Snagging #1

Over the last week, I’ve done some snagging around the vehicle and finished a few pieces off.

A few mechanical checks have been carried out as part of this including torquing down all the steering and suspension components to the correct setting. I’m not happy with the timing of the engine so that’ll need to be looked at…. again.

One thing I can’t do is adjust the headlights to the correct pattern. I’ve done it a long time ago in the UK against the garage door with some chalk and string but I can’t get far enough away for the door these days without blocking the footway. I’ll have to get this done when I take the vehicle for a preliminary inspection at the local classic car garage.

So, what have I been up to?

Maglite

I’ve always had one of these in a Landy. Very handy… in a Landy.  I’d had the same one since I was 14 until some light-fingered individual at a Land Rover “restoration” firm in the UK took a shine to it. (an entire Fairy Overdrive also went missing)… Technology has moved on since 1988 and the new Maglite gives a great light from a low-wattage LED lamp.

Overdrive gear lever

Something that had been bugging me for a while was the shiny stainless steel overdrive gear lever. With the other 3 gear levers in the cab all in black the overdrive lever looked out of place. Looks a lot better as a matching set.

 

 

 

 

There should be a small sticker on the top of the overdrive gear knob showing the direction of engagement. This was missing in the kit. I emailed Rocky Mountain last night in Canada and had a reply this morning telling me a sticker was in the post. Top customer service.

Update: 21.03.18

An envelope arrived from Vancouver at the weekend containing not one, but two, OD level stickers and some advertising for the rear end of the vehicle.

 

Near side wing respray

The finish on the near side wing was not my best work. There were huge runs in the paint. I should have done something about it at the time but didn’t. I decided to spray the wing in-situ rather than removing the whole wing assembly. The top and front panel are OK and if I’m honest, it was a lot easier to rub back with the face of the wing fixe securely . When its off the vehicle, its not particularly rigid… or easy to handle.

The surface was rubbed down with wet and dry. This took about an hour but at least the surface was reasonably smooth. The masking took less time than I thought though. It’s handy the face of the wing has a joint all the way round for the edge for the masking paper.

Well, I ended up doing it twice as I got the settings wrong on the spray gun and the paint ran… too much paint laid down. Think of it like an avalanche. Slowly the snow builds up until it cant support it’s own weight and…. woomph. Same with paint… Probably. As the paint was still wet, I wiped it all off and did it again. This was a bit annoying as I’d cleaned the packed away the spray gun when I found the run.

 

 

Fire extinguisher

One thing I hope not to use…. I’m pretty sure LGL isn’t going to burst into flames but you never know who you might be able to help. My father used to relate a tale of driving home from work in stop start traffic in Birmingham (UK) where we lived and a shop owner coming running after him with a fire extinguisher… He’d seen the flames licking out of the rear wheel arch. I don’t recall what caused the fire but do recall an enormous red Chubb fire extinguisher was carried in the boot from then on. It was a Ford Zephyr by the way.