The 110.

great work, love the character of it

nice bulkhead repair btw

Brown said:

Seems a bit weird that the classroom sessions have to be in the middle of the night! I'm sure you coped admirably. Yes, everything will be better with an oil change. Plus an air filter change might help the smoke situation as it won't be running so rich. With the progress you have made on the sheetmetal work lately I hope it's all looking a bit less daunting.

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Yes chap looking less like a mountain now Air filter just changed over but could do with a new filter housing so if anyone has one for a 2.5 na shout up! Must get the oil change sorted...

flat said:

great work, love the character of it

nice bulkhead repair btw

Click to expand...

Thanks chap the bulkhead is coming together better than I thought I could if I am honest!

More Cars & Cutting.
The 110Posted by Nicky Smith Sat, December 05, 2015 16:47:00
I am turning into a fair weather rider on the motorbike, after my off last winter I cannot be bothered with riding in the cold wet windy weather that's now making an appearance so I have been quietly looking in the background for another Land Rover to run for the winter months and then sell on again come the springtime. I'm not bothered what it is it can be a Discovery Series whatever but not a freelander because I want to be able to sell it on again easily and I only have a budget of £800 to play with.
First thing this morning we set off to look at an N reg Disco and it ran fine with new tyres but was pretty rusty on the usual places to the extent that I would have had to do a fair few repairs before selling it on again and in all honesty there is already one project on the driveway and I do not want another one! I want a winter car that I can just get in and drive maybe give it a service but that's it and the bike wants parking up until the warmer weather rolls back in.

A little disappointed we headed home where Wifey then went off to do shopping stuff so I dug out the grinder as well as the welder again to attack the offside door pillar on the 110. Wifey has taken to calling it "Pie" now because "Pukkah" is "boring and they make pies" she says...yes my wife is mental.I set to removing the door and then grinding out what was left of the old pillar...


So with all of that old metal cleaned off I then grabbed the new pillar offered it up into place then tack welded it up after securing it with all manner of clamps so it wouldn't move...


That done I set to welding it up again properly and it was now that I ran out of wire. Wifey still had the car so I jumped onto the motorbike to shoot down to Machinemart in town who charged me a bloody fortune for some 0.9mm wire then battled the high winds home again. The winds were so strong I was blown onto the wrong side of the road so I thought to myself "There's another reason for a winter car". Home once again I finished up my welding after knocking the pillar into shape as I went along and making spot welds were needed as well.

Once it was finished I popped the door hinges back on they really will need replacing on both sides as they move about 5mm on their old pins. Then I put the wing on and to my horror there was a massive gap at the base of the pillar! I wondered how I would cure this whether I would just bolt the wing back on pulling the base over a bit more or taking the pillar back off and starting again. I took two steps back to look at it from a different angle and it was then that I noticed that the front end of the wing was resting on the radiator bracket so I put it into it's correct place and the gap promptly disappeared.



By now with the days extra excursions to boot I was losing the light so it was time to put the tools away and leave the foot well until the next time I get a couple of spare hours.
When I got indoors I was subjected the yearly ritual of dragging the Christmas tree in and sticking the lights on it. Then dear reader as I wrote this post there was happiness and merriment from my good lady Wife and two of my daughters as they hung the decorations on it making as much noise as possible as they did so!

If you know of a Landy in my budget of £800 with a decent MOT and not a rot box please get in touch via [email protected]

nickysmith.me

Cracking work, Nick. Very impressive stuff. Well done, mate.

Al2O3 said:

Cracking work, Nick. Very impressive stuff. Well done, mate.

Click to expand...

Thank you This amount of welding on a Landy is new to me but I seem to be muddling through it...more luck than judgement half the time

No, that's too much luck! Probability doesn't work like that. More like good judgement I reckon.
Looking forward to the next instalment.

Cheers It will probably the weekend before I get the chance to have a play again

Fair Weather Rider
MusingsPosted by Nicky Smith Sat, December 12, 2015 14:49:14
Well it has finally happened they say it comes to us all in time but I never thought that that day would ever truly arrive for me but today my friends it has come. Gone are the heady care free days of having no fear of falling down along with not noticing nor caring what the weather is doing outside. The wind rain sleet and even snow used to be no more than an irritant at most but over the last twelve months now I look back it seems these things have been bothering me more and more so much to the extent that I have hung up my helmet the coat is folded and put away into a box and my gloves left out to dry one last time you see dear reader I have become a fair weather rider.

Bring on the laughter bring on the ribbing because I do not care at all if you do (this seems to be another positive of growing older) I now like to be comfortable and warm and not in fear of my life from slipping off of my big in the wet and cold and icy conditions. Nope bugger that for a game of soldiers the bike is getting one more proper clean then going into storage for the winter to be sold off in the spring and replaced with another sports tourer. I will not spend another winter freezing my fingers off or peeling a frozen cover from my bike in the early hours of the morning I am at most going to scrape the ice off of the windscreen if that I may just go out ten minutes earlier fire up the engine and let the heaters do their job so I have a toasty motor to get into. Yes I will have to sit in traffic a bit more but this I do not mind I shall stick on some nice tunes to listen to instead of just hearing the wet wind whistle through my helmet!

You see folks I have bought myself a new toy. The 110 is going to take some time to get sorted with this winter weather we have so another plan had to be hatched. MY long suffering Wife listened patiently to my, I thought, brilliant reasoning why I needed another car of my own then sighed looked at our banking (she does all that stuff I am useless in fact we would have a fleet of Land Rovers on the driveway if I looked after the money and no food in the cupboard's) and agreed a meagre budget I could play with. This was a couple of weeks ago and with the budget I had I knew it was to be a challenge as to what I could buy so I waited and I looked and I found lots of rotten scrap. I waited some more as well as enlisting the help of some friends who then started to look for me too passing on their findings on an almost hourly basis. Still there was nothing around worth driving in this well under a thousand pound budget. I hunted high and low even making myself bored of the process if I am honest (this is highly unusual for me I love buying cars!) then another glimmer of hope came up.
I went to see not expecting much due to 197000 mileage on it but I was pleasantly surprised. It drove well enough the gearbox seems good and the interior bar the standard hole in the drivers seat is quite pleasant. There is some heavy welding on the chassis but although it looks ugly it is sound. It sits on some boost alloys (I think) has an MOT until August next year so apart from a service it's a get in it and drive job through the winter months!





There is also a bull/nudge bar in the boot that needs refitting so that's a bonus! It is staying standard though because once the 110 is done this Disco will be up for sale again but at least now I get to stay dry and warm over the winter commute to work and the 110 can have a more leisurely rebuild to a high standard rather than having to rush it. What a nice early Christmas present!

nickysmith.me

I'm guessing the deal with the Mrs was that the bike would go to fund the Disco! I've never owned a bike, though I could fancy having one to cruise around the countryside up here on the odd warm summer day.
When I was a lad I used to 'car share' to work with a mate, but he had a Kawasaki Z650. He always gave me a German helmet style open faced helmet to wear. When I got to work I had to wash my face because I would have zig zag water tracks up and down the side of my face all leading from the corner of my eyes. In the summer we always had few trips to the Lakes, blasting across to Pooley Bridge and drinking a lot of Stella in the pub just over the bridge, then blasting home! It had a beer garden that went down to the river and we used to sit on the end of the wall with our feet in the water. Sadly the bridge is gone and the pub is probably wrecked.
Enjoy the disco, mate. Pleased you've got something to drive this winter

Thanks chap. It will be nice to be warm this year and even nicer to have the 110 sorted for next winter and nope the bike is not funding it either much to my surprise! Just a motor to use then sell again later

Ahh, so when you say sell it off in the spring, you mean for another sports tourer bike! Not a car.

Yep lucky me more toys!!!

Not a lot doing.
The 110Posted by Nicky Smith Thu, December 17, 2015 21:01:32
I have done bugger all to the 110 over the last week or so which is frustrating as hell but a combination of the weather, Christmas fast approaching as well as hour changes at work for the next few weeks have left me with no daylight hours to play with until what looks like will be the new year. Thankfully I have a week off booked mid January so as long as we don't have an unexpected cold snap full of snow I can have quite a bit of time to finish off the welding as well as fitting the new rear 1/3 chassis.

Once we get to this point it is all mechanical so hopefully straight forward enough and at least pay day will have come and gone sparing me a few more pennies for whatever parts are desperately needed. As for the Discovery I bought last weekend that seems to run ok, it does not overheat sat in the 7 mile traffic jam to work every morning which is a bonus and the only thing I have had to do so far to it is replace the air filter in it as it was blacker than any filter I have seen before, in fact I am amazed that the poor bugger was able to breathe at all!
There is a tappety noise from the engine not a low down it's about to die sort of sound more like a constant clicking so that could be anything from tappets out a lift pump to a brake vacuum pump so seeing as it's not affecting power or getting any worse I will let it develop and become a bit more obvious. I am not chasing noise by throwing money at unneeded parts just yet.

I have been asked to help out onsite shunting for a few weeks whilst we get over our peak period and my God I did not realise just how damned unfit I had become lately! I ache in places I forgot existed on me so it has enticed me to carry on the fitness regime once more when the daily hell at work comes to an end. A friend of mine a couple of years ago changed something in her life for one month every month for a year. Instead of making a long list of new year resolutions that normally end up falling by the wayside smaller more manageable things were done that if the effect was good after a month it became a life change and if not well it went out of the window and either way you moved onto the next challenge for another month.
I will give a real effort myself this year and feel free to join in if you want to or just sit on the sidelines and poke fun if you prefer once and if I fall down with it.

January is quite an easy one for me to choose as I have noticed my chocolate intake going back up to greedy fat bastard levels of late so I will give up sugar for the first month. Not naturally occurring sugar but the manufactured shove it in chocolate and cakes and sweets and pop and more cake and my biggest Achilles heal biscuits.
So that will start on the first of the month and end on the last day of the same month...who's daft enough to join me?

I would say that every month the 110 will be finished but that would be plain stupid because now I have my tappety Disco to get me to work I can take the time to build him properly, well I have until the Wife makes us buy a house so it best have a garage on it somewhere...

nickysmith.me

Foot Wells and Boxes
The 110Posted by Nicky Smith Sun, December 20, 2015 16:54:06
Well what a surprise of a weekend this turned out to be! Yesterday we had the pleasure of seeing our good friends renew their wedding vows in a cracking little church then we got to catch up with our other good friends all afternoon before a gentle drive back home.
On that drive Wifey asked what my plans were for today as she was off doing some kid Christmas party thing and there was no way she was subjecting the poor little dears to yours truly, so a quick check of the weather forecast showed a good dry day and welding up the 110 immediately popped into my mind.

I started the day being a lazy sod and laying in my pit until half past seven much to the dogs dismay who wanted the usual crack of dawn walk. After pottering around for a bit doing one chore or another the light had come into the morning ( I will be so glad once we get past the shortest day on Tuesday and start heading back towards more light in the mornings again) and I dug out the grinder, welder, sheet metal and some tools to get stuck into the drivers side foot well. This foot well was more of a pain because obviously you have all of the pedals in the way and some or all have to be removed depending on how bad the rot is in there.
A good poke around made the holes as big as they were going to get...



It looked like a Flintstone's car at this point so out came the grinder and I cut back and back and then back a bit more until I found the good metal after removing the bolts from the accelerator pedal. Luckily there was plenty of good metal before I had to remove either the brake or clutch pedal which pleased me no end and I marked up the new panel trimmed it back into the shape I needed and set to offering it up into place.
It was at this point the singing cyclist came slowly riding by, I could hear this chap from a good distance away before he rode by happy in his own little world with a pair of huge headphones on his noggin singing at the top of his voice oblivious to everyone but the folk singing in his ears whilst simultaneously waving his arms around to the music.
This brought a smile to my face because he seemed so happy and the fact he could ride a bike no handed singing like his life depended on it whilst flinging his upper limbs about, good for him.

Out came the welder now and the two panels merged pretty painlessly without me blowing any holes where they were not supposed to be then soon enough it was done. A quick slap about of underseal saw it rustproofed for a while and I could no longer see the suspension through the floor...



With that done and a quick sausage cob in my belly I wondered what else had to be done whilst the welder was out not including the rear 1/3 chassis of course. I remembered the battery box was pretty awful so went and had a poke around there to see if a whole new box would be necessary or whether it could be welded up for now. I was pleasantly surprised to find I could weld the bugger up so again I set to poking big holes in the battery tray first...


I ended up being able to make a few either end of the tray floor so I measured up the sheet metal and replaced the lot! Halfway through my endeavour the singing cyclist made a return pass still in full gusto but now somehow managing to balance a pair of swollen shopping bags on either handle whilst giving a repeat performance of before...bloody show off.

It didn't take long to get the ends welded in and sealed up again...



So that is the bulkhead just about done welding wise unless I find something else I have missed and is a big step in the right direction to getting this 110 back onto the road. For me it is a big hurdle over in my head because now the landy is just about as watertight as a landy can be once more and I can start looking at the mechanical side of things a bit more as well. I did wire up the battery again to give the old boy his weekly warm through and true to style the engine fired up in a cloud of smoke first turn of the key.
As good as it is though I am tempted to just get a 300tdi conversion done now I have the Discovery to run about in and whilst it is in bits on the front end, that will give me a bit of extra power better fuel economy and hopefully reliability. We shall see what the funds are like towards the end of the build and make the call then unless a really cheap complete engine turns up of course.

So a great day with loads done but as I looked onto the driveway it seemed there was more rubbish on it than I had ever seen before so I gave it a quick sweep up and my word there was a honking great pile of rusted metal and rusty dust to get into the bin...


I expect that will be it until Christmas and the New Year are done then I can get stuck into the rest of it but family do insist on seeing you at this time of year, so if I don't get to speak to all of you good folk before then have a great Christmas whatever it is you are doing with it

www.nickysmith.me

Merry Christmas!!
MusingsPosted by Nicky Smith Fri, December 25, 2015 10:16:24

ive just read your entire post...and guys like you make me sick...why...cause youve got more get up and go..more gusto and ..skill than ive ever had or will have..youve taken on a project..err 3...in what i would have crushed for scrap..run a mile from and even thru despondency..which i would have had before i purchased it..well no..i never would have..you have put heart and soul into what to me was a wreck.
full time work plus a family and still you plod on ...youve taken the time to write an incredible account with pics..tinged with bits of your personnel life that all make very interesting reading, ..now in my case as an ex mechanic ive done many rebuilds ..diff is im idle in that if its not nuts and bolts then it has to be in mint condition, ide be the guy who would spend 18k on a defender and that would be on the basis i buy..i drive..i service...and all the restore work had been done..
so next time you get down on the task ahead fella ...go look in mirror ..and say..oi..im one the guys that keep great british landys going..i have that determination and pride that prob 90% of men aint got..and i will do it, and when you do youll have great pride and joy and know every nut and bolt on that landy.
absolutely hats off to fella ..well done

Well thank you chap, that has genuinely made my day and on a Christmas day full of much more than I already deserve so thank you again!
I always potter about doing something on whatever has come across my path I cannot just hang around watching tv and as for the writing I really enjoy that bit it is my de-stress of the day, there is loads more at www.nickysmith.me if you want a nose, but I did not plan on this third rebuild so quickly.
I bought the 110 because I always wanted a Defender and I really did not think it was going to be possible unless a large bank loan was involved so when it turned up I just kind of knew it was going to be mine. There is far far more work in it than I expected but it is mine and now I have got the old cheap Discovery to get me through the Winter and further ahead if necessary the pressure is off of having to get the 110 on the road asap, so with that the rebuild is once again actually becoming a bit more enjoyable there is no longer the fear of the mountain of work ahead each time I look at it out of the window!

Merry Christmas to you and yours I hope you enjoy the rest of the festive season and please keep up to date with the rebuild, feel free to chip in advice and take the mickey out of me as I go along...everyone else does

just clicked on ya site inspiring...not often you get to see a nuts an bolts rebuild..ive done lot mig welding over the years and now have a gassless mig..sealey..so i understand the concept of ..oh its only a 2 inch hole...but now im back to metal..its 6 inces..lol..but ive never undertaken such as your 110...ive had lot of pride in rebuilding engines not only as a job but my own cars...and ive replaced wings ..sills ..so im no novice with the welder ..stick or mig...but goto take me hat off to ya...having done a bit myself i want you to appreciate how sincere my remarks are as i do understand the work involved ..mamouth on the 110...ya got determination fella ..give ya that

merry xmas