It's the Final Outrigger..(!)

I welded on the fifth and final outrigger today. As usual, most of it was prep work, especially with these rear tub outriggers where I've cut the tub bracket off the old outrigger and cleaned it up for re-use. I've also made up aluminium plates for these to see if I can stop the steel / birmabright corroding the tub. We'll see how that goes in time..

Now for the fun bit..

This one didn't need a rail repair behind the outrigger because it was one of the older makes without a back plate so there was nowhere for water to get trapped.

I also got the last bit of chassis cleaned up and painted beneath the seatbase so now that can go back in along with the floor and gearbox tunnel. That will feel good.

Front Crank Seal, Timing Cover Mod, New Water Pump

To get the timing cover off I pulled the starter motor out just far enough to reveal the ring gear. You don't need to remove the exhaust manifold for this as you only need to pull the starter enough to get something in one of the holes in the ring gear to jam it so you can undo and re-tighten the starter dog on the crank pulley.

Someone had previously knocked the heads off the crank seal mud plate rivets and pried it away in order to fit a new front crank seal without removing the timing cover. This is why the mud plate was spinning loose on the crank shaft behind the pulley.

I drifted out the remains of the old rivets and tapped new M4 threads in their place so anyone can now replace the front crank seal without removing the timing cover, but also still secure a mud plate properly to protect the seal. I fit a new seal while I was here.

I fit the new water pump at the same time the timing cover went back on and so I've left things much better than how I found them. I'll get the rad installed with new hoses soon and fill her up with some new coolant and start her up to see if everything is water tight now and if the new thermostat is working properly.

Jamming the starter ring gear

Under the timing cover

Tapping M4 threads for new mud plate fixings

Back together..

Water Pump Rebuild Fail

When I found the water pump was leaking I decided to try and rebuild it as the kits are cheap enough and the casting had ROVER stamped on it. I like to keep original parts when possible.

I took it to a place in my village this morning that does a lot of agricultural repair but before I'd even finished saying 'water pump' the man was shaking his head. He told me he'd rebuilt loads over the years in combines and tractors and if they didn't break during the rebuild they almost always still leaked afterwards. He told me to buy a new one.

When I got home I couldn't just give up. I don't like throwing away original parts, but there's also something inside me that mourns the passing of our ability to fix things. The people still restoring traction engines today can't just buy new parts. If they need something fixed or replaced they have to machine it.

So I made a start myself, with the plan that once it was apart I could freeze the casting and the new spindle/bearing assembly overnight, which would hopefully make it possible to get back together without a press if I worked quickly enough.

To cut a long story short, the casting broke in the process. I think I can sleep at night fairly certain it would have broken anyway even if a press had been used - you've got to put force on the casting at some point in the process, whether with a press or through the shock of drifting the spindle out.

I started by trying to drift the spindle out from above. No chance!

I noticed I'd got the whole impeller/spindle/flange assembly to move through the casting though, so next I tried to pull the flange off the spindle, trying to keep the casting out of the equation as I'd been told it was the weak point. There's hardly any lip on the underside of the flange so the puller kept jumping off. No joy.

So I tried a bigger puller, this time trying to pull the casting and flange back (up) off the front end of the spindle..

..and the casting broke. Sad, but it does mean now I can just buy a new water pump. And I don't have to worry about not having tried.

Two steps forward, one step back

I've been busy this summer so far and have only got some small jobs done.

Thermostat

I've fit a new thermostat and gaskets. I painted the housing in DEB so it rather stands out at the moment. Over time it will fade and fit in again, and the water pump and timing cover will be painted the same colour anyway, as will the engine block if I ever take it out. I am hoping the thermostat was why it was running so hot so quickly when I started her the first few times. I'll find out when the front end is back together.

Wiper Switch and New Blades

The new wiper switch worked as expected and the wipers work and auto-park correctly. I've also fit new wiper blades, so the wipers are now done.

Front Crank Seal

I want a fit a new front crank seal and tap threads to make it easier in future, but this time I need to remove the whole timing cover. I've had a couple of attempts at getting the starter dog off but have now arranged to borrow an air-gun and a socket big enough. I'm hoping that does the job or I'll be dropping the sump in search of a way to prevent the crank turning while I work.

Water Pump

I have a rebuild kit for the water pump which has a slight leak. It's an original pump so I'd rather rebuild than replace it with a reproduction part, but I will do that as a backup plan if I have to - I need to find somewhere to help me with a good press, about 20 tonne I'm told.

Solenoid

I fit a new solenoid as the old one was just that, and failed when I was trying to undo the starter dog with some Stilsons and the coil unplugged and turning it over and.. bodgery does not pay! I'll try again with the right tools..

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I'm going to have more time available over the next month so I'm hoping to finish the front crank seal, water pump, and that last outrigger, and then put her back together for some simple test runs.

Wiper Motor

I had a fun Father's Day fitting a new wiper motor as the old one was dead. I'd never seen inside one before so I didn't know I'd have to transplant all the gearing from the old one. That took some cleaning up but the parts were all in good condition under the old grease.

I also cleaned up and re-greased the drive cable when I moved that over, and took out and cleaned and greased the wiper drive wheels so they were loose enough to turn with my finger before re-assembling everything.

When I get that new wiper switch hopefully I'll have some working wipers..

Electrics (1)

I recently made a start on my electrics checklist with a view to ensuring everything works before taking to the road. The front wings are still off so I'm starting with all the rear lights, instruments, and wipers.

Electrical gremlins.. don't add water!

Rear Plate Light (In Progress)

This was working but the back case had cracked where the screw fixes the front cover on so I ordered a replacement light. The one that arrived expects bullet connectors rather than the lucar connectors that were on the wiring, and after trying red insulated bullets I found it actually wants the solid brass style typically found on British classic cars. So now I'm just waiting for some decent solder to arrive in the post and I'll fit this new plate light.

Brake Lights (Fixed)

These were not working but it was easily tracked down to a faulty switch on the brake pedal. There was infinite resistance across the pins when the switch should be closed. Taking the switch out the circuit brought the brake lights on. I fit a new switch and now the brake lights work.

Tail Lights (OK)

Rear side lights were working.

Indicators (OK, for now)

The lenses had faded and lost most of their amber so I fit two new indicators. I tidied up some broken wiring while I was there by crimping in some new connectors. The right indicator works 9 times out of 10. When it doesn't work, no amount of fiddling with earth or feed wires will bring them on. I haven't checked the output at the flasher unit yet, but I can't get the left side to fail at all so I currently suspect the indicator stalk's Right switch. I will test this and/or replace the stalk with a period correct one at some point. For now, when it doesn't come on, operating the switch again brings it on almost every time.

Panel Lights (In Progress)

When I went to investigate why the panel lights (instrument panel back lights) didn't work I found the bulbs in place and working ok.. but not connected at all to the Panel Lights switch. I traced the wiring to a relay on the bulkhead operating a long length of cable strung down one side of the chassis to where a rear work light was installed. Call me old fashioned but I want the Panel Lights switch to operate the panel lights, and if I want a rear work light I'll route the wiring better than that.. so I removed it all. The panel lights switch also had a broken contact which only closed the switch when manually pushed up to make a connection, so I've ordered a new switch. When it arrives I'll wire it back up to operate the panel lights.

Ignition Switched Circuits (In Progress)

There are a number of circuits that should only operate with the ignition switch on (side lights, indicators, etc.). These circuits will currently close without the key in. There is some wiring for a radio hanging out the bottom of the instrument panel. It looks to me like someone wired that up to operate without the ignition being on, and brought those other ignition switched circuits with it because that's the feed they spurred their new wiring off. I need to remove this bad radio wiring (and the relayed LED illuminated cigarette lighter nearby!) and return those other circuits to be correctly ignition switched.

Wipers (In Progress)

When I went to investigate why the wipers weren't working I found the wiper motor was dead (supplying voltage directly did nothing, and it looked shot), and after some head scratching worked out the the wiper switch could never have worked..

Four pins, wrong switch..

The wiper switch had four pins on the rear. Looking at the wiring diagram you can see why someone might have bought a switch with four pins (30) and connected the wires like they did; G (fused, switched ignition) to bottom left pin and off again direct to wiper motor, RLG on top right pin and running to feed on wiper motor, NLG on bottom right pin running to auto-park input on wiper motor.. and when that didn't work, they left it there!

But the switch they bought was the wrong type, probably a DPDT (double pole double throw). Single speed wiper motors like this need G (always), plus the NLG and RLG connected to the wiper motor when the switch is off (auto-park), or the G (as always), plus the RLG connected to the wiper motor when the switch is on (wipers on).

Here's a handy diagram from http://www.land-rover-lightweight.co.uk Everything above the dotted line is your wiring and the Wiper switch. Below the dotted line is inside the wiper motor. Where a wire crosses the dotted line, it's where a wire goes into the wiper motor's input connector shown in the right-hand boxout:

Wiper motor wiring (click to enlarge)

When the wipers are on all the time the G feed passes current on RLG which completes a circuit via the motor earth that turns the motor regardless of what the auto-park cam and switch are doing.

When you turn your wipers "off", you still want them to return to horizontal, so you pass G (as always), plus NLG and RLG, which complete a circuit inside and outside the motor and drives the motor only until the cam switch hits the "parked" position on the cam, which then breaks the circuit by opening the park switch inside the motor just as your wipers reach home. (Look, G comes in on pin 4 at the motor, the park cam is turning so the switch is up, the current comes in on G and goes across the park switch, back up NLG to your wiper switch which is connecting the NLG pin with the RLG pin in this position (off for auto-park), then back down RLG to your motor and earths.. all until the park cam presents the park position hole and the park switch opens, breaking the circuit.. and your wipers stop at the horizontal position.)

So the wiper switch needs to connect either G and RLG (always on), or NLG and RLG (auto-park).

The wiper switch that's installed had four pins. By measuring the resistance across the pins I found when the switch was off, no two pins were connected at all, and when the switch was on, the two vertical pairs were connected (top left with bottom left, top right with bottom right). There is no way with this switch to pass G and RLG, or NLG and RLG.

What I need is a single pole double throw (SPDT) switch. And it only needs three pins. G, RLG, and NLG. With an SPDT switch, when it is off two pins will be connected (say, NLG and RLG), and when it is on, one of those two pins will be connected with the third pin (say, RLG and G).

When the switch arrives I'll wire it up and hopefully I will have some working wipers. Because I fit a new motor too.. but that's another post.

Work and spot lights wiring and relays. Binned.

Alternator (And Alignment)

My neighbour looked over the fence recently and pointed out my fan belt wasn't quite running true between the fan and alternator pulleys. He was right, it was out by about 3-4mm, as shown below.

On closer inspection I noticed it was a Ford alternator and packed up for the day wondering if I could remove it and shim it up to get the belt aligned correctly. I had to fit a new fan belt anyway as part of going over things ready for the maiden voyage..

Next session I removed the old fan belt and took the alternator off. I cleaned out its contacts and gave it a brush up. It only has two mount points, enough for the two front brackets, but no mount point at all for the 'through-bolt' that holds the alternator to the engine block itself. I couldn't find a way to shim it 100% straight with the other pulleys. If I moved it behind the front brackets and packed the top bracket out to bring the alternator toward the fan.. I found the bottom bracket had to be packed out too which caused the notched timing indicator to fowl the drive pulley. Oh well.

So I fit the new fan belt and added a more suitable alternator to my list of future jobs.

I recorded the voltage across my battery at 12.4V with the engine off, up to around 13.8V at a fast idle. Opinion seems divided on whether this is "tired" or not, but it's certainly charging to some degree so I'm going to leave it to swap in something better later on. I can risk some road trips this summer I think as I won't be using the lights or heaters like I would in winter.