Anglesey - The Road North

Sunday afternoon, the packing was done, the rain was falling and we were ready for off.

Our first impressions were how much nicer it was with the noise proofing, the second was we were getting wet ! The rain was coming in from around the windscreen and dropping onto us. There was nothing we could do about it so we simply moved anything that could get damaged and continued.

The next sensation was we'd stopped moving forwards... Not a technical problem, simply that we'd reached Builth Wells and although the Royal Welsh Show didn't start until Monday there was still an awful lot of traffic trying to get into the showground and the famous traffic jams were already in full flow

Given the rather un-wonderful weather the scenery in mid Wales had to be described as "disappointing" and we pushed on as fast as we could. Next. we headed towards Snowdonia and once again all of the mountains were cut off at about 200 ft above us and there was nothing to see so we headed on again

We arrived at about 6:30 pm and settled into the Kingsbridge campsite and considered our evening meal. We'd considered eating out to celebrate, but with the weather so bad we settled in for some pasta and we cooked our first meal in Katy. It may not have been Cordon Bleu, but it tasted fantastic to me !

A wonderfully successful day on what we hoped would be be our first successful adventure since the Gearbox disaster

Soundproofing and Heatproofing the Transmission

Last time we took Katy for a ride the overriding feeling of joy was slightly marred by the sound and warmth coming up from the transmission tunnel

So today';s project was to heatproof and soundproof the transmission tunnel. The starting point was a real old mix of  rubber mats carpet and plastic trim (presumably from the Discovery donor vehicle that provided the original replacement gearbox. It was all a right mess and needed to come out and be cleaned and replaced where possible

Then it was out with all the old and in with a load of sealant over all the gaps where panels were not fastened together well. Then, as with all jobs on Katy so far, nothing is entirely straightforward and the passenger side of the transmission tunnel was not fitted well to the foot well plates so the first thing we had to do was fix a strengthening plate across the screw fittings and seal up all the holes that could let water in.

l and then this shiny new heatproof and soundproof foam which we got of eBay.
 

The description that came with it was: -

1) Light Weight

2) Heat Insulation ( helps to keep the vehicle warm inside - thanks to the foil membrane ).
3) Sound Insulation ( Ideal to limit engine and road noise )
4) Waterproof ( The rubber is closed cell and so does not absorb water like a sponge - I think this is really important as we still have a lot of leaks)
5) Flame retardant
6) Interior or Exterior use ( Can be used in under bonnet applications )
7) Odor Free ( no horrible rubbery smell )
8) Self adhesive ( peel off backing sheet )
9) Easy to cut and form
10) 10mm thick

If you are interested click here  it was very easy to work with so I'm happy to give it a plug

And then over it all went some tidy carpet to finish the look and make the cabin a whole lot nicer place to be.

This should probably be specialist car carpet, but it's an off cut from the local carpet store which cost less than £5.00 and I still have enough to replace it a dozen times if I need to

I cut down the plastic surrounds as much as I could. I may look for a better solution, but probably need to see a few people's work to get some ideas

We did have to make some adjustments to the bulkhead rubber matting to get it to fit back in place properly because the new foam and carpet mix is about 10mm thicker than the old matting we took up, it took about 5 minutes with a Stanley Knife to get it fitting right.

The job isn't quite finished as we could only get brown foam to seal the gear lever plate so we need to get some coloured foam or plastic to complete the job (or find a proper new replacement part), and the foot wells need doing (but there's a leak to find and plug before I want to put carpet on the floor, even if the foam is closed cell) but it's another step towards having our adventures in comfort

Carpet Shopping

Noise proofing is the next step forwards

The trouble is that the transmission tunnel in Katy is a real mess of parts taken from donor vehicles and then by the look of it hammered into place, and the plastic clips that should hold the gear lever gaiters have suffered in this, but I'm not sure what of the items available to purchase will fit because of all these mods. So I don't think that any of the kits I can buy will work out of the box.

Therefore we've been shopping today and we are now the owners of some heatproof noise proofing rubber matting and also some real wool berber carpet to put over that. I'm going to try extra strength Velcro to hold the gear lever gaiters in place as most of the plastic clips are broken

All of this should make quite a difference when it's all fitted properly ... IF I can get it to that is

I see many hours with a craft knife and double sided tape ahead

Katy's on the road again

With new gear and transfer boxes in place and working well and making Katy more driveable I think todays shakedown cruise to Pwll Du and back deserves a song in our hearts, and as I'm no good at singing, With due deference to Manfred Mann, Here it is ...

Katy's on the road again
Wearin' different gears again
Katy's turning propshafts round
To keep her tyres clean
All her fuel is flowing again
Her gear's as good as gold again
Sez if you see Rhian now ask her please to sit in me

Rhian and I we moved along
Since the day - down in the hollow
When the mind went driftin' on
And the wheels were soon to follow

Katy's on the road again
Wearin' different gears again
Katy's turning propshafts round
To keep her tyres clean
All her fuel is flowing again
Her gear's as good as gold again
Sez if you see Rhian now ask her please to sit in me

Downtown in the big town
Gonna set you back on your heels
With a camper full of memories
And a lot of stickers for my windshield
Shut the door, Cut the light
Katy won't be home tonight
You can wait till the dawn rolls in
You won't see our Katy again

What a Difference Some Gears Makes

SUCCESS !

What a difference !

I went up to do the final bits today and all is now completed. Including fitting all the  interior back and finding the air leak into the fuel system and having replaced a section of fuel pipe.

Steve found a piece of metal fuel pipe that would go inside the rubbine one and we could luse jubille clips to get a good seal . That was fun as I had to cut into the fuel pipe with a full tank of diesel and splice in a section. No matter how I tried I wasn't going to win and I ended up standing under a Diesel shower.whilst I got the new pipe in and tightened up the joints

Just as we were about to finish Rhian turned up with some rather wonderful fresh egg sarnies made with the output of the Walford hens. A few more minutes and some help from Phil (Rhian's dad) sorting out the airlocks that I had created in emptying the pipes (I learned an new trick of loosening injector number one and letting the air bubble out) and and we moved from a stationary hulk to the sound of a rumbling 300Tdi once more.

So here she is ready for the off.. .

And what the doors look like up close... 

Never mind that I've got a boiler suit on.


At that point I was able to start her up, engage reverse without it jumping out again, and back her out of the garage and do a quick back and forwards up and down the drive.

So a few more jobs it was out for a test drive of Katy with her new gearboxes today and I have to say that the sound and performance were superb !

Gear changes are now positive and the take up has no massive clunk, the sound of cruising is a simple high pitched gearbox wine and the speed up hills is maintained much better

I have to admit that I would never have been here had I not had Steve, Phil and Dan helping along the way but the pleasure I have had in doing much of the work myself is significant and I now feel that I will be able to show my face at land rover events and say with some confidence that I understand how they work and I can even show a few bumps and bruises for a while to prove that I have really been doing the work myself

It's not all done. There are jobs that need looking at again such as the reversing lights which need a connector that Bearmach were not able to supply and of course a complete clean inside and out before anyone is allowed to go in with nice clothes

Gearbox Refitting - Part 3

Another fruitful session today

Both propshafts are now back and most of the wiring and linkages are back in place as well.
 

Prior to refitting the rear propshaft Steve recommended that we refurbished the transmission brake because as he said "Any problem we find now will take 10 minutes and it will take an hour later".

Two of the linkages were a bit stiff so Steve knocked out the pins and we cleaned them up with some sandpaper and applied grease and now it's moving easily. A good clean of everything inside with brake cleaner and everything is all silky smooth and should last a good while

Also I popped into what is fast becoming my local corner shop (Bearmach) and picked up some air filter mounting bushes so they've been replaced and things should be quite a bit less rattly under the bonnet as you can see

There's a lot of interior to refit and an AWFUL lot of cleaning needed before the Mrs will let us use it as a camper again, but I certainly feel that we're on the home straight and getting ready for proper adventures.
So What have I learned in all of this ?

1. Unless you know what you are doing get a reconditioned unit - with that amount of work you don't want to risk having to do it again - this is especially the case if you are paying to have it changed, in that case using a second hand one seems false economy
2. The flexible rachet spanner set I bought from Halfords haa been invaluable - they are open spanners one end and the rachet on a flexible joint the other - I woudl say a must have bit of kit for anyone's toolbox
3. I need a decent socket set for those things that the spanners are not good at - mine is too small and cheap
4. Lifting the heavy bits could be done by one person, but it would be incredibly hard - you really need 2 people for this part of this job to do it safely
5. Given all that work, Steve was abolsultey right that changing the clutch, fork and slipper pads etc. is a sensible thing to do while you are there
6. Taking the whole transmission tunnel off would maybe have made more sense than the keyhole job we did. (I've read up on this since I did it)
7. Rule one of finding an expert to work with was definitely the right thing to do, if you can find one in a LR club or forum you should. If you can't I wish you luck and hope this is useful
8. Some people may be able to do this in a day, but if you are a newbie like me plan on 3 long and very hard days
9. And lastly, and most important ENJOY IT ! - It's your Land Rover and working on it should be as much fun as driving it. I really enjoyed my time with Steve

Update!

Since writing this I have found that others have found the information useful so I have added a few clarifications.above.

You can find other writeups at these locations
http://www.landroverexpedition.com/technical/replacing-the-gearbox-clutch-and-transfer-box/
http://www.repairmylandrover.co.uk/defender-repairguides/guide-to-defender-propshaft-removal
http://www.expeditionlandrover.info/gear_ratio.htm

Gearbox Refitting - Part 2

ITS BACK !

The gearbox that is - both parts are now in place which is a huge step forwards

However it's not the end of the story and Katy is still immobile as we haven't yet attached the transmission brake and rear propshaft and the front is only held on with 1 bolt

But here it is before being lifted in place and as you can see from the sticker it's a 1:1.410 ratio box not the 1:1.667 one that came out. from the calculations we made using the Ashcroft Transmissions Ratio Calculator which gives us a massive 15% difference of top speed at 3000 rpm - I foresee a lot quieter and more enjoyable motoring to come!

When you put it back it is useful to have it in difflock so you can rotate either of the propshaft takeoff's in order to get the spline from the gearbox lining up. This was a key bit of knowledge from Steve, and something acheived with a pair of molegrips on the selector.

Lifting it was a case of reversing the removal - ropes onto everything we could put them onto (the front and rear propshaft bolts and then lifting from below, whilst also pulling from above, with Steve rotating the gears by turning the propshaft takeoff to get everything engaged.. Just before lifting it Steve applied liquid gasket onto both surfaces so we'd have a good seal when the 2 mated together and then we stated lifting. All went well, there was one last puch needed once the gears were correctly aligned and the whole think slid into place 

As you can see from this one, taken by Dan who turned up just at a useful time to get roped in to helping me lift the transfer box into place, I'm very happy with the situation

The next steps were to start putting the exhaust back in and connect up all the linkages which we managed to do today, and put in the nice new engine mounting bushes which have replaced the old cracked ones.

In putting the exhaust back I was keen to take a good look at why I had ended up with a 2 hole / 3 Hole problem in purchasing a new section and I think the telltale signs of some welding give the game away. the exhaust if not the rest of her is a cut and shut job

There were other successes today. Steve thought I had put the wrong bolt in and when he brought a new one it was identical to the one I had just removed. I must have been paying attention!

Hopefully just one more session to go and it will all be back together and Katy will once more be drivable and we can have some real adventures