Introduction and Full Timing

[Dreadnought]

I won't tell you about my three Series Land Rovers since you have enough stress, but I dragged one of them all over the East and West with my Eagle. Most people did not know what it was.

Very cool! One day when I retire full time properly, I hope to have a more suitable toad than a Jaguar XJR. Smaller and capable of going off road but a diesel and easy to work on. My current Dodge Ram is just WAY too big!  By all means tell me about them- would probably cheer me up. I DID think about a Land Rover Defender. May be one day, when I sell more of my vehicles, and I'm closer to full time retirement I'll get an old Mercedes G wagon with pre chamber diesel as a Toad.

[DoubleEagle]

Briefly, I have two Series III's, and one IIA (precursors to the Defender). The big advantage they have for towing behind the bus is that both axles have the same hub, and therefore take the same models of lock-out's like Warn and others. That way you can hook up, unlock the axles, and tow away with no taking off driveshafts or worrying about transmission oiling, etc. Plus, in a pinch, the Land Rover is fully capable of pushing or pulling the bus. On my most restored Series III, I have the Fairy Overdrive, which, with the two ranges, gives me four speeds in reverse, and sixteen forward. I have pictures of it in action, but they are not digitized. I will have to dig them out and get them scanned. It also has the "African Roof" with the double layer.

[Dreadnought]

Double Eagle that sounds very cool. I didn't know you could unlock the axles like that on a Land Rover. Question: is it required or needed to unlock axles like this to avoid damage to the main transmission on a manual box vehicle?

[DoubleEagle]

Double Eagle that sounds very cool. I didn't know you could unlock the axles like that on a Land Rover. Question: is it required or needed to unlock axles like this to avoid damage to the main transmission on a manual box vehicle?

Basically, yes, one way or the other. Some vehicles are very sensitive to being towed because of lack of lubrication for the transmission, and other problems. Just putting the trans in neutral does not always work well, and the axle gears and driveshaft are turning while being towed. On some vehicles the driveshaft needs to be taken off. With the Warn hubs, the wheel spins freely while not turning the axle shafts and therefore, not the differential gears or the driveshaft. It is common to have Warn hubs on the front axle, but very few vehicles can have the same Warn hub on the rear as well. I'm not sure, but this might apply to the Defender as well since it has many similar parts. There are only less than two thousand Series Land Rovers on the road in the US. The Saturn models used to be a towed vehicle of choice for RV's, but they are no longer made. Many makes do not recommend towing, or set distance and speed limitations. You have to make a careful choice if you want to tow with four wheels down.   

[Dreadnought]

Bus is being refurbed.

Rebuilt water pump, two new thermostats, new hoses, tuning/running the injector rack.

With all the crap going on in my life at the moment, I need something I can totally rely on!

Found out I had the C60 injectors, I would have liked to have the RE65s installed, but I think I'll wait on that and narrow my maintainence down to the essentials...

[luvrbus]

Your mechanic seems to be on the know,the 7E65 is a injector you can use for more power without removing the engine and going through all the "A" timing bs for the N65 or N70 injectors, the advanced timing is built into the injector good choice IMO.the C60 injector was Greyhounds choice of injectors for 8v71 fwiw just a crown injector instead of the needle N60     

safe travels  

[Dreadnought]

Your mechanic seems to be on the know,the 7E65 is a injector you can use for more power without removing the engine and going through all the "A" timing bs for the N65 or N70 injectors, the advanced timing is built into the injector good choice IMO.the C60 injector was Greyhounds choice of injectors for 8v71 fwiw just a crown injector instead of the needle N60     

safe travels  

Yes, he's very good.

I definitely recommend him. Central Bus and Truck in East Bethel Minnesota. Curt.

My research indicates that the C injectors are California and/or Coach injectors- especially targeting low Nox (nox emissions are the big no-no, in the USA) but the 7e65s are lower on soot/ HCs and better efficiency. Higher Nox often go hand in hand with higher efficiency.

7Es are around $150 each and I cant afford them right now. Me and a potential future employer couldn't come up to an agreement, regarding a project, in California but that's another story. They are on my 'to buy' list- may be if I sell my Escalade.

[luvrbus]

When you get ready I know a place where you can buy the 7E65 for $55.00 ea exchange and he takes any injector as a core

[TomC]

The rating on your 8V-71 with C60's will be 280hp @ 2100rpm and 740lb/ft torque at 1200rpm. The main advantage is having the torque rated down at 1200rpm. This eliminates the problems of lugging the engine and having good power for shifting just a 4spd transmission. If you go to N65's you'll increase your power to 304hp and 800lb/ft torque at 1600rpm. Below 1600, the engine will smoke.
I turbocharged and air to air intercooled my 8V-71 with 7G75 injectors and it puts out (dyno'd) 375hp and 1125lb/ft torque. Now that made a tremendous difference in performance! Good Luck, TomC

[Dreadnought]

Thank you luvrbus!

TomC- very interesting- how much did you modify the cooling of your bus to accommodate the turbo charging?

[B_K]

Thank you luvrbus!

TomC- very interesting- how much did you modify the cooling of your bus to accommodate the turbo charging?

  A LOT!   
  BK 

[Dreadnought]

I'm pretty excited. The mechanical work on the bus is finished.

I went for a long drive yesterday and it drives well.

This is a list of all he's done

•   Brake Drum/shoes “Brake Block” changed on rear right hand side. Other side checked fine.
•   DOT inspection
•   Hub seal on left rear changed- was seeping when warm
•   Clutch Mechanism freed up- so adjustment can continue. Original plan was to change the whole clutch- which is an engine out job!
•   Water pump and seals rebuilt
•   Two new Thermostats
•   Fuel Filter changed
•   Valve cover gaskets
•   New air compressor system line
•   Rack run and adjusted- was already very close
•   ATF was used to fill up Power steering system- leaks of system tracked and fixed
•   New coolant/radiator cap
•   Thermostat housing bolts seized- needed extracting and re- threading
•   Coolant hoses and hose clamps changed as necessary (2”,3/4”,2 ¼”, 2 ½”)
•   Oil and filter changed-
•   Cooling fan drive gearbox oil inlet cap freed up for access (had seized by previous owner) and filled to the correct level
•   Lube leak from gearbox bellhousing fixed


Its amazing what leaving in storage- and not using- what is generally a good condition coach will do- in terms of deterioration.

The guy has lots of Detroit engines laying around and a few transit busses. He had an 8v92 Turbo engine sitting around for a customer project who'd since retired.

Now all I have left to do is change the twin fuel pumps of my Jaguar (I need to drop the tank) and sell my house!

[Fred Mc]

"I definitely recommend him. Central Bus and Truck in East Bethel Minnesota. Curt."
Do you have contact info for him.Website, email or phone#

Thanks

Fred

[Dreadnought]

"I definitely recommend him. Central Bus and Truck in East Bethel Minnesota. Curt."
Do you have contact info for him.Website, email or phone#

Thanks

Fred

These are the chaps.

Central Truck Services

23142 MN-65, Bethel, MN 55005

Phone: (763) 434-4260

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8MW-xPqVUY


My temp gauge during normal operation stays at around 175-190 deg F BTW (see my other overheating thread)

Curt said the old Detroits are very tough and can take a lot of abuse (not high temps though).

He prefered them to the period Cummins 855s etc and didn't like the latest Cummins ISX at all. The Cummins ISX from an engineering point of view (I've helped design truck engines ) was always an engine I respected when I saw one stripped and saw the dyno and lab data- so the mechanics view was very interesting to me.

[Dreadnought]

WOW! That was 8 years ago when I had my first heart attack when I still lived up in Minnesota.
I had my second one in September/October of this year.
Now I have a total of 5 stents!

I eat carefully and work out. Makes me realise how much is to do with genetics. Makes you see the world differently too. Tommorow may never come. I'm only 52.

I started looking at an old XL40 Prevost to buy (but still keeping my MC5) but now I've calmed down a bit again. I love my MC5 too much and it's been super dependable. If I get some land, I may still get it and alternate usage, and use them when stationary as living quarters!

Take care of yourselves!