Blanco

.... required to lift it into position!🤣

Hey that artic unit would be ideal for a camper!

Build from scratch gives you that option, and its a good one, but obviously you need to know which lift first to space the bolts. Perhaps wrap the threads in sacking or something to keep them clean, a couple of wraps will give them a little sideways tolerance as well, amazing how something gets a knock when the concrete is flying. I am quite pleased with my 5t 2 post lift, the doors open a decent amount because it is 3.4m between the posts (much bigger than a Tesco car park space!) the only niggle I have found is that you can't park 2 range rovers one up one down because of the arms getting in the way. I would now add a 4 post next to it if a 2nd hand one comes along but I couldn't find anything decent in the way of 2 post at the time. I do think 2 post is more versatile if you only have one.

Welcome, ... BMW conversions are a thing and you will find there is plenty of knowledge out there if you dig a bit deeper. As I understand it (although I haven't lined them all up myself) M52 and M54 are essentially developements of the same architecture, and the M57 is the direct injection developement of the M52; so a qualified yes. BUT there are early and late bolt patterns (M57 5 series changed over in about 2006 I seem to remember). There are a couple of FB groups specifically catering for it and there are a couple of options for adaptors, even keeping the BMW gearbox and adapt the xfer box instead. Many options and few people do it the same way exactly, it still isn't a bolt in job though depending on your defender you will still need to adapt the ancilliary sytems to suit and need good skills if you are to do it yourself .

over 40 years ago now we put a Selkirk flue in the central brick and concrete 'core' of a timber frame on Mull. It was backfilled with lightweight concrete which used vermiculite as agregate. The flue failed over 20 years ago but the concrete 'liner' still works perfectly. Only soft wood is available on Mull and my Father used very brutal methods to clear the resin once a year , but then we didn't know about potatoe peelings! I helped clear a couple of flues in more recent years and found resin can build rapidly where a lined flue exits the roof, and the smoke cools. one such was reduced to a finger sized hole in the middle, ... it did draw much better when cleaned!

If it's an outside wall try combustion air that is piped directly to the stove base, make sure the air flow is managed.

Check your valve clearances, ..... I bet it has dropped a shim thingy, .... bin there!

A spacer shim probably won't do by itself,, they locate by just a few mm on the centre hub, if they aren't D3 wheels (sorry, can't help with the identity) then the centre diametre might be part of the trouble? have you removed one to check that they are actually seated fully? If a spacer is the solution it will need a raised centre of the correct diametre.

I have been wondering whether to get one as well, .... seems you can get quite a capable machine for around £400 which can do about 200mm cubed or shapes within. Rolls of filament vary depending on quality and material, but around £30, I guess '£ per print ' depends a bit on how many tries it takes before you get a result you are happy with, it seems there are several variables to tweak, and almost immediately it seems that people feel the need to modify and upgrade various elements to address their own needs. Sounds a lot like Land Rover ownership! Two things occur, ... in the current Winter weather it would be nicer to play indoors sometimes. .... and It could end up costing more than you think! Key to real success will be the ability to model your own stuff and that is my own current stumbling block.

I still like the concept, but that cab hasn't got any prettier!

I wonder if converting a vehicle to auto is the easy option? I suspect that there are enough differences in the ancillary systems to make that quite involved, sticking to the engine swap sounds much simpler? Elsewhere the hard starting is likely a combination of factors, but quick and easy without rolling in the snow would be swapping in the red injectors and checking the tappets on the white one. Do you have a compression tester?

I had a similar problem, I just tweaked the clearance a bit. Here

The re-map is really a separate issue, the minor size change you propose won't noticeably affect performance. The 55 profile tyres are available but generally are more road biased treads. If it is definitely the Wrangler you want then go for it, I don't think you will really notice the difference. As it happens I have 65's (road tread) on my P38, only because they were quite a bit cheaper at the time. The side walls bulge a wee bit more and the spare is a very tight fit in the underfloor wheel well but apart ffrom that I don't notice the difference. Coincidentally my speedo is nearer the mark with them. There is a tyre size calculator in the menu HERE, and lots of other good stuff for D2 owners

..... surely you mean 5/16ths?!

Headlamp Panels?

I knew we had been here before, .... just didn't quite remember everything except that the RRC body is just about OK with the total width. Discovery 1 & 2 axle width comparison Not sure I have that link right , if not just search the title of same

Offset to some extent by the much greater offset of D2 wheels, the overall difference is somewhere around 40mm ISTR? I haven't done it yet myself but the axles are outside waiting.

P38 is fundamentally 'handed' differently in terms of the drive train, so it wouldn't be feasable ..... at least not as anything less than a major re-engineering project. Better to look at D2 components, same wheelbase, axles similar to P38, you need either to mod the axles to accept the D1 arms or mod the chassis to accept the D2 mounts but those components are available and it has been done. If V8 is your thing just look for a V8 D2.

It's very tempting to say that it is quite normal,.... at least not unusual,... but it is an indication that trouble is brewing. If you are new to 300 Tdi motors then you could do worse than flick through a few of the Brittania Restorations videos (youtube) on the Spanish 110, he had a newly reassembled engine blowing oil out and goes through most possible causes, first thing to do though is check and clean the breather.

I think the annealing temp for ally is only in the 80 to 90 degree range, there was a thread about edge folding a while back, what you have achieved is great but perhaps some soap and a torch might help another time??

Wow, that's quite a beast! .... And interesting about the cooler only circuit design, I've never come across it before but it makes total sense.

Also bear in mind fluid temperatures, putting a lot of horsepower into the winch to get up to wheel speed is going to warm the fluid up quite nicely, short pipework pump to motor is great but a longer run back to a remote reservoir, particularly in rigid pipe can be advantageous from a cooling point of view.

My rear PTO adapter and pump came from First Four Offroad, back in the day ......(sadly no longer possible).... I never got round to hooking up the H14 I have as the X9 did such sterling service. But my pump was 56cc/rev and used to run the crane in 2nd gear at tickover very well, for the 15t log splitter I did use about 1500rpm. I seem to remember that the pump had a relatively modest rpm limit and of course couldn't be run in reverse, an issue you wouldn't have off the front of the engine. If speed is an issue much larger pumps than the one you currently have are I am sure available with the same interface, but looking at the space you have crank driven seems the way to go.

Just to confirm for @gfc, AWR5075 is the part number (👍@western) but the catalogue images are confusing. You can see bits of my new AWR 5075 in the bumper off pic above and it actually goes right across the front of the cross member and along the RH chassis rail back to the compressor. It doesn't as the catalogue pic suggests dive in round the front of the rads. HTSH

I seem to think the first few prototypes had aluminium bulkheads as well?