Ownership Verified: I'll have some off - 1990 Land Rover Discovery Bobtail

As of today I have a clutch again. Two weeks and one part that doesn't fit isn't too bad.

These are the nasty parts I removed:



I bought an AP Lockheed master and slave cylinder pair for a 200tdi, as that's what this is. I was aware that the slave cylinder might not be a perfect match, as it's connected to the later R380 gearbox. Cylinder arrived and it fitted fine, so we went back to bleeding. Lots of air came out and we got clear fluid but didn't get a firm clutch pedal. Conclusion at the time was that this cylinder was too short or the pushrod to the clutch fork was too short. The pushrod I had was already the longer of the two types, so I assumed it must be the cylinder. If you know how clutch slave cylinders work, this might be ringing alarm bells.

I ordered a 300tdi cylinder and went to fit that this morning, only to find that the pipe union threads are completely different. I half expected this. We went back to trying to work out what was going on and started by removing the rubber end boot and looking at the bore of the slave cylinder.

I don't have any pictures to demonstrate this, but we saw that there is nothing retaining the piston in the bore. Maybe I should've known this. It meant that there's no way the pushrod or cylinder could be too short, as the piston would just pop out of the cylinder if it was. As that hadn't happened, the combination was long enough and/or there wasn't enough pressure behind the piston. We suspected that the master might be wrong for a while and I checked over the pedal linkage to make sure I didn't make that terrible of mistakes and get the wrong hole. I didn't, there's only one.

The only was that there must just be more air in the system. I slackened the slave cylinder bolts a hair so I could see when it had pressure and we went back to bleeding. A load more air came out that must've been trapped before and then we finally got a pedal. It doesn't feel quite right but as both cylinders are new I'm not surprised that there's a different feel, but it's smooth and the bite point is at the right position.

So Bob is back on the road again, until the next mechanical failure. Any bets? :LOL:
 
Last edited:
I took part in a parade of Land Rovers today to mark the 75th anniversary of Land Rover. With the whole clutch situation I didn't think I would actually be able to join, but I could. Something like 400 cars.

Of course, I had the dashcam running for it. I would definitely recommend 2x speed for this.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_rLlwf3J6k
 
  • Like
Reactions: lip
Not a whole lot has happened with Stubbier Bob over the summer, being a biscuit tin on wheels it's a bit hot for summer driving. I did get my drone though and test out the follow capabilities.

View: https://youtu.be/K-gL5DzhI4I
Then at the weekend I wanted to test its ability to fly static like a tripod, I was very pleased with the results.

View: https://youtu.be/En_YxmV0qhQ
Nothing has broken so I have nothing to fix, the MOT is coming soon though so I need to re-paint the floors inside.

I also need to get around to wiring in the switch that cuts out the dual battery connection when the engine isn't running. The second battery was constantly robbing the power from the solar panel, intended for the main battery. For now I've just been switching it manually. That combined with the need to wire up the winch isolators at some point gives me a good excuse to buy a set of hydraulic crimpers.
 
Floors painted. They were a bit scabby but not terrible, I just didn't want to have MOT issues on something as silly. I slapped on some rust killer I had in the shed, then added some rust reformer primer. Then I got some stone chip instead of the normal truck bed liner, not sure if I like it more or less.

I focused on the seams and when sprayed close this stuff seems to act a bit like cavity wax, bubbling up and hopefully getting into the gaps. I wasn't too worried about the texture.






There was a small hole on the drivers side that I filled with the equivalent of JB Weld, you won't be able to point it out. By the time it goes in for the MOT there should be muddy boot prints to make this all blend in better.
 
I got started on 'weathering' the new paint yesterday. I had a couple of bottles of Forte special sauce to see if I could perk up the engine a bit so that was as good an excuse to go for a drive as any.



I put them both in to around 19 litres of diesel and definitely drove enough for a good amount to be run through the engine. I'm not sure if I can detect any differences, although that also means the cleaners haven't had a bad effect on the engine. I didn't smell any burning oil when the engine was hot, so maybe that's a good sign. Will run it some more before putting fresh diesel in.

I hadn't take a photo of the truck for six months, so here it is...



...just before getting a big free car wash in my favourite puddles.


View: https://youtu.be/ICHDRjVImmA
Anyway, the wheels still look too small. I'd really like a set of these 35" Nitto Mud Grapplers.
1696262664753.png


Ideally on a set of these 5-spoke wheels.
1696262753677.png
 
CraigB said:
What is the bolt circle on these? I've never looked into it, but they always look big, like over 5.5".
Click to expand...

It's actually 6.5" on these, smaller on the Disco 2, Freelander and anything newer that isn't old Defender.
 
CraigB said:
5 on 6.5"? Holy crap, I always thought it was large, but goodness.
Click to expand...

It's the same bolt pattern from the 1940s, you wouldn't expect Rover or BL... or BMW... or Ford... to change it, would you? :p
 
It rained a lot in the last couple of days and there were lots of flooded roads, so obviously I took the chance to play. I knew the road I've been using as a free car wash would be as wet as it'll ever be, so took the drone to get some tracking shots. First pass went well but it messed up on the second pass. I would've gone back and done it again but there were people walking and they probably didn't want one or more free showers. Still, not bad.


View: https://youtu.be/ZlyfE8Rt_WM
Also the indicator/headlight stalk has gone a bit floppy, the latching for the high beam on/off push and the spring for pull flash has gone all limp. The entire thing just unclips and can be easily removed, which is nice, and the replacement is only £33.

1698015095892.png
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top