paime

It feels like it's 50/50 between those who are up for commuting in a defender and those who could think of nothing worse. Having been through a chassis swap this year and replaced most moving parts I think I'm probably in a good place to at least start the journeys with the Td5 and if I can't hack the pace then an old German barge might be on the cards.

A true eurobox is out of the question I think. It would depress me beyond belief to do 70 miles a day on a dark winter's day in Scotland in a Clio or a Suzuki Swift. Sounds snobby, probably is but I'm willing to die on that hill! A mini, on the other hand, opens up all sorts of interesting ideas. The diesel ones are very boring if not well built but I could see myself in a wee supercharged pocket rocket.

Ah! That makes sense! I was hoping i was going to get pointed in the direction of a special hidden '55mpg' button in the engine bay somewhere....

What does the diesel hack consist of? Biodiesel?

A mini had crossed my mind (my wife used to have one) and i find it funny when men stare in the window hoping to see a pretty young thing driving it only to see me - a hairy bloke instead! @FridgeFreezer - what sort of consumption do you get?

It would technically be cheaper after a couple of years if I was to spend £4k on a wee runaround but I know I would end up hating it then selling it after 6 months at a loss. I'd rather put a bit of effort into making my current wagon a bit more comfortable and seeing if I could squeeze a bit more out of its performance. Sounds like a remap, 1.2 transfer box and some sound deadening to keep me sane is what's needed. Now we're talking! I can get a side-gig as an 80s henchman from a Beverly Hills Cop movie as well 😁 Good looking cars in my opinion but maybe not the wife's cup of tea. Long, long, long term I'll be doing an electric conversion but it's just not economical right now.

A lot of good ideas in here! I don't think I could live with a euro diesel-box. What if people saw me driving it?? I've got a 1.2 transfer box in the garage so that'll be going in. Does the electric fan make a big difference? Any thoughts on bio fuels?

I could never sell my beloved Daisy!

We're due to be moving into the sticks soon which will see my daily commute go from 5 miles to 35 miles each way and all of it dual carriageway driving. I had looked at getting a cheap runaround but don't really fancy adding another vehicle + tax, insurance and maintenance costs to the fleet. I have a 90 TD5 at the minute, what could I do to make her more fuel efficient/reduce fuel costs apart from inflating the tyres correctly and not driving like a loon? Running it on veg oil? V8 + LPG? Convert it to battery power?

Went for £6,500 in the end. I think someone has a bargain there.

Have you got a link for Mosside? My googling is letting me down.

I used one of those cheap £5 one way valves when I recently did mine and it was fantastic. Just had to keep the reservoir topped up and the rest was easy. Worth a shot as you're not introducing any artificial pressure or vacuum into the system.

i spotted that the other day, it'll be interesting to see what it goes for.

The interior has almost sold it for me and if I'm buying one i'm definitely going for the sunroofs. Is there any information on running costs such as mpg yet? I do hope they don't go all new-defendery with their pricing as well. If it's comparable to a Hilux or Navara and at a sensible £400 pcm on PCP with a low deposit then I think it'll do really well.

Without being too artsy fartsy or ethereal, what is a Defender to folks like us on this forum? Reliability? Go-anywhere capabilities? Utilitarianism?

A couple of pics in this link here might help

i daren't put snow foam anywhere near my beloved Daisy for fear of the whole vehicle melting away!

I'm 100% certain that my family would not appreciate anything that i've built from scratch as a birthday present!

That's come out really well! How did you create the folds? Angle grinder then a bit of heft to bring the corners together?

It'll be really interesting to see what the guaranteed future value is for PCP. If they can bring it in under £450 pcm with a modest deposit then it'll rival the hiluxes and navaras.

Any mayonnaise under the oil cap?

@JeffR admittedly i've never met you before but i feel like you need to be chaperoned in your DIY activities given the contents of your other post! 😁

If we can collectively design an adjustable defender door hinge then we'll be able to collectively retire off the profits as well

I fitted a Shielder last year and didn't have any troubles. I think a lot of the issues have been dealt with now and there's probably not much difference between all chassis brands. I used cavity wax on mine as well as epoxy and underseal everywhere to give it as much protection as possible.

+1 for hinges that don't cost an absolute fortune! Also, adjustable hinges would be a good improvement to help with door alignment.