Td5 D2 bodywork - Heater Blower Hole (4)

Fired up the Borroscope and got some photos of the five  Heater Blower intake mounting bolts. 

Orientation was difficult, so I made a little sketch/plan of the area to work..

The viewpoint for the above sketch is from the engine compartment looking rearwards. I am now getting familiar with the shape of the blower intake.

Bolts 1,2 and 3 are hidden from view by the plastic plenum cover. Bolts 4 and 5 are themselves only partially visible.

So then, going clockwise from no1..

looking clean and secure with no rust.

Just above no1 bolt is this 'clip'. It is actually a locating lug from the plenum cover that locates around the bottom edge of the windscreen.. at least that is in the right place.

Attempted to show the proximity of the clip to No1 bolt.. The intake 'wall' is visible at the very bottom of the image..

lf any any rainwater was flowing under the windscreen seal in this area it would emerge here by the clip and flow/fall/drip past the bolt area and over the 'wall' of the intake into the blower inlet.  That seems a crazy thing to suggest, but who knows?  My money is now on a capillary action around the intake gasket joint and bolts. (that could explain bolt No4 's condition)..

Bolt No2 looking undisturbed and secure as does the intake gasket and inlet below the bolt. The three marks to the right are from the Borroscope rubbing along and cleaning the muck away..

Two more views of No2 showing the intake wall at this point. It all appears to be dry and secure..

Bolt No3 looking up..

Bolt No3 looking down... could that be an entry point for rainwater right in the corner? 

Bolt No 3 again. Showing bits of rust and on the intake wall, those white deposits could well be water marks...

Bolt No 4.. easily the most corroded and water stained.

Two views of bolt No 5..  no concerns here.

Having studied the images and looked through the Borroscope I can conclude that the intake mounting on the bulkhead is secure and dry with no gaping holes to let the water in. That is not to say that water is not getting in there though and attention is drawn to the area between bolt 3 and 4...

Here is a photo looking up at the lower corner of the intake between bolt 3 and 4. Bolt 3 is visible in the distance .

All the water damage visible could well be historical. Don't forget that the lower windscreen seal was only 'sealed' last year with mastic itself..

In conclusion I will apply mastic sealer all along the joint from bolt 3 to 4. At least this area can be accessed easily by hand.

But that still leaves the possibility of water entering the intake directly from above so the need for some kind of a cover is still valid.

Td5 D2 bodywork - Heater Blower Hole (3)

More research into how and where the rainwater gets access to the blower motor..

Following up on the idea that rainwater can overflow the scuttle and back-drain through the pollen /scuttle filter. It seems that the water does not need to physically enter the blower motors open intake, but can surge around the intake mounting bolts on the bulkhead and if the sealing is not secure,  the water can get access to the blower motor casing that way. 

The inlet is secured to the bulkhead by 5 bolts.

To get the above view, the plastic plenum/scuttle panel must be removed.  Also in this photo can be seen the rusty looking residue of a water drain channel below the inlet. It can be seen to pass close to the bottom-left bolt, and is a potential leak point if that joint is not secure.

Yesterday, I had a go on Hx with the Borro-scope and took these photos of two of the five mounting bolts.

Unfortunately, I did not record where these bolts were on the intake mounting, but a careful study and comparison with the leading photo leads me to believe they are the lower two bolts. (to orientate with the leading photo, the first photo here needs to be turned 90° to the left and the second photo 180°)

More importantly, the obvious difference in their condition surely points to the presence of corrosion in the second photo. There is probably running water passing around that bolt..

The condition of the sealing gasket between the bulkhead and the intake body can be readily compared.. that rusty one looks to be in a bad condition.

Think I need to get the Borro-scope out again and systematically get photos of all the bolts and the gasket seal. There must be more evidence to uncover now that I know what to look for.

It has already occurred to me to apply mastic sealer all around this joint and I did try to practise getting my fingers on the real awkward area. 

The fabrication of some kind of cover for the intake would also require some kind of sealant to be applied. 

I have not progressed the fabrication of a cover for the intake beyond the 'vac-form' plan. I figure it needs to be fabricated from thin plate to be flexible enough.

Here is a photo looking down the blower intake assembly. The 'hamster wheel' of the blower motor can be seen. I am not sure how the intake cowl mounts on top of this...

Td5 D2 bodywork - Heater Blower Hole (2)

Have been thinking the past few days about getting some closure with the blower motor water ingress issue. It simply has gone on too long and must be resolved.

Had a good feel around under the plenum cover at the blower intake to get a 'feel' for its shape. I want to make some sort of cover that will deflect any run off water yet not restrict the airflow into the blower inlet.

I Was going to get the borroscope going to get a close view of the inlet, maybe even inside the inlet, but the rain stopped play. I kind of felt the shape that the cover will need to be with my hands. Need to visualise this and make a quick sketch and a card template for the shape. Figure to attach front end to the plenum cover and the other to the rear of the inlet, but the shape is still fluid.

Did some research on Web and grabbed the following. 

Microcat image of the plenum cover and associated parts. No3 is the foam filter, No2 is the windscreen seal. 

Front view of nearside. 

Two views of the reverse of the cover, roughly of the area above the intake. Was keen to see this surface and whether there was any ridges or molding lines that could possibly be directing the water flow into the intake. 

Two more views of the front of the cover. Judging by the open wiper mounts, I would say this cover is from a left hand drive vehicle, but either way, the plenum cover is the same. 

This ' Plenum Chamber Cover ' is still available new, but the price is in the hundreds!  It seems it is crucial to have one handy when replacing the windscreen as they can easily break or crack during removal.

Read online about someone's home made cover cure of using a cut down plastic oil tub and some gaffer tape, presumably the molded corners on the plastic tub would be of use in deflecting any water flow. ?

A new theory emerged to explain what's going on. In a downpour situation, the run off water from the screen pools in the ' trough ' of the cover, it can't drain away quick enough and runs over and into the pollen filter holes and finds it way underneath to trickle under gravity down into the blower inlet. 

I checked this out visually on Hx. Storm water could indeed back-flow through the filter 'windows ', but there is a vertical plastic lip after that and the water would have to flow vertically up the other side to get near the inlet. 

However, storm water surges kind of makes sense as it is only after strong rain that the leak appears. I also feel that the stationary lifestyle Hx enjoys also contributes. I mean, if it was driving through a downpour, the natural mobile turning motion would cause any pooled water to slosh about and drain properly via the side channels. 

Made a good attempt today to learn the geography of the inlet. Even used the Borro-scope with mixed results. It was difficult to orientate the head of the scope, but the bright Sun just made watching the laptop screen difficult. And then the battery in the laptop died! ! ! 

I tried to get the scope to go down inside the inlet. I thought I would be able to see the hamster wheel of the blower motor, but not today. I got the impression that there was some kind of closed flap in there blocking my progress. 

On a positive note, I managed to look around the back of the inlet and in general could not detect any water run stains, but I could have easily missed something. 

I ended up taking a 'rubbing' of the inlet by positioning a sheet of A4 paper over the opening and running my fingers around its perimeter and moulding the paper to shape. This was done solely by touch and the impression on the paper looks a bit like a 'vac-form' model kit. 

I now have something credible to fashion a cover for. 

..the shape of things to come. 

Td5 D2 bodywork - Faded Front Grill

Removed the radiator grill once again the other day while I was re-spraying the offside wing.

As it was lying around the house, it gave me a good opportunity to stare it out and think about what I could do with it...

Apart from the obvious need to treat the faded colour, I looked at the possibility of mounting a camera or even some extra lighting in there. 

For the first time I noticed the recessed vertical 'strakes' between the main horizontal bars and thought they could do with a bit of lifting.

When the grill was last off, I took the opportunity to put a shine on the LR emblem and used some compound to cut through the weathered finish.

This is the grill with the cleaned badge. It's not easy to show 'black' in a photo and although the grill is faded, it doesn't look as faded as the photo would suggest. It is however, just as 'blotchy' looking...

These two photos also show my mockup of the recessed vertical strakes. Chrome finishing strips are available for this purpose. Here, I used some cut down kitchen foil to model the look of the chrome trim. Can't decide whether it's a lift or its 'bling'

Other ideas from the web..

Two versions of the earlier D2 grill. The lower one looks like the official LR 'hot climate' grill often called the 'Saudi' grill. The upper one is again for an early model D2, but has been modified with some rather precise drilling to get that 'supercharged' D4 look going!

Also, its bottom section has been cut away to allow the fitting of a LED light-bar..

Wonder if something like that can be done with the later 'facelift' D2 grill...?

Respraying the Front Grill.

Went ahead and sprayed the grill with matt black 'Pro-Cote'. To prepare the Grill, I masked the badge with blue tape and gave the grill a good cleaning with some baby wipes and a micro-fibre, before a final wipe with meths. Must mention to use gloves while handling the cleaned plastic to avoid greasy smudges.

All that blotchy faded look from the first two photos has gone and the finish looks good. However, the last two photos are taken before any spraying was done!!

It must be a quality of the light, but the sprayed grill looks very similar with only the blue tape sprayed black!...

It was good practice with the spray can. As I have said before, I intend to spray all the faded black trim on Hx and apart from the rear bumper this should be the trickiest shape to deal with. 

The grill was refitted to Hx and it just immediately showed up the faded black panel on the bumper below it!  

One piece at a time...One piece at a time...

Bits and Bobs (1)

All the excitement from spraying the offside wing quickly evaporated and left me feeling down about all the work still to do.

I guess this is just the joys of LR ownership. A little bite of the cookie and then back to the chores and try to figure out what to do about that water leak from the blower motor.

The days weather was ideal for spraying. It was warm and close, overcast all day, and less wind then even yesterday. I swear it was taunting me!!

I did not go out to HX to study the respray in the cold light of day. Maybe I was scared to find a glaring error?

In the late afternoon, I started to replace the headlight unit and the grill. I decided to do a couple of jobs on the lamp unit before re-mounting it.

1 -  LED Front Sidelight Swap.

Soon after ownership began, Hx was fitted with LED bulbs in the front sidelight positions. 

The factory fitted bulb is those quirky '501' type bare wire 5watt tungsten bulbs. The photo above shows two LED 'bulbs' in 501 mounts. The red mark on their side is my way of identifying the positive terminal, because LEDs are sensitive that way. 

The tungsten offside bulb was u/s on arrival so I guess the first job was to replace it and fit a '501'LED.

There are real advantages to switching to LED bulbs, principally minimal power consumption and heat output. I remember my old 300tdi had the same 501 bulbs in its Automatic Selecter dial and I was shocked at how hot they ran.

When it came to removing the blown 501 on Hx, that very same heat output proved to be problematic. The blown bulb had 'fused' itself through contact into the plastic body of the sidelight bulb holder. I had to break the bulb to free it from the lamp body and it had heat-damaged the locating seat, causing a restriction in the opening for any replacement.

At the time I had bought cheaply from China a set of single LED 501 'lens' bulbs as shown on the right of the photo. I also bought some more powerful 10 piece LED bulbs as on the left of the picture.

Due to the heat damage (but I did not realise it at the time), the only bulb that would fit properly was the single LED and so that type has been in service ever since. I do recall one failed at some point and it was replaced with same.

Well today I finally got around to fitting the 10 LED bulb. I had to carefully file away the heat damaged plastic inside the mounting tube of the sidelight body and then clean out the debris from inside the reflector with a Q-tip. 

I replaced the nearside sidelight with no hassle at all.

I will need to assess the performance as I fear they might well be a bit overpowering. ..

2 - Headlight Unit  Black Trim Respray.

This is the headlight unit masked up and given a coating of Matt black onto the faded edge trim. I intend to spray all the black trim on Hx and this particular paint seems up to the job as I have used it outdoors before and it appears to be hard wearing. It was sourced from Toolstation.  'Pro-Cote Industrial Paint'. A big 500 ml can for £5.18...

The black spray can ran out doing this, but that was to be expected really as it seemed to be lasting for ages. Luckily, there was not much area to cover and it got three coats. 

3 - SLAM  PANEL  BRACE  REFURB.

With the grill removed from Hx (that will need a re-spraying as well), attention is drawn to the two diagonal rusty slam panel braces that lie behind the grill. One of them was loose the other day and was torqued up. I quickly decided to remove both of the braces and re-furb them.

A quick rub and scrape soon got all the loose flaky black factory paint off. Then a rub down with meths followed by a thick coat of smooth black Hammerite paint. I ingeniously used a piece of wire to hang the braces up from whilst the painting was finished. 

That piece of wire has history. It was what I used to detach the internal door lock control rod and also route cabling through the 'B' post.. hence the hooked ends... Indeed, it has now become the 'go-to' piece of wire!

At this point, it started to rain, just as I was enjoying the outdoor life.

This put back the drying time and I will have to replace them tomorrow. Maybe I'll get inspired and spray the grill before fitting it back, afterall there is a full can of black waiting ..

Took these photos the next morning. I hung the braces up in the early morning sun and the light worked it's magic... That slight green reflection is from the nearby lawn.

4 - HEATER INTAKE COVER

Been thinking the past few days about getting closure with the blower motor water ingress. It simply has gone on to long and must be finally resolved.

Had a good feel around under the plenum cover at the blower intake to get a feel of its shape. I want to make some sort of cover that will deflect any run off water yet not restrict the airflow into the blower inlet. 

Was going to get the endoscope going to get a close view of the inlet, maybe even inside the inlet, but the rain stopped that. I kind of felt the shape that the cover will need to be with my hands. Need to visualise this and make a quick sketch and a card template for the shape. Figure to attach front end to the plenum cover and the other to the rear of the inlet, but the shape is still fluid.

Did some research on Web and grabbed the following.

Microcat image of the plenum cover and associated parts. No3 is the foam filter, No2 is the windscreen seal 

Front view of nearside. 

Two views of the reverse of the cover, roughly of the area above the intake. Was keen to see this surface and whether there was any ridges or moulding lines that could possibly be directing the water flow into the intake.

Two more views of the front of the cover. Judging by the open wiper mounts, I would say this cover is from a left hand drive vehicle, but either way, the plenum cover is the same.

This 'Plenum Chamber Cover' is still available new, but the price is in the hundreds! It seems it is crucial when replacing the windscreen.

Read online about someone's home made cover cure of using a cut down plastic oil tub and some gaffer tape, presumably the moulded corners on the plastic tub would be of use in deflecting any water flow.?

A new theory emerged to explain what's going on. In a downpour situation, the run off water from the screen pools in the 'trough' of the cover, it can't drain away quick enough and runs over and into the pollen filter holes and finds it way underneath to trickle under gravity down into the blower inlet.. 

I checked this out visually on Hx. Storm water could indeed back-flow through the filter 'winfows' but there is a vertical plastic lip after that and the water would have to flow vertically up the other side to get near the inlet.

However, storm water surges kind of makes sense as it is only after strong rain that the leak appears. I also feel that the stationary lifestyle Hx enjoys also contributes. I mean, if it was driving through a downpour,  the natural turning mobile motion would cause any pooled water to slosh about and drain properly via the side channels.

Made a valiant effort today to learn the 'geography' of the inlet. Even used the borro-scope with mixed results. It was difficult to orientate the head of the scope, but the bright Sun just made watching the laptop screen difficult. And then the battery in the laptop died! !!

I tried to get the scope to go down inside the inlet. I thought I would be able to see the 'hamster wheel' of the blower motor but not today. I got the impression that there was some kind of closed flap in there blocking my progress.

On a positive note, I managed to look around the back of the inlet and in general could not detect any water run stains, but I could have easily missed something. 

I ended up taking a 'rubbing' of the inlet by positioning a sheet of A4 over the opening and running my fingers around its perimeter and moulding the paper to shape. This was done solely by touch and the impression on the paper looks a bit like a 'vac-form' model kit.

I now have something credible to fashion a cover for...

.. the shape of things to come..

Td5 D2 bodywork - Front door respray

May 2016  -  Next to the newly sprayed rear door, the sad and sorry state of the front door....

.. is a bit alarming!

The contrast is amazing. Bear in mind the rear door panel still needs to be 'mopped' to get it to shine. 

5th June 2016  -  The same hassle with removing the door handle and sealing strip were overcome and the removal of the door mirror was straight forward. 

This image shows the residue lacquer from under the door handle. Also worthy of note is the top of the door where the sealing strip was removed. The original factory paint finish is still visible in that area.

Close examination of that area reveals the difference between the original base colour-coat and the lacquer coat. The area along the top edge that looks like a piece of sellotape has been applied is actually the base colour coat minus the lacquer.. It's not that far removed from the weathered door panel tone.

The thickness of the lacquer coating is something to note..

Another view of the top edge of the door panel with the sealing strip and door mirror casing removed. This patch was beneath the mirror casing..

Close up of the door handle aperture. Can't believe I thought I could get away with not removing the handles..

So, with the door stripped down, I commenced to wet and dry the door panel with mixed results. The intense strong sunshine did not help by drying the surface almost as soon as I wet it. It proved to be a diversion, as I watched the wet surface quickly dry off before my very own eyes.

On the rear door, I used the wet abrasive handheld with gentle pressure working small areas at a time.
Research indicated that a better more even finish can be achieved with the use of a suitable 'sanding block' and sanding in horizontal and then vertical strokes.
   

A large rubber sanding block (£1.90 Toolstation) was sourced and used for the first time on the front door panel..

..here are the results...

...Figure something went wrong here!!

I ended up with really visible 'tram-line' surface scratches all along the panel. On close inspection, it could be seen that the pattern and spacing exactly matched the ridges on the sanding block. Clearly my technique needed more practice..

I went back to hand sanding, but I used an old kitchen sink sponge as a block to wrap the paper around. My intention was to remove the scratches. 

Using the paper handheld or wrapped around a kitchen sponge soon got the scratches subdued and the respray back on track..

Time to wait for that favourable weather window to begin.. and the Muse to return.

18th June 2016  -  The weather conditions were good, dry, calm and overcast.  At 0845 the temp was 23°C with 49% humidity. I had started to log temp and humidity at various times of the day as I read about temp and humidity being important for spraying. (particularly when outdoors).

An odd image of the door panel all masked up and ready to paint. It looks like it is just floating in space...

The door was left slightly open to allow the trailing edge to be sprayed. I was careful to mask inside the door aperture. 

Made extensive use of the lining paper. All the bubble wrap was kept from spraying the rear door as I felt it would be ideal to use again. 

Unfortunately though, the areas of it that had been sprayed over caused a problem by flaking off all over the place and I got to worry the flakes would end up on the door panel. So I only reused the cleanest pieces..

Looks like I was still using the ordinary masking tape. That would soon change to using the 'blue' low-tack and waterproof painters one.

At this point in the proceedings it had become apparent that the front wing was going to need to be resprayed as well. I did consider doing this at the same time as the front door panel, but felt that was well beyond my fledgling capabilities. 

Made sure the rattle cans were warmed up by standing them in a bowl of hot water. This is a good practice and it does seem to bring better results. For example although the same can of lacquer was used for both the front and rear door panels, the can was warmed up more for the front door then the rear door. The difference in the finish was noticeable.

 

Kind of hard to get a good exposure of the paint tones. It appears to change depending on the light falling on it..

I sprayed about six coatings of the colour coat and changed cans near the end judging the original colour coat can to be near empty. The clear coat also had about six coatings. I recall that is more lacquer then the rear door received and may have contributed to what I felt was a better finish.

During the spraying, I left at least 10 minutes between each coating, and did not rub down between the coats.

Found it difficult to judge how much 'spray' was left in the can. I had already purchased another can of colour-coat, but I started spraying with the original can. Judging by the difference in weight was the only measure available. The colour coat cans contain 400ml and the clear coat can has 500 ml. I managed to use the same clear-coat can for both door panels.

All the fun was soon over for another day and it was time to pack away.

  the dreaded paint fleck pox....

19th June 2016  -  first day after painting and already the critical eye is casting. In comparison to the rear door panel, the front door panel is clearly more 'glossy'. This may be due to warming the clear coat can or it could be a thicker coating or both. The same can of clear-coat was used on both door panels so it must be down to the application.

At this stage, I recall thinking I should maybe put more clear coat on to the rear door panel.

Also at this time, it becomes obvious that the offside front wing will need to be resprayed. 

The above photo shows the paint finish on the front door before any buffing took place.

The 'orange peel' effect can be seen when zoomed in. The rear door shoulder has already been buffed up...

The shoulder of the front door was then buffed and it quickly out-shone the rear door shoulder. The front door shoulder now became the target to get all the panels to match up to.

I have decided to treat the buffing process as a separate topic to the respray and will write it up elsewhere..