lo-fi

Beware of after market ones, they're often more asthmatic than 50 year old green oval stuff. I have one that looks just like that ebay link you've posted.... It's absolute garbage, I can breathe harder. I've hunted high and low myself for the same thing and come up short. I ended up re-orienting the defender fan on my series fitment, which works fairly well. Complete heater/fan assembly's are easy enough to get hold of, so that may be an option?

I really like that!

The earth for the lights is in the the middle of the rad panel, so you need good contact between that and the chassis, as well as that earth connection in good fettle. Its a ring terminal that pokes out of the loom that runs through the rad panel over to the left hand lights. Easily missed or forgotten.

Always a good idea to fit studs that live in a non-blind hole with some thread sealant (sealant, not locker). Loctite 542 suits the application well. I have the Bondloc equivalent at the moment and use it quite a bit. It's particularly good at preventing water ingress into threads in ali components of cooling systems too. The breakaway torque really isn't very high, so no worries about shearing off studs locked into place if you have to disassemble in the future. Loctite 270 can also be used if you're confident you can get a little heat to it (doesn't need much) if it's got a really good bond. HTH

Fantastic! Should sail through and you can go and enjoy it. Look forward seeing you at Leafers next year!

I'd suspect a little crack or some porosity too. They only need a nip up (all other things being equal, of course); I tend to use the 1/4 drive ratchet so I can't overdo it. Try piping a little petrol into the bolt hole in question, it'll soon tell you whether it's causing your problem. Even better with a spot of dark food dye in it.

Well done, that must have been a good moment!

I have some "friendly banter" with a couple of mates running full time 4wd and swear "it's fine mate, you don't know what you're talking about", who've recently been eating humble pie as they've started going through UJ's, swivel bearings and drive flanges and when the odd half shaft at a rate of knots. One has admitted defeat and is going back to the series box (though why he doesn't just convert the LT230 to part time escapes me), the other is still trying to blame everything but what's staring him in the face. I don't really see it as a safety issue, more of an engineering one, and I don't (personally) like the full-lock behaviour. To look at it another way: Land Rover never changed anything unless it was absolutely necessary. That would have cost money (evidence essentially the same cruddy Rover diff from S1 to latest defender). If they thought they could get away with full time 4wd on a UJ front axle on the Stage 1, I have no doubt they would have. Five speed, even on the early short bellhousing LT77 is also a tight fit in an 88. You've also got the front prop to bellhousing crossmember clearance issue, which is tricky to solve if you don't want to cut your galv chassis. The bright side for the series box is the indirect injection on the 2.5TD gives comparatively smooth running vs the later 200/300tdi and I'd expect it to last very well. Its an easy fit too.

Best bets will be pop a post up In the Wanted section here, keeping an eye on ebay, facebay and attending a few auto jumbles. Complete kits are rare, mostly only the adaptor rings seem to survive. You'll probably end up rolling your own engine mounts unless you get lucky and find a set

Don't worry Deep, I bet they'll supply it with one of those cassettes with the cable dangling out so you can connect your Discman Bluetooth "just works". For anyone that can afford one of these things, it'll be a must have. I get in my car, the phone connects, it plays Spotify or iplayer where I left off. I touch literally nothing. My girlfriend, on the other hand, has an older fiat. It has a USB connection that patchily supports nothing but the phones of the day. She bought a Bluetooth adaptor, which lives in said USB port. Despite being Bluetooth (a wireless protocol, let's not forget), you have to plug the phone in to charge through the adaptor before it'll work. Its the most bonkers, irritating thing. Cables? Ain't nobody got time fo dat. Modern iPhones don't even have a 3.5mm jack any more either. Bluetooth A2DP is a single standard more broadly supported than even a cable now, so I'd expect both the new thing and Grenadier (however basic) to come with support, and I'd be willing to bet its more widely used than any cabled connection. I like the idea of the "dumb" head unit though, pretty much just being an amp with volume control. That's pretty much all I ever want out of a car stereo!

Well done! Really enjoyed the thread.

It's a wise move either way, bad earth's can create all sorts of gremlins. Get the contact areas all nice and clean with whatever abrasives you've got to hand and reassemble with vaseline or copper grease if you've not got any special electrical schmoo. There's an important earth connection on the bulkhead somewhere near the steering box too, it'll be a ring terminal with a few black wires running into it.

Have you been through all the earthing points, removed, cleaned and checked? Particularly the engine/gearbox to chassis strap. Sounds as if the starter current is arcing through a bad connection and causing it to get oxidised, which then affects all sorts of other things (like the coil). It would explain the intermittent nature of the problem and why it'll run fine, then all go south after restart.

Yep, you have to swap both; the flanges are a different design. Definitely worth making up a piece of bar with a couple of bolts to pick up on the prop bolt holes, and make it long enough to wedge against the floor!

I believe Snagger used 160lb/ft. The crush tube deforms at ~250lb/ft, so it's tight enough without risking crushing the tube any more. I've done similar myself when swapping the flange out for the newer type of seal.

You can't call a whole chassis shot just because of one bad repair... The individual in question is an idiot (the same kind of idiot that would make a "repair" like that) and worth no further time. If in doubt, get under with a small hammer, and go round everywhere tapping gently. If it rings, you're good. If it thuds crustily and holes appear, you'll soon see. If it's passed an MOT recently, it really can't be too bad! I'm not too far away (Berkshire). You're welcome to drop by for a brew and a chat if you don't mind a bit of a trip or you're passing. I don't tend to head down that way often, sadly.

Everyone I point to his channel says that! There are some absolute gems.

Cunning!

The spring hangers are available (I have some on the shelf), so not to worry if you end up hacking it off with the grinder and going through them. Where are you based?

Oh wait. I see what that second pic is now. Holy pigeon-poop, batman! That's horrific. And in about the most inaccessible place too.

Get a sharp cold chisel on those nuts, crack them in two. Series dumb irons a such a stupid piece of design.

Marvellous work. You've forgotten the wheels on the ends of the ramps for driving a Land Rover (or RX8) up while the truck is moving...

Saw one yesterday with an over-run setup. Had a bowden cable heading into the grill of the towed car, so I suspect some kind of attachment through to the brake pedal. It would have simplicity going for it. If anyone needed reasons why we don't have electric brakes, they're detailed above. The Demco setup does look pretty cool, though.

I've only been casually following, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of "utility" to the new defender. Much prattling on about suspension travel and suchlike, which I don't see as particularly relevant. I always saw the series/defenders real strength as being adaptable. The new thing looks about as adaptable as any large car, which is essentially what the Freelander (and pretty much any post-Freelander LR) is. Certainly what I've seen looks less useful than a (insert any manufacturer here) pickup or suchlike. I'm sure it's decent enough for bumping up curbs dropping Tarquin and Tobias to school down the lane "that's full of ghastly pot-holes, darling", but is it really in the spirit of the Defender? I don't really see it. As for faux chequer plate... That's a genuine crime. I actually quite like the way it looks though, chequer plate aside.

Spring paint? No, they're not sophisticated. Just be glad you didn't buy blue box.... Possible you've got a duff one - shouldn't leak when brand new (unless it comes in the aforementioned blue box)! Anyway, unless it's gushing, it won't be the cause of your pedal sink. Did you measure the drums?