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Date: Thu, 18 Jul 1996 07:36:54 -0500
From: "Benjamin G. Newman,MD" <medone@iag.net>
Subject: Re: The Land Rover Owner Daily Digest

What is the basic difference between a "regular" Rover ands one built 
for the MOD in the UK?
Also I would be very interested in hearing about an ex-MOD 88" or 109" 
Rover for sale that is in "mint" condition.
Benjamin G. Newman

------------------------------

From: marsden@digicon-egr.co.uk (Richard Marsden)
Subject: Re: The Land Rover Owner Daily Digest
Date: Thu, 18 Jul 96 13:49:34 BST

> What is the basic difference between a "regular" Rover ands one built 
> for the MOD in the UK?
> Also I would be very interested in hearing about an ex-MOD 88" or 109" 
> Rover for sale that is in "mint" condition.
> Benjamin G. Newman

No doubt the differences vary from model to model. Mine's a Series III
FFR (Fitted for Radio) 109. Differences appear to be:

1.) 24V  Some are 12V though. 24V versions only have 2 front seats.
2.) Metal shielding on virtually every ht cable and lt cable bundle.
    Distributor and sparks are also special shielded versions (I've just
    civilianised my ht electrics)
3.) (Could be FFR only) A 90amp generator instead of an alternator.
    This is huge, and could probably power a small town.
4.) Slightly different water pump. Other bits are also prob. slightly different
5.) Oil cooler and oil temperature *gauge*.
6.) Both oil and water temp gauges are capillary not electric
    (replacing mine at the moment)
7.) Decent bumpers and towbar. The NATO tow-hook takes some beating.
8.) Dual front fuel tanks. Both 10 gallons, and fillers are under the seat.
    (always fun, filling with a "new" passenger!). Changeover switch
    is located at the foot of the driver's seat (easy to knock, and embarassing
    'cos it won't start, and can take *ages* to find the problem!)
9.) The official MOD manual includes a chapter on "How to destroy the vehicle
    in the face of an advancing army".
10.) I have this little switch on my dash which says "Infra-Red"...
11.) A vehicle which is guaranteed to have been well maintained for most/all
     of its life (depending on time since demobbing), but might have been
     chucked out of a plane a few times, or used to pull oversized artillery
     pieces (I have suspicions re. the latter for mine).
12.) A vehicle with history, and a history that can be easily researched.

Essentially, the whole thing could be civilianised - the bulk of the job
being the 24V to 12V conversion, but a lot of people seem to do this.

There is also a 1 ton variant (mine is the standard 3/4 ton) which is rarer,
but has uprated springs,etc. for the greater load.

Other FFR specials:
Extra aerial cabling and mounts (most of mine have been removed)
Radio operator seat (again, mine's been removed) 
Radio battery charging terminals. Also second ammeter for these terminals.

Pros and cons: Things like the cable shielding can be b*****d to maintain,
and some of the bits are harder to get or more expensive. The latter isn't
much of a problem in the UK - we have a number of people who specialise
in military bits. Could be a problem in the US. But, I have a vehicle with
history, and more people give way to a huge Landy in NATO green!   :-)

There are also the Lightweight and 101 Forward Control vehicles which
were produced solely for military use.

A number of companies in the UK sell ex-military vehicles. You may have
problems importing them into the US, though??

Richard  (ex-Gurkha SIII 109 FFR)

------------------------------

From: Andy Woodward <azw@aber.ac.uk>
Date: Thu, 18 Jul 1996 14:28:48 +0000
Subject: Re: LR off road clinic

>underneath need to be? I need to get under the 90 with a hose about
>every second day to get mud out of the areas where it accumulates,
>but there is always a brown film left over the black Rover
>undercoating (ha ha)/Waxoyl combination. For me, the key is to make

Hummmmm. Washing after Waxoyling? why? tyou're just washing it off 
with teh dirt. I just clean mine once a year immediately before 
rewaxing it.

------------------------------

From: Andy Woodward <azw@aber.ac.uk>
Date: Thu, 18 Jul 1996 14:28:48 +0000
Subject: Re: to winch or not to winch

>>Does anyone know a really cheap source of quality winches?
>>So is it necessary to purchase a winch new?  What about proper
>>mounting, forward or rear? How do you determine the winch you need
>>for your vehicle type?  Do I really need one?  

My choice would be the wheel capstans - cheap and devastatingly 
effective, but I dont now where to get em 
:(

I heard you can use reversed brake drums. Anyone tried this with a 
90?

------------------------------

From: Andy Woodward <azw@aber.ac.uk>
Date: Thu, 18 Jul 1996 14:28:48 +0000
Subject: Vinyl cleaning

>Hi, I'll resist the temptation to torch the suggestion of WD40
>on seats, was it a wind up?

Very wise. You dont want any naked flame anywhere near the seat till 
the WD40 has dried off  a bit.

------------------------------

From: Andy Woodward <azw@aber.ac.uk>
Date: Thu, 18 Jul 1996 14:28:48 +0000
Subject: You've COME ALONG way baby...

>true for ANY winch) The advantages of a come-along are its low cost
>and freedom from battery or engine power. The disadvantages are the
>lack of cable length, necessity of many accessories: snatch blocks,
>tree straps, extra cable, shackles,etc. and low pulling power. The

As I've suggestred before, teuse the comalong to tenson up a bit of 
old climbing rope, then get back in and drive out with teh 
tesnion-assist. You dont need much force even bogged to the axles. 
Much better than dragging the thing out bodily - quicker and much 
less effort.

------------------------------

From: JDolan2109@aol.com
Date: Thu, 18 Jul 1996 09:37:39 -0400
Subject: Vinyl/Rubber Dressing...

No, don't get all 'bothered up", vinyl/rubber dressing is not what you put on
yourself, but what is put on interior/weather fittings. I fully agree with
the thoughts that some commercially available compounds will clog and
deteriorate the 'rubberizers/plasticizers' in the items it is applied to,
once the aeromatic 'carriers' have gone. And if it's an interior application,
one can wind up with 'mystery films' on the glasswork and such, for
surprisingly long periods, especially in hot weather with vehicle closed up.
How much that is applied/absorbed during the application means how much goes
to the atmosphere later. Additionally, some compounds will actually attract
and retain dirt and dust, either through basic stickiness or even statically.
WD-40 works (I guess), but I'm curious if anyone has tried good old, inert
glycerine? Applied (sparingly) late in the day, 'rubbed' in and allowed to
penetrate (perhaps overnight), then excess removed, and surface lightly
buffed/polished. I once bought an older vehicle from an organic chemist who
only used this method. The interior vinyl was probably softer than day one.
I'm just curious if anyone else has tried this? You might want to give it a
try. No responsibilities assumed for mis-applications...
see 'ya on the old road...
Jim  '61 LR 88" SW  w/ 16's, OD 1 Bbl weber (econobox?)  "Nicky"
    jdolan2109@aol.com     

LR...quite possibly one of the best machines yet devised!
  

------------------------------

From: "Boehme, Doug" <dboehme@rad1.pcmail.ingr.com>
Subject: RE: More Ranting about Waving...
Date: Thu, 18 Jul 96 09:33:00 CDT

Maybe it was the same bitch that gave me the finger for waving...

_____________________________________________----------

I hate to clog up bandwidth with another interminable comment about   
waves,
but here I go.
     A while ago, while riding in an aquaintance's automobile   
(non-Rover),
we passed by a '96 Disco (pretty nice black one with headlamp guards).  A
fairly attractive female of about 29 [ :-> ] was driving the vehicle, so   
I
waved and smiled.... The bitch gave me the worst sour faced look I've   
ever
seen...

------------------------------

From: harincar@internet.mdms.com
Date: Thu, 18 Jul 1996 08:29:55 -0500
Subject: Re:  Armoured Land Rovers

There was an AP photo of one in last sunday's Minneapolis Star Tribune. It
was in the background of a car that had been burned.

Tim
---
tim harincar
harincar@mooregs.com
'66 IIa 88 SW

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 18 Jul 96 16:22:39 
From: "Jens Vesterdahl" <jve@phaseone.dk>
Subject: Remember the brown gook ?

Hi all.

A few months back I asked if anyone knew how some brownish gook gathered in the 
valve rocker cover on my sIII petrol. I got quite a few answers and I believe 
the conclusion was that the gook was some kind of oil/water mixture whipped up 
due to a leak somewhere.
Well, as some of you may recall, I had my cylinder head reworked with new valves 
and seats and what have you. Yesterday I checked the valve clearance before I'm 
off on vacation and guess what - the cover was clean as whistle inside. I bet 
the engine approves of that. The rework also cut the petrol consumption to half 
of what it used to be. My wallet approves of that for sure!

Happy Rovering.

Jens Vesterdahl
Copenhagen, Denmark
1972 109 STW

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 18 Jul 1996 10:48:22 -0400
From: Nathan Dunsmore <dunsmo19@us.net>
Subject: Multivariate Effects on Coolant Temperature 

Hi all,

During this recent hot spell I'm noticing my coolant temp running just under
red when I'm driving uphill or at moderate speeds in 3rd gear if the hubs are
locked.  If unlocked, the temp runs higher than usual but still well under the
red.

Do others notice this? I have a 68 IIa swb.  The radiator was serviced at a 
reputable (and local) place last fall when I had the truck apart.

I haven't actually overheated, but don't relish sitting at the side of the road 
waiting for the temp to drop and hoping I didn't warp the head... been there, done
that in an old Ford pickup.

Nate Dunsmore
Rocking Horse Farm
Boring, MD 21020
dunsmo19@us.net

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 18 Jul 1996 09:54:05 -0600
From: Stephen Brown <srbrown@sair020.energylan.sandia.gov>
Subject: Series IIa electronic ignition 

Hi all,

Just got a bee in (under) my bonnet a month or so ago and decided to
build an electronic ignition system for my 1963 IIa 88 with 77k +
n*100k miles on the clock. The previous owner had already converted
the vehicle to negative earth some years ago. I happened upon a 1976
Radio-Electronics magazine article describing an interesting circuit
-- a four transistor system, which converts the points to a _low_
current switch used to trigger a power transistor which does the
work. I built one for about $60-70 in parts -- could be quite a bit
cheaper ($40 ??) in quantities of 10.

The advantages are:

1. the old point, condensor system remains in the vehicle unmodified
and is available as a backup at the flick of a switch. 

2. Points can last 20k miles or much more without fussing.

3. simple 3-wire installation: replace the single wire running from the
points to the coil by two wires running to the ignition system, and
add a 12 volt power supply wire from the ignition switch to the new
box.

4. the spark width (duration) is controlled by the electronics, and
triggered only by the points opening (closing has no effect) -- point
gap is not critical, only distributor timing matters (unless you want
to revert to the old system in an emergency). The spark is
long-duration at low speeds allowing more complete combustion. The
spark is somewhat shorter at high speeds allowing ample time for the
coil to reenergize -- giving more constant spark amplitude (voltage)
at all speeds.

I've been driving it for a week now with this modified system. The
thing starts up first thing, I've found noticably higher power at very
low speeds (lugging along at 5-10 mph in 2nd gear -- no more pinging!),
it has more power going up hills, seems to accelerate a bit faster,
and the engine runs smoother than before. THEN, I replaced my worn-out
points and adjusted the timing! I've finally got a hint of what a
new engine feels like.

I bread-boarded the thing and used all automotive-spec (wide
temerature range) components. A printed circuit board would have been
easier to use. I was thinking that if there was sufficient interest,
I'd design a PC board and put together a kit -- appealing to the
tinkerer/mechanic in all of us. A positive earth vehicle would require
some circuit re-design I think. I'll be happy to give the exact
reference for the magazine article for the brave ones. If anyone's
interested let me know.

I'm moving to Vermont in about two weeks, so in a week from now I'll
be off-line until sometime in mid August. I don't know my new email
address yet.

			Cheers,

			Steve

-- 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 /==============\
 | `63  |  IIa  |          Stephen Brown
 |______|_______| 	   Geomechanics Department, MS-0751
 /___/^^^^^^\___\9	   Sandia National Laboratories
 |oo|(@)##(@)|oo|	   Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185
 |  | [####] |  |
 ======%%%%======	   email: srbrown@sandia.gov
 {*}={&&}====={*}
 {*}          {*}
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 18 Jul 1996 13:22:25 -0400 (EDT)
From: Dixon Kenner <dkenner@emr1.NRCan.gc.ca>
Subject: Re: The Land Rover Owner Daily Digest

On Thu, 18 Jul 1996, Richard Marsden wrote:

> 5.) Oil cooler and oil temperature *gauge*.

	Optional depending on use.

> 6.) Both oil and water temp gauges are capillary not electric
>     (replacing mine at the moment)

	Same as Series IIA and earlier stuff.

> 7.) Decent bumpers and towbar. The NATO towhook takes some beating.

	Frames could be of the heavier duty type, more gussetting etc on them
	Frames may also be set up for the longer shackles.

> Essentially, the whole thing could be civilianised - the bulk of the job
> being the 24V to 12V conversion, but a lot of people seem to do this.

	12v vs. 24v depends on the military use.

	The lights are also different.  The lenses screw in, are glass,
	and generally better quality that the stuff found on the civilian
	vehicles.

	The military Rover will generally have a much thicker coat of paint,
	having been painted a dozen or so times in various schemes

------------------------------

From: Lodelane@aol.com
Date: Thu, 18 Jul 1996 13:39:57 -0400
Subject: Re: Dead OD for sale.

Bill,

Is your overdrive unit still for sale?  

Thanks!

Larry Smith
Chester, VA

------------------------------

From: Gregspitz@aol.com
Date: Thu, 18 Jul 1996 13:50:38 -0400
Subject: Re: to winch or not to winch

I mounted a Superwinch 9000 to a receiver thinking it would be more useful
and cheaper and by the time I had a receiver put on I did not succeed at
either.  It looks and works good so I am satisfied but If I had it to do
again I would get an ARB bumper and mount it low profile...ie Warn 9000.  If
you don't have the bucks don't bother.

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 18 Jul 96 14:38:18 -0400
From: "Adams, Bill" <badams@usia.gov>
Subject: Safety concerns

Last weekend's jaunt into the hills got me thinking about the safety of 
backseat passengers in the 109. Visions of cracked skulls come to mind 
when I think about what might happen in a collision if someone hits the 
front seat cross bar. Padding the bar might help some, but I was talking 
to Dave "crabcakes" Bobeck who suggested shoulder harnesses. I agree such 
a solution would add to the safety of rear passengers, but where and how 
would one mount the anchors for these? I already have the standard 
aftermarket lap belts. 

Bill Adams
3D Artist/Animator

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 18 Jul 1996 14:49:15 +0100
From: rvirzi@gte.com (Robert A. Virzi)
Subject: Re: The Land Rover Owner Daily Digest

Regarding MoD rovers.  I have a friend who gives me copies of Fleet World,
a publication Land Rover sends to potential fleet purchasers.  The recent
edition had an article on the TUL/TUM contract they just <ahem> won.  It
talked about the Defender 90, 110, and 130 Military Ambulance
configurations.  From memory (read it last night):

Defender 90 XD (for extended duty) has substantially beefed up axles and
unsprung parts, including common rims rated for all three trucks.  300TDi
engine.  Some interesting bits from the pics: Spare is not bonnet mounted
but affixed to the right-side side of the truck, I'd guess about where the
roll bar would attach pass thru body.  Could be a second spare mounted on
the other side as well.  (I haven't heard or seen this before, but it was
an interesting place because it doesn't block downroad visibility and
raises the CoG less than roof mounted spares.)  Oil cooler is mounted in
front of radiator, right behind grill, in upper left corner.  Massive tow
hooks (4 per truck).  Built-in steering protector, steel, non-drilled.
Looked similar to Southdown unit, but not painted yellow.  Article pointed
to addition of anti-sway bars on at least 110 and 130, and possibly the 90,
for the dramatic improvement in reducing roll.

The mag also had a very neat article on LR ambulances and how they have
evolved over time.  Seems many of the sII ambulances have been converted to
campers now because of their roominess, height, and relatively low, flat
rear bed.

Oh yeah.  Last cool article showed an Aussie p-type 6x6 built to get some
pacific rim military contract.  Didn't get the contract but the truck was
awesome.  I'd love to see how the rear double axles work offroad.

Overall, this magazine would be a good thing for LRNA to put up on a web
site.  It isn't big, comes out somewhat regularly, and has great publicity
pics and interesting content for rover-philes.  Maybe someone out there is
listening?               -Bob

  rvirzi@gte.com             Think Globally. ===
  +1(617)466-2881                            === Act Locally!

------------------------------

From: Spenny@aol.com
Date: Thu, 18 Jul 1996 16:24:46 -0400
Subject: Re: 1995 D90 SW Owners reaction

Bob asks...

>1969 SWB The Wayback Machine <-- *New Frame*

                                   ^^^^^^^^^

Spenny-

Is that before or after Downeast?       -Bob

you weren't around on sunday.... 
for restoration deatils on the vehicle placard i put: currently unrestoring
:-)

spen

------------------------------

From: "S. Vels" <svels@mail-server.dk-online.dk>
Date: Thu, 18 Jul 1996 22:39:54 +0001
Subject: Gasket warning.

Hi all.

On my sIII 2.25 petrol i fitted a new all-in-one fibre/alu sandwich 
gasket on the manifolds when i rebuilt the head last autumn. Recently 
i began to hear a small amount of putting from the engine. I didn't 
do anything for about 3 weeks since i had to put on a new carburettor 
today anyway. I thought that the square gasket between the  in/ex 
manifolds were gone and loosened the the ex manifold to get the 
intake manifold out. Gasket was fine and i fitted the carb and 
assembled. When i started the engine, the putting had become much 
more agressive. I started to feel with my had around the head (engine 
head) thinking "no! not that gasket, please". I could feel something 
around no 4 exhaust. Close inspection revealed that some of the 
gasket between manifolds and head was blown away and some just 
dropped when manifold was extracted from the head. I don't know if 
anybody have had similar problems, but tomorrow i'll reinstall the 
metal intake gaskets and just put a little firegum on the exhaust 
surfaces. 

FWIW

rgds
sv/aurens

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 18 Jul 1996 16:24:43 -0500 (CDT)
From: David Place <dplace@SIRNet.mb.ca>
Subject: Re: Series IIa electronic ignition 

I would like to have the article with the electronic ignition in it.  I 
actually have an electronic ignition that I bought at a garage sale but 
the instructions to install it were missing and it is not an easy little 
thing.  I might dig it out and see if anyone on the net has the 
instructions kicking around.  What material should I put on the black 
plastic that is around my windshield on a N.A. vehicle.  It has started 
to go white.  All this talk about WD 40 etc. has me wondering if I 
shouldn't just paint it black each time it gets scruffy and stop worrying 
about the different chemicals available.  Dave VE4PN

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 18 Jul 1996 18:27:26 -0800
From: bronson@diamondmm.com (Scott Bronson)
Subject: Re: Series IIa electronic ignition

>I bread-boarded the thing and used all automotive-spec (wide
>temerature range) components. A printed circuit board would have been
>easier to use.

I'd love to see the schematic.  Not so much to build one, but more to
understand just how the HT stuff works.  I'm also very interested to hear
about reliability.

Neat idea for an experiment!

        - Scott

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 18 Jul 1996 22:14:46 -0700
From: jory bell <jory@mit.edu>
Subject: Re: Speedo woes from darkest BC

Have you replaces the cable? They tend to either break or become a bit
round on the ends, making it not track correctly. I recently replaced mine
for the second time in maybe 50K miles. After removing the old cable I was
concerned that it was something else, since when I manually turned the
cable it seemed fine. However, the new cable fixed me right up.

-jory

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 19 Jul 1996 02:57:49 -0500 (CDT)
From: Mark Perry <rxq281@freenet.mb.ca>
Subject: steering box

I can't keep the 90W in my steering box for very long, as the side cover 
gasket is pooched and the sleeve and O-ring on the drop-arm side likely 
aren't in such great shape, either.

Is it possible or wise, with the front end raised and the adjuster nut 
backed off, to remove the side cover and slip a new gasket in, keeping 
care the polo stays in place, or is this just asking for trouble?

As a second alternative to outright removal and o'haul of the box which 
I'd as soon not tackle right now, would a good injection of general 
purpose grease into the box and onto the worm be a sufficient (at least 
at summer temps: I can see things being stiffer than usual at -40C, which 
is stiff indeed)?

Anyone done this and lived to tell the tale?

For the record: I've had RR guys wave at me, no Discos, all Series guys 
hereabouts, some Jeeps, Toyotas, and a guy in a VW Kubelwagen.

Cheers,

 Mark Perry   
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada 1966 Ser.IIA 88 Petrol Hardtop 
An adventure every time you drive it...

------------------------------

From: JDolan2109@aol.com
Date: Fri, 19 Jul 1996 04:00:26 -0400
Subject: 3.9 head gasket?

If anyone has a used 3.9 head gasket that they might send along this way, I'd
gladly pay the postage. I don't intend reuse, other than for sizing/research
purposes, mainly checking bore diameter and fastener placements. Plaese
advise...
Jim  '61 LR 88" SW  w/ 16's, OD 1 Bbl weber (econobox?)  "Nicky"
    jdolan2109@aol.com     
LR...quite possibly one of the best machines yet devised!

------------------------------

  END OF LAND ROVER OWNER DIGEST 
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