Not much exciting happening this week, too much work, too much music (not complaining about the latter).
Rivnuts
I haven’t used Rivnuts before, I assumed that you needed a special and expensive tool to install them. When I removed the diesel fuel filter housing to clean up the bulkhead during my heater project I found that it was fixed with two enormous self-tappers. The rear of the housing is chambered and this part of the bulkhead is made of very thin steel so when the screws had been tightened the steel was distorted and pulled into the chambers. Also the position of the filter was such that opening the drain wasn’t as easy as it could have been.
I straightened the steel as best I could, cleaned, treated and painted it, squirted Waxoil into the cavity, then made a small plate to cover the mass of holes.
I found many YouTube videos showing how to install Rivnuts DIY-style, much like the one at the bottom of this page.
I drilled two further holes (just in case there was anywhere without holes!) and fitted the rivnuts very easily using a tool made from an old door latch.
Banjo fitting, copper washers
I wanted to ‘clock’ the banjo union on the filter inlet so the fuel hose could be routed more neatly so I fitted two new copper washers (ESR354) and pointed it downwards instead of forwards. I installed the filter on the bulkhead with M8 bolts into the rivnuts, cut two lengths of new fuel hose and connected with new jubilee clips. It feels really secure now and it’s another step towards the general tidying under the bonnet.
In the image you can see that I also fitted rivnuts to the existing holes on the other side. I believe these were there for use with the 2.25 litre N/A diesel engines originally fitted to some Series 3 models. Unfortunately it didn’t work too well there as the steel heater pipe is too close to the drain plug. I understand the Discovery 200tdi filter is much longer than the older units. I may fit an earth bar here in future.
There is no need to prime the fuel filter, although that’s probably the more graceful method, turning the engine on the starter for a few seconds does this. I am just incredibly annoyed with myself that I forgot to add a new filter to my last parts order.
Series 3 Land Rover Ramblings 
My wife always laughs at me because within hours of placing an Land Rover parts order on any mail order site I usually exclaim ‘Oh bugger I forgot to add such and such to the order 😉
I must have paid a fortune in extra carriage over the years for things that I’d forgotten to add to the original orders.
Good work on the rivnuts!
Yes, my 2.25d has the fuel filter on the passenger side and I too face the same issue because I’m fitting a 200TDi and have fitted the much taller fuel filter from a Discovery on the original mounting but it looks like it will be too close for comfort so I’ll probably re-locate it as you on yours..
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🙂 Thanks Ian, yes I seem to be permanently waiting for the next box to arrive, but it’s still very exciting. It’s really good to hear from you, even if just for me to say how inspiring your own blog has been for me, I have spent many happy hours following your progress and picking up some really useful tips so please keep up the good work! Nigel
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Thanks Nigel, I’ll add a link to your blog from mine so I can check up on progress more easily. I’ve not been using the reader as much as in the past because the lastest raft of changes a couple of months back meant it no longer works on my phone which is where I do most of my catching up with peoples blog posts. I need to catch up on a lot of your progress! Love the name Tilly too 🙂
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Sorry Dilly!
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