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Great White replaces Lil Blue

Chris

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Well fellas, I am sitting here entering a new chapter. And, if I am honest, feeling a little vulnerable, apprehensive and not just a little scared.
I have bought my first 80 and whilst I know cars, it's been a long time since I bought something like this. OK let's run through it. It is NOT perfect, or immaculate and has definitely been tickled up here and there in the past to what actually looks like a good standard. But there are some initial issues to chuck out there for some reassurance if you will. This probably doesn't belong in Your Garage - but it's a multi-purpose posting.
Here we go:

IMG00075-20100505-1605.jpg

The tyres are fine, but the white lettering looks horrible. Time to black those out.
IMG00076-20100505-1605.jpg

Yep, rear wiper doesn't work.
By way of evidence, Phil very kindly let me have all the scrap parts that he'd replaced. Hmm, plant pots perhaps?
IMG00077-20100505-1606.jpg

It's not bad inside. Rear seats are battered, well they will be when they land in the council tip!. Seats worn through, but seat covers will fix that. All electric motors work. Needs a seat belt, looking a bit worn. The last person was a farmer and I suspect that getting in and out to open gates has probably hastened the seat bolster and seat belt on their way.
IMG00078-20100505-1607.jpg

Not sure what this bit is called - err enjin? Anyway, one new battery one one out of a kitchen clock judging by the size of it. It starts fine, but with the little one on the right, it sometimes doesn't seem to fire the starter quite so solidly. It had pretty clean oil in it. Air filter clean. Auto oil smelled clean. Rad needs flushing and doing properly. The aircon pump has been robbed off it. Last bloke had two cruisers. Hmm, spanner magpies I think.

IMG00079-20100505-1618.jpg

OK, no then - what the hell should be on the end of this pipe going to the airbox - I can't find any EGR valve anywhere. There are a few bits of hose which I don't think are original!
IMG00080-20100505-1631.jpg

Now, when it's idling, the engine sounds smooth but it sort of bobbles a bit like it has a shagged engine mounting. It disappears when you raise the revs very slightly, but there is a sort of harmonic sets up when it drops back down and the engine rocks a bit. The engine note does not change at all.

Not this is a problem, the wiper arm seems to have come off its giggle pin. The result is that it flails around and bashes the scuttle. In my view, this was not grounds for a funeral. The whole assembly could be replaced by Steff or Carl I am sure. It may be a weld here or there or a missing bolt. But hardly terminal. please tell me I am not wrong.
IMG00081-20100505-1634.jpg

OK odd shot of general underside condition. There was nothing at the back end that gave me ANY cause for concern at all. Oh, other then the spare wheel is missing. Sorted from Carl.
IMG00082-20100505-1635.jpg

Here is the nearside swivel which looks good to me
IMG00083-20100505-1635.jpg

and the off side which looks a little oily rather than greasy - I dunno. But it looks clean unlike the cannon balls that I have been looking at all month.
The CVs have no clicking at all!!!!! OK BEBs will want doing asap, I know. Might be that a rebuild of the CVs is in order but just in terms of a 'freshen up and new seals maybe?
IMG00084-20100505-1635.jpg


It's had two new discs and calipers so I think that I shall have a full look see on the brakes myslef as a matter of course.
Sunroof works perfectly
Central locking works
Doors all close and shut lines look good
MOT history confirms mileage
Bottom leading edges of doors a little flaky inside
Diff locks all work within 1 yard of movement
Auto box seems alright to me
ABS light is on - err help
Aerial broken off motor working
Small leak of oil underneath spreading down the chassis drive train etc. Will have to find. Not dripping - just looks like not much spread a long way
Brakes pull very slightly to one side - I can sort that.
Steering positive, no wobble at all, no 'Eeeech' on lock to lock
Bit sooty when revved up. Other that I have looked at have seemed sweeter - but with all those damn pipes, it may be something there.
Lights all fine
Fag lighter missing
CD player
Has after market cruise control - with broken wire - so another job for the list.

OK that'll do for now. Hit me guys! But be gentle. Still slightly nervous.

Chris
 
well done on your new purchase! it does look good in white doesnt it :cool:

Just to let you know before you start pulling your hair out, the 12 valve never came with egr.

Other then that it looks like you can get through that list of faults relatively easily and you got a decent 80

BTW its time to update your sig ;)
 
Chris, it looks like a good base vehicle. I was thinking the other day when driving back down with Lil Blue that you hade nothing to spend all your spare time on and how bored you were going to be...... :lol:

You now have something new to work on and get back up to scratch, I am sure nothing in that list is beyond you, as long as there is no soldering :twisted:

Enjoy it and in a few yeas time look me up when you want to get shot of it :roll:
 
so where do you want to go with this one chris? will it have a 4" lift with 2" body lift and 37" simex tyres? or will you settle for 33" muds on a 2" lift?
 
Looks quite clean and tidy.
The wipers are a replacement of the whole assy, easy job, i bought a whole genuine one but i think it was £150, you do get quite a bit for your money though.
 
Congrats. Nice looking 80 you have there. I call dibs on when he finishes kitting it out and wants to sell it for something else ;)

There are so many white 80s, 90s and 120's here in SA - they do look good in white.
 
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Well done Chris, taken the plunge at last :cool: IIRC the pipe from your airbox that you asked about should be connected to the pipe coming off the rocker cover. Where does that pipe off the rocker cover go at the moment because if it's open to air that could be your oil leak as it's a crank case breather. If it has a catch can on the end then maybe it's overflowing!
 
Well done Chris - looks a tidy purchase from here mate, nice one.

The 'L' reg makes it a '94 then? Good vintage buddy.

I'll try & post you a pic of my engine later for ha has, seem to have a virus attacking me at the moment so clear the forum...
 
Many congrats on finally landing the big one!! :mrgreen:
Dig the whitewall on the left rear :lol:

Yes, it looks like you have a dodgy axle oil seal on one of the hubs. Oil streaks all over the tyre kinda give that one away! I think to be fair, you're probably going to want to base-line the truck and opening those knuckles and inspecting the inner oil seals, CVs etc will be part of the deal anyway. It might be worth buying a cheap Iezura CV (£50) in advance and possibly a couple of trunnion bearings (£10 a throw) along with new seals, just in case you find something needing replacing when you get in there. I guess if I'm going to be long-winded and start listing useful parts for the front axle, you might want some steering knuckle studs too as they can be a bit weak or just fall out. Those parts will see you good for the time being until you want to start going extreme and beefing up CVs etc :twisted: You might not need the CV but you can carry it as a spare then. You WILL end up needing trunnion bearings at some point, so again a useful spare to have.

The ABS light might be a dirty sensor in the knuckle. Hopefully it's not a broken wire somewhere as I "think" that might mean a new ABS wiring set....which is not particularly inexpensive.

Oil leak might be the power-steering pump - Mr T's salute to LR, they all seem to weep a tad on 80s. :roll: Unlikely to be serious or urgent if it is this.

Looking forward to all the upgrading about to commence :cool:

Cheers,
 
Your comment about the starter could mean the solenoid contacts and plunger need replacing Chris which would be good PM anyway. I would also plan to have a peep at the timing belt to check that looks ok.
 
The 80 does look great in White.

Good luck.
 
Thanks Boys, all sounds like sensible stuff to me. Still don't quite get the front hub stuff. I need to take one apart and see for myself. All seems to function well down there though at the moment.
I have reconnected the rocker cover blow by pipe to the airbox. Idle is smoother. I traced the other end of the rogue pipe. It went almost all the way down the chassis and was terminated by simply poking it through a hole INTO the chassis rail. Some of the oil under there is definitely that which has then leaked out of the various drain holes. WTF?

Felling a little happier. Had a blast about in it. Seems good if a little smokey. But - first job is most certainly brakes. OK, new calipers and discs, but they are not set up right. Nearly put me through a wall when I stood on them. ABS not working as we know.

My plan (he says confidently) is to get it straight to start with. So all the bits and bobs before any mods. I need to be sure about it before I spend money and cut holes in it. If it's then top notch then I can always sell it pretty much for what I paid, I would think. It's pretty good now, but a bit of work then it should pass any inspection. Then

ARB winch bumper
Goldfish 12 winch
Snorker
OME or similar springs and dampers
African Outback drawers
Hanibal rack
Roof tent
Custom rear bumper with winch
Better but only slightly bigger rubber
VIAIR system

That should do for starters :D :D :D :D

Chris
 
I found that the best way to understand the whole front axle business was to study all the writeups closely and then just attempt it. Most of my questions were answered then. Just make sure that you have a full rebuild kit including oil seals and bearing washers and possibly some bearings and a cv (depending on how long it can be off the road) before you start

blow by pipe into the chasis :?
 
:lol: that's one way of treating the inside of the chassis with old engine oil! I don't know how it will compare to your 90 but they are quite a smokey engine.

You know what to check with the brakes but 80's also have a load sensing valve at the rear that needs to be set right. The hubs / swivels will make sense when you get to them like Rob said.

For the ABS, is the light on? You can get the ABS ECU to tell you what it thinks is wrong and go from there. Could be a sensor gone bad, could be a wire fault. If it's a wire fault, there's nothing electricaly special about the ABS wires they just have thick casing to protect them and I have patched them up before now without any problems.
 
90 has LSV too Jon. As to the ABS, the seller has replaced several brake parts and my have bashed a sensor, cut a wire or removed it completely. Who knows until I get under there at the weekend. Still unsure about the engine idle wobble.

Will go through axle tutorials again then work up a parts list. But as I said, it all seems good down there in the main and not my first priority. BEBs have to figure quite highly I guess. Never done those with an engine in situ.

Chris
 
Rob said:
well done on your new purchase! it does look good in white doesnt it :cool:

BTW its time to update your sig ;)
White and Virginal?? :lol: :lol:
 
It seems to be Jon. Engine is running fine, but when idling you can see that it starts to set up a sort of 'imbalance' that gradually builds until the engine rocks. Raise the revs it goes away immediately. Then after 20 secs or so, it gradually starts until its wobbling again. Now as I have said, the engine note does not change at all. It does seem that the RH engine mount is very 'flexible' and seems to allow the engine to bounce. It's enough to rack the car gently when sitting in it. Since plugging the breather back in, the idle has raised very slightly and it doesn't rock quite as much. Tick over is about 800 rpm or a bit less.

If your eyes were shut, you would not know that it was happening whilst looking under the bonnet. The rear coils have spring assisters in them and it has a mammoth towbar on there. I suspect that he's been pulling big trailers with it. This may have lead to straining the engine mount on set off. just a thought.

Chris
 
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