Dave Smith's Freelander

ER1C said:

Do you really think the dampness came from the tailgate ? That looks like it has lots of moisture inside.

£350 is amazing a right Top Gear Effort ...

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I reckon so. Wettest winter in years and the car had the window open... Inch of water in the fish tank.
Few days with the dehumidifier will fix it - agree with @Nodge68. Plus it is inside now so at least it stands a chance.

Right. The Green Machine has 15" rims. Am I right in thinking that this really limits the choice of AT-style tyres and I should cough for the set of 16s that are going locally?

I was told tyres for the 15" rims are rare and expensive. Might be worth investing in a set of 16" wheels if you want more choice. I think Hankook do AT's for 15" wheels

Don't buy Hankook tyres !!!
Noisy as hell and lethal in the wet

I just took mine off and replaced with General grabbers (I'm also on 15 inch rims)

Feels much safer

digby said:

Don't buy Hankook tyres !!!
Noisy as hell and lethal in the wet

I just took mine off and replaced with General grabbers (I'm also on 15 inch rims)

Feels much safer

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I thought it was just mine were done and needed replaced.
Glad you said that as the tyre shop I was in were recommending them.

They probably make lots of profit selling them ......

digby said:

They probably make lots of profit selling them ......

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I happened to be in kwikfit with the company car.
Don't really need to say more.

There's a better selection if you go 225/70/15 instead of the narrower standard.
What size/price were the Grabbers @digby ?

davidsmith1307 said:

There's a better selection if you go 225/70/15 instead of the narrower standard.
What size/price were the Grabbers @digby ?

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I put the standard 195/80 R 15's on (General Tire Grabber GT 195/80 R15 96H BSW, FR, M+S)
Paid €uro 288.76 for 4 delivered to my home plus another 30 for mounting at a friendly place (www.centralepneus.fr)
Dont know if they deliver to Uk or if they have some office there

Right. I thought I'd have the OSF wheel off to check the brakes and to give access to the lower timing belt cover. Easy.
An hour later and repeatedly dropping the car off the jack with the wheel bolts undone it came off.
I think I have found some evidence of corrosion.





So, replace, refurb or just a quick respray?
Disks are shagged and the pads aren't worth saving.

Looks like the dust seal is shagged so afraid its a refurb. BTW if the disks refuse to come off try the angle grinder and chisel method I used. It worked a treat and saved me beatin the bejesus out of it.

Don't mid refurbing them. Don't want to replace them if a refurb will do! Plenty of other bits need my cash.
Wire brush, sandpaper and brake caliper paint and nobody will know any better.

Go for it, the surface rust will flake off easy enough and they'll be solid underneath. I used the BIg Red kit on mine as they came with all the seals but I guess it depends on what you need. The refurbed calipers don't come with the cradles so you need to refurb your cradles anyway.

Went out to the garage tonight and the floor is soaked. Seems to be water - definitely not petrol thank god. Doesn't smell like coolant and the expansion tank is still full.

Hopefully it is just some water left in bits of the chassis that has run out now the car is on a slope from being jacked up. Seems quite a lot though.

Or perhaps my garage is crap.

davidsmith1307 said:

Don't mid refurbing them. Don't want to replace them if a refurb will do! Plenty of other bits need my cash.
Wire brush, sandpaper and brake caliper paint and nobody will know any better.

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I'd replace to be honest. Unless you can get seals and the piston for well under the £50 a new caliper costs?

£29.95 for the 2 sides. Bigg Red.

I'm pondering a FL restoration/Tinkering toy currently where do you find these bargains? lol

LUKBENPHI said:

I'm pondering a FL restoration/Tinkering toy currently where do you find these bargains? lol

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Go to car lots. Look at the back in the long grass .
Quite often see things on Gumtree too, but not silly cheap.
Mine was cheap to buy but won't be that cheap to repair, so you pays your money and takes your choice.

Considering how rusty my calipers are I am going to try an experiment that has worked well for me in the past on bike parts.
I'm going to leave the calipers and holders to soak in an oxalic acid bath for a few days. I shall report back on success/failure.