min200 Posted May 24, 2015 Author Share Posted May 24, 2015 Plastic bags & PipeworkThe Project Has Landed...Posted by min200 Sun, May 24, 2015 08:24:40Mator has been true to Land Rover form he has run faultlessly for two drives out and now is demanding more of my attention for repairs but we will come to that shortly.My young nephew arrived around lunchtime and his first stop after getting out of the car was my Series 3. He was straight in it looking around saying how much it had changed since his last visit with a massive grin on his face that some how got even wider, which seemed an impossibility seeing as his face had by now run out of room, when I told him we would go for a run out in him later in the day.Lunch eaten we decided now was the time for a drive to the woods for a walk so my brother nephew and I jumped into Mator and had a blast of a drive for the eight mile trip and all jumped out of him happy as kids in a sweet shop. It was at this point my sister in law who had been following us in her modern day reliable boring car asked "Is that water supposed to be coming out from under the engine?"Now as much as my pride wanted to say "Yes yes it is woman it's a Land Rover they all leak a bit" due to the amount of coolant pouring forth I didn't think I would get away with it without cooking and destroying the engine on the way home so I pooped the bonnet and assumed the standard landy position of standing on the bumper bent at the waist with my head in the engine bay.It was only a top hose that lead to the useless standard landy heater that had a hole in so I closed the bonnet and carried on with our woodland stroll while contemplating what I actually had in the back of Mator to fix him because I had typically removed the tool kit earlier in the day while pottering on the Disco and forgot to put it back in.Upon my return I hunted around and found a plastic back and a single cable tie....challenge accepted!I shut down the heater valve by turning the temperature lever to cold restricting the flow and then tore the plastic bag into wide strips wrapping it around the hole in the pipework and tying it off on itself. I didn't even use the cable tie at this point I saved that in reserve in case my initial bodge didn't hold...http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f15/min200/Landy%20Project/11146621_10153290687711054_6741543372186108409_n_zpsabgnnfin.jpgWe then set off for the drive home and I now had my niece and nephew riding along with me with the plastic bag bodge holding the cooling system together and much to my surprise it did hold all the way back into the city. We had only one more set of lights to go and a three hundred yard run home when I noticed the main ring road had been closed off due to an accident!! Talk about pushing my luck!I looked down at the temp gauge without trying to look concerned for my young passengers it was still running just fine but there was now a bit of a queue and a back road maze we had to travel to get back without killing the old boy...I didn't think my luck would hold that long but with no other choice onward we travelled!We sat waiting a while then squeezed between parked cars getting back to the ring road just behind the road block much to the surprise of the police officer who was there. I explained what we were up to just trying to get home before killing my motor and he grinned saying "The accident is past your house you will make it" and with a wink he moved the secondary cones that he had in place and we we away! So we got home and Mator was still running at a normal temperature and much to my surprise he had most of his coolant still in place my plastic bag bodge had held for over 40 minutes! SO it goes to show that these landies do always want you to be tinkering with them but by god they are easy to fix and keep going no wonder our forces love the bloody things!www.nickysmith.me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
min200 Posted May 31, 2015 Author Share Posted May 31, 2015 Autokana & The ForceThe Project Has Landed...Posted by min200 Sun, May 31, 2015 18:12:59Well Mator got a good run put today to display at the Autokana show in Wollaton Hall Nottingham with the NLRC.Typically when ever you have to spend the whole day standing around outside it was raining heavily. Still this was not going to stop me and I packed up the stove kettle and some food to cook jumped in the old boy and set off for the six mile drive to Wollaton hall with the fast steamed up windows that you traditionally find in your Series motor. I have learnt quickly that you have to have a rag on the dash on standby at all times for an old Land Rover so I found myself quickly wiping the inside of my windows as often as the wipers were doing the outside but I didn't care as I was soon at the show and found another member already there standing in the rain with a cup of coffee at the ready!...http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f15/min200/Landy%20Project/20150531_090623_zps3crznarh.jpgThe other folk soon arrived in dribs and drabs and we were soon sniggering at the great old cars that were arriving and skidding/slipping around on the hill side along with the look of sheer horror on their owners faces as the went in any direction but the right one in their pride and joy! Sounds like I am being mean but that is not my intention it was just comical to see all you needed to do was add the music from Benny Hill.It was cold and wet most of the time but good company and a wander around helps out no end and the stand looked pretty good...http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f15/min200/Landy%20Project/20150531_111545_zpsmx1ad4n3.jpgbut my photo's don't do it justice edit just knicked this one off of someone else...http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f15/min200/Landy%20Project/11350468_10153401970159772_7883236309257608998_n_zpszfbvqyij.jpgAll seemed well but then the Empire turned up in force hankering on about something we had done but none of us were going to argue with them...http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f15/min200/Landy%20Project/20150531_123853_zpseluqlkbk.jpghttp://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f15/min200/Landy%20Project/20150531_123749_zpsbgjkluto.jpghttp://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f15/min200/Landy%20Project/20150531_123928_zpsetw0k7ew.jpghttp://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f15/min200/Landy%20Project/20150531_123954_zps5xv0v6lg.jpghttp://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f15/min200/Landy%20Project/20150531_124124_zpsrjt8doon.jpghttp://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f15/min200/Landy%20Project/20150531_123603_zpszzycmvgv.jpgIt was indeed a good day, bloody cold but a good day! If you live in or near Nottingham you should look up the Nottingham Land Rover Club because they are a great bunch of folk and there is always laughter going on somewhere with them! We are off again in a few weeks for our first caravan trip with them so that should be some fun www.nickysmith.me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
min200 Posted June 4, 2015 Author Share Posted June 4, 2015 200 plusThe Project Has Landed...Posted by min200 Thu, June 04, 2015 19:54:28I finished work at a reasonable hour this afternoon and seeing as Wifey and the kids were off out this evening to her sisters I decided to load up Mator with my mountain bike then head out to Gunthorpe where the river Trent runs through for a ride out in the sunshine that had been looking at me through the office window all day.Ready for the off much to my surprise Mator started right up and off we trotted heading towards the open fields of Nottinghamshire. The last time I tried to do this run the clutch stared to gave out so it wasn't until after I had passed that point on the drive I started to settle down and enjoy the run. He still brings a big grin to my face and all six of the other Land Rovers I passed were happily waving away...must have been a drive out afternoon all round. Soon I arrived at my destination and I promise I did not look for a nice parking spot to take a couple of photo's...http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f15/min200/Landy%20Project/20150604_172600_zps6svbirnn.jpghttp://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f15/min200/Landy%20Project/20150604_172609_zps37ddf40r.jpgI then set to going for a nice ride along the riverside. With my change in roles at work I am not getting the exercise I did before and I do miss it in fact the lack of it can make me feel quite rough so I put in six miles of off road biking trying not to get mugged by the many many cows I passed with their calves in tow, the views were outstanding...http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f15/min200/Landy%20Project/20150604_175722_zpsopgzk5jr.jpghttp://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f15/min200/Landy%20Project/20150604_180509_zpsy2e2vfri.jpghttp://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f15/min200/Landy%20Project/20150604_181200_zps3wguoeks.jpgBut time flies when you are having fun and I was soon back to the old Landy and I enjoyed the view of my two toys...http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f15/min200/Landy%20Project/20150604_183122_zpsrgqxlxhr.jpgAs I was heading home I happened to glance down just as the trip clicked over two hundred miles since the rebuild, that was back in January, when I paid my insurance with estimated yearly mileage of four thousand....http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f15/min200/Landy%20Project/20150604_190230_zpsbznz7j9s.jpgI think I may have over estimated my usage a touch! Still not to worry I will know better next year. The mileage should increase steadily now though as I seem to be using the old boy a bit more often but hell he drinks some petrol when I do!www.nickysmith.me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CGD217 Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 Congrats on getting published. I've just caught up. Still a fantastic read keep it up Nick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
min200 Posted June 6, 2015 Author Share Posted June 6, 2015 Cheers chap I am very pleased with myself lol Have a look at the thread "So it begins" in General chat that one is about the old Discovery I bought for off roading in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
min200 Posted June 20, 2015 Author Share Posted June 20, 2015 The Final ChapterThe Project Has Landed...Posted by Nicky Smith Sat, June 20, 2015 09:10:46Over the last year or so I have got great enjoyment from rebuilding Mator my Series 3 FFR Land Rover. There have been tears there has been frustration he has taken his fair share of skin and demanded a regular blood sacrifice. I have fought with the DVLA to get him registered and the regular tinkering to keep him running were all part of the fun.But I had to have a bit of a rethink when the road tax bill arrived a week or so ago telling me it was time to tax him yet again because as I glanced down to the odometer and realised I had only covered 205 miles in the six months since the rebuild.All of my hard work was just sitting on the driveway slowly coming undone as I didn't use him in fact I regularly use Brian my Discovery instead because he's a nicer drive and far cheaper to run. It seemed crazy to go on like this. I have had a yo yo relationship with Mator concerning driving him in fact it has been a love hate one. At times I love driving him and then I hated the way he drove. I thought do I need this many cars in my life? and the answer after a few sleepless nights was no, no I didn't. I wanted someone else to use him and take advantage of the hard work I had put in I mean why restore him just to let him slip slowly backwards again? I placed a few adverts out there and had the usual tools asking me questions that showed they had never driven a Series 3 Land Rover and they had unrealistic expectations of what it would be like but then one chap called who seemed to know his stuff. He knew it would be an ongoing process to maintain an old Landy that it could break down at any time even on his way home from buying it and he was keen to come and see Mator in the flesh.A time was arranged and he was over the moon at the condition of Mator as he would become his daily drive for both his large family and to work and back.The deal was struck after much discussion on what had been done on the rebuild the paperwork was signed and it was with a tear in my eye along with a heavy heart as I watched Mator drive away with someone else behind the steering wheel.I did think as I watched him drive into the horizon "Have I made the right decision here?" but I have had a couple of days to digest it and yes I have. My enjoyment was in the actual rebuilding of him and I have brought an old Military Land Rover back to life when most people who would have looked at him at the start would not have thought possible. He has made me friends and turned me into and published author which I would not have ever thought possible! Lets not forget why I started on him in the first place it was to stop smoking and show what I could do with the money. He kept my hands busy when I needed to and was the physical embodiment of what I would have smoked into thin air.He has been an experience indeed and I do not doubt that there will soon be another project on the drive because that is what I love doing!Let's hope Mator and his new owner will have half as much fun as we did...http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f15/min200/Landy%20Project/20150618_202837_zpsxqmfqdot.jpgwww.nickysmith.me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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