Excellent - thanks again. With a fair wind I might have it mobile again this weekend… though an MOT could be another story.

Thanks for the further replies. Not quite so straightforward maybe.
I've a set of the four valves ordered. I don't need them anywhere else but on the RR, and I only have one of those, so I guess it's likely they'll stay with the car. It's also more or less at 'standard' weight - no winches, bars or anything.

I think there's a distinction above between filling the whole system, or individual corners? There's an attraction to the permanent 'tee' system, but for me at this stage, just trying to lift the car off the bump stops temporarily, do you think a 'cigarette lighter' tyre inflator would lift an individual corner OK?

Ta

Thanks Gents,
So - Tees = permanent. Keeping them in the boot (whether 3 or 4!) means you disconnect the bags from the valve block when needed, and add these on the end.

Then, when pumped up, assuming no leaks, they just individually hold pressure until released?

I know I could find this, but as I'm here, what sort of pressure are we talking about (in psi) - a bike pump, or 12v tyre inflator?

I noticed the recent thread about the via-Air compressor and filed it away for future reference.

Thank you.

Hi guys,

I’ll update my ‘ups and downs’ thread, but I have been making progress. The refurbished rear axle is back under the car and in place. Just a couple more things to sort out and I should have her back on her wheels. Hopeful for next weekend.

Now as with the top end engine rebuild I’m thinking there will be a lot ‘going on’ when I first power up - brakes will need bleeding and the EAS will be empty and need calibration (new rear EAS sensors).

So I’m thinking that I might take one of them out of the equation (EAS) by pulling the relay, but that it would still be nice to have the car off the bump stops.

So is there a view on the best ( or easiest - not necessarily the same thing) way to have a manual back up EAS, or the best/decent kit to buy, and where to install?

I don’t doubt this has been done before, but I did search and found nothing in the first page or so.

I’m hoping to have a sound and reliable EAS system, but apart from this refurb start up, it does seem like a good thing to have tucked away for emergencies.

Any suggestions gratefully received. Ta.

Hi Chris,
I’m about 4 or 5 years behind you, but lots of parallels. Have owned a 300Tdi 110 for 20 years, and bought a P38 for £1000. Not so much to stop using the 110 but initially as a fun, stop-gap while I had the Defender off the road for a bit.

It’s my 3rd Range Rover over the years, but the first P38. My list of stuff I’ve done is very, very similar to yours. Been sticking up some pics, daft questions etc for general entertainment on my “ups and downs” thread.

The beast is currently in the garage, chassis on axle stands while I completely refurb the rear axle, but so much looking forward to getting it back on all fours, fitting a working sunroof and my nice leather seats so I can enjoy the warmer months.

Nowhere near Telford though….!

I’d found the Drizz Developments via Google, but haven’t been able to watch the video yet.

I have been thinking though that whether it’s DIY or not depends on the space and the tools etc you have available - specifically a hoist or ramp to help separate the body from the chassis; and then a forklift or similar, to lift the bare chassis on/off the trailer.

If you were able to separate the body and the chassis; and had an engine crane, I don’t think it would be that far from DIY.

Once I’m mobile again, I’m going to get in touch with an underseal/rust treatment place and see what they reckon their chemicals can do. I’m told it was ca. £600 to prep and treat a Defender, and that’s a bit cheaper than £3000 to do the chassis - which I suspect is probably a bit low away up here.

Edit - OK, just watched the first two videos, and I’d agree that it’s at the furthest end of the DIY spectrum. It doesn’t really seem technical in any sense, just a bit involved, and lots of heavy lumps to shift about. If I’d a ramp and a hoist then I suppose I might think about it more seriously in the future, but for the moment this is definitely not on the agenda!

Thanks Harv - a bit of perspective there! We were about 2 or 3 below on Tuesday; about 3’ above freezing yesterday; and they’re forecasting 10’ today!

I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be doing anything in a garage at -28!

Thanks David, assuming that's a "before" pic of yours, then there are parts of my chassis that don't look too bad.

I think you've touched on something important there though, about not being distracted by the size of the problem. I've probably been doing that and thinking that it wasn't worth doing anything if I wasn't doing it 'properly'.

Another issue right now is that it's winter, so not all the paints and coverings are happy going on below 18'c, in an unheated garage. And let's face it, how often does the north of Scotland see temperatures above 18'C even in the height of summer!

Today I managed to remove all of the brake lines – front to back.

You might remember I’d asked a question a while ago about replacing the whole lot with a braided/sheathed/stainless system, and this is what will be going back on the car.

I also removed the rear EAS sensors. I know one was ‘*@%’ but when I tackled the other side, it more or less fell out into my hands as well. All four plastic lugs just snapped.

On the replacements, I’m planning to drill out the old fixings and then use stainless nuts/bolts to replace them, not least because I had to grind off the fixed nuts on the back of the chassis brackets.

The thing that’s circled in the pic above is the bracket that fixes underneath the chassis, and supports the ABS cable, as well as the join in the brake line to the caliper flexi-hose. As you can see, there’s not much left of that, and the other side’s just as bad, if not worse.

I checked the prices - £4 for one; £32 for the other. I’ve ordered a bit of 2mm stainless plate, and I’ll fabricate replacements easily enough – with spare left over for the next time I tackle anything like this.

A couple of questions now…. (there’s always questions!). When I was removing the brake lines underneath the car, the hose literally just fell out of the EAS reservoir plug. OK, it wasn’t under any tension, but still……

I can’t find a part number for this bolt/plug, or more specifically the specification for the O ring that fits around it. I’ve probably got something that will fit, but it would be good to know exactly what I should be aiming for. Anyone?

And finally …. Some pics to show the state of the chassis. Just like the axles, and everything else, there are parts where it has a 2mm layer of ‘blown’ rust. Other parts where it’s a mix of original paint, and rust coming through.

I will touch up some of the things I’m working on (EAS sensor bracket) but I’m not ready to start doing a whole ‘wire brush, prime and paint’ on the whole chassis. But just for a longer term view, what’s this like in comparison with others? Has anyone gone to the extent of dropping the chassis off and galvanising it? (Maybe this last thing is a hang-over from ‘Defender-land’).

Anyway, tomorrow I might just run out the new brake lines and prep the EAS sensors, and their brackets. I’m committed next week to making progress on a friend’s Defender bulkhead replacement, so it might be a little while before I can come back to this.

(Edit - in relation to the chassis rust, I meant to say that it looks pretty grim, but just like other stuff on the car it's pretty solid underneath. I was hitting various parts of it with a 2lb lump hammer and it was OK. I mean I wasn't hitting it hard enough to try and knock the car off the axle stands, but reasonable blows. So I don't think there's any danger of MOT failure or the like... just that I'm starting to 'wonder' about where to go with it.)

A wee update (maybe 2), just in case you thought I was slacking!

Like I said in another post earlier, working air con. isn’t top of my priority list just now. We’re still here….

Rear axle is still out, and has now been sand-blasted and ‘tarted up’ along with its various components – diff cover, hubs, brake shields, radius arms and panhard rod.

I wasn’t really impressed with the paint job the guy did, though for £80 I can’t complain too much. So I’ve ended up priming it and painting it using the ‘Por-15’ system. I don’t really enjoy using it, or painting generally, but I’m happy enough with how it’s turned out.

Various bits after being wire brushed….

…Primed…

(primed)

…and painted.

Looking back at the pics further up the thread, I have to say I’m quite pleased with this. I just hope the Por-15 coat is as hard-wearing and long lasting as it’s claimed to be. I know it's not supposed to be UV stable, but given that all this stuff is tucked well underneath the car, I'm sure it'll be fine.

I did ask on another thread about the pros/cons of changing the diff pinion seal. I was worried that some bigger bits of rust had got in under the shield and could potentially damage the seal. I was right about the rust getting in, but not so sure it would have made any difference. In any event I got it all cleaned up, new seal in nice and square and torqued it all up again. Note the simple but effective flange retaining tool…

It probably wasn’t really necessary, but I’m happy I’ve done it; confident it won’t leak; and I’ve learnt a bit more about how the diff. works.

I also tapped the axle casing to fit one of the ‘screw in’ breather fittings. I’ll run a pipe from this up the chassis to the engine bay.

I’ll do a second instalment to this, rather than one monster post.

Excellent, thanks Brian. I’ve no reason to suspect moisture having got in, so fingers crossed the system will have shut off as you’ve said. Sorry for the wee hijack O/P.

I’m following this to try and learn as usual, and won’t stray too far away with this question I hope: a/c wasn’t a big priority for me after getting the car, and I suspect the system was empty, possibly for some time.

I am in touch with a local a/c guy who’ll come and check out the system once the car’s back on the road. When I confirmed the system was empty, I did change the condenser when I did the heads and camshaft and added up dyed lubricant as advised by the a/c guy.

But would a compressor be damaged or need replaced if the system has had no coolant?

I’d support these sentiments wholeheartedly. I’m always grateful and like to say so, but happy to take this opportunity as well.

Thank you.

I think I’m ok then - my car is a 2001 m/y. The mud shield in the eBay pic you linked to is what I have, and I’ve ordered STC4851. I ordered a few of them, because my Defender has the same diff, and a fairly new rebuilt version. I’ll need to check now that the mud shield is the same.

I didn’t bother trying anything today as it was easily -1c here. Tomorrow’s supposed to hit the heady heights of 4 or 5c!

Thanks guys.

I got the “leave it alone” advice elsewhere, and I understand it, it’s just that I can’t help feeling some rust flakes have got in there during the stripping process. They might never do any harm, or they might damage the seal as soon as the car’s moving again. I wonder if I might try the ‘worst of all worlds’ and try lifting the flange out enough to blow out any rust flakes without changing anything…?

I didn’t order a flange when I ordered seals…. Perhaps I should have. I might have a look at it today and if needed, get a new one ordered up before the Xmas closures, so I’d have it to hand if I get that far.

I do have a good rattle gun, and a selection of old bearing races I use for drifting seals in. I also have as a proper seal drifting kit - but that probably won’t work with the main diff pinion in the way. This is kind of what I mean though - it’s surely much easier to get a new seal in square with the thing on the bench.

Edited to ask - what are the different flange / seal pairings? How would I recognise them or tell them apart?

Thanks guys - yep I did search elsewhere as well. It’s just that sometimes the ‘tone’ of other forums leaves me a bit cold, though definitely not here, or on Defender2.net where I mainly go for Defender stuff. I probably should try there for something like that.

Edited as I meant to say that it’s also useful to just get a different perspective on stuff, even if it means asking the same question twice!

Hi guys,

I tried searching, honest… (see my other post on how the search function works) but haven’t found anything specific so I’ll just ask the question.

As I’ve removed the rear axle for a wee refurb I’m wondering if I should just do the rear diff pinion seal while it’s sitting on the bench? Though I tried to be careful, I have a suspicion that while using a wire brush on the grinder to remove rust from the casing some bits of rust might have sneaked between the dirt flange and the seal. I’d be really peed off if I fitted it only to find the seal leaked in a couple of weeks time. Based on the condition the half-shaft seals at the ends of the axle were in it probably wouldn’t need it otherwise, but it seems like a good idea.

Now despite owning two previous RR classics, and a Defender for over 20 years, I’ve never done one of these. So what’s it like?

I’m in two minds whether to buy a proper drive flange holding tool, or just to drill two holes in a bit of steel bar. Any thoughts?

Any particular issues in getting the seal out / back in?

Just generally any thoughts?

Ta.

Thanks Brian,
I was aware of the option to do a site-specific search on Google, but have very rarely used it, so forget it’s there.

For me (maybe cos I’m on an iPad?) the https:// example you gave doesn’t work too well, but I found that if I put site:rangerovers.pub then a search term it works ok. I found something on diff pinion seals - but not what I was after… time to ask my question!

Hi guys,

As I know this to be the best source for authoritative P38 advice on the web, I like to find info here rather than anywhere else. But I’m not sure I’m getting the best out of the search function.

For example, last night, looking for ‘pinion’ and ‘seal’ (investigating any pitfalls to replacing the rear diff pinion oil seal while the diff is on the bench) I was getting lots of results for ‘opinion’..

Today, looking for anything on depressurising the brakes, prior to removing pipes from the master cylinder/block, I’m getting loads of stuff on brakes, but nothing obvious on the ‘depressure’ side.

I know I could ask a question - it’s what a forum is for! - but if there’s already a relevant thread I feel it’s better to check that out first, and if necessary to add to that; keeping more relevant info in the same place.

Any hints on how ‘search’ works?

Ta

I keep an eye on all EAS threads, especially ones like this, as a way of trying to raise (pun intended!) my general level of knowledge.

On the point about marking the pipes before removal, it occurred to me that you could possibly also measure the intended depth they’re supposed to go in to, and then mark that on the pipes - if you were fitting new or amended ones for example?