steve b

How many splines on the sun gears? Steve

The engine is in the 200 Tdi position so a 200 Defender or 2.5na shroud would be the only original options and I'm not sure the fan is at the same point. A low coolant warning light/buzzer is worthwhile with 300 Tdi's.... Steve

Check the front wheel bearings too - if slack enough the disc will scrape the dirt guard. Front prop is no. 1 suspect , best checked by removing it to get a proper feel of the UJ bearings Steve

Then there is the LHC black hole and Y2K to name a couple more... Cats are another example - in the first 10 years scrap ones had little value due to no recycling specialists - now they are valuable enough to steal off parked cars along with DPF's too. foil hat on and pitch fork to hand..... Steve

If it's worth doing, do properly and once. Knowing the commitment required to see something of this scale though to the finish I can see both your tension and the barely held in anticipation of driving it . I hope you have many great trips in this soon to be better than factory build Love the colour too. Steve

Fixed that for you As for JLR building expensive specials , wouldn't you ? They are there to make money. Hyper-consumerism is here to stay...... Steve

It was slightly worse than mildly moist.......... the Argo will take an outboard but without both are no good in any flow. Steve

I had one of these years ago Max ATV , 400cc twin 2 stroke with vari-belt drive. Very fast on (flat) land and as slow as an Argo-cat in water. It was great fun but limited places to use it. Steve

I came across this parked/moored on the hard at Pinmill a while ago.... It looks too wide to have got there down the tiny road to the foreshore. My favourite amphibious creation is this More crazy Russian stuff Then there is this, native to Alaskan oil fields Can you tell I like a floater ? Steve

Yes , stamped on the block adjacent to the injector pump side just behind the timing belt housing Steve

Have a look at mobile market stall awnings, sounds more like the size you want Steve

At the height of the Feb. '87 winter snow storm I went to the local police station and offered my help - two recoveries were to stranded patrol cars with officers in that had been stuck for 12 hours. One car was left behind ( snow over the roof in 8 foot drifts ) and the two officers delivered back to base . The other car was towed all the way back (3 miles) across fields which were clear as all the snow had blown on/into roads. The next job was a 40t chiiler trailer and tractor unit from Spain trying to get to a local bulk packing factory spinning out at the bottom of a hill. To my amazement my 2 door V8 RRC did it with ease and I waved them on their way. A hour later after extracting a Post van from a drift I found the truck again 300yards into a mile long 3ft deep drift. The Spanish driver, his wife and two young children had a nice warm ride with me back to the Police station. They had no winter clothing with them at all. The rest of the day was spent with Meals on wheels delivering in the local area. Steve

Tall skinny tyres help... Steve

In your first post you said 9mm pin in the FIP lock, I use a 3/8" drill bit , 9.5mm . The fit is very tight but needs to be. The crank drive wheel key/keyway is still my prime suspect regarding cam wheel position. Steve

SP4x4 panels make the Series rear quarter panel with the seal edge folded as original I had several sets of Series galv doors from them and the quality is excellent. Steve

I have the idler loose enough to rock over but not allow the tensioner to come off the pivot spigot. Belt on crank then cam then FIP . The cam wheel not lining up could be crank drive wheel key/keyway issues? Steve

Good to see that again, such an inspired Engineer. Steve

If it was clicking then it could be the starter. Make sure it's out of gear and spark a known live to the terminal on the starter with the white/red wire. If it turns over then it could be the switch on the back of the steering lock assembly. If not, then the starter motor is the likely culprit. Also, welcome to the forum. Steve

That is asking a lot of the flexi sections to have rigid pipes so far away from the centre line of the engine? Will you have a balance connection between banks? Steve

absolutely , but sometimes belts let go so it is good there is a high probability damage will be limited to external top end, sadly not the case with just about all newer diesel engines across all types of vehicle Steve

Cam belt failure on 200 and 300 Tdi will not destroy the engine . at worst rocker arms break and push rods bend. Freeby's description of the symptoms are exactly what you get with retarded timing . The pushrod bent when the timing belt jumped and the valve hit the piston. good work through @Freeby. Now pic's are required of your RRC Steve

That is all there is now for many parts. If genuine is available then that is what I recommend . The Heater to BH seal was BP and supplied by the client. The genuine item is entirely different and an easy fit.... I fitted a full set of genuine shocks last year (to a coiler) and the vehicle was back in a month with rattles at the back, both bottom shock upper bushes were missing and the lower bushes were splitting too..... A few of us in this area are discussing series door seals and vent seals with a local specialist rubber extruder, if anything comes of it I'll post it on the forum. Steve

@hurbie, 7 years ago I stupidly ordered a full set of road springs for a 109 S3 from Bearmach. I fitted the front springs and fully built they did not deflect at all with the wheels on the deck. Pulled them off and made a test rig and loaded a single spring with known mass ( several sheets of 2m x 1m 10mm thick steel ) and to get to standard ride height from pad to bump stop it took 800kg .....that is near to the total front axle to road max mass. I sent a detailed email report including pictures to BM and was never acknowledged, and just to drop a cherry on top it took 7 months to get refunded. Replaced with springs from Jones. Bolt up and go . Perfectly engineered by real Engineers. Steve

Yep The fuel tanks really hammered that home. In a previous life I was an Engineer in a major mass/batch production factory so have a deep understanding of QC and consistent quality tooling and manufacture. Even more frustrating is suppliers/anufacturers completely ignoring any feedback that questions the product. Steve

After market pattern parts that don't fit and/or fail.............. This could run for years latest ones ... Supplied defender heater box to BH seal , pattern , had to cut about 12mm off it's width to get it to fit. Another recent one, Defender Lucas steering lock small ignition switch module , the outer mazak casting diameter was too big for the lock housing . Sorted with some patient flap wheel fitting... And another , SS Defender door hinge bolt kit , the countersunk screw heads are too big for the counterbore in the hinge..... more fitting with a flap wheel. Series Military under seat fill new pattern tanks that the neck is too small for the filler tube and the caps don't seal or lock to a stop , fixed by welding in the old tank top into the new ones , I mean truly WTF are these manufacturers and suppliers on ??? Series door seals that just don't fit - too deep/wide/thick/rigid Series vent flap seals - the same Pattern side/brake/indicator light units for 300 Tdi Defender onwards don't fit the Factory bulb holder .........and breathe The list is endless when you get into it Series rad coolant hoses that are the same diameter outside as the stub they are going onto..... Steve