JSG

Another posh Landy. Welcome to the forum. CSWs have high level brake lights - so parts are available and the loom may have the wiring for it.

Some sensible suggestions here, I agree that the Wycombe show used to be quite good but then that may have been because there were less shows per year at the time. I think a lot of us go for the social aspect of a catch up with friends for a natter and a beer whilst looking at each other's trucks. Its nice to be able to camp in groups as well rather than just meeting up at the beer tent / toilets etc. This is something that ORRP has managed to do quite successfully for the past few years. As for 'north of the Thames' - well a lot of us make it to Billing which is way up north.

Green shoe polish?

It is a problem - must have had some b@lls to nick it in braod daylight. I was looking at the roofracks - I love a Patriot type rack but noticed that they all seem to just bolt on to the gutters, which made me wonder about security.

I enjoyed it - weather wasn't ideal but then you can't blame the organisers for that. I camped with the ORRP lot on an 'island' just up-stream of the weir and we stayed pretty dry all weekend - no real mud under foot and although some tents got wet the Oztent stayed bone dry. The show ground was a mess with the mud but my 10 year old had great fun in his wellies and although I have a high centre of gravity I managed to not slip over completely. I saw most of what I wanted to, met a few new faces and bought a dog / luggage guard and a fridge. Nearly bought one of the new Mantec snorkles (might have been a good idea with all these floods) but decided I'd spent enough. I found the loos nice and clean and the showers hot. Downsides - well, I think the entrance could have been better organised without the bottleneck after the gate. When I got back to the site Sat morning after collecting my son the queue for the wristbands etc stretched out of the site back to the dual carriageway and a mile or so back towards the M1......... I went up to the next junction and then straight on at the petrol station and back in via the off-road course. Finally - the catering was pants. One company had obviously won the tender for the show and the choice was poor, overpriced, slow and served by surly staff. I know they had the mud to contend with but even so they could and should have been more customer focused.

Jim, it prob was Brunel Performance as their stand was under a foot or so of water and they moved onto the corner of SLROC's stand. Contact details are: Email: brunelgarage@aol.com Tel: 01621 869425 Woodrolfe Road, Tollesbury, Essex, CM9 8SE

Went Thurs to Sunday. Had a great time, camped with the ORRP lot and luckily our camping area stayed dry (well not muddy just damp). Lots of lessons to be learnt by LRM for next time though I guess.

I had BFG ATs on my old TD5 Defender, excellent on the road and when I replaced them at 70,000 miles they still had tread left. I don't know that I'd want anything with more of an on road tread pattern on a Defender than an AT.

Yup - its down to them and their insurance to sort it out. Out of interest do you mind saying who it is seeing as you're near me? PM if you don't want to post but it sounds like the sort of local specialist to be a bit wary of. Hope it gets sorted.

Dunno if the early ones are the same but both my Defenders have had 2 speeds plus an intermittant wipe. Up and up again for 'on' and down for intermittant.

2.5 TD is basic, but not the most popular engine and the 200tdi is simple with bugger all electrics to worry about. 300tdi is a bit more comple but not as bad as TD5 with ECUs and associated gubbins. A 200tdi would be great if you could find one near enough.

Yep, they do give a small bottle of the recommended shampoo with it - I complained that the saleswoman had shown me a proper 'Badlands' cleaning kit when doing the sales pitch so she relented and found me one.

Seeing as you stated that an engine swop wasn't the best plan I'd go along with the suggestion to check everything is set up right, serviced etc and then look at the general condition of the engine. What is the compression like?, head etc? A new cylinder head and tune up may make the difference you're looking for. NAD isn't the most powerful engine for a Defender though.

It depends what you're trying to achieve really. If the idea is to end up with a coil sprung IIa that is tax free then is it worth the bother these days? If you just want the 'look' of a Series then is it possible to get a rear tub with 90 and possibly the bulkhead which would make life easier - you can just stick the series front end on. It seems to me that chopping a couple of inches out the chassis to get a 88" tub to fit is a lot of trouble to go to, especially with the aggro of props etc.

Kev is right, I did have the info on dates somewhere. The TD5 County (with the bulgy pad) uses the same spline as the early Defenders and RRC I think.

Yup, as I said to my 17 year old when he passed his test at the end of June......... a, Now you start learning to drive and b, No you can't drive the Defender.

Yep, I'd agree about the interior treatment. The exterior has to be done when its new and pre PDI, the dealer took a day to do mine.

I've got all the blurb on it at home. IIRC its a spray on coating which retains the shine and makes it easy to wash (seems to be so far). It also came with a 3 year guarantee for the interior (seats and carpets) against spillages etc which I thought might be sensible with kids.

It was free beer at Billing wasn't it?

Maybe - mud etc doesn't worry me, the only thing I want to try and avoid is panel damage / scrapes and scrathes for a while Also ALF is such a good Landrover for laning (I have to admit that Mark90 sold me a good truck - there I said it)

I seriously thought about a D3 - and then decided a late TD5 Defender would be better. Then I went to look for a late TD5 Defender and decided to buy a brand new one. 07 Defender is a big advance on the TD5 - the thinking man's Landrover. Tdci Defender - the best 4x4xfar

Sounds like a nice idea. V8 + Lakes = lots of petrol

They advertise well and get a lot of product placement in magazines etc. 4 or 5 years ago I was after some bits and went to see them on their stand at Billing. I got ignored whilst they chatted, couldn't get any prices or information and generally was given the impression that they didn't need my business. I walked away and wouldn't give them my money on the basis of that experience - and that was before I learned of their business practices.

It would be a major job to widen the body / bulkhead etc to do away with the arches and not worth the effort. The new dash seems to grow on people from comments I've heard, I like it and have more leg room in the 2007 model than mt old TD5 with the air-con unit stuck under the dash. I guess Mud Rails will solve the issue you found in CSWs without the rear bulkhead.