miggit

I was actually referring to a BMW V8 diesel and V12 petrol engines that the L322 was intended to have in the design stages, but by the time of production BMW were looking to off load LR so they supplied the base model engines... at the lowest spec.... Ever wondered why the X5 diesel has the same engine and gearbox as the Range Rover but produces 50bhp more power?? The Iceberg diesel was rumored to be very noisy...

.....Pity we never got the proposed 8 pot diesel!

I've got to say that the more cylinders you have the less agricultural the driving experience gets, the TD5 is a good engine, all be it BMW origine. For ease of installation and power potential, I'd look at a Mercedes OM605 or OM606, 5 and 6 pots respectively, there are adaptor kits to install them into various Land Rover models, RRC being the one that I looked into. They can be fitted with a manual injection pump, which when fitted with new elements can produce over 500 bhp.... not that I'd recommend that for a Land Rover!! but around 250 bhp is very doable, and from what little knowledge I have, doesn't involve much more than a pump change... it uses the original turbo, and they don't do anything to the bottom end either. First thing you've got to answer is what are you trying to get ? Smooth diesel power below 150bhp then I'd look at a TD5... A little more power, not worried about the rattles then possibly tuned Tdi300 or the 2.8 International version... But if you want 200 + then Mercedes OM power is possibly worth looking at... I found a chap in Sweden, I think, who did an adaptor kit to either auto or manual RRC boxes for around £800 for the basic kit...

A mechanical pump is the best way of getting past the LR electronics, but possibly not the best option for power and economy. I've been thinking of sticking a Mercedes OM 606 / 605 engine into my RRC, and having done a fair amount of surfing, discovered that HoSS has used this engine in his Volvo build and has found a way around the security on the ECU to retain the electronic pump, rather than go manual.... But I haven't been able to find out how, D'OH! It might be worth asking him, as I imagine BMW Bosch is fairly common to Mercedes Bosch.... The other thought is if you're running a manual transmission, maybe BMW ECU / loom might be easier to deal with.

Obviously cut the threads before it's treated! Does that mean that I could have done away with the totally useless 5L40E plastic box (made from camembert and plastic) in my L322?

I think I've sourced some from a D1 that got recycled in to a Defender!! Just playing the waiting game..... But if it all goes Pete Tong I'll send you a message!

unc is a coarser thread than standard metric, and will have more meat in the thread, that isn't to say that you can't get metric coarse threads! For the smaller sizes it was suggested that Heli coils should be considered, if you really want strong then use threaded inserts, like time-sert.

If you're going down the aluminium route, you might want to think about getting it anodized as it will harden up the material.... Or is it possible to use a nut and bolt? that would remove any worries about stripping threads.

Thanks, that is very kind of you, and I may well take you up on your kind offer... I'm just in the process of scrounging a set of roll bars.. I'll be in touch!

The front ARB bracket is so close to the radius arm it has to use the bolt as it would make it impossible to remove the arm to service the bushes... But the ARB could be fixed to either the radius arms or axle and work perfectly well, as long as it's firmly attached near to the spring. Granted the direct to the axle would work better as the radius arm bushes don't detract from the compressive force of the ARB... However I don't think that they would upset the setup too much, and I wouldn't have to strip the axle for welding, as I'd only be drilling a hole. And let's face it if it doesn't do the business I can always add the YRM brackets, it's a bit harder to do it the other way around!

You have misunderstood me.. if the battery is of the same type as the cars, or, you have the right type of second alternator for the slave, when it's nearly charged then the power will only dribble in... however when you've had your fridge, curling tongs, 5 iPads etc. on for a day or more, the poor old slave battery will be lucky to be still reading double figures on both volts and amps, so it will take all the power you can give it. If you've a 45 amp alternator it will get 45 amps, and would take a few hours of running to restore anything like normal levels. But if you've got a 120 amp alternator it will get to the normal-ish level in roughly a third of the time. Now I'm not saying that the second alternator should be a monster, as you'll be in to multiple drive belts.. but 70-80 amp units will run on a single belt without sounding like a stuffed pig.. In fact I had a 105 amp on one of my 'ang' 'overs and it was quite happy with a single belt, but the 130 amp unit on my Tbird was less than happy!!

From the number of cars that I've had dealings with the 12s side of things they have been permanent live.... you've got me wondering what is standard now.... I feel a multimeter on the factory fitted 13pin socket on my ML is in order just to see.... I will report on findings...

A 12s socket has a direct feed from the battery of the host... if it was switched then there wouldn't be a problem, but most don't come with warnings or a relay

I didn't realise that you can run the Ctec as a standalone unit, all the ones for sale had the Smartpass 120 thingy bolted on which doubles the price! ... not so bad then !

OK so lets keep the maths simple.... we'll assume that the fridge has a 6 amp draw and you've an average sized battery, 60 Ah, that's 10 hours of running and it's dead in the water.... and that's at lower than average drain.. I'm not trying to scare peeps but if you leave the tint tent plugged into a car that's not running for a few hours it can have a very big effect. The stick on kit that I saw had a regulator / controller with it, as you say it will end in tears if you plug a large panel into the battery directly, especially on days like the ones we had a few weeks ago! Surely if your battery has nearly the same volts as the alternator this would mean that it's nearly fully charged... why would you want to charge a charged battery? The man wants to power a fridge, I don't think that they are a voltage critical piece of equipment... do they make smart fridges, for tents?