Romahomepete

I have 7.50 R16 tyres on a mixture of S3 and tube type defender wheels on an 88. The tyres are Goodyear Wranglers that I collected over a period of a few months. &.50s are still available new mostly in Michelin or Avon brands but there are others about. I dont understand your mechanics comment about old metric wheels. Unless you have a very very early S1 then your wheels will be 16inches diamter and 5" wide for standard SWB up to S3, 5.5" wide for LWB and Defender and some other variations are 6.5" wide. S1, S2 S3 and early defenders were all tubed type, later defenders were tubeless. Steel wheels are very cheap often even being given away, you just need to keep an eye on the S1 and S2 forums. Tyres can be found on Ebay. Peter

And, if you need proper penetrating oil use something like Plus Gas. WD40 is not a penetrating oil it is a Water Dispersent. Peter

The Smiths round heater is a 2/early 2A fit. Replace the core with a Clayton core and bend the fan blades a bit. The front seat passenger burns their legs and the driver freezes. Peter

The SWB has some quite distibctive features (not going to say on here) that would help identify it even if it appears under a new identity. Keep your eyes peeled guys the SWB has a lot of sentimental value for the owner and the LWB is part of a farmers livelyhood. Thanks Peter

Same principle but mine is a diesel and the starter is really heavy. I took the wing off removed the starter (my problem was that whoever fitted the starter did it before the engine was fitted and used odd nuts and bolts which had to be cut.) and fitted a 300TDI which is smaller, lighter and turns faster. For a petrol I would replace it with a Hi Torque starter smaller, lighter and turns quicker. The smaller motors can be removed with the exhaust pipe left in place.

Chassis have to be unbelievably bad before they actually nead replacing, we have a 59, 58,55, 51 years all on original well but properly repaired chassis and a 49 in the process of being repaired. I recently had a problem with an awkward to get to nut that was well rusted, the rounded end of my powerfile and lots of patience allowed me to wear away part of the nut and the biolt so that they could be removed. Peter

I would hazard a guess that it was once owned by a garage and had a crane in the back. Our S1 LWB has similar holes and was a garage breakdown truck, it used to have a harvey Frost hand cranked crane mounted on the pickup bed. Peter

Be careful using a cigarette lighter plug and socket, the connections between the parts is not the best, they can get hot and must not be used for more than 10n amps. The Germans produce a plug and socket with a far more positive connection but personally I would use Anderson connectors Peter

Steve I have tried to use plywood under a trolley jack on our chippings drive and the weight causes the wheels to bite into the plywood. Peter

As has been said many times before on a number of forums, it is a grey area and until it is tested in court no one will know. I am curious about insurance though when the car is "on tow" It is certainly illegal in Spain and the police will stop you and make you detach the car, you may also get a fine. Peter

Military ones tend to be but not always on the rear spring hangers inside or out front or back. UK civilian ones are on the outside of the front offside dumb iron. I have seen an ex australian military chassis with the number on the outside of the nearside rear spring hanger. Peter

Do you mean S2 or 52 (80" S1) the numbers are in different places. Also if it is ex mil it could be somewhere different. Peter

You could use something like this

I would fit an oil pressure gauge as standard, it gives you an idea of what is going on. BTW main bearings tend to rumble rather than knock. Crank damper is good to check. If the oil light is not flickering on tickover then I would suggest that it is probably not big ends (not infallible though). As a stop gap if it is only on tickover increase the tickover speed slightly until you solve the problem Good luck Peter

I am afraid Gazzars info is out of date since the centralisation at Swansea. Steve G is mostly right, the Dutch docs should be enough proof of age. DVLA are a bit iffy about Heritage Certificates, mostly they will not accept them, quoting the possibility of transcription errors (although occasionally one gets through) If dating is a problem (shouldnt be if you know the original UK reg then do a V888 search through DVLA, that should pull up previous documents including the V5 from before you exported it and the date will be on there. Also if you can get an authenticated copy of the relevent page from Glass's check book then that is usually accepted. By the way the standard rate for road tax for a camper less than 3.5 tonnes is either £240 or £260 I cant remember which, I just pay it when the reminder comes There is a time limit for applying for NOVA after the vehicle is imported (I think 14 days but I am not sure. Good luck Peter

You can insure it on the VIN, you will need to do so as part of the registration process. Have you also made the NOVA declaration? Peter

Start now with the seat box bolts if it has not been out recently loosen everything and lubricate, but not with copper grease. five minutes here and there until you know that they will all come undone. When you start to do the swap the pain of the seatbox will have been dealt with and will make the rest of the job easier. Peter

The alloy ones do fatigue crack round the fixings due to the weight of the spare wheel on the bonnet and incorrect fitting . Peter

Grind off what is left of the pin and weld on a 19mm bolt. You will never have problems with the bushes failing Peter

Anyone wanting to know about DVLAs attitude to Q plates should look at the thread on the military section dealing with historic tax and MOT (I can't remember the threads exact title). On the last post I attached an extract from a letter sent to all car clubs that are part of the V765 scheme. Peter

When getting information from DVLA in a phone call always ask for written confirmation. The phone operators have been known to get it wrong. Peter

I dont think it would fit but a bikini top would Peter

They are definitely available for an S1 (we have one) but I think the S2 variety is called a bikini roof. Just had a look at the Allwheel trim site and they list a canvas truck cab. Peter

Have a bit of sympathy chaps When someone is under the weather we all know that a bit of talking therapy helps Peter

Within different areas of the S2 club workshop meets are organised to provide help and encouragment for those who for whatever reason are not able to get things done on their land rover, it may be not having the skills, not having the physical capability, being ill or whatever. It is a good excuse for having a chinwag, catching up and actually helping someone. The host usually provides bacon butties (not manadtory.) If you are not a club member just ask a few of your friends on this forum to lend a hand whilst you supervise. Hop your health continues to improve so that you can get back to doing the things you love. Peter