Paul's Projects

[Paul#25]

As some of you know I'm working from home now after SAA Technical decided that they didn't need my services anymore.
I'm now doing fabrication work and modification and repairs to equipment. I've got a small lathe for turning jobs like the wheel stud thread protectors the I designed and make. I'll post info and photos of some of the projects I've done in between the jobs I have on the go.

I've just completed two jobs for one of the forum members. The one was to make up adapters so that wind down legs can be used on his overlanding trailer. The second was to fabricate new/better mount bracket for his shower tent. The standard setup is to put bolts through the side of the roof rack bolting the bracket directly to the aluminum extrusion. I made up fittings that clip over the top of the side extrusion allowing you to bolt it to the channel on the top. This is a much stronger method of mounting it. The mounts have spacers to move the shower away from the side of the roof and more in line with the side of the vehicle. The forward mount has a branch deflecor to stop branches getting caught between the tent and the roof rack.

[Mad Manny]

Is this your welding Paul ?

[Paul#25]

Yeah it's a filler weld and the original material had been hot galvanized. Even after grinding down quite a bit it still popped and spat lots of fine bits out. Not as good looking as normal but it's strong.

[Samaya]

The welds look better than my own attempts! Nice

[Paul#25]

Today I tackled the leaking exhaust manifold on the Disco. It was blowing from the front of the #1 port and the back of the #5 port. I started with removing the turbo to get the manifold off. The aircon pump had to come off as well to get to the front 3 nuts. Luckily the nuts weren't over tightened as this is the first time the manifold is coming off. The forward lower stud and the aft upper studs had broken causing the gasket to blow out and the leaks. I had the broken studs professionally removed because I wasn't going to stuff that holes up which would require the head being removed. I found an engineering shop in Germiston that will skim the manifold for me tomorrow. I'll start cleaning everything tomorrow and get all the gaskets I've ordered.

[FWM]

Will you have the webbing of the manifold removed as well?

[Paul#25]

Yes I removed the webs between the outlets after I got it back from the engineering shop. I drilled holes in the corners then cut the bulk of the material out with the bandsaw. Then I machined the rest out with rotary cutters on the air grinder. Final finishing was with a ball shape cutter to get rid of the sharp edges. I've cleaned all the surfaces on the turbo inlet and outlet so tomorrow I'll start cleaning everything under the bonnet.
I've got a Mk1 Madman that I want to install while everything is to pieces as the oil pressure sensor is hidden below the exhaust manifold normally. I must drill and tap the blanking plate from the front end of the manifold for the EGT sensor.
The other part of the repairs is to change the drivebelt tensioner pulley, fit a new belt and change all the filters and oil.

[Woolf]

Please explain the reason for removing he webbing

[Paul#25]

Woolf the reasoning is that the expansion rate of the aluminum head is different to that of the cast iron manifold. When the motor is at a high temperature the manifold doesn't expand enough for that of the head as it's too rigid. The webs between the inlets prevent the manifold from having any flexibility lengthwise and this shears off the two most outer studs. When the studs let go the ends of the manifold bend away from the head allowing the hot gasses to eat away the gasket and blow out between the head and the manifold flange. I'll add a photo of the destroyed gasket and the sheared off bolts later today.

[Paul#25]

Unfortunately I didn't get a lot of actual work done on the Disco today because I was driving around getting all the necessary parts to fit the Madman Mk1 I got a while ago. It was a unit that was removed when the previous owner to upgrade to the Mk3 display so I didn't get any of the sensors. A friend that found the unit for me, got me a new style oil pressure sender unit to go with the box and wiring loom.
I had a look around for the temp sensors and EGT probe I wanted and it worked out best to get them from Madman Distribution which is in Edenvale. I contacted Rui and he had everything in stock so I did an EFT and went to collect. He's got a very nice Defender 90 with a Td5 motor and Disco 2 auto box/ electronics.
The two temperature probes are for water and I've elected to go for the auto gearbox oil temperature. The gearbox oil temperature sensor is supplied with a replacement gearbox filler plug that the temp sensor fits into. For the water temp sensors I've gone with the nylon boss that you you fit in the top water hose between the motor and the radiator. This boss also has the place where connect the low level alarm pickup. I wasn't keen to put screws into the header tank for the low level sensing. For oil pressure I got the T piece adaptor that goes into the goes into the port where the pressure switch normally is. The pressure switch and the new style pressure sensor screw into this adaptor. The EGT sensor is fitted into the blanking plate at the front of the manifold. This puts the the prode right in the flow from the #1 cylinder. The blanking plate had to be drilled and tapped for the fitting that the sensor fits into. My magic book with all the information for machining gives a drill size of 8.4mm for the 1/8 NPT 27 thread. Being a tapered thread it takes patience to tap it to the correct depth for the fitting to fit correctly.
After getting all the bits today didn't get much done. I cleaned all the bits that had been in the corrosion removal solution and installed the EGT probe fitting and the manifold cover plate. As mentioned above it took a while to tap the thread. You can't just turn the tap half a turn back every now and again to break the cutting, you have to screw the tap all the way out then clean everything and lubricate before starting again. When the thread was to the correct size I cleaned it all and screwed in the boss. Because it is stainless steel I used a silver based anti-seize compound on the threads instead of normal copper slip. I then refitted the blanking plate to the manifold.
In the photos below is a photo of the old exhaust gasket with the section missing from the #5 end of the manifold. There are black blowby marks on the opposite end from where #1 was blowing.

[Mad Manny]

Broken manifold studs.
Webbing removal.
Fitting a Madman.

By the God Mithras, I'm glad I bought a Toyota...

[Bugger]

Marshmallow braai.

Sent from my SM-G991B using Tapatalk

[Paul#25]

Broken manifold studs.
Webbing removal.
Fitting a Madman.

By the God Mithras, I'm glad I bought a Toyota...

Manny if you take my costs since I bought the Disco it hasn't costs much. If you compare the R70000 I paid for it to your Toyota's initial costs I'm probably still better off even after the maintenance and repairs I've done.
Most important is that I'm happy with owning and driving the Disco.

[Paul#25]

I'm looking for about a meter long piece of braided fiberglass cable sleeve 6mm in diameter. It's similar to what is used on the wiring to a lambda sensor. I want to protect the oil pressure switch and pressure sensor wiring on my Discovery. The wiring runs below the exhaust manifold and turbo which makes the wires insulation all crispy. While the manifold and turbo are off and I have access it's better to do some preventative maintenance.
The smallest quantity I can buy from RS Components is 10 meters for almost R900.
If anyone has a piece of the sleeve or some fiberglass tape that I could buy please give me a shout.

[Paul#25]

Another happy customer after fitting a service kit to the suspension air pump on his Disco 2. The pump wasn't performing properly, so the owner had fitting a Schrader valve on the line out of the pump to inflate the rear airbags.
The same pump is used on quite a few different makes of vehicles, but they mount them in different places. On the Disco 2, it's in a box attached to the outside of the left chassis leg. Once removed, it's was an easy job to disassemble the pump and replace the o-ring and the piston ring that are supplied in the service kit. The conrod and piston are cast as one piece, so the piston and bore both taper to allow for the sideways movement of the piston in the bore. Once assembled, the pump was fitted back onto the Disco, and the system operated.