Freelander 1 Return of the (Land) Rovers: Kilo-Hippo-Delta

[Alibro]

Just had a look at the faulty rear seat back rest release. Pretty clear what the problem is: the cable end has come free of the release handle!

View attachment 106736

The other side seems fine:View attachment 106737

Pulling on the cables releases the latch, and the rear seat folds as it should. Stowing the seat more completely reveals a new mountain of dog hair... Yet more cleaning ahead!

Does fabrese work in cars?

Common issue I'm afraid. What a lousy design. You can normally refit them and they usually stay, not sure why they fall out in the first place but probably a previous owner being ham fisted.
As for Febrese, if you find it works please let me know. The boot in mine is full of dog hairs and the associated smell.
I can see me ripping out the boot carpet and flinging it.

 

[rob_bell]

Somebody has had a go at refitting the cable before: it shows the tell-tale appearance of having been handled by a large pair of pliers!

I had a half hearted attempt to refit the cable end. Gave up: it seems a fraction too short, and judging by the handle distortion, even if the handle were replaced, it'd probably fall out again. I shall have a think, but happy I can now stow the seat.

I'Il let you know if the Fabresse works - here's hoping!

 

[Old diver]

Common issue I'm afraid. What a lousy design. You can normally refit them and they usually stay, not sure why they fall out in the first place but probably a previous owner being ham fisted.
As for Febrese, if you find it works please let me know. The boot in mine is full of dog hairs and the associated smell.
I can see me ripping out the boot carpet and flinging it.

The cable is held in by a spring clip that has some very sharp bits on it, can't see how it could fall off?

 

[Alibro]

The cable is held in by a spring clip that has some very sharp bits on it, can't see how it could fall off?

I think the cable gets pulled through the slot when people are pulling way to hard on it so the clip is still in place. There was a thread here recently where someone showed how to replace both ends of the cable. From what I remember it isn't too big a job.
I think I used pointy pliers to refit mine but never got the clip back on.

 

[rob_bell]

All the valves out of the head now



The two that are obviously bent are, well, obvious. The others? No idea. I ran the other valves in the head's valve guides to look for run-out. Two or three exhaust valves were suspicious (surely should be four as two pairs?!?). Then I tried the flat glass suggestion. The same two (paired valves) were suspicious.

Am I confident? Nope.

I think the safest thing to do is simply swap all the valves from the scrap head into this one, and lap each one in.

I haven't done this yet: I've popped out all the original valve stem oil seals, but the replacements haven't arrived yet. Bah!

 

[rob_bell]

The other thing I did today was to continue cleaning the car. I vacuumed the hidden hoard of dog hair underneath the rear bench. And then I tried out this stuff:


1001 carpet freshener. Good for pet, cooking and goodness knows what else odours. It sprays as a foam, which you apply after vacuuming. Which I did: hurrah! I've changed the nasty chemical odour into a slightly nicer chemical odour! Yay.

Will let you know if this is a more desirable outcome in a day or two...

Oh, and I decided to treat the bumpers to some autoglym vinyl and rubber care. Seems to have worked well restoring the original grey tone

Hopefully, this Freelander will be halfway respectable when it returns to the road: hopefully not long now!

 

[Joe_H]

Have you tried Febreze Rob ? Excellent stuff.

 

[rob_bell]

Hi Joe

No - I decided to use the 1001 instead. Seems to work? I'll know how well in a day or two

 

[Joe_H]

the Febreze really cancels the odours - it does effectively neutralise them. Very highly recommended,. We had a neighbours cat 'spray' a corner of the sofa when the door was open... Jeeez, - seriously bad.... febreze spray spray - gone !.. amazing.. get the original type though the scented stuff is awful.

 

[rob_bell]

Thanks Joe - I may try it if I haven't had joy with the 1001 stuff. This is turning out to be an ad-hoc product test! LOL

Head is now away being skimmed. Hopefully able to collect soon, and then the engine rebuild can commence!

I had to drop DMGRS an email to nudge them on the delivery of the head gasket set - hopefully will be here by the weekend.

Oh, the first application of Autoglym Vinyl and Rubber care didn't last long Wash off (?) after a night's rain. I re-applied on Sunday, and the bumpers are now almost good as new. I think this stuff probably needs a few applications for it to properly "stick" to the plastic. Not sure how it works - I suspect a surface film treatment rather than a "feed" for plastic? In which case, I am sure that the linseed oil option is probably just as good!

 

[rob_bell]

Engine gasket and service kit arrived from DMGRS yesterday and I've just heard that the cylinder head has now been returned from the engineering shop after skimming. Just need to go an collect, and hopefully the engine will be coming back together very soon!

 

[Joe_H]

Engine gasket and service kit arrived from DMGRS yesterday and I've just heard that the cylinder head has now been returned from the engineering shop after skimming. Just need to go an collect, and hopefully the engine will be coming back together very soon!

- excellent Rob, this is where you drop the skimmed and minted part onto solid concrete whilst getting out of the vehicle...... don't ask me how I know.....

 

[rob_bell]

Ouch!

I am going to be scared stiff about marking the newly skimmed face - perhaps I should carry it around in bubble wrap and many soft towels? LOL

I've just ordered some concentrated OAT antifreeze as I am nearly out. Hopefully all set for a long weekend of engine building! If I am fortunate, I might actually have a running Hippo... fingers crossed!

 

[rob_bell]

I collected a nicely skimmed cylinder head from Dave Andrews yesterday. Hmm - shiny!


I had peened the cylinder head along the line of the fire ring - like so



But it turned out that I hadn't taken sufficient brave pills - this is how to peen the fire ring!

 

[rob_bell]

The reason for doing this is because the standard Rover castings are full of porosities. Not usually a problem, but if you are unlucky, you can find a porosity straddling the fire ring leading to premature "gasket failure".

After peening and an 8 thou skim, there are porosities visible in the skimmed head surface, but none in the region of the fire ring. Happy days.

 

[Joe_H]

I collected a nicely skimmed cylinder head from Dave Andrews yesterday. Hmm - shiny!
View attachment 107650

I had peened the cylinder head along the line of the fire ring - like so

View attachment 107651

But it turned out that I hadn't taken sufficient brave pills - this is how to peen the fire ring!

View attachment 107652

A work of art !

Still a bit of casting flash in the waterways though....

(Bloody nice Job !)
Joe

 

[rob_bell]

I also lapped in the "new" valves. Decided to use the valves from the scrap cylinder head: I just couldn't convince myself that I could safely include/ exclude any of the valves!

Inlet valves weren't too bad. The exhaust valves took a lot of work! See below:

 

[rob_bell]

A work of art !

Still a bit of casting flash in the waterways though....

(Bloody nice Job !)
Joe

Thanks Joe - and this was done for a very reasonable price - less than half what it would have cost me locally here in London...

Hopefully light at the end of the tunnel for the engine

The only down side, which isn't really a down side, is that this engine will now be using a manual tensioner and belt rather than the auto tensioner and belt it should have: the cylinder head came from an earlier car (an Elise I suspect). No biggie, but will surely cause any future owner a bit of a nightmare! LOL Not a problem for me though

 

[Joe_H]

The reason for doing this is because the standard Rover castings are full of porosities. Not usually a problem, but if you are unlikely, you can find a porosity straddling the fire ring leading to premature "gasket failure". After peening and an 8 thou skim, there are porosities, but none in the region of the fire ring. Happy days.

Wow, I am totally amazed that that cleaned up so well at just under 1/4mm skim - (well, nearly at 8 thou) - One would HAVE to be brave to peen that ! . What did he use to peen the area - a modded rounded head punch ?. Nearest I got was shot peening rods to de-stress them. - definitely would not be brave enough - or accurate enough to do such fine work on the fire-ring area.

 

[rob_bell]

Yes, a modified, rounded punch Joe. I modified one to replicate - it has a diameter of around 3-4mm. But he uses a lump hammer! I definitely wouldn't have done that - but have now seen the master in action