the latest
Ophir
— 14th March 2009
We fitted a couple of 6 Volt deep cycle batteries, our 45 litre Engel fridge freezer and of course the ShippeShape roof tent onto the roof, we had a great weekend looking through the old gold mines, doing some bushwalking and eating good food from the camp oven.
The air suspension workeds brilliantly levelling up the vehicle so our bed is level.
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Archives
Purchased 1982 Land Rover
— 15th May 2007
We found a 1982 Land Rover with a fully functioning 4BD1 diesel motor in Canberra, the young guy we purchased it from bought it as a "Pig " truck, got himself a new girlfriend then couldn't re-register the vehicle ....... a win for us.
Engine Removed
— 10th July 2007
Max has removed the engine, gearbox/transfer case from the Land Rover, tests have shown the motor still has factory specs, no problems have appeared at this time.
De Ja Vu
— 10th August 2007
We stripped the Range Rover, seats, carpet, engine, gearbox/transfer case, exhaust system, front shock absorbers, the lot.
Engine Mounts
— 17th August 2007
Cut off the engine mounts from the Range Rover, cleaned up the chassis then cut off the engine mounts from the Land Rover. We hired a special jig that bolts between the front shock absorber towers, it has two pads that the original Land Rover engine mounts bolt to and hold into place ready for welding, takes all the guess work out placating the motor.
Air Suspension
— 18th August 2007
Grant has made some steel plates for the air springs, we have to make adaptors to secure the air springs to the coils spring upper and lower mounts. Any one who has had problems with the suspension of an air sprung Range Rover, don't despair, we have done away with the fully automated control using four switches with two gauges, our system is as tech savvy as an ironing board.
Finally On
— 25th November 2007
Creating the adaptor plates has taken longer than anticipated, fitting them took a day. We ran air lines to the control switches inside, hooked up the external compressor and bingo, each corner of the vehicle can be raised and lowered independently from the rest, more importantly no air leaks.
Engine in Place for the moment
— 20th June 2008
The Isuzu 4BD1 diesel motor is in the engine bay, we were supplied the wrong thrust bearing so the motor is only being held to the gearbox by two bolts.
Bolted to the Chassis
— 2nd August 2008
Well the motor is all bolted up nice and tight in the engine bay, it took a couple of goes getting it in the first time we had the angle wrong between the motor and gearbox spline causing it to jam, I couldn't turn the motor over at all, all we did was swing the motor out again, turn the motor over by hand while rocking it into place .............. perfect fit.
Turbo ordered
— 20th August 2008
We have ordered a turbo kit from TurboGlide in Wollongong, it will be ready for pickup next week.
Fitting the Turbo
— 30th August 2008
Max and I had a nervous time removing the old exhaust manifold bolts, we were very worried about the rear most bolts breaking off, that would have meant removing the motor again to get access to these holes, the new manifold isn't fully torqued up, I forgot to but the exhaust manifold gaskets.
EGT
— 1st September 2008
Rang WadeAir and ordered a EGT (Exhaust Gas Temperature) gauge and probe.
EGT
— 2nd September 2008
WadeAir really have their act together, the EGT and probe arrived this morning, fantastic service, I highly recommend these guys. They can be contacted at www.wadeair.com.au.
Air Cleaner
— 11th September 2008
Picked up a 9 inch diameter Donaldson air cleaner from Gilbert and Roach at Huntingwood today, we have to lower the left hand guard inside the engine bay so the bonnet can close.
New Bracket
— 13th September 2008
Max, Grant and I have been working on a bracket to fit the air conditioner, the original alternator with oil pump and a second alternator to the left side of the motor, we are on the third and final variation, we are taking our time making sure not to rush and make any mistakes.
It's Alive
— 16th November 2008
It's been a while since I updated these pages, we have installed the engine stop solenoid, Pirtek has been to install the hoses for the power steering and the new hoses for the oil pump.
We managed to start the motor, it ran very smooth but didn't want to idle .... must be a timing problem.
Modifying the Console from 1988 Auto to LT95 Manual
— 23rd November 2008
We have started putting the console in order, altering where required, keep in mind our Rangie started life as a 1988 Automatic with coil springs, it is not a LT95 Manual with vacuum diff lock and air springs with individual control. To see more go to Rangie_Rebuild
Finally Running
— 30th November 2008
After rebuilding the hand pump on the injector pump, re-bleeding to get the air out of the fuel line the motor took a few turns of the starter motor and came to life, what a sweet thou very loud sound that was. After the success of starting the motor it's a bit of a bummer that we can't get any charge out of either alternator.
Hi-Flow Fuel Filler
— 14th December 2008
Grabbed the hi-flow fuel filler from the '84 Rangie we have for parts, after a bit of cutting and drilling ... we now have a hi-flow fuel filler and the '88 filler door closes.
Finally on the Road
— 31st December 2008
Finally on the road, I drove it home from Sanctuary Point to the Blue Mountains yesterday, a 3 and a half hour trip.
While travelling the M5 I managed to hit a good speed for a short stint while still being overtaken, the boost guage hit 6.5psi and EGT hit 600degrees, there is possibly a tacho error with the 2300 RPM.
There was a funny slow down in first and second that I am putting down to the narrow V8 exhaust system.
Everything went well, next week we will drop it off to the exhaust shop, still undeceided weather to go for a 2 and a half inch or 3 inch thru exhaust, then we'll get the diesel guys to check over the tuning and tappet noise. To see more go to Rangie_On_The_Road
The Little Things All Take Time
— 24th February 2009
It is taking a while to finish off the little things to make the Rangie perform and handle at it's full potential. The Timing has been corrected, we had the tuning of the motor set to 11 deg where it should have been 13 deg, a couple of tappets were a little noisy and have been corrected, not bad as neither Max or I have tuned a diesel before.
The air conditioning is being refitted and re-gassed Tomorrow, might get Karl to look at the starter motor, it has an intermit ant fault, we cleaned out the contacts etc but there is more, Karl can also fit a new regulator for the main alternator, the original is dead and we are charging from the 2nd alternator.
