Q835XSC - Dutton Legerra Series 2

[Adrian Southgate]

So, collected last weekend and the first chance I get to go over it we have snow / hail / rain and gales... lovely if your a penguin I guess...

Q835XSC purchased from the factory in 1988, completed in 1990, stored for the winter in 1991 and there it sat for 22 years, possibly one of the saddest Legerras I have ever seen apart from my black one.

It was rough, body panels off, windscreen missing and a sorry case of 4 wheel drum brakes... 

Today it got a wash, nothing special just caravan cleaner and a sponge but an improvement on fungus and moss...

Hell of a job on here lads, starting with a body off chassis check, bushes and bolts and some refurb bits fresh from the sand blasting cabinet.

I will be posting more detail on Mr G's but major updates will be copied onto here too.

[Adrian Southgate]

So, apart from the issues with the Sierra :(...

Dragged this out of it's donor single handed (literally) and dropped treacle like gearbox oil (which was clean) all over the nice painted floor of the unit :(

Scabby 711M 1300.... I still havent had the head off but whilst moving it around on the hoist I tipped it nose down to drain the rest of the coolant only to have water come out of number 1 inlet port... this is not a good sign. I'll get the box off and get it up on a stand so it can be done properly. Looks like a complete rebuild may be on the cards  . Luckily I know a man who knows crossflows so I've sent him a photo... 

Type 2 box but gearstick is shot however despite outward appearances I'm hoping the internals are good. Find out when I pop the top off.

Body is coming on nicely, going to need some very clever glass work on the passenger footwell to make that right again. Don't see the point in butchering the exhaust when the floor is already in need of repair so will be shaping the new floor with plenty of clearance on the four branch.

[Adrian Southgate]

Back from Wales and keen to crack on over this weekend.

Got an engine, box, prop and diff to remove from one car, Brackets to make for both XSC and CMV for the anti roll bar mods and new TCA's to fit to CMV along with new ARB bushes for the 19mm ARB. Also got to find out why the handbrake on CMV has stopped working in the last week :(

As usual, open house round the unit if anyone wants to come round and get grubby or just waffle and make brews/pass spanners.

[Adrian Southgate]

@ Daryl - Heads coming off anyway. if its a GT head then its having hardened seats put in the exhausts if not then I'm off to find a big valve head for it. 

@ Brian -  I was expecting a lot of corrosion even if it was just surface... but it's clean. Mind you if the cap's been left on and the cover not removed to let the damp in... Bores on the other hand have been exposed due to rain getting in the carb and damp getting up the exhaust manifold as the downpipe and in fact the rest of the exhaust is missing.

[Brian (up north) Morris]

HELLO you div from darn sarf i mean you  -)

[Brian (up north) Morris]

wow was not expecting to see it so shiny good stuff ade

[Adrian Southgate]

Tinkering... Started taking bits off the parts car to make ready for the body off part. Decided to strip the engine in the bay. Got the manifolds off and took the rocker cover off too... pulled the new (!) plugs and dropped a liberal squirt of WD down each bore.. Waterways were a bit blocked with whitish gak but i've seen worse.

This is not optimistic as the rocker cover is shot, very corroded as it the rest of the stuff in the engine bay.

Fortunately it would appear that this engine hasn't been run... this was the inside...

Encouraged by this I took the big bar and stuck a socket on the crank bolt... expecting it to be a massive effort, skinned knuckles, socket flying off the bolt etc... and it just turned, nearly dropped the bar in shock.

I didn't move it far, just a few degrees to make sure the valves were moving then stopped. Head off next to see what damage has been done to the bores by standing for donkeys years. I'm a lot more optimistic now about this engine than I was at lunchtime.

[Steve Kerswell]

Over slots use specific washers, normal washer will collapse into the slot. Longer bolts with spring washers were allowed in specific applications.

[Paul Sheridan]

Only need a washer where there is a slot or where you don't want something that's being clamped to turn during tightening. ....... Technically speaking ;-))

[Adrian Southgate]

@ Daryl, will do mate. He's a good chap and very helpful too.

@ Steve, it mystifies me why you wouldn't fit washers. None of the leggie's bolts have them, bad engineering.

[Steve Kerswell]

Not telling you to suck eggs, bolt, washer, washer, nyloc. If the inspectors were OK they would allow four threads. But if they were on a jobs worth, two full threads. Spent a fair bit of my younger days changing bolts to comply. Just as long cutting them to length and filing the burrs.