Team Idris - Range Rover Based Trialer

[teamidris]

Minor jobs from the last event to the next one at Broseley;

New bolts in left hand rear radious arm at chassis (three bolts, now with nylock nuts)
There's a screw on the throttle pedal to change the tickover. Its worked well, but was quite a reach. Its now a 4" long 6mm screw with a plastic knob on the end. Great for that extra bit of charging when veiwing the next punch.
Alternator regulator removed and old one put back in, as new one did not achieve the voltage it said it would (14.8V)
Control box moved (Rear winch switch / diff lock) so I can see it, which should have been obvious upon original fitting
Second Britpart starter motor fitted. (Lucas still spread over terrys garage and van )
Steering damper nearly fitted, but gave up pending more parts Gwyn Lewis was extremely helpful in pointing us toward a solution.

I wonder if it will work okay Sunday..........

Do we care? Nah, as long as nobody gets hurt, we have a good time!

[teamidris]

Nice steady event that

Only used the rear winch once! 'Sliding Hawse' a couple of times, never used top pulley (for leaning motor over), never used wafle boards, got all but one punch
Because traction was amazing. This local clay swings between greecy and dusty, but last weekend its was thick putty, which is really grippy

Stainless steel brake pistons arrive next week ready for a UK bank holiday session. Also got some new front pads and a gallon of brake fluid

And the modifications made before we went?
All worked well. I think the rule is that every control, light and switch should be easily visible at a glance. (obvious really, but never quite happens in Dawinian build).
So the winch pressure gauge should be just next to the winch mirror's line of sight. It can be a different distance, as re-focus is pretty quick on us apes

[teamidris]

Brake pistons arrived later than expected. Finally got second caliper built up and fitted today. Old calipers going in scrap as they look nasty from any angle and have taken some abuse from rusty pistons.
Them steel rings are hard work. I filed the sharp edges off them to help the fitting. Then pushed them in part way, put dust seals in, and pushed rings in all the way. Much easier
Bleeding also went well.

Last weekend we went to watch the winch challenge event at Wrexham Uk with 'Buxton and District' club. Forgot camera, but saw some abusive off roading
Also, how to put a LHD swivel housing on a landy axel and use it with the original RHD to fit two single acting hydraulic rams anchored to the diff case for hydro steer. Very neat!

[teamidris]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7xCELcItFs

Some footage

(while its up, cause you know what youtube's like)

[teamidris]

We have a photo shoot in a couple of weeks, so its all panick here. I wish I had the energy of HOFS But I havn't so its;

If its standing still paint it,
if it moves greece it!

then paint it

then have a rest


Wigley paint job is going, in some cases with a disk sander. Then on with fresh Einshal Zwart, which is silk black tractor paint in English. Its going on top of matt black acid etch chassis paint. New shiny sliding hawse
The front wing now has a lot of filler, so first challenge event I expect it will go off like shrapnel

[teamidris]

He we are in our new team shirts And the truck after two weekends of cleaning and painting!





Vitara bloke had an excellent day. We lowered him into a bomb hole on the front hydraulic winch so the photographer could get some good shots. Then he winched himself through on his own front electric. This winch had been on his motor a week, and got a good testing. He should be well pleased with the performance of vit and winch, and by the grin on his face, he was!
There was also a 6cyl wrangler which took a righ caning (I was waiting for the drive train bang) Them trucks are tough

[Mook]

[teamidris]

Aye up! Where's me thread moved to...

If I add this new bit, it will appear at the top of somewhere?

And if it doesn't...

No one will read this

[teamidris]

Oh My Goodness, we've been harmogonised

How did that happen, why, where, what

Will the postman still be able to find my house?
Is this a deception to hide my thread from the authorities? Should I re-paint my offroader to continue this theme?

No, not painting it again. One every 15 years is enough for anyone

And on a different tack;
Charity event 'cars in the park' at lichfield, Staffs, UK this weekend if anyone is into old cars and Midland Off Road Club being silly once an hour
I took the S1 last year, and that was very silly, so I'm taking the beast which is better for falling off artic trailers (S1 has no belts and is soft top).

[paul_c]

If it helps.....I was able to find it and read the latest updates!

[mudplugga]

I can remember you and Rosie trialing the Beast at Trisant and a few other place with the Mid Wales Club many years ago, when it was a fairly "normal" hybrid.

Bloody hell Steve, you've done some work on the old thing!

Great job though, and you always think outside the box. I like that.

[teamidris]

And more mods to do Dave

Too 'outside the box' sometimes. Those tractor eyes have proved enough of a lever to rip the back of the cross member out on the right hand side So 9" time

The same drivers seat from 'way back then' looked a bit crooked last night. I thought it was the SK seat base/frame, but its the internal seat frame that has given out.

Rear caliper must of been jelous of the fronts having Zeus pistons fitted, so its started weeping in an attention seeking ploy.

Not the only one with problems though, as both portal machines were having some problems. But one was a fresh build, so it was a good shake down.

Geoff's nearly standard Vitara was great all weekend



I really want to get into Wales for Mid Wales Offroad Club trial, but I'm doing really rubbish at the achiving part

[teamidris]

http://midlandoffroadclub.co.uk/Forum/download/file.php?id=91

[teamidris]

http://www.youtube.com/user/redrodant#p/a/u/1/q0KUszeNEmw

As you can hear, it has alot of fans running, and the one in the bonnet is very noisy

They say that all in, Midland Offroad Club raised £700 for charity, so an excellent and productive weekend

[teamidris]

The damage to the rear seems to be due to the springs giving up on the back. This had dropped the rear cross meber nearer the 'action'. They are entitled to be stuffed, as I believe they could easily be 1973 originals
Like so many things, this has crept up gradually, but measuring shows the back to be down by 2.5" over the front. Photo's show the old ride height to be greater.
Flex is excellent as it always has been. So which spring to buy to get the same effect
http://www.members.shaw.ca/jbarge/springinfo.html

Standard RRC are 16.2" long with 196 lb/inch rating.
Lets say the old are full of stress cracks, so 150 lb/inch is nearer their hayday.

So I'm thinking maybe Bearmach BA2105 17.2" & 194 lb/inch Disco rear. (sounds too hard)

Or something much lighter, like 140 to 160 lb/inch thats 2" longer than normal.

Or just a NRC2119 @ 16.13" 150lb/inch?
(listed at crad's as light duty rear or heavy duty front. At £11 nearly worth buying them just to see if they look right )


Any thoughts fellow builders?



In the mean time, I'll continue feeding 0.8mm mig wire into the rear crossmember (and maybe cut the drivers side floor out)

[clbarclay]

[teamidris]

I recon a lot lighter than a standard rangy. The back is a lot shorter, and the rear winch is mid-mount. But there are two batteries back there? So lets say a tiny bit heavier than a 90, as the whole machine is 1800kg without recovery gear.
So 150 lb/in sounds more like the target then.

Thanks for the spring offer, but I'm in Rugeley, so too far to nip to collect

I thought about another 3rd spring, but the rad is over the axel. Its all a bit tight back there. We also thought about hydraulic, which could sort it all out (but not really a 'now' solution, as it will take some figuring )

What I supect is going to happen is that I have to buy some springs and see how they go But the more info I can find from other off roaders, the better chance I have of a good guess

[teamidris]

Research led me to Gwyn Lewis, and he thinks 194/438mm bearmach, so there's two of those coming.
I would have liked OME off him, but thats a good price for the right spring, and a high price for the wrong ones

Wish me luck

And a mate at work is pressing some strengthening ribs into the new floor sheet. Should look excellent!

[teamidris]

New floor was welded in this morning and looks very smart with the strengthening ribs. No point in a photo, it looks like a floor

That just leaves the seat. Its not cheap, so it's going to be ordered with vinyl covering and a powder coated seat frame just to make it more expensive . It seemed silly to splash out cash an Fia approved seat, if in a few years the frame is rotten through! The old one had vital parts of its steel frame completely missing from the damp held in the foam. Nasty!

But new seat has side bolts, so here we go with another fabrication extravaganzer for what could have been a simple enough job

And springs have arrived and one's fitted. Now it looks level
Just got to wiggle in and do the side thats up against the garage wall....

[clbarclay]

This has got to be the first vehicle I've seen with a dedicated recovery point under the floor. Makes a lot of sense if there isn't something convienient to loop a strop round.

[parrotveasey81]

just got tor and see that your truck is init next month,cant wait to see what they say,nice one

ps how do you get your truck in the mag

[teamidris]

YES

"cant wait to see what they say,nice one"
I'm nervous
I shouldn't be. A lot of work went into it. And there ought to be some cracking photo's, as the three motors were there all day. We got the beast to drag itself through a long mud hole with a big wodge of mud pushed infront!

How; I wrote and asked, but the lad with the Vitara was invited to the shoot. TOR attend events here and there to drum up trade.

Chassis hooks- Seem a bit excessive, but are really good. When you roll heavy you suffer some disorientation, (I did, but went right over the top) so messing with shackles and stuff is hard work. Plus time is ticking when all the oils are looking for alternative places to live
A 5 star TeamIdris recomendation on this mod

[teamidris]

Terry had his lap belt on, before you all start!
(cause that bank went down another 40 ft )

Diff locks are brilliant No amount of articulation will let you drive out of that !
And before you start arguing, I can see daylight below the rear right hand bump stop, so the back axel is still flat to the body
Yeh, I can't work that one out either

Anyway, not sure if the mod's on here will let it stay, as it says TOR on the top, so I'll stick it on the team idris web site when I get five minutes

[teamidris]

Good news, I think?

Got me new Cobra monaco pro seat monday, with powder coated frame in black vinyl But with side mounts I knew it was coming with side mounts, so no suprise.
So monday night I know I'm in for some work, because the old seat had four base bolts. I was expecting to CAD draw, stamp and fold a new base, which in turn, means asking a work favour (worth many beer tokens ). But low and behold, the seat has side and base mounts, and the base positions look to be the same as the old ones

Initial reports show two seats that match looks way more professional

[Orangev8]

[teamidris]

We finally got the truck out for a video session
And got my brother to stand on the bonnet with a camera on tripod to get a nice overview of the winch with the engine at 2500rpm.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enFxPdZhZWM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umh4TgP9zqA

Next job is film editing so close up and normal shots come together in one video clip

And the power steering pump does not sound well
It sounds better when reved, so not cavitation. Maybe internal bearing?

[Stal1878]

How did you wire up the rev counter to the RV8(Thats what you've got?) The rangy we got the engine out of didn't have one so I've no idea how to connect one up...

Nice vids btw

[teamidris]

Thanks It seems a lot of work to drag it around the villages just to do youtube, but it was fun And Dave had a go (bro) and didn't put it through the hedge (On play days I prefer not to watch him )

Rev counter
Ooh, er. Can't remember if its in line or just live pulse? Live pulse is just a wire to the points line, or in-line runs that wire through the rev-counter. Between coil and points is the only clean signal wire.
Our ignition amplifier gets in the way somehow, so I imagine I went in just after the coil But what if the coil 'back emf' eats the rev-counter? I know there is an earth and two feeds; one for power and one for multicoloured back light (it used to change colour as you went along due to loose wire). I'll do my best to find the wiring diagram, which should be in the event file.

[Stal1878]

Thanks for your help

He isn't that bad is he?
Would be cool to get some vids of you winching yourself out of places!

[teamidris]

There's this one, before we got decent front tyres;
http://www.youtube.com/user/redrodant#p/u/21/v7xCELcItFs
But song is a bit naughty . Some other good stuff on Redrodent channel (Dave Ellard of MOC)

He is A bloke comes up to me and says "I just saw this motor coming sideways down a steep bank". Yeh, mate, that'll be the one I told him not to try and drive down, let alone up