Retroanaconda

They do yes

Sorry I should have been clearer, there is a connection to the tank but only the level and earth wires, nothing for the warning light. The speedo head measures the ‘signal’ from the sender and when it reaches a certain point it turns on the light.

Lots of chat on the Facebook groups about it. Apparently existing orders in prior to today are price protected but any new orders have jumped big time. There was an implication from a few posts that there were also increases for European orders. The sorry state of the pound will certainly not help.

On a td5 dash the low fuel light is driven by a circuit in the speedo head, there’s no feed from the sender. I had it running for years on my 200Tdi with only the level wires hooked up to the original tank sender.

Me too, they work very well.

Regards your question on the steel sill member/channel - yes it does just bolt to the bottom of the tub pillar. It only carries the floor and seatbox on a 90. And yes that exhaust mount is often unused, depending on age of vehicle and type of exhaust fitted. I have used the galv steel repair/reinforcement panels on mine, there are some photos in my rebuild thread in the members vehicles forum. They are an excellent solution.

I do the same, use it as a 6th but I do drop the main box into 4th rather than disengage the OD it slowing down for a short period, or on an incline. But I doubt my ancient 200Tdi is capable of overworking the thing! Likewise the stuff about the OD lever being more convenient than the main gear-lever is nonsense for RHD vehicles. It’s a right stretch to reach down and use it. I find it is no use as a gear splitter as the ratio change is too high, so you pretty much just end up in the gear above each time - i.e. 3rd + OD is more or less the same as 4th.

They’re available from Land Rover too. Try ERQ500060PMA and ERQ500070PMA

Without the body etc. on your propshafts will be quite extended so I wouldn’t be worried about that. I think you’ve identified the correct shafts. I have a 300Tdi/V8/Td5 rear propshaft in the workshop which I can wave a tape measure over if you like. I had it bolted up fine in my 110 rolling chassis.

Handy tax write off for Ineos too.

A great loss, his write ups back in the day first gave me the confidence to work on my own vehicle. RIP

There has been much talk of the drivers footwell on the Facebook groups, for some people it seems to be a major issue. From your photos I can see it clearer, with a big lump to provide clearance for something underneath right where your left leg would want to sit. I guess it will depend on your build and leg length. How did you find it? The vehicle does look good (front end aside), but I still hate that dashboard

I wouldn’t have thought 150 miles would be enough to blacken the oil. See what it’s like after 1,000 miles or so.

I’ve seen a few at the auction marts amongst the sea of pickups and older land rovers, so some people think they’re farm cars. At the end of the day a work vehicle will be different for everyone depending on what they do and how their business works. I use mine for work hence technically it’s a working vehicle. It’s certainly nicer to drive and more practical for me than any pickup on the market.

I can’t bring myself to drive a normal car - too boring - so my daily is still a green oval but a nice modern one that does everything I need. This leaves the others to be recreational ‘toys’ for lack of a better word. The key point to this though is I am lucky enough to have a garage and therefore if it sits for a month or so without being driven it doesn’t suffer like it would if it was out in the rain.

I realise that and do not meant to suggest you are being obtuse at all. I have a good amount of experience driving EVs at work and I agree that a good one will do most things for most people. But my point is that they can’t yet do everything for some people and I will wait until an EV exists that will match the usability of my current vehicle. I don’t want to have to faff with hiring other vehicles, which will have to be EVs as well one day if they ever figure out how to make one that can tow properly. And I want the flexibility to do a 600 mile drive with one or two ten minute stops for the aforementioned conveniences rather than having to wait for a longer period while a car recharges.

It doesn’t have to be regular though, even if I only do it once a year then if the car can’t do it then I have a problem. The same with the range - I only do a c. 600 mile journey a couple of times a year but if it can’t do it without hours of charging then it’s a pain. As for Tesla ‘dashboards’ I really don’t get them. You’re not allowed to use a phone while driving but it’s okay to operate a giant iPad stuck on the dash?

If you don’t have an EV tarrif or rely on public chargers then it won’t be long. I did some maths last week to look at the cost of an EV van compared to a diesel, at 70p/kWh (one forecast for next spring) it costs the same to run as a diesel doing 50mpg. As soon as the primary cost saving goes or reduced many people will not want to switch. Add in the huge additional purchase cost and it’s a hard sell. For me it simply comes down to a reduction in usability. My current car is a 4x4, it can tow 3.5 tonnes, will do 600 miles on a tank, and can be refilled in five minutes. When an EV can match that I will happily buy one but until then - why would I accept a reduction in usefulness?

My understanding is that the Gemmer and Adwest boxes have a different taper/spline for the drop arm, and so are not compatible. A 4-bolt Adwest will take the same arm as a 3-bolt Adwest. But a 6-bolt Gemmer is different. However the 4-bolt Adwest and 6-bolt Gemmer both take the same (metric) pipe fittings, whereas the 3-bolt Adwest takes different (imperial) fittings.

Seems a gimmick to me, I can’t see anyone who needs the vehicle for work wanting to spare the time to pick the vehicle up from a long way away. Just goes to show, along with other things, how they are targeting the recreational market much more than commercial.

20° according to the workshop manual

Finally got around to trying the Velcro out. It works well, I put it along the top and bottom where it meets the tub and it holds it in place nice and snugly 👍🏻

Mine was the same when I used the body off method, all I removed was the grille and bonnet. I should have said I’ve done mine twice and have used both methods. First was a quick and dirty chassis replacement in 2018 (thread here) - I lifted the body in one that time as I needed the car back on the road quickly. It bought me a few more years. Then last year I rebuilt the car properly with new or repaired panels, new paint etc. as documented in this thread.

The main issue with dismantling is not the lining things up or the time it takes really, or even the extra space needed to store everything. It is the fact that you will find so much more that needs changing/fixing that you would anticipate. This adds to both the time and the cost. It is however the way to do it ‘properly’ as it were if you do have issues with corrosion in the body etc. as most older Defenders do. If time/space is limited and you do not have serious issues with corrosion on the bodywork then lifting in one piece is a good plan. You may still have to realign doors etc. though as things can shift when it’s lifted off and back on. This also depends on the chassis you are using, some of the aftermarket ones can require some tweaks to mounts etc. to line up.

It’s common on all defender doors. While the later ones improved on many of the design flaws of the early types they sadly did not address that particular issue. It is exacerbated by worn hinges, poor alignment or dodgy door seals meaning the door has to be slammed to close it. Getting the doors closing properly will mean a significantly improved lifespan of this part.