CheekyMonkey

Paul Cheers for posting this - some very interesting solutions and it's always useful to see what other people have done. Cheeky

Hi We were looking for a TDI-powered station wagon two years ago, and rapidly came to the conclusion that it's very hard to find anything in really good condition for under £5000. But then again, you are looking at cars that are around 15 years or older and so you are bound to find all sorts of problems. In the end we concluded that we would either have to pay more money upfront to get a newer vehicle in better condition, or go for a £5000 Land Rover and be prepared to pay more money later to fix up the usual problems. If you go for the older vehicle, then it's a bit of a lottery as to what needs doing, but if the engine and chassis are in good condition, and if you have a reasonable amount of mechanical knowledge then it's all do-able. Only other thing to note is that old station wagons always look worse than old hard tops because the trim and seats are quite flimsy to start with and inevitably see a lot of abuse, and they can be expensive to replace if you stick with original Land Rover parts. If you don't need the middle doors and forward facing seats then a hard top is definitely better value. In our experience it's best to look for ex-utility vehicles - they tend to have a lower mileage and to have been better looked after. Hope this helps. Cheeky

Hi What age is the 90 that you are going to look at? For very early TD5s, ie a 1998 S plate, Land Rover used plastic dowels to locate the head to the block. Naturally the plastic melts, leading to some movement on the head which in turn can lead to expensive problems. Most of these should have been replaced with metal dowels now, but it's worth checking. I think that most of the main issues have been fixed from 2002 onwards. Land Rover made a number of revisions, mainly because EU regulations meant that the TD5 had to be Euro III compliant (where the 1998 TD5 is only Euro II), and so naturally they took the opportunity to tidy up the problems such as the leaking oil in the ECU. Also, the 2002 TD5 has a programmable ECU, useful if you want to tune the engine. We nearly bought a 98 TD5 but hesitated because many people say that the TD5s have problems and are difficult to fix. We did a lot of research and concluded that the post-2002 TD5 is fairly solid. We since bought an 02 TD5 110 and have had no problems with it at all. Hope this helps. Cheeky

You definitely want the large one - that's what's on my 110 with the standard LR steering wheel, and it's a fairly snug fit. Cheeky

Bob Regarding your alarm question, I do recall seeing a story in LRM from around the middle of last year in which Lindsay Porter fitted a Maplin central locking kit to a Defender and then concluded that the key fob could be used to activate both the central locking and the alarm. It stuck in my mind because I've been thinking of adding central locking to my 110 so it should certainly be possible. Hope this helps Cheeky

All of the carriers that have been discussed so far are meant to be used with a rear door as found on a Station Wagon. But all the main suppliers, including Bearmach and Mantec do make versions for drop down tailgates. Cheeky

Hi We've used both the Bearmach and Mantec carriers, and I would say that in terms of the quality once they're fitted, there's not much between them. We went for the Bearmach on the old hard top because it seemed to represent better value for money at the time - roughly similar quality to the Mantec, but for a lot less money. For the newer Station Wagon we went for the Mantec. After searching the forums the general consensus seemed to be that the Mantec would be easier to fit, and that was certainly the case. The Mantec carrier is designed to make use of existing holes so that you only have to drill one hole through the body of the Land Rover, which even I was able to cope with. Whichever one you go for, you have to state which door you have - we've got the 02 one-piece rear door. We went looking for deals at this year's Billing and found that the Bearmach carriers for this door were considerably more expensive than for the older door, according to several suppliers. Mantec, on the other hand, did a good deal at the show, so that price-wise there was little between them. The current version of the Mantec carrier for the 02 rear door does clear the NAS lights, because it attaches below the lights to the crossmember. But it does make it virtually impossible to fit any bumperettes. Several people have mentioned the carrier with the high-lift jack fitting, which is sold by Safari Equip (and is the same one that Scorpion used to sell). There's two versions - both with and without the high lift bracket. I didn't look at this because I assumed that it would be overly expensive, but subsequently came across people who managed to get one for even less than the cost of the Mantec. Personally, I wouldn't want to leave the Jack on the outside of the vehicle where it will rust and get nicked. Hope this helps Cheeky

Hi Since it looks as if you have to take the dash apart to get to the washer jet, it might be worth considering upgrading the windscreen washer, since we all know how inadequate the standard set-up can be in the winter. As far as I can see there are two good options for doing this. One involves using washer jets from a Peugeot, as detailed on this website - http://www.reedx.net/landrover/mods/wipers/index.htm. The other is simply adding a second one of the standard LR washer jets so that you have one for each side of the windscreen, as shown here - http://www.stowelandrovers.co.uk/defenderwasherjet.html Hope this helps. Cheeky

Chaps Thanks for all your replies. Davie, that's a very neat installation that you've got and certainly looks like the easiest way of doing it. But since I've got the 02 dash with the blank switches for the heated seats already, I'd quite like to use that, although I've realised that the actual push on-off switches are probably too complicated, unless I can also sort out the thermostat that Land Rover uses. So, first plan is to see if I can find the Carling switches that Snagger suggested to fit in the place set aside for the electric windows, as I'm unlikely to ever fit those. But failing that, plan B will be to adapt the cubby box. Thanks for your help. Cheeky

Davie Thanks for your reply. I have got a cubby box, but I didn't think of using that, though it does sound like a neat solution. And yes, a picture would be useful if you can post one. Nessan

Hi I need some advice on fitting seat heaters to my Defender, and I'm hoping that someone more knowledgeable than myself might have already done this. I bought a pair of the Exmoor seat heaters, which turn out to be a Waeco kit complete with the heater pads and all the wiring and switches. I've got an 02 TD5 Station Wagon with the centre dash, so plenty of space for adding extra switches. I was hoping to swap the switches that came with the seat heaters for a pair of Land Rover's own switches but now that I've had a look at the kit I'm not sure if this is possible. The switches with the kit have three positions - off, low and high. But as far as I know, the Land Rover switches are a simple push on or off, and they also seem to have a thermostat fitted. Is it a simple matter of using the wiring in the kit, and swapping the switches over, and are the Land Rover switches the best way to go, or is there a better option. Thanks for your help. Nessan