Ben Reedy

Yes, I had a Control Tech post with an internal strenghtening rib and it bent. I got a new one out of them FOC but now I think they have gone bust. Now using an Easton carbon fibre post and enjoying a lovely smooth ride with my Ti frame.

Great thread. Well done. Now tell us how it drives.

Often in Nigeria. Does that count?

EX-MOD and only 70,000 kms? Ha ha, don't make me laugh. It will have done 70,000 just nipping to the shops and back for tea bags. It will have got a new speedo after the first 160,000 kms then possibly another shortly after when that one failed. The casual way they throw parts at these cars just has to be seen to be believed.

I use MTF94 from Partco (they do stock it although most don't know it!) and find it better than old ATF. First to second actually works without grating and it seems to run quieter when hot.

I've told you before: it's the spring coils rattling against each other. Only happens under certain conditions of acceleration or cornering. It makes a nasty resonating clattering rattle that seems to come from everywhere at once. Jack up the chassis to stretch the springs and temporarily wedge some thick rubber or leather between the coils at the top where they begin to come together. You might even see a rusty stain there. Then go for a drive. It drove us mad for months until I spotted the rust stains and realised what was happening.

*smug mode* I just make sure I don't over tighten the filter in the first place. A quick clean with a rag and it comes off by hand. Never had one come undone and dump the oil yet. *smug mode off*

Fact 1 : If you deploy an airbag in a Defender the bulkhead jumps forward by two inches. Hence the next one will be monocoque. Fact 2: If you are too close to an airbag when it deploys it can actually lift your head off the top of your neck. Nervous lady drivers gripping the wheel too close have been killed this way.

My local tyre specialist has a terrifying device consisting of a portable tank that he fills from the compressor then carries over to the tyre. It has a sort of semi-circular manifold with several holes, which he lines up with the bead. Everybody in the workshop cringes and blocks their ears and the poor bloke pulls a trigger, which releases all the air through the holes rather explosively. One loud bang and the tyre is seated.

Tsk tsk these Nigerians. Why do they always type in CAPITALS and write the amount of money after the figures? 419 fraud is apparently Nigeria's second-biggest currency earner after oil. The email could have come from one of the (unofficially estimated) 2 million Nigerians now living in the UK.

Our V8 Disco (now sadly sold as it became increasingly unreliable) was rear-ended by a Mercedes saloon in Lagos recently. The damage? A hole punched through the skin of the rear door just below the spere wheel, plus some slight distortion to the rear bumper. And the Mercedes? Flattened right back to the engine. I didn't see it but from the location of the hole I'd say it was something solid on the front of the engine like the water pump that made the hole. The driver did well to pay off the constable who attended as the four heavy gents in the Merc were well on the way to getting our driver blamed and our car confiscated.

Look carefully at the coils of the springs to check they aren't rattling against each other at the top or bottom where they're close.

Engine - bog standard Coma fleet diesel oil, about stg. 28 for a 25 litre drum, change it 4x yearly. Gbox - MTF 94 Rest: EP90

Is it a metallic clatter? Check that your spring coils aren't rattling against each other at the top or bottom, this makes a horrible noise under certain driving conditions and drives people mad!

I was out on the drive last night trying to sort an electrical job. Yoof: "Trick or treat?" Me: "You look a bit old for that kind of thing." Yoof: "I'm firteen" Me: "Well you'll only get sweets here.... unless you know anything about car electrics." Yoof, coming up and peering in: "Wot's this then? You a farmer?" Me: (Exasperated silence) Yoof: wanders off, already bored.