Tdi Test Drive

With the engine bay complete and the cabin interior reassembled, it was time to test drive the 109. The results are very pleasing: no smoke or worrisome noises, good acceleration and higher top speeds. I was able to reach 50 mph in half the distance it normally took on the local stretch of dual carriageway, and the 12J didn’t always achieve 50 on that stretch anyway. I also surprised myself overtaking a stream of lorries – I was doing 80 when I checked the speedo, despite still having the roof rack and all the other external accessories. I backed off pretty quickly to get back under 70 (I don’t want to push the engine hard until it’s run in, either), but I’ll have to keep a closer eye on the speed from now on – no more binary throttle control.

There was a slight weep from the radiator’s bottom connection, so I reseated the hose and tightened the clip. Apart from that, the engine seemed very good. I also replaced the flexible trunking from the air filter to the turbo – the old pipe I had fitted was not in the best of shape, and could be seen shrinking when the turbo spooled up. I was a bit worried about the pipe failing and the turbo ingesting debris. I have now used a much tougher pipe and the intake elbow from the Discovery’s air filter canister, which also gives a much neater fit.

Unfortunately, the oil pressure gauge read a steady zero throughout the test. A bit of investigation revealed that the spindle inside the gauge had seized. With the instrument stripped down I freed it off, and only have small doubts over its accuracy now. Time will tell whether a replacement is required, but it seemed to respond to static testing, showing idling oil pressure of 30psi (normally 25, but the oil was cold) and good responsiveness to rpm increases.

The gearbox still seems to be weeping a little, though I did slightly overfill it before refitting the top cover. The leaks still appear to be coming from the selector shafts. If it’s worse, I’ll refit the standard seals (which I retained, just in case). The rear prop shaft looks like it needs replacement – it was already vibrating at 55mph+, and now the extra speed makes it worse. It has been slightly bent ever since the beginning of the rebuild, and presumably for some significant time before that.

I had to replace the screws that hold the headlight bowls in the wings today. I used plastic numberplate screws and nuts during the rebuild to prevent more electrolytic corrosion around the bolt holes in the wing fronts, but several had sheared. The right lamp assembly was held by two fasteners, but the left assembly only had one intact. I have used more of the same type of fastener, but this time was more careful to avoid over tightening them, and applied a drop of superglue on the threads to make sure they don’t come undone with vibration.

With that complete, I finally fitted the Mobile Storage Systems rear door stove box that I got from Alun last year. They’re normally fitted to chequer plate door cards, but since I don’t have one and don’t generally like the look of them, I riveted a couple of plates of the 3mm marine alloy to the door behind the standard Defender door card, then drilled through and fitted self tappers to hold the box in place. Just as strong, smarter looking and didn’t cost me £40 or so for a new card. The only piece of trim that required alteration was the wiper motor cover, which just had its bottom cut off to clear the top of the box. The flash photography greatly exaggerates the blueish tinge to the grey powder coat of the box – it’s no perfect match, but it’s not really noticeable under normal lighting. That’s not a line of rust inside the box in the second photo, by the way – it’s just the glue from the brown tape that was holding all the internal pieces still when delivered.

After adjusting the driver’s door striker plate, the final job (the worst of all of them, given the freezing weather) was to wash and polish the bodywork – a job that hasn’t been done since before the last Billing show!