No photos today, but did take the Land Rover out twice. The first was a 25 km (15 mile) trip through the countryside that also included two stretches of faster roads.
Temp: -5 C, cloudy
Fastest she would go was 73 km/h (just over 45 mph) sustained, measured via GPS, which isn't fast for a Land Rover, but then again the carburator wasn't adjusted and timing may need further tweaks. That's programmed for the end of next week. I don't know what the rolling resistance of these soft knobby tires is, either. Ran smoothly, just as loud as everyone said it would be, no smoke, tracked nice and straight. In fact, once warmed up, there is hardly any exhaust smoke at any speed.
The squeek/squeal from yesterday turns out to be the yellow-knobbed four wheel drive selector rod, or rather the spring or thimble around it. Just enough vibration to make a noise (and a loud one) as it rubs; easy to take care of.
After the high speed run, the windows were fogging up pretty well; I now know why the previous owners had installed the fan. The water temperature gauge indicated 100 degrees. I then noticed something that could have been either steam or smoke coming out the heater pipes, nothing dramatic but enough to see. A stop by the edge of the road revealed nothing amiss, and a call to Steve the mechanic later indicated an inspection of the Kodiak core is in order, and otherwise there may just be paint/lubrication heating up somewhere as things get their first use at higher operating temperatures.
In spite of some adjustments to the suspension this morning, she still lists slightly less than 1 inch (at the wheel arch top) towards the driver's (LH) side. Not much, but quite noticeable from behind. I'll be loosening all the suspension bolts and taking her out for a bumpy ride, to see if that will settle things.
Second trip:
Temp -2, sunny
Wasn't planning to go out again, but daughter asked if we could, and who am I to say no? : ) Just a 5 km run around the neighborhood, plus a jaunt into the countryside to briefly try out the off-road capabilities in a field, but daughter found that a little too bumpy. Land Rover clearly enjoyed it, however, as did its owner. : )
