Blogfromthebarn: Saga, not holidays for old folk, an update on the Landy

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Saga, not holidays for old folk, an update on the Landy

Yes it's a saga,

I can't complain, (but I probably will anyway) I bought the Land Rover a couple of years ago to practice my rusty engineering and mechanical skills and both my skill-set and wallet have been stretched as I've sought to identify and rectify the many challenges presented by a thirty year old semi-agricultural lump of corrosion and attitude.

Thanks to dozens of spare parts dealers, (many of whom are now close personal friends) and the awesome power of eBay to locate and purchase, well, everything really, we've gone through a couple of thermostats, a new battery, two starter motors, a new heater valve, a de-coke kit, a new radiator, half-shafts and bearings, brakes, brake piping, an exhaust, new electronic ignition set-up, plugs, leads, air cleaner, a new coil, two thermostats, four gasket sets, CV joints and as of last weekend a new water pump, well I met this chap and he said, "overheating? that'll be your water pump mate" it wasn't but it is nice and shiny, and very, very hot. That's another nice thing about the Landy, every other man in the world knows what's wrong with it.

I must say that it now does run beautifully for the thirty minutes it takes to approach the sort of temperatures found at the heart of the sun. I may have to get onto ebay and buy a drawing board so that I can go back to it.