SteveG

I assume that’s the strip down welding/fab/correction work, paint and reassembly all included. It chews up a lot of hours, so I’m not surprised at the price. Knowing the condition of range rover classics of that age, if the front and cills are like that, you can be confident that the rear cross member, parts of rear frame, rear arches, tailgate and possible rear window frames are shot too. Unless you’ve had them previously welded I’d check these areas out carefully too, as you may get some surprises when you strip down further.

50mm2 at a minimum You can use something like this… https://www.12voltplanet.co.uk/power-jointing-box-120a-2-way.html Just place the starter cable on the same pole as the battery feed. Yes of course it’s safe to do so, as long as you have all your devices fused you do not need to fuse the distribution box like the one suggested above

Assuming that you’re installing this near your battery, there’s no need to run a fuse. Especially if you plan to connect the starter off it.

A dehumidifier is better, but you can also use a fan heater. Once you’ve got it dry, the best thing to do is to use it daily. It’s infrequent use that causes most of the issues and allows the moisture to build up to a level that it’s a problem.

Unfortunately it’s been like this for a while, and has become increasingly worse since the pandemic started with lots of new people doing it for the first time and going off piste, or just using any forestry track under the assumption that if it’s displayed on Google maps it must be ok 🙄 . A number of those routes you drove, were TRO’d last year due to damage and the same is likely to happen again. I’ve personally experienced bikers even using the footpath sections of the Peddars way. I had the same response that Google said it was ok, and they didn’t even know what a definitive map was. One even pointed out the cycle way sign on a restricted byway section and said that because of that it must be ok.

I’ve been using these for a number of years now, and agree they are very good. Note there’s two types and the water based lids have a finer mesh. From spraying raptor, I’d say you should be fine with 10% thinners. If you want to lay it on well a 2.0 primer tip should work.

Yes, by the time of TD5 factory ones were like this. Was it a test, in a way no, as the TC soft top/tonneau tabs give it away so easily, but also to show that if you buy and fit the right parts it would be hard to spot a converted interior from pics.😉😉

Correct - truck cab initially, then a van, and then a station wagon just before selling…

What’s the verdict on this one - factory or converted?….

I’d second this, a friend wanted the engine and drivetrain out of a donor range rover classic I had, and after cutting slam panel, it was relatively easy to pull out as a single unit with an engine crane…

Classic symptoms of a starter solenoid on the way out. If you can’t source the kits in AUS, and they take a long time to import, you’ll have to buy a whole starter, and end up repairing your original one as a spare.

As per Maverick’s reply, I’d start with the starter solenoid- it’s a common fault on TD5 starters, and an easy fix.

It’s a shame, both for the owners and staff as their website was the only true reflection of whether an item was actually still in production or not, and as others had said clearly should genuine and source of product options. I also liked the way they photographed a lot of the products next to a ruler, so you could check dimensions, very good for fasteners especially. I didn’t use them often as once an order was placed it almost went into a black hole. Stuff would always eventually arrive, but you didn’t know when unless you contacted them.

I had this once with HD track rod, I’d obviously smacked it hard, but the HD tube lived up to it’s name and it stripped the threads on the TRE inside the tube and as soon as it was under lateral load driving it would move, but if you checked it when it was standing there it wouldn’t feel like there was much play in it.

Funny I just saw this morning that Sussex Land Rovers are now supplying and fitting the MAER galvanized chassis… https://sussex-landrovers.business.site/ They’re currently building a 6x6… I have no idea what Sussex Land Rover are like though, but Maer appear to be building a good reputation for their chassis. They appear to be able to supply fairly quickly even with shipping from Poland.

Thanks for suggestion Ed 👍, I acted too fast to take it on board, as I ordered all the extrusions a couple of weeks ago 🙄 I tend to agree, but how boring would that be. At first I did install a couple tie down runs, with a view to doing that and temporarily tying everything down when needed… The main pain in the arse was the spare. It just gets in the way and takes up too much room. Plus I was interested in solving it and also finding a solution for the fridge at the same time. Completely over the top, and distracting when I should be cracking on with the rest of the build…

It does - thanks bish

Sorry Bish and Mo, I missed you replies. So the runners, rated to 220kg at full extension of 1545mm, will hold this platform that will hold the spare wheel & tyre, dometic cfx3 55 fridge and a box made out of extruded alluminium. The box has two slide out drawers, that can be accessed all the time, and when the platform is slid out, it has two drop down sides that act as tables/work benches and also provide access to a 300x1000x560 storage area. All up these collectively weigh about 80-90KG. The main reason for the platform is that I can no longer fit the spare in the normal range rover classic space (inside on the left) and I’m not keen on having a rear mounted wheel carrier. Mostly because they’re a pain in the arse with a drop down tailgate, and there’s already a big overhang on the rear of an range rover classic. So the idea is to mount this platform on a base of marine ply that has 4xM8 bolts holding it in. So if I want to remove the platform (once the contents are removed) it’s a case of unbolting 4 bolts, sliding out the base and platform (easier said than done 😉) and then bolting back in the rear seats… Very simple sketch of the platform draw runner brackets…

Like you, I use nitrile gloves, but as you say they often break up on harder jobs and in summer/warm weather your hands sweat in them a lot - well mine do 😊. So this year, after seeing them on Ed China’s vids, I tried the Ansell Hyflex gloves. I tried one pair first of all, to see how they were, really good wear rate, ideal for the heavier jobs and low sweating even when hot. So now I only wear the normal nitrile gloves if it’s a really greasy/oily job. After trying out that single pair ordered off Amazon, I sourced them at a cheaper price from here… https://www.cromwell.co.uk/shop/personal-protection-and-clothing/mechanical-hazard-gloves/11-840-hyflex-fortix-palm-side-coated-black-grey-gloves-size-9/p/ANS9610673D Not cheap though, they were still £3.50 a pair when I ordered at the beginning of the summer, now about 20% more. You do get really good wear rate though, so working out ok compared to the standard nitrile ones, that have all gone up in price too - practically twice as much as before pandemic. cheers, Steve

Teslas are the same as any other EV and work off a 7.4KW 32A max home chargers, even the Tesla home charger unit they supply is the same with a 7.4KW max. With 3 phase, you can fit a third party 22KW home charger, but the majority of EV’s are limited to 11KW limit of their type 2 AC charger port and the AC to DC inverters they fit in the vehicle, you have to go DC to charge at higher rates, so for now there’s really no point in installing a 3 phase 22KW charger at home. So the max a standard 7.4KW home charger will pull is 32A, some chargers can be installed with a shunt to monitor draw from elsewhere in the house and can throttle back the charger to not exceed a set limit, for example if you only have a 60A main fuse. For charging times, it’s easy to roughly work them out, if you got a 74KW useable battery capacity and you need to charge from 0% to 100% you divide by 7.4KW so roughly 10 hours, 50% to 100% roughly 5 hours. In reality it’s going to be slightly longer as you’ll lose ~5-10%, so it’s not as straight forward dividing your battery capacity by 7.4KW, but good enough for roughly it working out.

Yeah but how much extra did the vehicle cost in the first place. If I wanted to replace our current estate with something like a VW ID4/Skoda Enyaq, I’d be looking at spending at least £15K extra, and even then it would be missing some features that I have now. That buys a lot of fuel.

Hi is 3mm galvanized sheet ok to use to make brackets to support a pair of drawer runners rated at 200KG? I’ll use 4 L shaped brackets on each side, probably about 200mm wide, 60mm high and 60mm along. thanks for your help Steve

Thanks Stephen, it does. I just ordered the 400mm one of these from Smithfield… https://www.smithfieldtools.co.uk/smithfield-s400-rt-hydraulic-metal-folder-9-p.asp cheers, Steve

Hi A bit of advice please - what’s best to get to bend flat bar to make brackets at home? I don’t need to bend sheet metal often, and have used local fabricators for this when needed, so doesn’t have to double up in use. I can’t remember the last time I needed any tubing or solid round bar bending, so again this I can cope with on a one-off basis, but having the ability to make up a bracket suitable for up to heavy duty use whenever I need it would be very useful. I’ve looked around and seen a few that look like they could be good, but I have no idea really, so any experience and advice you have is welcome Thanks, Steve https://www.wnealservices.com/product/wns-form-bar-bender-fb100/ https://www.wnealservices.com/product/wns-universal-bar-bender-ub100/

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/2022-atae-munro-rugged-electric-4x4-enters-testing-phase When you can buy next year a Ford F-150 lightning retail at £28K in the US, you’d think it would make more sense to buy in trucks from Ford convert to RHD, or even rebody with Ibex and then IVA them here. The specs of the Ford are considerably better than that proposed by Munro… 563bhp and 775lb ft – the most torque yet offered on an F-150. It will be offered with two battery capacities, offering official ranges of around 230 and 300 miles on the American EPA test cycle. Ford claims the F-150 Lightning will be “wickedly quick off the mark”, with a 0-60mph time in the mid 4.0sec range with the optional extended-range battery. The firm claims a maximum payload of 907kg for vehicles fitted with the standard 18in wheels, along with a towing capacity of up to 4536kg. Ford will offer the a home charging station as standard with the truck and says it will be capable of 150kW DC fast-charging, allowing a 15-80% charge in 41 minutes.