jeremy996

I really fancy that, but there is no way it will get through UK/EC safety regulations, (too many sharp corners). I'd guess it is bought in "oily" bits, the tech bit is the battery conditioning and invertor. My wife wants an EV convertible, her usual commute is under 50 miles, so a silent soft-top would be perfect.

I'm not convinced that this will achieve more than just making it harder for you to get in. The front lock will do very little - the door will act as a lever against it. Do you have the one piece steel doors or the older alloy skin and steel frame doors? If you have the newer doors, then they may be stiff enough to make the additional locks something of a deterrent. If you have the older doors, forget it; you can bend the tops down to get access, so all you will achieve is daily annoyance for yourself and little barrier to the local scrotes. If you want to keep your stuff, get a dog guard, interior window grills, a steel safari door and a better rear door lock. For the front, a lockable cubby box, an underseat lockable box and consider everything else to be at risk. If someone just nicks the truck, then all bets are off; whatever you've done was pointless. I have a number of items fitted to keep the truck and assume that the stuff inside is likely to get nicked. I am a fan of the X-Eng stuff, so have chosen from the catalogue, have an FIA battery isolator, tracker and some other small electrical surprises in a 200Tdi 110 CSW. Here's a previous thread that may be relevant;

Just to emphasise the use of the X-Eng pedal box, last night between 1:00AM and 6:00AM, some little scrotes tried to seal my 110CSW. The rear door was opened using a pick and they tried to open the pedal box. They centre punched the lock into the casing, and the pedal box remained locked so the Land Rover was still on my drive this morning. Now the problem is getting my LR working without giving the bad guys to opportunity to nick it. A new lock has been ordered from Foundry 4x4.

I would not waste any money upgrading the locks on a Defender. If the miscreant is prepared to bend the door tops they are in/can reach in anyway, (unless you have the one piece steel doors that have a bit more moral fibre). The high security deadlocks you see on some armoured vehicles might be worth the trouble, but the door structures will be different anyway. Anything visible in your vehicle could be stolen by reaching in, (after bending the doors), so leave nothing on display. I have a £50 car stereo that even junkies won't steal and leave nothing of value visible. I would change the standard lock barrels so you have only one key; removing the wear and being as convenient as possible. (If is it easy, you will do it more often). This will discourage the random chancers, but not anyone stealing to order. For the commercial thief types, use a pedal box and reinforce the standard ignition lock, (X-Eng products). Hopefully they will move on to a less protected vehicle. To get your truck back after it was nicked, a tracker unit. The original Tracker is probably still the best, but there are cheaper alternatives; you pays your money and takes your choice. My truck has the above, plus an electrical cut-off switch, (FIA red key job), and a concealed switch for the stop solenoid. Will it work? Who knows? 5 years after the rebuild, I still have it, but it was painted a distinctive non-Land Rover blue and has various stickers on it, (and it is a less popular 200Tdi).

Even a muppet like me can change one at the roadside. The hardest bit is getting the engine to bleed quickly.

George, (from Asda), t shirt with a Series III 88 CSW with a safari roof Haynes cutaway illustration , blue 90 key ring bought from the local dealer.

There is a thread on Jalopnik about a contributor who bought a FFRR with a "bumper to bumper" warranty. FFRR with CarMax Warranty I was Financial Controller at one of the car warranty administrators/underwriters; if a particular make and model kept having the same issue, we would beat up the manufacturer for a contribution to the repair cost as it was an underlying problem. We had the statistics to support it!

I used to love those bits. I was a club rally driver in those days, so a bit obsessed! Top Gear has not been about cars for a while. Extra Gear was more my kind of programme, so I cannot imagine it will outlast the year!

My son is nowhere near passing his test, so that bit of the pain has not yet landed. There is no substitute for shopping around and that means ringing people and asking questions. As for black boxes, they make a huge difference and not all of them need a curfew. My son will be a nightmare - accompanied driving in Wife/Mothers Fiat 500 Cabriolet rendered two claims in a week! He is much safer in the LR90; it intimidates him.

I'm an IFA and I saw a postie doing a Christmas relief some 10 years after I had done his (early) retirement last week. He says he goes back every Christmas for the money and the social contact. It's a rural round, so I can imagine that having someone who knows where he's going is a great advantage, (a lot of the houses around here have just got names!).

Black XL polo shirt and hoodie please, (assuming I've not missed the boat. And a mug.

My 1989 110 CSW got an MOT pass on Thursday but I had my card marked for later in the year as the steering box is getting leaky. As I have had horrible experiences in the past, does anyone have a recommendation for a replacement bit at a sensible price? (My local parts refurbishers are not on my personal approved list of replacement suppliers - too many warranty replacements).

I looked myself up, 09 August 2005 - all that time and so few posts! I would love a polo, fleece and insulated, (and workshop proof), mug. Congratulations to the Admin and Mods, longevity on the Interweb is damn hard.

There is a thread somewhere about clutches failing early with the centre broken out. The gist was Valeo or LUK for replacements. http://forums.lr4x4.com/index.php?showtopic=90491

I have done a lot of miles in France in minis, morgans and my 110. Using the Autoroute or not is usually down to how far you have to go that day. For the Tunnel to Le Mans, I'd suggest the N roads. For the Tunnel to Disneyland Paris, I'd suggest the Autoroute to Senlis, then N and D roads, to get the trip down to a sensible number of hours. France is a big country, so unless the drive is a big part of the holiday, use the Autoroute and stop regularly. Diesel is comparatively cheap, the automated pumps take UK cards these days and most drivers are OK to good. Don't speed as LeFlicks are very happy to take your money, (and that can just be a down-payment!). Beware on country roads of old boys who still believe in "priority a doite", as they will just pull out on you, (well they did when I was driving a Morgan; they seem less keen with a 2 tonne Defender), road priorities are marked but you do have to pay attention. IMHO the Belgique are the worst drivers in Europe, I'm sure their red number plates are a warning to all.

The longest journey I do regularly is Melton Mowbray to Saint Simeon in the Ile de France, about 430 miles via the Channel Tunnel. Start at 04:00AM to get there for about 15:00 including all stops. It seems to like France and the French seem to get out of the way rather more than they did when I drove a Vauxhall Vectra! I do about 24,000 miles a year in my 110CSW, so it does get used a fair bit.

If you have kids. I'd strongly steer you to a 110 - much more useable space. You do need to try a few to see if you can live with one long term, as not everyone can. Where do you live? If you are in the East Midlands, I'd be happy to give you a bit of drive time in my 200 Tdi 110. Remember that D1s and D2s are cheaper, more comfortable, quieter and have more toys than the vast majority of Defenders. (They are also electrically more complex, prone to rusting out, less reliable and worth much less on resale). After my wife demolished her parents fence, she hasn't been keen on driving mine, she describes it as "steering an elephant by it's ears", so is it likely to be driven by the other half? Can they get comfortable? Friends of ours wanted a Defender, but 6'2" husband and 4'11" wife could not get settled so they bought a shiny D2. Buy any Defender on condition rather than age and mileage, and take a disinterested mechanically minded person with you, so you don't get carried away. Spend £8-10k on the vehicle and the balance on getting it straight and lightly customised for you. (Steps, new front seats, and three point belts for the middle seats were practical essentials for mine).

I have solved my original problem by buying a civilian 1991 LR90 2.5NA for £2000 from eBay. It's not bling and its rather scruffy, but should do the job. Thank for all your input - it helps to put everything into perspective.

UK law is complex. The statute law is one thing, regulations and guidance is another but there is also case law. At the end of the day only a decided case, appealed as far as you can is definitive. From my experience, adding a roll cage was not seen by one DVLA/VOSA office as a radical modification, as the original chassis was still identifiable. Whether that would hold good in another office is a moot point. (Road registered rally car). Going back to the rules, the DVLA are interested in vehicle identity for taxation purposes, so taking liberties with "age", engine capacity or body type is likely to get you in hot water. Whatever you do, document it and keep the invoices - most officials want to get the the 'right' answer and are not out to make it difficult for you out of spite, (although, having built kit cars, I can think of a few exceptions!).

It's been taken down but now the little tw*t has put a new listing up complaining that eBay took it off without giving him a real reason. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Landrover-v5-log-book-chassis-/111513601257?pt=UK_CarParts_Vehicles_Manuals_Litterature_ET&hash=item19f6ba84e9 Some people need precussion education with an entrenching tool!

I know where you are coming from and I don't necessarily disagree with you but a modern small hatch will easily do 100mph+ in comfort. Boys especially suffer from overconfidence as young drivers and leaving the road at 60mph+ can easily be fatal even in a modern car. An ex-mil 90 will feel raw, much less comforting and the hard interior reminds you that hitting the scenery might hurt! As getting to 60mph is a long drawn out affair in a 2.5NA and smoothness with anticipation is rewarded with faster journey times, I am hoping the LR90 will teach him some skills for driving and life. It has long been suggested that the best safety device is a six inch spike pointing at the driver from the steering wheel - I'm hoping the the LR90 will give the element of jeopardy while preserving about £4k of family money. The fact that mechanically it is less complicated that a mantel clock means I expect him to learn to service it!

I am an Ex REME TA soldier, so I am under no illusions! (One of the reasons why I'd like to have a look before buying). I am not wedded to the idea of an ex-mil vehicle only, but the civi 90s all seem to have 200Tdi or 300Tdi transplants and I really need something a little nearer base specification. Almost all young drivers will have an accident early on their driving career; I'm hoping a low powered 90 will be make it more survivable.

My son is coming up to 17, so I would like to find a vehicle for him to do his driving practise and once he's passed his test, drive, ideally without breaking the Bank of Mum and Dad. In my head, I was hoping to find an ex-military 2.5NA 90 with as few changes to standard as possible, but the likes of Whithams and Blanchards seem to want £9k+ for a blinged up variation of what I want. To get insurance as cheap as possible, I need it to have the original engine type, not an uprate to a 200 or 300Tdi and no V8s. I also need to avoid lift kits, cages, big tyres, winches and alloy wheels. The powers that be, (the household finance and general purposes committee), will not let me rebuild a wreck on the drive, so I need something that is capable of use from day 1, but dents, mismatched panels and a mangled interior are all acceptable. I am not fussy about the body type and it is unlikely to be driven in London so LEZ exemption is not necessary. If you have any idea where I might find such a dowdy and unblinged vehicle, I would very very grateful. If between now and August 2015, you have such a thing for sale, then please get in touch by PM. If you have a blinged vehicle you can unbling and sell the bits taken off, then I would be happy to co-operate. I am based in the East Midlands, but I would be willing to travel to view.

Two Leicestershire factors have them on the shelf, Parkers, http://www.thepartspeople.co.uk, and AVP, http://www.allvehicleparts.co.uk/home.php. My clutch kit was £98+VAT from AVP. Parkers was a little more. I'm told that LUK are fairly common in agricultural machinery dealers and factors, so if you are having trouble locally, try one of those. My LR is running well now, it's just my wallet that's sick; the labour bill is scary.