Freelander 1 Just bought this - '54 TD4 SE project

defo not epsom

I looked on the plate in the door pillar now I have some daylight. It is indeed 734 - Giverny Green.

I took my spare wheel off the carrier this morning, and it looks a bit grubby underneath there.

I'm not very good at this sort of thing, but I'd like to paint it to smarten it up.

1. What black paint do you think I should use?
2. How do I prepare the area for painting? Do I need to sand it to bare metal, or can I prime it and just paint it, or do I just paint on top of what's there?

If I'm painting stuff, I'd also like to do the rear brake drum in black too. It's currently very rusty on the surface. Do I need a special type of paint to do this, or is there one that will do the brake drum AND the wheel carrier?

How do I prepare the brake drum surface? Wire brush and emery cloth?

Martin Radoczi said:

I took my spare wheel off the carrier this morning, and it looks a bit grubby underneath there.

I'm not very good at this sort of thing, but I'd like to paint it to smarten it up.

1. What black paint do you think I should use?
2. How do I prepare the area for painting? Do I need to sand it to bare metal, or can I prime it and just paint it, or do I just paint on top of what's there?

If I'm painting stuff, I'd also like to do the rear brake drum in black too. It's currently very rusty on the surface. Do I need a special type of paint to do this, or is there one that will do the brake drum AND the wheel carrier?

How do I prepare the brake drum surface? Wire brush and emery cloth?

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I used a wire wheel brush on an angle grinder (on low speed) to remove all the loose paint and powdery ally, then sprayed with etch primer then Tetrosyl Stone Chip http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/p/c...ir/stone-chip-protection/?549774241&0&cc5_712
The result was amazingly good as the stonechip completely covered all the scratches left by the wire brush and gave a really nice satin black finish.
I don't think the rear hubs ever get all that hot so any paint should do and if you already have the stone chip it might be worth a try.

But don't quote me on that.

Unless you get all the rust off the rear drums, they will rust up again inside a year.
It's best to get some new replacements and paint those. Then just switch the old for new.

Nodge68 said:

Unless you get all the rust off the rear drums, they will rust up again inside a year.
It's best to get some new replacements and paint those. Then just switch the old for new.

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Exactly what I did when I purchased my FL1 soon to be an FL2 so the work starts all over again front & rear will be changed, I used smooth hammerite in the rear drums spray form not brush.

Arctic2 said:

Exactly what I did when I purchased my FL1 soon to be an FL2 so the work starts all over again front & rear will be changed, I used smooth hammerite in the rear drums spray form not brush.

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The FL2 has discs all round. So less to paint with them.

The suggestion to just get new drums sounds reasonable. As was possibly suggested earlier, will there be any temperature issues with painting them with normal paint, or do I need high temp caliper paint?

What do I do? Prime the new drums and just paint over that? How many coats?

I bet your are not like mine were when I first bought the FL1 back in Oct 2014 pics below, I cleaned them up inside and out, only as a temporary measure du to time of year, and changed them early in 2015 spayed painted them and they look just the same today 201. Mind I have and always do any work and change parts any car I have that needs it for new in the first months of my ownership, I thinks I have change almost everything on the FL1, brakes, lower arms, drop links, front and rear prop shafts, new VCU, new sunroof, exhaust, wheels and tyres, hoses, 85% of them were ok I just like to be on the safe side.

looks lovely now and have really enjoyed the car working on it and driving it

Nice Freelander Martin.

Managed to get some jobs done today!

I fitted the PCV modification part, a lovely EGR removal kit made by Bimmertune in Lithuania and a full set of DPH silicone hoses.

Having not driven it much since getting it, I don't really have a benchmark to see how much difference the mods have made, but it certainly seems to feel more sprightly than I remember when I picked it up!

The only problem I have, is when removing the cover for the air filter, one of the five Allen bolts, is somehow one of those Torx bolts with a little pin in the centre. I don't have anything in my toolbox to remove it, nor did Halfords have the right size in the one set they were selling that had these things in. It looks to be like a T25 or T27, but nothing fits properly and I couldn't do the job. Any idea what I need to loosen it?

Why would someone fit a security Torx I wonder? Very strange.

Looking nice under the bonnet. You need to top up the coolant though

Yes, I noticed and meant to get some when I went to Halfords, but forgot as I was a bit cross because of the Torx bolt and lack of success in removing it.

Martin Radoczi said:

Yes, I noticed and meant to get some when I went to Halfords, but forgot as I was a bit cross because of the Torx bolt and lack of success in removing it.

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It's a pain if you don't have the key for it. You'll need to get a set off Ebay.

It turns out in addition to it being a security Torx bolt, and not an Allen bolt...it is not a six pointed star Torx, but somehow a FIVE pointed star Torx. Cheers, whoever did this.

Ordered a set of bits from Amazon, and weirdly enough, the very first review of the product was by a guy trying to remove a Bosch MAF sensor, failed, went to Halfords, bought the entire set they had....and failed some more.
This sounds terribly familiar! Luckily I didn't buy the set at Halfords...they let me open the package first to see if one would fit.

Where can I get hold of the correct Allen bolt for the air filter cover I need, so I don't have to mess about in the future?

I am SUCH an idiot! It turns out the bolt I was trying to undo wasn't actually for the air filter covering, it was for the MAF sensor. I feel so foolish , but I have now got the K&N filter fitted.

Also fitted a new leather gear gaiter, now I'm in less of a mood.

I was going to suggest that maybe a MAF screw had been fitted by mistake.
But at least you'll now be able to remove the MAF in future

Nodge68 said:

I was going to suggest that maybe a MAF screw had been fitted by mistake.
But at least you'll now be able to remove the MAF in future

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LOL, just saw this and was about to say the same. I was replacing my MAF last night so it was fresh in my memory.

Little trick for those whom do not have the five side torx use a little flat blade screw driver down the side of the security screw nipple as here below, works ever time.

Been a productive day.

Fitted a set of five Geolandar A/T G015 tyres - apparently these are replacements for G012's.

I also purchased a Synergy 2A and a Pierburg MAF and managed to get that fitted too. I still need to neaten it up a bit by cable tying everything in place, but I just jammed everything so it was semi-secure whilst I took it for a test drive.

Bloody hell ! I had it set to 2 (High torque/Medium power), and blasted up the dual carriageway, pulled over and set it to 9 (High Torque/High power) and came back, flying past just about everything. I think 2 might be where I keep it.

It wasn't particularly difficult to fit, but I didn't fully understand the instructions at first, and couldn't work out where the sensor (fuel rail?) was exactly from the supplied diagrams. Once I'd sussed that out, it was easy, just need to tie the cables away from anything hot.

Well chuffed!