Ian_Fearn

Thanks for the replies. Think I met Mr Tweetyduck and his wife at last weekends show. Unfortunately, his thread stops right at the point of registration. Are you there Mr Tweetyduck? I've managed to get some sensible insurance, offered by Adrian Flux, Herts (HIC) and Heritage. Heritage seems best as they're not putting restrictions on time to register (I've got a busy couple of months ahead) and they were more than happy that it'll be a camper in the future. So I just need to know if theres any registration pitfalls. Withams don't seem to want the hassle of MOTing. BUT apparently its in their garage today being checked over. Its really odd that they go to great lengths to say there's no warranty and you get what you're given but at the same time they won't let it go without being fully checked??? Are they looking for anything MOD related or are they just doing me a favour? They've been really friendly and helpful so far.

At last weekends LR show we treated ourselves to a Wolf ambulance from Withams. I'm planning on having it delivered asap but can anybody help me with the process from there? I understand I need to: 1. Get it insured. Footman James have said no, Lancaster are going to call back tomorrow and Adrian Flux have quoted (sensible). Any others to try? 2. Book an MOT and drive it there 3. Hopefully bring it home MOT'd 4. DVLA paperwork...... Any ideas? What do I need to fill in? Can I register it as a camper (my plan is to convert) Is it viable to convert to 12v? If so i'll have a load of 24v parts for sale!

We went last year. We rented a Suzuki Jimny from BlueCarRental. By renting an older Jimny we saved a good chunk of cash. They picked us up from the arrivals lounge but to be honest their depot is only the other side of the car park. Obviously stuff is expensive in general. We rented a really amazing cabin about 2 hours from the airport from Bungalo.is and flew out with EasyJet from Luton. There is loads to see and do around the west side of Iceland. I reckon every trip should include a trip to the Blue Lagoon. Its stupidly expensive to get in and massively touristy, about £40 each I think but was worth it. If you want to get into the interior, a proper 4x4 is a legal requirement. The Jimny performed well enough but I would say the B roads are in horrific condition and multiple potholes could have the thing sideways in a way a heavier vehicle wouldn't. I just wish I could work out how to post some snaps.

I've got a 95 300tdi defender 90 and i'm struggling to get the thing to drive straight. I've recently had the wheels balanced, new steering arms, lemforder ball joints and a bilstein steering damper. I've had it tracked at a local place that has a good rep within the performance car forums. After having it tracked it was awful. I ended up tweaking it myself at home. Its always pulling towards the centre of the road. I've had it 3 years and its the only defender I've driven so I cant say if they're all like it. Is tracking something of a specialist job on something with a steering box?

I've finally sorted this. I went outside and 'exercised' the new calipers by taking the pads out and pressing the brake pedal. I then pushed the pistons back far enough to slot the pads back in and hey presto, its working perfectly now so I guess the moral of the story is that the calipers (both of them) needed some persuasion to get going. Cheers, (a very happy bunny) Ian

Righto chaps, thanks for the replies on this. I bought a new master cylinder (Lucas one), fitted it and bled the brakes through. One of the rear bleed nipples gave up during bleeding so I bought 2 new rear calipers and fitted those too. I've re-bled the brakes countless times but the pedal travel is still way more than it used to be, my leg is well stretched out when i'm pushing it down. The real point for me is that the front pads are still loose in the calipers. I'd say theres between 0.5mm and 1mm on both sides. I can jiggle them around in the caliper. When the pedal is pushed down the pads are locked onto the disc and the pedal is hard, doesn't sink with time. What ever could be causing this??? I so need to get this sorted so I can use the car again. Cheers, Ian

Yep, bleed nipples at the top.... But thanks anyway!

For the relatively small cost of a master cylinder i've bought one. I'll post back if it sorts the problem.

No, the calipers are definately the same as my others. I know about the spacers and theres none fitted.

SEB500440 and SEB500450 Non-vented discs, they were in Britpart boxes but very clearly Lockheed parts (you can blatently see where all the lockheed and AP logo's are ground off)

1 person on the brake pedal, the other at the caliper. Used a one way valve.

Les, many thanks for your reply. The pads are definately withdrawing from the disc. I have read that the bleeding process can cause an old master cylinder to finally give way due to moving the seals further than they have for probably many years. Do you think this is a real possibility? Regards, Ian

Hi there, I hope this post is in the right place...! I've got a 1995 300TDi Defender 90 thats done 160,000 miles. I've just replaced the front brake calipers due to a) a bleed nipple sheared off and b) pulling to one side during braking. I've got the calipers on and bled the system through 3 times but problem is that the brake pedal travel is a good bit more than it used to be. I'd say its between 1/3rd and half way down when the pedal goes rock hard. Its really disconcerting to drive compared to how it was. Pads and discs are existing, done about 5000 miles and in perfect condition. When pressing the pedal the front pads lock onto the disc but when the pedal is released the pads seem to be very loose in the calipers (both sides). Is this normal? On other cars, i normally expect the pads to stay relatively firmly against the side of the discs when the pedal is released. I think this could be what's causing the excess travel on the pedal. Anybody got any thoughts?? Many thanks, Ian