Ole blue S3 88 2.25 Diesel

Ole blue · Jan 3, 2021

Well I should start by where I got the name of Ole blue. The first truck I remember being in was my father's new 1966 blue Chevy pickup, Ole blue.

Bought the LR in October 2020. It had been given a thorough inspection the month before and passed with flying colors. It mostly original, a late 70's build but first sold in 1981. I am the 3rd owner. Second owner bought it a couple years ago after it had set for about 30 years. He had the local LR specialist work on it. New injectors, injector pump, leaf springs and complete brake system had been done to it. It starts and runs very well. Engine does not smoke but the oil pan gasket leaks a little bit. This is where I purchase it.

Ole blue · Jan 3, 2021

First thing was to get ride of the mouse smelling seats. Installed Britpart seats but now I set a couple inches higher. The originals had some sort of metal tray on the bottom cushion. I kept them and will install one of them to see what changes. After driving a couple hundred miles I done some research and thought an overdrive would be a nice addition. Well with the 235/85-16 tires the engine does not have enough power to maintain 55mph when in 4th-od on the slightest incline. Currently how its setup the OD has been a waste of money. I probably would sell it if I could get most of my money back.

Ole blue · Jan 3, 2021

Well I discovered that the tubless tires had tubes in them because of the wheels. So after a bit of looking I decided to get a set of wolf wheels. Also picked up a set of new longer studs. While installing the new studs I found the new brakes that was installed by the LR guru is just a mess. The upper spring is attached to the shoe instead of the anchor pin. So I was going to attach the spring to the pins but he had ground all the pins down. Well I thought the adjusters were froze. They turned a bit hard but nothing that I thought unusual. The inside of the brake drums have been ground by a hand grinder. After looking for something accurate to measure it I cut a piece of .750 pvc pipe 10" long. Only 1 brake drum is close to 10" the other 3 are well beyond being out of spec. Now I get to replace the new brake shoes with another new set and 4 new drums. So much for the quality of work from the LR guru and whoever inspected it did a very poor job.

Ole blue · Jan 4, 2021

Was looking at some pics of canvas tops and I spotted the center dash switch panel. Got me to thinking.......so I bought one and installed a cigarette lighter socket/power port and a couple of USB power outlets. Still need to wire them up. Will keep the cigarette socket hot all the time and USB ports key on hot.

Ole blue · Jan 15, 2021

Installed new wheel studs for the wolf wheels. I used a tierod tool to remove the studs. Was easy to change them out. Drove to the tire shop on hard packed roads with the 235/85r16 M&S tires. I barely could go in 4wd, steering and stopping was almost impossible. Glad I only had to drive about a mile. Installed the 245 winter tires on the wolf wheels and driving now is like its on dry pavement. We have about 20" of snow and -22°C this morning. While its in the tent I plugged the block heater in to see if it worked. Went out a couple hours later and the head was warm. Its supposed to warm up in a couple days so I might take it out for a drive to see how 4th-od works with the shorter tires.

Knappster · Jan 15, 2021

Looking good!

Ole blue · Jan 17, 2021

Has been cold the last few days -25°C. The wife wanted to go to the ski slopes today so I thought we would go in the 88. Plugged the heater in for maybe an hour. Heated the glow plugs for 30 seconds, engine barely turned over but it fired right up. So we were off to the slopes. With the smaller tyres installed it drives the same but it feels like it has double the power. Going up the same gradual incline in 4th-od I can actually accelerate now where before it would slow down in 4th. Its an unbelievable difference between the 235/85's & 245/75's.

Took the seat base in the house and removed the cover. Installed the metal plate I removed from the original. Had to cut some of the outer foam off but the center foam is still the same thickness. Hard to see but the seat base sets lower than the center seat but before it was higher. I do set lower which did improve how I see out the windshield. Now to drive it to see if it is actually beneficial.

Ole blue · Jan 19, 2021

The weather was nice yesterday (not snowing and only -10°) so I decided to take it out for a drive. I got to drive it on from dry asphalt to very slick icy roads. The seat mod was a vast improvement as I don't need to bend over to see out the windshield now. I would recommend everyone to do it. The smaller tires has made it a rocket ship now. While in town I found it was best to leave the trans in 3rd and shift the od unit. On the highway I left it in 4th-od almost always. Just unbelievable how much different it is with the smaller tyres. If I need to replace the tyres I probably will install 225/75r16's. Probably drove 10 miles on the icy road and I left it in 2nd-od and it done very well. According to the weather forecast we are supposed to get up to 18" more snow and -25° temps this week. So the LR might get parked until I can get the heater working better.

Next things to do, exploring the idea of working on the seat back. Might try to cut about 1" of foam out for more room. Definitely need to improve the heater. Very little air from the vents or any heat. The temp gauge was close to normal but no heat in the cab. Need to back flush the core and see how much debris is in the ducts. I had a Toyota FJ40 in the states and it had dual heaters and got so hot it would run you out of it. Something I have been thinking about adding if I can't get the original heaters performance better. Power steering and a smaller steering wheel would be a nice addition. I have so much money in it I am trying to justify dumping more money into it.

Disco1BFG · Jan 19, 2021

That's a nice looking S3

I'd suggest a fuel burning heater is the way to get more heat in the cab - there have been a few threads on here about fitting same.....

Glad you got your tyre choice sorted too - the roamerdrive is a good thing ... but if you can't use it, then

...

Ole blue · Jan 30, 2021

The wife wanted to go skiing so I said if ole blue starts we will go. It was -10, not plugged in and it had not been started in a few days. So I heated the glow plugs for 30 seconds, engine turned over 3-4 times and it was running. After 15 seconds it was running as smooth as silk. So I was wanting some heat in the cab I went all out on the winter front. I got a huge surprise when I turned on the heater fan, I had a massive amount of air flow, well maybe not massive but it was lot more than before. All I had done was to remove the vent hose from the heater box to inspect for debris that could of blocked the air flow but it was clear. Since the fan started to blow more air I assume the motor was not getting a good connection somewhere. Next job will be cleaning all of the electrical connections. The original seat belts were just lap belts so I installed angle brackets on the hardtop for shoulder seat belts. It was an easy bolt in but the reel has to be installed straight up. Its still noisy inside so I downloaded a highly recommended app. Not sure how accurate it is. Took the readings on one of the trips to the ski slopes.

I did look at the fuel heaters but will look on how to improve what I have first. Bigger fan, remove heater valve. extra pump to help water flow, remove the fan (just to see if it helps for an electric fan install) nicer winter front cover and a higher degree thermostat.

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steve2286w · Jan 30, 2021

Lovely looking S3 and a super setting to drive it in , so jealous.
For noise in cab I fitted a proprietary HD foam mating which really made a difference
Re your brake pic I don’t think it’s incorrect if it’s on pin it may get in the of the adjuster but either way the effect is the same as it pulls the shoe back in when you lift foot off pedal, I. Have also put chamfers on leading edge of shoes which stops them grabbing and pulling to one side
Keep the pics coming.

Ole blue · Feb 4, 2021

The brake springs are installed in a hole on the shoe instead of the pin. Not much pull back tension on the springs. I bought new Bearmach shoes, springs and drums from the UK.

It only took 10 days for the parts to arrive. That was quick compared to my previous orders as they took almost 4 weeks to arrive. I decided to measure the drums before painting. So I mounted them up in my lathe. All of the mounting faces were within .005" in the lathe so I started measuring. The brake friction surface were .018" or less. I thought that should be ok so I painted them with 400° matte black paint. Now to find a warm day to install everything. Not much is happening as its going to be a bit cool (-25°) for several days.

steve2286w · Feb 4, 2021

Do you need to cure that paint in oven , I did a manifold in VHT paint and stuck it in bbq for an hour

Ole blue · Feb 5, 2021

steve2286w said:
Do you need to cure that paint in oven , I did a manifold in VHT paint and stuck it in bbq for an hour

The 400° paint just needs to air dry for 24 hours. The 600° paint needed to be cured by heat.

Ole blue · Feb 8, 2021

After reading several posts about sound deadening I decided to remove the sagging headliner. I found the jute liner mostly had fallen. This morning I decided to start scrapping the black adhesive from the roof. It took a couple hours to get it to this point. Had some stuff to clean up. Now to remove the rear headliner and rear seats so I can get it all cleaned up and ready for the sound deadening sheets. Unfortunately it will be spring before its warm enough to install them.

Ole blue · Feb 20, 2021

A few days ago I installed the front brake shoes and drums. Now I have 2 sets of good brake shoes but need the pins replaced. The drums were a bit worn out as 1 measured 10.105.

I started to install the Noico sound deadening sheets on the roof. My 58 year old arms and shoulders are not what they used to be. If I was going to do it again I would remove the roof to do it. I am thinking about installing Noico acoustic foam sheets before installing the headliner. Now to put some sound deadening sheets on the rear floor and wheel wells. I sure hope it makes it quiet.

I do get a lot of vibrations from the engine. Have searched and found that the motor mounts might need to be replaced with more flexible mounts. So I get to spend more money on it.

steve2286w · Feb 20, 2021

I put some round engine mounts as I fitted a 200di last year , so no real vibration probs I’ll have a look and see where I got them from, here they are, these are soft others might be hard type but these work well for me

Hammym · Feb 21, 2021

Ole blue said:
First thing was to get ride of the mouse smelling seats. Installed Britpart seats but now I set a couple inches higher. The originals had some sort of metal tray on the bottom cushion. I kept them and will install one of them to see what changes. After driving a couple hundred miles I done some research and thought an overdrive would be a nice addition. Well with the 235/85-16 tires the engine does not have enough power to maintain 55mph when in 4th-od on the slightest incline. Currently how its setup the OD has been a waste of money. I probably would sell it if I could get most of my money back.

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Get yourself a set of freewheeling hubs, makes loads of difference in speed and fuel consumption, easy to fit, pretty sure you can get them through Paddocks or somewhere similar.

resto_d1 · Feb 22, 2021

She’s lovely and what a place to drive it!! Here’s us moaning about being draughty in our single plus figures and your right down into the minus’s lol. I’d definitely look at the diesel heaters (although mines now in a cupboard after I scared myself with it!).
I reckon if you made the heater really efficient, it could have a negative effect on running temps?

Ole blue · Feb 24, 2021

I finally got around installing the slick shifter. Have not drove it to see if I like it. Started to replace the rear window weatherstripping. Have the passenger side done. Waiting to receive the weatherstripping for the drivers side. Hopefully the weather gets a little better so I can drive it to see if the sound deadening sheets helped.

FWH's probably will not buy any yet as just changing the tires helped the performance so much I can live with it. The heater and noise is my main concern now. Was sunny a few days ago so I went for a drive. Was warm from the sun shining on me but the temp on the seat was 26°F.

Ole blue S3 88 2.25 Diesel

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