Fear of the expected

I am constantly full of admiration when I read about owners changing engines, chassis or even making their own chassis from scratch, on this forum. What is the difference between these brave souls and me? I have some mechanical competency, I certainly have plenty of tools but I lack the bravery necessary to overcome my fear of the expected. You all know what I mean, one little job leads to another and another and so on until you wish you handn't started. I want to fit door mirrors to my 109 but to do that I need to remove the top door hinges. The screws won't budge, should I break out the impact gun or will this chew the screw heads or worse, snap them off. I can count the number of landy jobs that went well with no complications on my thumbs. Almost every job I do on it results in me needing to order some other unrelated part that fell to bits in the process of the original repair/improvement/tinkering which usually means long waits for delivery and good weather. Basically, I want to drive it rather than fix it. How many resto threads have there been where the enthusiastic owner says he reckons a complete strip and rebuild will take about 6 months. We are still watching his progress 18 months later. If that had been mine, I would have scrapped it long ago, I have little patience you see. Perhaps I should attempt removing my hinge screws whilst parked at the gates of the scrapyard so if it goes wrong (again) I can just walk away whistling a merry little tune.
Thanks for reading my rant,I needed to get it off my chest.

Col

When I changed my hinges I sprayed the screws/studs liberally over a period of a few days and let it do its work. I then got the best fitting bit and used my socket set (you can get more purchase with the socket set ratchet than with a screwdriver) pressing hard on the stud whilst turning gently and then applying more pressure, making sure you don't strip the head. As soon as it breaks the seal you should be fine. Reapply new studs with copper grease.

Thanks FFG, good tip, I'll try using a ratchet before the rattle gun. I dread the thought of having to drill out broken screws, that never goes well for me.

Col

Do you have a set like this:
Amazon product
I have an older version but the same principle - great for around the house and pay for themselves (in time and swearing) after one use.
FFG

I personally like something like this. After the application of good penetrating spray.

http://www.screwfix.com/p/hilka-pro...gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CNaWudOxj9MCFdAaGwodDMQBhA

They have switchable direction, so a smack with a hammer one way then another generally loosens a lot of things and rather than run the risk of unsing a large leccy / air impact wrench you run less of a risk of damaging the head.

Cheers

You could always drill them out, ( hinge to bulkhead )
But I would order a new hinge fixing kit before you start
would also make it easier if you wanted to take them out in the future

I have some very good bits for my impact wrench, and I have been applying penetrating oil for a while, though someone recommended soaking in diesel as it is better apparently. If the screws come out in one piece, great. But I'd rather do without mirrors than than have to faff about drilling and god knows what. I also have one of those impact drivers that you smack with a hammer but I've never had much luck with it.

Col

Another trick with bolts and screws that are being bl**dy awkward is to try and tighten them slightly - before trying to undo them - you will break the hold of the corrosion, and if you damage that side of the fixing, be it screw head or bolt - it doesn't matter...

If they don't want to tighten today, then more penetrating oil ( plus gas or tectane are my current favourites ), and try again tomorrow....

Diesel is great as a penetrating oil, but I've found that you need to immerse the thing in it to work properly.

Of course, the ultimate undoing aid is heat - but this is often difficult ( or downright dangerous !! ) to apply ! - can solve any paintwork defects quite quickly though...

Go for it and then do what I do, remove the screws once a year and spray waxoil in to the bulkhead. At least you can buy most parts for an old Land Rover. My other passion is old pre war motorcycles, plenty of time on the lathe and mill making parts.

In response to the difference between you and "the brave souls" =>

Everyone who might seem brave to you at this point in time has had to start somewhere. Whilst it is possible for everyone to make mistakes, the only way to learn is to give things a go. The more you manage to fix the more likely you are realise that most of what "the brave souls" achieve is actually a piece of **** - it just takes a lot of time to do it properly!

I purposely bought my Land Rover to grow such skills having admired others ability and bravery. I soon learned that there are three essential ingredients needed for success.....time, correct tools and patience.

My biggest problem is time...I have a family, only usually get some Sunday mornings to play Land Rover. This means that I'm often doing jobs (sometimes delving into the unknown) on time limits, which can make what should be a pleasure a bit challenging or stressful. Like the example you give with your hinge/ wing mirror....it's such jobs which should take 30 minutes which can take hours on some occasions!

Tools - I have found a dremel has got me out of a few tricky situations....cutting off prop bolts or bump stop bolts which I could have spent hours trying to undo..and where a normal angle grinder can't get.

Patience...So, it comes down to attitude and keeping an open mind when embarking on a job. My Land Rover is a weekend toy so it doesn't matter if a job isn't completed for Monday really....but it does kind of annoy me if things run on too much longer than expected. Also, I do just one job at a time and make sure I fully finish it before doing the next thing. I find this more satisfying and less stressful if things don't go to plan.

Help, advice and knowledge is never far away on the forum...when things go wrong, stick up a photo and see what others suggest. You get a variety of suggestions and soon realise that such challenges are commonplace!

Keep the faith matey. If it wasn't landys and you're into keeping them going you'd have the same problems all the time. Welcome to the world of a mechanic. Imagine if you did all that for a living? You'd learn the quick n easy ways to fix this. Professional mechanics have that imperative but as an amateur enthusiast you need to accept sometimes maintaining the landy is a right bastard of a job

Thanks all. I was having a crisis of faith I think. I bought the landy to have something to tinker with in my spare time and I think I was forgetting that, patience has always been my nemesis. Broadly speaking, it's a good vehicle, mot'd and in running order but like any 40 year old, has a list of things that need sorting that is as long as my arm. It's just that almost every job, even the simple ones seem to get complicated and time consuming and I have started to imagine all of the things that can go wrong before I even pick up a spanner. In the old days, when things started to go wrong, I would stop, have a cup of tea and a fag and the world would seem a bit brighter. Then the light went out of my life, I STOPPED SMOKING. my lungs are thankful but my brain keeps saying "you ****"

Col

I've just put door mirrors on mine.... new screws? I had to buy new hinges!
Keep at it, there will always be problems along the way. My view is it's better faffing around with your Landy than watching eastenders ;-)

Colthebrummie said:

Thanks all. I was having a crisis of faith I think. I bought the landy to have something to tinker with in my spare time and I think I was forgetting that, patience has always been my nemesis. Broadly speaking, it's a good vehicle, mot'd and in running order but like any 40 year old, has a list of things that need sorting that is as long as my arm. It's just that almost every job, even the simple ones seem to get complicated and time consuming and I have started to imagine all of the things that can go wrong before I even pick up a spanner. In the old days, when things started to go wrong, I would stop, have a cup of tea and a fag and the world would seem a bit brighter. Then the light went out of my life, I STOPPED SMOKING. my lungs are thankful but my brain keeps saying "you ****"

Col

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The problem is that you still have hope; hope that the jobs may one day be complete or that something will proceed as expected. You must accept that hope abandoned you when you bought the land rover.

Embrace failure and despair. Then you will find things get easier. Then you die.

My missus certainly thinks common sense abandoned me when I bought it but what does she know. She still thinks tyres inflate themselves and bumpers are there to be used when parking

Col

Colthebrummie said:

... Then the light went out of my life, I STOPPED SMOKING. my lungs are thankful but my brain keeps saying "you ****"

Col

Click to expand...

Haven't you discovered chocolate yet?

I have, yes. But it doesn't seem to have the calming effect that the fags provided. Since giving up smoking my consumption of snack food and red wine has gone through the roof which coincides nicely with my blood pressure. I used to envy non-smokers but now realise what miserable lives they must lead.

Col

I replaced the whole door (top and bottom) as they were just held together with rust within a few weeks of buying it. Mrs was having to open the window and hold the glass as the top of the door wanted to fall away from the vehicle when moving - not good. Hinges has load of play so changed them as well and upgraded to stainless studs. Done a fair bit of wiring and put new splash guards as they both were almost non existent/ Put spacers in to let the water/crap escape and again used stainless bolts/nuts and lots of copperslip. Didn't have a 3rd gear when I bought it (which I knew) but its in the garage now for a rebuild (didn't realise the whole seat box and floor had to come out - would be much easier if the crossmember was bolted), and to set up the SU's so hopefully it will run better and i'll get more than 11mpg. Just keep with it.

I have done a fair bit to mine in the two years I've owned it. The satisfaction of completing a job is great but when I'm in the midst of rust, seized bolts and incomprehensible wiring I lose the will to live. I've lost track of the times I have fixed something, taken it for a little test drive (as you do), only to discover something else is now not working/rattling/bursting into flames etc. I have replaced and adjusted countless brakes on dozens of different cars but I nearly became suicidal when sorting the front brakes on me landy. My neighbours had never heard such language. The problem is not helped by the poor quality of some of the parts I have bought, fitted and had to replace again soon after. I know many parts are cheap but I'd rather pay more and fit once Thank god for this forum, it definitely helps to keep me sane and gives me the will to keep going. Despite my moaning, I still love the old thing, rust and all. Many of the rusty bits are now covered with blood from my scrapped knuckles, I wonder if blood has corrosion inhibiting properties.

Col