Category Archives: Cars & Trucks
Recovery Rope
This is a BubbaRope Kinetic Energy Recovery Rope. 7/8” x 20’, breaking strength 28,600 pounds. I don’t plan to get in the kind of deep shit where you need one of theses but no self-respecting Land Rover owner would be without one. Mr. Wolf recommended the BubbaRope and it’s pretty impressive. There seems to be a difference between a “snatch strap” and tow rope but I’m still too new to the game to appreciate the difference.
Growing up in southeast Missouri it was not uncommon to see one vehicle towing another down the highway with a big old chain between them. (Can you say shrapnel?) But I found damned few photos of that so drivers have moved on to better solutions.
With space at a premium, I’ll probably keep this hanging on the wall of the garage and toss it in the back of the truck when I expect to be off-road. Along with a couple of Gator-Jaw shackles.
M923 Truck
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1990 BMY Harsco M923. 5 ton, 6×6, 8.3 liter Cummins engine. (Wikipedia)
Mr. Wolf badge
Everybody hates those badges car dealers bolt on to new cars. But nobody removes them. Except me and Mr. Wolf.
The folks that did the initial restoration on my truck stuck a couple of these on and I would have left them if they hadn’t been so sloppy with the restoration. I can’t, in good conscience, promote these guys. Mr. Wolf, on the other hand, has been my salvation so I had a little custom badge made. You can see the one we’re replacing in this photo.
Fire extinguisher for your vehicle
As The Great Truck Project draws to a close it’s time to think about what sort of tools and equipment gets to ride along (see previous post). I recently asked Mr. Wolf about fire extinguishers:
Dry chemical makes a huge mess. “Huge mess” actually doesn’t do it justice. If you discharge a dry chemical extinguisher inside a vehicle, it is a disaster. You will never get the grit and sticky junk out of the nooks and crannies. Worse yet, most (all?) dry chemical compositions are corrosive, so when it gets into the dashboard electrical bits, it ruins things. Not immediately, but over time. Is it better than just watching it burn? Sure. But most times undoing the damage done by the extinguisher takes more effort than repairing the damage done by the fire. Oh, also the powder that comes out is sort of sandy, I don’t know if it has silica in it or what, but if you spray the engine bay with it and the engine inhales the powder, major engine damage will follow.
So that leaves us with Halotron (the replacement for Halon 1211) and CO2. Both have risks (Halotron discharged in the cabin of a vehicle will suffocate you, CO2 will give you frostbite if you point it at yourself. Both scenarios seem avoidable…) CO2 is a bit cheaper to refill, and does a great job, so that’s the direction I would head.
The breadth and depth of Mr. Wolf’s knowledge continues to amaze.
Antigravity XP-10 Microstart
The Land Rover is nearly done. I know this because everything has been fixed and checked. Twice. Now it’s time to think about what goes in the truck besides me and the dogs. Things like jack, tools, tow rope, extra fuel container, etc. This is something of a challenge because the Series III is a small truck with space at a premium. When I asked Mr. Wolf if I really needed jumper cables, he suggested the Antigravity XP-10 Microstart as an alternative. I think the AAA tow truck guy had one of these but I’ve never used one. And I’ve always hated using cables.
This gizmo is about the size of a hardcover book (12x10x3) and weighs just 3.5 pounds. According to their website and a bunch of videos (almost 5,000 on YouTube), this thing will jump-start an 8 liter diesel truck (not to mention your iPhone). The built in overcharge and over-discharge protection helps avoid harming your battery.
Roxor
“The resemblance between the new Roxor and the classic Jeep is no accident, mind. Indeed, the company began its automotive work seven decades ago, with a license to build Willys vehicles for sale in Asia. […] Unfortunately for those swayed by the Roxor’s pleasingly-retro looks – and its $15.5k starting price – you shouldn’t expect to see it on public roads. That’s because it’s not actually road-legal: instead, it’s intended to compete in the Side x Side category (“a small 2- to 6-person four-wheel drive off-road vehicle”) and be put to work on ranches and other off-road situations.” [Slashgear]
Final tweaks
Mr. Wolf clearly knows his way around vintage vehicles but his buddy, Philippe, is apparently something of an expert on Land Rovers. Based on the photo (above) it looks like Philippe has a garage rather than a dealership. That’s where the truck is this week, getting final tweaks.
I told him to start with a valve adjustment, reset cam timing and injection pump timing, set timing chain tension, replace the thermostat, and see if he can find a way to adjust the free play in the steering relay box.
Regular readers will remember last week’s Mystery Patch, which leaked.
Good news from the drive up in the rain: the Mystery Patch in the roof does not leak! The bad news: everything else does leak. A bit more grey goop and we’ll be watertight.
And a bit less drafty…
Looking at a Series 2 Santana at Philippe’s, I realized that your truck is missing seals on the slider windows front and rear. I’ll track them down, that’ll make the cabin much less drafty.
Once Philippe is done, the truck is done. Everything has been checked and fixed. Sometimes twice. I’ll fly out to meet Mr. Wolf, play with the truck and celebrate, then it’s time to ship the truck to Jefferson City.
Here’s a bit of background on Phillippe from the Euroland website:
Originally from the beautiful South of France, The Provence, was originally a Rolls Royce, Bentley technician. He added Land Rover to his knowledge and specialty and is very fortunate to be one of the technicians to be certified at Land Rover in Solihull, England.
This project has taken twice as long as expected and cost a lot more, but I’m probably going to get close to the “better than the day it rolled off the assembly line” promise.
Home stretch
Update from Mr. Wolf: “I have been driving the truck today and it has been great. One little gremlin came up (the fuel cut-off cable came loose, easy fix), but I feel like we are in the home stretch here. The odometer is going to roll over 1,000km today!” I had to ask about the “fuel cut-off cable.”
Because diesels don’t need any electricity to run, turning the key off doesn’t stop the engine, so you pull a little knob next to the key to manually cut fuel flow to the engine. It’s pretty neat.
I won’t share the full list but here are the kinds of things he’s been finding and fixing.
- R&R left rear hub seal and change gear oil
- Reassemble rear brakes, bleed system, lube all zirc fittings, adjust brakes
- Reinstalling and modifying filler neck
- Front spring shackles installed properly, problematic Britpart steering damper removed
- Disassemble rear suspension, grease all shackles and bolts, reassemble.
- Replace incorrect hardware holding the grill on
- Final adjustment on brakes
- Replace & rewire glow plugs (one failed out of the box, replacement ordered)
- Re-adjust idle speed and all throttle linkage
- Re-wrap passenger side wiring harness with 3M friction tape
This is the attention to detail someone gives their own truck.
Steering Stabiliser
Last week Mr. Wolf added a steering stabilizer to the truck. I’m guessing the only way to know if you need a steering stabilizer — or that the one you have isn’t working — is by driving the truck.
“The steering stabilizer’s primary function is to dampen or stabilize the side to side movement of the wheels in much the same way shock absorbers limiting excessive suspension movement & oscillation. Steering stabilizers are a necessary component because it helps to absorb bump-steer and flighty steering issues.”
At last check Mr. Wolf had put 700+km on my truck (I’ve come to think of it as our truck) so he’s probably getting close to the targeted 1,000km. When restoring a 40-year-old truck, there’s just no way to find all the problems without driving it. More importantly, knowing what to look/listen/feel for while you’re driving it. This is where Mr. Wolf has earned his commission (and then some).