Tag Archives: George Tergin

Four-Wheel Drive: ENGAGED!

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Shortly after getting the Land Rover in late August I discovered I was unable to engage four-wheel drive. There’s a plunger-like doodad (with a bright yellow knob on it) you push down to switch from two-wheel to four-wheel drive. Mine just never worked and I had visions of owning the only Land Rover in America without 4WD (sob!).

My friend (and wizard mechanic) George Tergin investigated and determined some of the linkage in the transfer case (look it up) was worn so we ordered replacement parts. Since some of them had to come from the UK, it took a while but today he fixed the problem. After which we took the truck for a drive on the Tergin Motor Sports Off-Road Test Track (a field behind his shop)

Turns out it was a combination of worn parts, wrong parts and improperly installed parts. And he let me look over his shoulder (and occasionally assist) for three hours, patiently explaining what he was doing and why.

We’ll eventually get a big snow in mid-Missouri and I’m ready now.

1954 GM Motor Coach

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What’s better than being an interesting person? Knowing interesting people. Like my friend George who is all tingly about finding and buying this 1954 GM Motor Coach. He plans to restore it and — if I understand correctly — live in it. I don’t know the full history of the bus but I think the interior had a factory conversion but is no long in good shape. Looks like a big project but George wouldn’t want it any other way. The bus had been sitting (Sedalia, MO?) for a long time but George managed to get it running and drove it back to Jefferson City. To be continued.

Fluids

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From the day I started thinking about an old Land Rover, people have been advising (warning?) me about fluids. “You gotta watch your fluids” and “These things leak like crazy so keep an eye on your fluids.”

In the 50+ years I’ve been driving I’ve the water level in a radiator; pulled the dip stick a few times; and unscrewed those little caps on top of the battery. But checking fluids has been something I left to the dealer’s service department. For the Land Rover there is no dealer within a hundred miles. So I’ve committed to check fluids weekly.

Oil: check; coolant: check; clutch fluid: check; wiper fluid: check; brake fluid: a little low. So Mr. Wolf, Charlie, and George Tergin gave me a little lesson in brake fluid. (It eats paint) All are on the weekly-check list but I’ll probably the brake fluid a little more often until we know what it’s low. The tire pressure was a bit low as well. Okay for off-roading but I’m mostly on paved or gravel roads so I used my little portable air compressor gizmo to take them up to 38 psi.

Haven’t read it yet but Charlie sent a link to Brake Fluid for Classic British Cars.

 

No four-wheel drive

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Tomorrow will be two weeks with The Truck and I finally got around to playing with four-wheel drive. According to the owners manual (and lots of YouTube videos) you just push the lever with the yellow knob down and your in 4WD. I never could get 4WD engaged so I asked my pal George Tergin to take look. After several hours of investigation he thinks the problem is worn linkage.

We found this illustration on the Rovers North website and George thinks he’s ID’d the OEM part numbers. Trying to find and order these. I don’t expect to do any serious off-roading but I’d hate to have the only Land Rover in North America that doesn’t have four-wheel drive. Hoping to have this resolved before first snow.

215808 clevis complete 4WD lever – #27 on schematic
268847 gearbox high range operating lever – the part below #24 and #25 on the schematic
232464 selector transfer, locating pin 4WD lever – #24 on schematic

Short video clip of George ‘splaining the worn linkage.

Tapplock

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Let me say up front… I didn’t need this padlock. You probably don’t need this padlock. I was curious and I bought one (more on that later). Been playing with it for the last hour or so but I won’t try to explain the features because this guys does a better job than I could.

This thing — in my limited experience — works as advertised. And it seems very well constructed. Stores up to 500 prints; can be opened with your phone via Bluetooth (on-site or remotely); you can give limited (10 min) access to someone remotely; even has Morse Code backup if the battery goes dead. (2 hour charge lasts for one year)

Where might one use this? Barb has a house in Destin, FL with a coded door lock (runs on juice from the house). Installed and supported by a local company for x dollars a month. Works fine, most of the time.

But she has a storage room (with all the beach shit) that’s secured with a padlock and I guess the key is hidden somewhere close by. The Tapplock might be a better solution. First impression: pretty fucking slick.Yes, $99 is pricey. But how many padlocks have you purchased but now have no idea where the key is (see below). Or all those keys in the kitchen drawer that will never slip into a lock again?

Thanks to George Tergin for photos proving the point.

George Tergin YouTube how-to videos

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There is a YouTube video showing how to do just about any task or repair. Some of these are very well done and some are not. Because it is so easy to record a video and upload it to YouTube, there are some really bad ones. The two videos below are excellent and all the more so because they are first time videos. The two-part video demonstrates how to rebuild the diesel injector for a Ford 7.3 liter engine.


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George Tergin is a local auto mechanic and businessman. He’s a regular at the coffee shop where I hang out and has been advising me on matters Land Rover related.

The production values in these videos are really good. The sound is perfect; lighting very good considering the video was recorded at a workbench in his shop; George’s presentation was clear, concise and easy-to-follow. Really hard to believe he has never done one of these. There were some nice small touches like speeding up screw tightening.

Rebuilding a diesel fuel injector seems pretty technical to me. Lots of little springs and rings and everything has to be put together just so. Making this seem simple in a how-to video is a very good trick. Especially on your first try. Bravo George. (And those who helped you)