miketomcat

On the basis there isn't many around they were either very expensive or didn't work very well. Mike

Somewhere on here is a cut away drawing of an Esarco that shows what a feet of engineering they are. Mike

Just remember if you use the rover axle you'll need a different rear prop to. Personally I went with Salisbury and upgraded to discs on the ibex but then I wanted the strongest stock axle without spending a fortune on diff, shafts etc. Mike

When I did a 200tdi conversion a few years ago I found a TD cowl turned upside down and trimmed for pipework fitted perfectly so it might be worth measuring a few cowls. Failing that as has been said just go electric. Mike

As far as I can make out doesn't stop you fitting E marked led units, just led bulbs into old units. Ironically the only thing that isn't led on my ibex ate the headlights. Mike

I'll just leave this here..... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/193954263806 Mike

I mean if only you knew someone who could do fibreglass. To be fair I don't blame you for using off the shelf it's often far cheaper and less hassle. Mike

Or just put the drain in the middle! Mike

Jez has left the country to renovate a mill. If it's Volvo portal stuff @FridgeFreezer can help with some bits. Mike

Can I point out I said it shouldn't be a problem legally. But even if it was, IVA is the worst case and that's not really an issue with a standard car bar the additional cost (around £500). Mike

https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-registration/rebuilt-vehicles Mike

Theoretically yes you can swap the body as the points are in the chassis, suspension etc. Worst case you would need an IVA (not the full kit car one) which shouldn't be a problem if standard vehicle. Then it would probably get an age related number plate. You probably should notify DVLA and your insurance. I'm not familiar with d3's but you would need to transfer the id from the chassis to the new body and this maybe troublesome. Mike

Suspension is very interesting. I quite like the styling of the yellow one. Mike

Err fridge was referring to the troop carrier tgb20 6.05 total length and 5700kg gvw. But I agree the T244 is much better option. As I've said before I think I could make any of the above work (I'm a boatbuilder so used to small alkward spaces) but it'll be finance's that kill the truck idea. Mike

We got 255/85x16 on the wife's 110 never had any trouble with them rubbing, however whilst we do have an aux tank it's under the drivers seat. Personally I'd put some on and see given your truck I doubt serious off road is going to be a problem. If they do touch it'll be nothing a big hammer some panel beating can't solve. Mike

Thanks for the input. As I said from the beginning this was very much vapour. I would still quite like to do one but it's unlikely to happen. More likely is a home built caravan/camping trailer but we will see what happens. Mike

Welcome to the forum. Mike

To convert a 90 to a 130 (or a 110) would cost considerably more than £4k. The IVA and registration alone are best part of £700 assuming it passed first time. A chassis is £3k (assumes a new galv chassis). All the body parts you don't have £2k (assumes second hand). Paint £500 if you do it yourself, £3k at a paint shop. Odds and sods (fuel tank, rear axle, prop etc) £1-2k. Sell the 90 and add what you can to buy a 110/130. Mike

From memory they start from £8k ish for the kit and it will cost you from about £12k on top to build (including buying a donor). Which sounds a lot until you actually work out the costs of building a defender (I doubt your 130 project would leave much change from £30k if done to a good standard). I know which I'd rather have....... Mike

Especially as foers will build an ibex any length you want with 4, 6 or maybe even 8 wheel drive. You can have pick up, hard top, station wagon or flat bed to name a few. https://www.ibexvehicles.com/ Mike

As has been said above. You could use the 90 rear axle but the truck would need be down plated for weight capacity. If you use most of the 90's parts (bar the parts that need to be 130 or bespoke) you will get an age related plate in fact even if you use two donor vehicles they will pick one to use for the age (depending on which is older/has the most parts in the build). I actually had to try quite hard to get a Q plate on my ibex. Personally rather than build a 90 into a 130 I would buy a 130 and use the 90 to donate the parts to fix it. Or Buy an ibex kit and use the 90 as a donor. (This would be what I would do). Mike

1990 was TD and 200tdi didn't arrive in defender form till 92 from memory. EX military could have anything in it from N/A to retrofit 300tdi. Mike

I can assure you the door tops leaning in to far is not a bad thing. Standard from the factory they start to lean out at 50mph. Mike

As the sun was out it was a good weekend to pull the heater out. I've always had low air output and had a suspicion the seal to the bulkhead was leaking. Heater out I've made a new seal hopefully shaped to fit better and in much better condition than the one in there. Was toying with doing daveturnbull's swift motor conversion but have decided to leave that for another day. It does feel better but I guess I'll find out on a wet and horrible morning. Mike

Foers still do a 6x6 version of the F8 ibex and it's very cool. https://www.ibexvehicles.com/ Mike