things are looking up this morning! I've no idea why I bought two tins of BMC Engine Green paint at Stafford about 1994. Why was a trader even selling the stuff at Stafford? In any case it has lasted so well I might just keep the block green, as I can't be bothered stripping it down to repaint it black.

A hard evening's work last night with the sandblaster rolling into the late-ish hours (well to 8pm so as not to annoy neighbours). Rear uprights, brake drums and halfshafts now ready for refitting. I only had one grease nipple for the bearings so ended up swapping it over and using a blanking plug for the other side. I'm waiting on heavy-duty UJs and brake hoses before reassembly - I only had one UJ so it's fitted already; three others coming for halfshaft and prop. The diff housing has been blasted, repainted and fitted with blue polybushes. It was originally red, a paint called Rustoleum Hard Hat and it was a bu&&er to get off. I've the top studs to clean up and rethread before fitting the spring, which is a brand new Estate spring from Canleys, salted away quite a few years ago. The diff itself is in excellent condition so only got new bearings and oil seals. There was a code number on the side of the crownwheel; quite rusty but appeared to read 3089 - does this make sense to anyone? I tried to clean the rust off and the entire number disappeared; all I have now is shiny metal. I've got photos before cleaning and might try to make sense of those. Here's one slight error made when this car was last assembled - brand new greasable UJs fitted to the propshaft, but sadly... wrong way round. The grease nipple is fouling the flange. I managed to remove it but in the absence of any blanking plugs these days I'll just refit sealed Freelander versions instead. I reckon the UJ will be damaged by the time I remove it as it's quite a tight fit, and if not well Happy Days I've got a spare. I've just herniated myself lifting the engine into the car, which is off to the TSSC meeting tonight for a second opinion. If the majority reckon it just requires honing and new rings, then woohoo I'm way ahead of myself. If not, there'll be no pocket money for a month or two until I can get it rebored.

Electricity powered vehicles are like me claiming I don't burn trees in my stove, I just burn wood. "My electric car has zero emissions..." and where does the electricity come from? Oh... The government's plan to ban petrol or diesel vehicles from 2035 is like someone jumping out of an aeroplane and hoping someone invents a parachute before they hit the ground. As for the Top Gear Herald... well, maybe they're more prophetic than they thought, as it's now rotten, abandoned, and will never see the road again...

It's called thinking out loud. I do it all the time. It helps.

She tweeted a photo of herself sitting 'on the floor of an overcrowded train through Germany' and when it was pointed out by the train company that she had had a first class seat for most of the journey, along with her entourage, she claims she meant that 'an overcrowded train is great as it means more people are using them'. I didn't call her a liar because she told lies. I called her a liar because it's great to see her lying on a floor therefore giving up her seat to someone more needy. Honest. Boris, at least, admits he doesn't 'get' Global Warming, which is an honest statement. Not that he doesn't believe in it, but he doesn't understand all of the issues that are causing it. Greta on the other hand knows exactly what is causing it, and what we need to do to stop it. Which is what? Don't use any fuel, don't use any resources, don't pollute. She doesn't have any real solution, but just highlights the problem, like someone walking about, complaining about the dark, and getting applause, whilst someone else goes out and invents the lightbulb.