Build Thread: 1988 Saudi Spec 110

[RBBailey]

I've been waiting on parts. I ordered from three different places, and I ordered brakes for my wife's Mercedes, all of those orders were delayed over a week! So I've been trying to do a little bit of something most days.

I finally got my stainless bolts for the front doors on Friday, and on Saturday I have all day to just ...well, I ended up opening a can of worms.

I needed to take the trim off the doors to get the hinges swapped. (Had to cut and drill the bolts.) In doing this, I knew I would run into rust issues. Turns out the two front doors are both rusty along the bottom, which is expected. One of the doors was replaced at some point, so it is MORE rusty, but in better working condition. The other door has very little rust, but it is older, and the window tracks are very bad. But everything still works on both.

I had planned on using sound deadening and such, but really, I need to actually make the doors a real project if I'm going to spend that much money on them. So I simply cleaned up the rust, then applied Por15 and I'm hoping this will make them last 3-5 more years.

The rear door.... The bottom rail is actually more Bondo than it is rust, or steel.... So this is going to have a rigid cover put over the top, and a lot of prayer that it too will last another year or so. It actually does open and shut quite nicely though! And I've taken the tire carrier off of it, so it should be OK with gentle treatment.

Today is all about trying to get the doors installed, and taking the thing for a test drive to get the engine and EGTs up to normal operating conditions for the first time. I want to know what other things I will need to fix, so I'm searching for problems.

 

[RBBailey]

Pics of the doors:

 

[LostChord]

Nice! Great to see you pushing ahead.

 

[RBBailey]

Some good, and some bad. But either way, some success:

https://flic.kr/p/SQTZuW

I'll update with some details tomorrow.

 

[Jrose609]

Some good, and some bad. But either way, some success:

https://flic.kr/p/SQTZuW

I'll update with some details tomorrow.

Very cool!

 

[RBBailey]

On the Road

Last September I took this thing up and down our hill with no doors, seat belts, lights, muffler, or body attached to the front end.

It did not go well. Oil. Everywhere. Smoke, etc...

Last night I was able to actually get it out on the road for the first time since the end of June, 2015.

I had intended to get both doors installed and the front end lights working. But the install was slower than expected, and if you look at the "Doors" thread, you can see some trouble I had with the pax side door.

I took it for a drive anyway. (See video above.)

The Good:

1. Nothing broke
2. It performed as expected. It isn't a hotrod, but it certainly has enough power that I don't think about how slow it is. And it just does not seem to have to work at all to get up hills... like the old V8 did. I'd liken the performance to a 3.9 V8, but it just doesn't have to work so hard to take a hill.
3. Seemed to shift OK, but I may ask about the buzz going from 1-2-3 if I don't keep the shift action slow.
4. I got it up to about 60, which is as fast as I would want to go on that particular road anyway. I'll test top speed later.
5. The EGTs never went above 850, even on the hill.
6. The water temp stayed below 190
7. The engine was way too loud to really tell (no muffler, only a downpipe!) but it seemed to feel like it was running as it should.
8. No odd smoke, and the smoke at idle (white/bluish) went away almost 100% while driving. It was dusk, so I couldn't be totally sure that I wasn't putting some out at the time.
9. No gushing oil leak.

The Ugly:

1. The brakes may need some adjusting.
2. The steering feels stiff, but OK, and I don't think it was making any odd noises, and there is no steering dampener attached now.
3. There are three oil leaks: oil filter housing, vacuum pump, transmission. None of these are horrible, and I may actually be able to fix them by just testing the torque settings. Also, the engine has technically been sitting for more than four years. This is expected, just not welcome. The drips are enough to notice, but probably not more than most of us are used to on our Rovers.
4. The stupid pax door!
5. I'm worried about the oil pressure. It starts at 45 or so, stays there till warm, and I think it was there during the drive (I thought I had taken a photo of the instruments while driving, but none was there when I looked at my phone later.) But after the drive, after idling for a minute or two, the PSI was down at 25! IS THIS TOO LOW?

The fact is, once I get the lights all working, the door installed, and once I get the muffler/exhaust installed, the vehicle will be legal and usable on the road! But I am a long way from being finished. The dash is still wide open, no switches installed, and all instruments are only in temporary locations. The water temp is literally taped to the dash right now!

 

[nas90tdi]

I don't see an issue with that oil pressure if its hot at idle. Most of mine including the current one idle around there pressure wise when at operating temp. I would only worry if it didn't go back up a bit off idle.

Glad the thing is back rolling for you. That's the best motivation in the world to get them done.

 

[RBBailey]

I finally got the passenger door to fit correctly. I had to open it up along the bottom and get in under the skin to get rid of the rust that was causing it to bulge. Then I put it in a vice and bent the whole thing just slightly in the right direction. Then I took a look at the sill on the truck. It had been repaired by Ship's, but he basically repaired to too well. It was now too straight to fit my crap door. So after some bending hammering, the door finally closes with only a bit of tension as it is still bent a bit... I need a new door.

I then took it out for a good long drive. https://flic.kr/p/SXhngG

The Good:

1. The PSI dropped to about 30 after about 20 minutes, and would hover at about 18 at idle.
2. The leak in the head still just seems to be seeping, not spraying or anything.
3. The oil leaks are the same as before.
4. The smoke was there when cold, but it goes away as soon as I get down the hill and actually start driving.

Concerns:

1. I am concerned about the shifting. It needs a good deal of travel in the pedal to get the clutch to fully disengage. I'm not sure how it is supposed to feel.
2. I'm concerned about a very fast ticking sound I am getting from under the transmission tunnel. I have never heard anything like it. But it might be the type of thing no one hears when they have the whole floor buttoned up and mats in place???
3. I'm a little concerned about running at 3k RPM to hold 65mph. This is a Disco set up with an R380 and 1.4 case. I thought I might get away with a bit better than that. And it isn't quite as spunky as I had hoped, but it isn't exactly sluggish either. I'm not going to "tune" it till I've ironed out all the issues, and have gotten used to it in its stock set up. ...up the fueling a tad? ...overdrive? Hummmm...

Lots left to do. Mostly dealing with the electrical and all the little finishing touches. ...then I can start working on upgrades! Oh, the list can be too long!

 

[chris snell]

Have you bled the clutch recently? You may need a new slave and/or master. The LR clutches are total shit and crap out way before they should.

 

[Toyrover]

Good work getting the door back on and a test drive. Can't wait to see it! You should have come down to the pacific coast rover club meeting tonight in it! Lots of rovers tonight! And about thirty people showed up. Keep the updates coming, Cheers Ian Tydeman

 

[RBBailey]

Ian -- It was fix the door and test drive on the only nice day in 15 years of rain, or go to the Rover meeting in the Range Rover that keeps flat out dying in traffic! LOL!

But I'm planning to be at the next one with the Defender! Glad to hear it was a good turn out.

 

[RBBailey]

Have you bled the clutch recently? You may need a new slave and/or master. The LR clutches are total shit and crap out way before they should.

It's all new. As of today, it might have 20 miles on it. Even the clutch plate is new.

 

[nas90tdi]

He is not lying about the 15 years of rain. It has done nothing but mother freakin' rain up here.

 

[RBBailey]

OK. We won't talk about how it was done without proper hangers, but I have the exhaust installed (temporarily).

I'm happy with the much quieter Defender!

But, this is now making me realize just how loud the actual engine is. I'm going to need to go all out to quiet down the cabin. And I'm pretty sure my engine is clackity-clacky louder than it should be. So I'll need to research what is going on. But I'm sure the other 300Tdi's I've been around are not this loud.

 

[Uncle Douglas]

The cards in bicycle spokes sounds is usually the speedo cable flipping around in the sheaf- usually because of a sharp bend or routing issue. Is your speedo working/ bouncing ?

 

[RBBailey]

Unless I'm mistaken, the speedo cable should be removed. I'm using a transducer -- which I need to hook up one of these days.

Test Drive Update:

I got it up to 70 mph on the flat with GPS. It seems to take normal hills well. And at 60-70mph the thing really seems to smooth out like all the parts are vibrating at the same frequency.

At temp, while running at 50 degrees OAT and 65-70mph:
Water = 185-190
PSI = 28-30
RPM = 2800-3000
EGT = 835-850

My only concerns are...

...that I don't know how loud the turbo should be, and in those times when the power is neither on or off, when engine is exactly in sync with gears and it is virtually coasting, the turbo warbles a bit in it's whistle.

...the clicking from the gearbox. It is only really discernible at lower speeds and RPMs, but it is there whether in gear or not.

...the engine does seem a bit loud. Sort of clackity/knocky loud. I can't tell exactly where it is coming from, but there seems to be a knock under load. Hard to tell.

I should be able to do another test drive today, which although I'm only technically road legal, I really want to keep wringing the thing out and putting it under some stress.

 

[RBBailey]

Waiting on yet more shipping problems....

 

[RBBailey]

In a way, today was the first official drive. The streets were slightly wet. Had to use the wipers, and except for the sliders, all body parts are now attached. This is really the third drive, but the first that wasn't just a true test. I actually went to a location and back!

However, I can't shake the feeling that not all is well. It seems to knock too loud. The turbo just can't be right. The ticking from the transmission can't be good. And I can't figure out why the front parking lights work fine till I drive.

Next:
Figure out where the knock is. IP? Can't tell.
Pull the wiring to forward lights and ?
Pull the turbo for full inspection.
Get prepped to pull out transmission?
Pull the head and replace.
Finish wiring to put dash back together.

Why do I not feel like I'm close anymore?!

 

[Tbaumer]

Why do I not feel like I'm close anymore?!

Close to being done? Are Defenders ever completely finished?

I like how your build thread isn't just a brag thread - Guys like me learn from the unexpected problems that you solve.

 

[LostChord]

Close to being done? Are Defenders ever completely finished?

I like how your build thread isn't just a brag thread - Guys like me learn from the unexpected problems that you solve.

I'll second that. One of the most inspirational build threads around.