Paul90

Were they ok about the mods engine, axles, lift, etc ? I need to find a company that doesn't just put a zero on the end of the premium when you mention engine or chassis mods. Paul

I seem to remember they are 7/16 UNF. The same size as most seat belt mounting bolts if you have any of those kicking about. Loads on eBay if you need to buy some. It's a very common size. Paul

It's all about compromise. How high do want the vehicle to ride ? How much weight do you want to carry ? How much does a bit of body roll bother you on the road ? Etc, etc, etc. My 90 on the original springs was painfully hard at the back off road. And the front couldn't really cope with the weight of the winch and bumper and used to bottom out far too often. I don't think you can ever get it to "float" quite like a range rover, partly because the wheelbase is too short and 90's tend to "pitch" a bit and partly because the sprung to un-sprung ratios are different between a 90 and a RR. There's loads of information on here if you use the search. This site and Google provided all the info I needed. With all I found about different standard springs, free lengths, spring rates, etc I was able to work out the best set of compromises for me. Mine now rides about 1.5" higher than standard (with the rubberised spring seats that I used). The back is a little higher than the front. The ride on and off road (for me) is a lot, lot better. But you do need to invest some time. Work out the weight on each of the wheels. The ride height you want. The spring rates you want (harder or softer than stock and or similar vehicles you've tried). You'll almost certainly be able to find some standard springs to do the job and you can adjust the odd half inch with a small spacer. Make sure whatever shocks that you use compress to be smaller than the minimum gap when the axle is sitting on the bump stop. My son just bought a kit when he did his. Simple but not very good My springs are much, much longer than his but softer and off road it rides just how I wanted it to. Much better result but took a lot of thinking about and a bit of trial and error to fine tune the ride height. Good luck. Paul

I've just taken out cover with AutoAid. £38 for the year covers both me and the wife in any car, any age. Green Flag and many others don't like cars over 10 or 15 years old. AutoAid is different in that you have to pay for recovery and then claim it back. But do some searches on the internet and the reviews are good and they pay out quickly. You have the choice to call the emergency number and they will call out someone local. Or you can choose who to call out and claim it back. I've got a lot of cars and bikes and it covers them all for one payment. I travel all over the uk and one recovery home could come to more than some of my vehicles are worth. There's always the chance you could pay out and then have hassle claiming it back but as I said the reviews so far seem good. You need to be clear what you want though. Some people want "breakdown cover" to cover the cost of parts and labour - more like a warrantee. I don't want that, I'll fix it myself but might need someone to recover the vehicle several hundred miles to get it home to my workshop. Paul

I've had a few batteries fail over the years where they look healthy enough voltage wise with no load on them but the voltage collapses as soon as a load is applied. With 2 batteries connected in parallel if the first one fails in this way, then when trying to start the engine the second will try to supply all the current via whatever wire is connecting it. If it were me then I'd forget the current for the accessories, the worst case load is the starter motor on a cold morning. If you design it for that then nothing else will matter much. Paul

+1 on the Screwfix Nitrile gloves. Cheap enough to replace often and they work. Paul

Good point. I've replaced the bleed nipples with stainless ones (with a little copperslip too) on all my Landrovers. I also got a whole load of stainless brake nuts (male and female) off eBay. Never seen them again since. Makes changing hoses / removing calipers, etc a lot easier. I've also made some blanks (male and female) to "seal off" the braking system while working on it. Limits the fluid loss, mess and need to bleed the whole system afterwards. Paul

It's a simple job. Do you really want to risk it year after year ? If those rusty pipes do give out it will be when they are under pressure and the chances are you need the brakes to work at that moment.

+1 I wouldn't pay someone to fix my LR's though. I've owned the 90 that this ball joint is from for 20 years and nobody works on it but me Second time I've done it on this vehicle. The branded pattern part I've just taken out lasted longer than the original one fitted by the factory. Paul

I'd just like to say that I hate them That is all.

I've got one of those as well as the IR 2135 Has some grunt but is blooming heavy and big too. Paul

+1 for Ingersoll Rand Mine is a 2135TiMAX. Awesome piece of kit. I've also got a Sealey and a Clarke gun, they don't come anywhere close. Cheap yes. Good no. They just gather dust now, you can have the Clarke one for beer money if you are local ;-) The IR uses less air (don't know how?) is smaller, lighter and is far more powerful. RRP is stupid but I paid £130 brand new off eBay. Paul

Bump. So has nobody ever waggled the input shaft on an R380 box ? What are they normally like ?

I know I should ring Ashcroft's and talk to them but it's the weekend and nobody is answering the phone. I'm supposed to be fitting this gearbox tomorrow with my son and it doesn't seem right. I don't know if we should go ahead and fit it or wait until Monday and give them a call. I went to clean the splines where the clutch plate goes prior to fitting the bellhousing. The end of the shaft that drives the clutch seems to have a lot of free play in it. You can literally waggle the end of the shaft up / down / left / right about 2mm to 3mm. The movement is obviously less at the gearbox end of the shaft but you can see the oil seal lip moving about. It just doesn't feel right. I checked the old box we've taken out (about 110k on it) and there's barely any perceptable play in the shaft on that one. If it wasn't a recon box then I'd guess the bearing that shaft runs in was either worn out or didn't have the right pre-load. What to do ? Fit it and hope for the best or wait and talk to them Monday ? Paul

What straps do you guys use when lifting out engines / gearboxes ? I was thinking about geting some 50mm ratchet straps. Not because I want to ratchet things tight but just thinking it would be easy to adjust to exactly the right length to get the angle right and minimise the gap between the engine and crane for those high lifts when you just need that last bit of clearance. Could even adjust things part way through the lift. I don't think these straps are rated for lifting but what do you think ? Bad idea ? Paul

Mine is too heavy to push . .

At £1.35 for a 6mm Dormer bit with TiN coated tip why would you want to use anything else HSS £4.01 for the equivalent Cobalt. Cobalt These are the ones I use. Paul

Hi Les, >>I can sharpen drill bits Si, and I have a bench grinder. My HSS bits let me down when drilling hi-tensile steel - even when taking it easy/using lubricant. I thought that cobalt drills were more capable of drilling harder materials. If the bits are sharp and you are using lubricant then Cobalt might help on hard materials. I believe the main propery the addition of 5% to 8% Cobalt brings is the ability to run hotter on hard materials without loosing the cutting edge. I'm not sure it makes much difference until you reach the point where the HSS bit has overheated, lost its hardness and gone blunt. Once this has happened re-sharpening might not help. Ditto if you get it too hot while sharpening. If your profit depends on being able to drill 100's of holes quickly then expensive bits are the answer. For me Dormer A002 are much cheaper and just as capable if you take your time and don't overheat them. Although I've got sets of both I wouldn't buy the Cobalt ones again as they just don't seem necessary for me. If you go with a good brand like Dormer then you can easily replace single bits cheaply or just have a few Cobalt ones of the sizes you use most. Snap-On thunderbits are nice but at +£300 a set they are a bit difficult to justify !

People often think Cobalt bits cut better but personally I think that's becasue they tend to have 135 deg split points - it makes a lot of difference on hard materials. Whatever you do make sure you get a decent quality set. I've had some rubbish drill bits from Screwfix. I use Dormer and have both HSS and Cobalt sets. Personally I'd recommend Dormer A002 bits. HSS with titanium coated tips. Better than most people's Cobalt and a lot better value. I regularly drill stainless steel and 12.9 bolts with A002 bits. The most important thing is to make sure they are really sharp if you want to go into something hard. Paul

I did the same job and made up my repair sections using some angle iron, a hammer, a vice and some G clamps. Just takes a bit of time. See here: Rusty Disco

Same here. Put a Double S system on my 90 in 1992. A couple of years ago the flanges / clamps all rusted away. They said the same to me - send the system back for inspection. In the end I got them to post me some new flanges which I put on in situ. Paul

I'm doing the same job myself - partly as a way to learn to weld. See here: My Rusty Disco If you go to the latter pages there's some pics of the repairs I've made so I have something to fix the new floor panel to. Paul

I think the VIN range (I'm an HA7+) means I need the expensive one. Unless someone knows what changed and I can make the early one fit . . .

The original radiator on my V8 90 has started to leak. Paddock have an ESR76 for £78 or an ESR203 for £229 They are both without the oil cooler but does anyone know the difference between the two ? Mine is a 1991, standard 3.5 twin SU. Has always run a bit hot but never into the red. I don't mind paying a bit more to have some cooling in reserve but I'd like to know what changed from ESR76 to ESR203 and are they interchangable. Also is there likely to be much difference between genuine LR and the cheap ones sold by the likes of Paddock ? LR want about £330 which seems a bit OTT. Paul