Paul

Superb photos Michele. The b&w looks great. I'm waiting patiently for the conclusion to this ripping yarn. Paul

I thought the input shafts were different lengths, much shorter on a 200tdi Defender? Paul

Thanks fellas, 30mm it is then. I've replaced the balljoint before, but I used a borrowed socket set to do it. My sockets stop at 27mm. I'm not replacing the balljoint this time, but removing the entire rear axle housing, and the balljoint seems to be the best place to split it. Paul

As it says really. Can anyone tell me off the top of their heads what the nut size is? I have it in mind that it was 32mm, but it was a long time ago that I last pulled it apart. TIA Paul

You could always get something sent over from these guys: http://www.donaldsonfilters.com.au/product...1ID=1&intT2ID=1 Paul

Well, thanks Nige. I'll make a bold preditction that Ali will become considerably less ruff a*sed over here, as soon as he sees the local prices for LR parts.

Mine's bigger than yours! (I don't often get to say that and have it be true) Paul

Looking great Will. B) Although I think that driver's door lacks character, being so straight 'n all. Paul

I spoke to Mal today (whilst adding significantly to his retirement fund ) and he's off on holidays Wednesday for about a month. Best pick up the phone now if you have any last minute rush orders...portals, rear steer etc etc. It's only money Paul

Hey Col Welcome back mate. How's life in the in the sand dunes? Cool change came through last night. Overnight down to 17°, which is ½ the overnight minimum Saturday. Positively chilly now, but back up to 40° by the end of the week. Don't forget we want pictures of the new beast.

Tony, most of your problems are undoubtably caused by the front and rear axles being too close together. They should be 110" apart for best performance. Or, on a more useful note...you could try dousing the steering UJs with WD40 and see if that makes any difference. Paul

43°C again today, and well into the 40s every day since Thursday. Worst of it is the night temps. It doesn't get below 30°, at 10.30pm Friday night it was still 38° when I was driving home. This is definitely not Defender weather. The aircon really struggles, and she gets quite hot under load at the moment. Recored radiator, new viscous coupling, new water pump, new thermostat, block flushed and an extra electric fan - cooling is about as good as it gets but it's still gets close to the red going uphill unless I turn the aircon off. Thank goodness the aircon in the Ford can make icecubes. Paul

I presume you haven't connected both jump leads to the terminals on the S3 battery? If you have, try changing it so that the -ve is connected to the S3s engine block, and the +ve is connected to the battery terminal. Always works best that way. Paul

And I thought my 50mm² winch cable was OTT.

Since that was a post originally written by me, I guess I should come up with the goods. There is a really good article, complete with pictures showing exactly what needs to be done here There are a few people on this forum that have now done this onboard air thing, so if you have any questions, just shout. I'm sure you'll get plenty of answers. Paul

Excellent piece of information there Rog. As for the cable size, I use 8ga, don't know what that equates to in mm² Are you guys really using 35mm² cable for the line from the alternator to the battery? Or is that from the starter to the battery?

Here's something to think about if you're chasing electrical gremlins. Ever since I bought my Defender, it has always had odd things happening with the windscreen wipers. First thing in the morning (especially if it was cold) turning the wipers on low or intermittent would not get a reaction. They'd just sit there looking at me without even the slightest movement. If I turned them to high, they'd get moving and from them on work fine for the rest of the day. Also, the intermittent function seemed to have a mind of its own. It would work correctly for a while, then it would just keep going as if it was switched to low speed, then after a while go back to intermittent, without anyone ever touching the switch. Sort of 'possesed' in that Landrover kind of way. I always put it down to a fault either with the timer relay thingy, or else the wiper motor itself had obviously had the richard. Since I live in Adelaide, and it's not a daily driver, I didn't worry too much. Rain isn't something that's high on the list of concerns here most of the time. However, on a recent trip I managed to find a fairly deep water filled muddy hole that I traversed a few times (once because I had to, and 3 or 4 more times 'cause it was fun). Later that day it was raining at night in the local town, I had the wipers on, selected reverse and the fuse blew. So did the next fuse. The next day I discovered that the transfer case among other things was completely covered in thick gloopy mud, which eventually shorted the reverse light switch slightly, so that when I selected reverse with the wipers running, the fuse blew. After cleaning it all up and replacing the fuse again, everything worked perfectly. But, here's the strange bit, the wipers now work perfectly too. The intermittent function does what it's supposed to, without going into regular fits, and the wipers come on first thing in the morning without having to be switched to high first. B) Looking at the original fuse, there seems to be a bit of very light corrosion around the ends. Perhaps over the years this has built up and caused a resistance that was playing havoc with the wipers? Looking at the rest of my fuses, they were all very slightly corroded, so I've now replaced them all. I know we often say when the electrics are playing up, check the earths, but I don't know how many people look closely at the fuses when the power appears to be getting through OK. Anyway, I just though it might be a tip for anyone currently doing combat with Landrover electrics.

AFAIK all 200tdi & 300tdi station wagons had cloth seats in Australia. It was only the utes & cab chassis' that had the vinyl seats. I haven't seen too many 200tdi Defenders either, they're extremely rare here, I only know of 3 others. The 2 SW I know of have cloth seats like mine and the ute has vinyl.

Thanks Ralph. Seems my impression is about right then for the Aus spec being somewhere in between. Mine has cloth seats, full roof lining, tinted windows, halogen headlights and air con, but no sun roof, self leveller or carpets.

Mine's an Australian spec 200tdi, so I guess it's somewhere in between station wagon and csw. What exactly is the difference?

I had a quote from Mal a few weeks ago. Rover Locker (Defender front with inner halfshafts but no CVs) - $1780AUD so, approx 700 quid. Salisbury Locker complete with shafts & drive members $1530AUD so, approx 600 quid. Sad to say guys, but if you were over here, you could have Maxidrive lockers and axles front & rear on your 110s for about 1300 quid all up.

I was waiting for the theme for Eastenders to start playing when I looked at that image.

No snow here! Forecast was only for 38*C, but 1pm and it's already 41*C, 7% humidity with a 24knot N/Wester just starting to pick up. YUK! My bet's for 44*C before the sun goes down. It's days like this that a dark green car with black leather interior seems like a really dumb idea.

Are we referring to a Defender or Disco here? If it's a Defender, then AFAIK the following should be correct: For pre-Defender up to axle no 20L48865, the half shafts will be AEU2520(RH) & AEU2521(LH), being 10 spline at the diff end and 23 spline at the CV end. CV joint is AEU2522 (the stongest of the factory offerings). Pre-Defender through 200tdi Defender and up to almost 300tdi Defender (axle no 20L48866 onwards), the half shafts will be RTC6754(RH) & RTC6755(LH), being 10 spline at the diff end and 32 spline at the CV end. CV joint will be RTC6862. From VIN LA930456 to WA159806 (basically all of 300tdi), the half shafts will be STC3049(RH) & STC3050(LH), being 24 spline at the diff end and 32 spline at the CV end. CV joint will be RTC6862. From VIN XA159807 (I assume to be TD5 onwards), the half shafts will be TDC000020(RH) and TDC000030(LH). I think the splines are the same as 300tdi. CV joint will be TDJ000010. Paul

My rear point is via the Hayman Reese tow hitch, which attaches to the crossmember as well as both chassis rails. Removable hitch was run up in the mill from 50mm x 50mm solid bar. Front points are made from 1/2" plate, bolted through both the ARB bar, and the 10mm x 150mm winch cradle behind it. Despite being a slow-mount, the winch is fitted up feet forward, like an 8274, and the U shaped cradle bolts throgh the chassis rails on each side. You can just see the four bolts for the left recovery point coming through the cradle at the front.