Dave W

The only problem I can think of is the reluctor ring. The distributorless engines use a reluctor ring on the flywheel to drive a crank position sensor and I can't think how that would function/fit with a manual flywheel. If you're not intending using the factory ECU this isn't too much of an issue though as you can fit a 36-1 toothed wheel to the front and use Megasquirt or one of the commercial ECUs to drive it. You can either use Megasquirt to drive the original coil packs or use a second EDIS ECU to control the ignition if you're not wanting to use all the features of Megasquirt.

After stripping the alternator down it turned out the rear bearing was seized solid and also didn't want to move off the rotor. It needed a new regulator, brush holder and rear bearing. I took it over to Wood Autos today and they had a look at the mortal remains and pronounced it beyond economical repair because they have brand new ones in stock for just over 60 quid plus the dreaded. For anyone else running a GM fitting CS130D alternator the actual part number at Woods is ALT1402 and they have them in stock along with all the spares http://www.woodauto.com/Unit.aspx?Man=DELC...mp;Ref=10480167

Fit 24 spline ARBs and you can use your existing axles if you're using Ashcroft kit with them. Not much point in buying 24 spline axles if you're going to bin most of the expensive bits.

Just an update on the think automotive relief valve, it doesn't appear on their web site or in their catalogue but they do still sell it ! I've had to buy one for mine as it's a fully sealed fuel system and it took me ages to figure out why I couldn't find it. The Mocal part number is TPV8. It comes with 8mm inline hose fittings (tails). It's normally sealed but will open to let air in at around 0.08 psi vacuum and will open to let air out at 0.725 PSI positive pressure. Retail price is £33.85 and they have them in stock. http://www.thinkauto.com/

Map merge only merges maps that are already calibrated so it's essentially just a way of joining existing Ozi maps into one bigger map. StitchMaps takes images of maps and joins them together using pixel comparison to find overlaps. With Google earth it takes a series of low level images to cover the area you've selected, stitches them all together into a single map and saves them as a .map file already calibrated for Ozi (or a few others like Fugawi, Mapinfo etc... you choose the format) If you're scanning maps or taking screen grabs off something like streetmap then you'd have to calibrate the finished map still but it would join all your screen shots together resolving overlaps etc... without having to calibrate each screen shot first.

My understanding is that they can't redesign the Defender simply because a complete redesign would require it to meet modern crash tests. By sticking with the same basic chassis and bulkhead design they can carry on "face lifting" the vehicle for as long as they like. sadly in the land of the free their laws didn't accept the retro aspect so it had to be withdrawn from sale there because they couldn't change it and meet home market safety requirements. There was some work done on a Defender based on a D3 chassis but to meet modern standards it'd have turned out looking something like a Freelander.

StitchMaps is a really useful utility for Ozi... http://www.stitchmaps.com/ I've used it to stitch OS maps together from MM screenshots and StreetMap 1:25000 OS blocks. I also use it to create calibrated Ozi maps from Google Earth where you zoom out far enough to see the whole area you want, tell it how many squares to divide the area up into (determines the scale/eye height of the finished map and it then stitches it all together resulting in a good definition aerial map complete with .map file for Ozi. Turn on the grid lines in Ozi and you've got a large scale aerial map with OS grid lines overlaid.

Can't help on what it looks like inside on this particular model. Obviously you need to make sure you don't have too much fuel in the tank before removing the sender if it's the type that goes in the side of the tank. To remove it, if you look closely there is a ring inside the collar fitted to the tank. You need to tap the inner ring anti clockwise and then you can pull it out when the "dents" in the ring line up with the teeth in the collar. There is a small lug (at the bottom of the ring in your pic) that you can use to tap it around with... just be gentle unless you have a spare ring first !

If you can find some way of communicating the key press to an application running on the PC it should be possible. There are some limitations to the OziExplorer API but as long as the Moving map option is running it's possible for another application to create a new waypoint for the current location. I have a test version of my app that I'm sending out to those who have expressed an interest very soon (today or tomorrow). It may be simplest to add an MOB style button to the app that allows you to create a waypoint instantly from a button. That way you can, at worst case, press the Teratrip button and the OziExplorer button at the same time. The current version of the app doesn't include DMS or UTM as I'm still finishing that off but I'll include you on the distribution list so you can get an idea of the way it works and the way it hooks into OziExplorer. I'll add an MOB button in the same release as the DMS support is added.

You obviously haven't heard of global warming, it's a well kept secret that there's always a heatwave in Yorkshire during March. Not sure Pam will be up for wearing speedos though...

Still got space for another team (possibly two). It'll be 2 years before the next Muddy Truckers Trophy event is held so get an entry form in if you want a real challenge. http://www.muddytruckers.co.uk/

It is naive to think that this sort of thing can be rolled out across the country. The majority of councils simply aren't interested in volunteer repair schemes. They are only interested in removing vehicular rights and, as such, a badly damaged lane is a good thing because they can then claim all the damage is down to 4x4s and close the lane for good. Council members aren't shy about this position. I've had YDNP council members lie to my face over lane closures and not even bother denying they lied at a later date because they simply don't believe 4x4 users have a valid voice. As for the whole GLASS/CRAG thing, I really have no time for either organisation as neither of them have proved to be effective apart from when they are threatening each other with legal action. LARA and TRF are the only organisations that have any clue what they are doing at the moment and neither are given the credit they deserve by the 4x4 community.

There's no reason to take the drop arm off unless it's loose on the splines... in which case it'll fall off anyway because it's loose ! If the ball joint on the end of the drop arm is the problem just replace the ball joint, it can be done with the arm on the box unless it's one of the very early type... can't believe there's any of those left though, last one I saw was about 10 years ago ! If you really can't get hold of a hydraulic puller the only other way I've got a drop arm off is to remove the whole steering box from the vehicle, have an assistant hold the assembly with the output shaft resting on decent sized block of wood and use a sledge hammer on the "protusion" on the back of the drop arm. That'll usually shift it in a couple of blows, just make sure you both keep well clear and it's essential that the box is resting purely on the end of the output shaft or you risk destroying the box. As others have said there's no way it'll shift with a normal puller.

All modern(ish) Land Rover tanks have a built in swirl pot. All it needs is a small "box" sat on the bottom of the tank that has a small feed hole allowing fuel in and out at a restricted rate and the return pipe feeds into it too. If you have a look inside your standard 90 tank, if you still have it, you should see one where the fuel pump or pickup pipe sits. Ideally the fuel return comes into the pot at an angle across the pickup hole, that way the venturi effect of the fuel passing the hole pulls more fuel in creating a higher level inside the pot. A very good current alternative is to use the pump unit from a plastic tank as these have a very good swirl pot built into them and can be adapted to almost any length so they sit on the bottom, just a bit of a pain to fabricate a collar for them but it can be done.

If you're measuring the wheelbase between the hubs then the wheel base changes according to the height of the suspension. The very idea that Land Rover could work to an accuracy of 0.1 inches !

You're driving a Land Rover, Land Rovers are calibrated to use gallons not liters. Using liters rather than gallons can damage your fuel pump that's why countries that don't use real gallons always seem to think Land Rovers are unreliable. Wheelbases are measured in inches, fuel is measured in gallons and if you do otherwise the Land Rover gods WILL smite you down.

We've just had a team drop out so if you're interested in competing get your entry in sharpish. Entry forms are available on the event web site: http://www.muddytruckers.co.uk/regs_and_entry.html

There's a control valve at the bottom right in the pic, you need to close it (turn clockwise) to lift and open it (anti-clockwise) to lower it. They normally need a bit of pressure to close them so once it's free of the vehicle stand on it to finish closing. The handle has a slot in the end that hooks onto the lugs on the valve so you can turn it with the handle without being under the vehicle.

Here's one I made earlier

Looking at that list it seems to be composed primarily of clubs and unrelated companies and I can't see many of the companies I normally visit on that list. I'm kind of tempted by "Dead Cert Pest Control" though if only out of morbid curiosity Talking to traders at Donington I got the impression that Newark was already more expensive than Billing for the same size stand so a 20% discount doesn't seem that good. I was told a stand at Newark would cost £1000 whereas the same size stand at Billing was £650 a 20% discount wouldn't close that gap although the stand cost is a minor part of the expenditure for a trader I suppose. I've also been told that Live Promotions are discounting their trade stands heavily too, maybe traders shoud try and get their stand at half price, play the two off against each other and book both !

RRC, Disco or P38 jacks are ideal for the job.. Here's a good pic of one on an ebay listing... http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=250378001774 The older ones are painted red but AFAIK they all have a long enough reach.

What size tyres have you got on ??? I use one of those jacks on mine and with 35 inch Simex on I don't need a block of wood. It's in two stages and has quite a good lift on it as a result. Maybe you've only used the first stage ? At the front I find the best place to use it is just to the outside of the radius arms, in the small section of axle between the radius arm and the flange where the swivel ball bolts on. The rear is about the same place but you have a bit more room. It shouldn't damage anything as there shouldn't be anything under the axle to damage.

I got the impression that around 70% of the trade that are going to one of them had already committed to Billing anyway. It's a generous offer on their part although it'd be a lot more generous if they'd let you keep the Newark tickets so you could do both I'm in the "probably not going to either" camp myself although I've missed not going to Billing for the last couple of years and catching up with people.

Hopefully everyone is answering from their own personal experience, there is no wrong answer, there is no right answer but everyone has their own experiences and learns from it. All anyone can do on a forum such as this is read all the replies and make their own mind up. Still, at least he didn't ask if he should use one shot or oil in his swivels I have had problems in the past with crimp only joints on winch wires corroding and increasing their resistance and on a 12v winch any resistance reduces the effectiveness of your winch dramatically. My first winch was fitted with crimp only joints and after a year of competition the joints had to be remade as I was getting a voltage drop across some of them. As a solution to these corrosion/connection issues I started soldering the joints after I crimped them and have never had a joint fail or go high resistance in the 7 years of winching competition since. Vibration shouldn't be an issue on winch cables because they'll be securely clipped/tied to the vehicle anyway. That applies to crimp only as well. I also heat shrink the ends afterwards. For joints in "normal" auto wiring I use solder and heat shrink as I've never had a soldered joint fail on me. The heat shrink is important though as it supports the joint and the wires at both ends preventing vibration at the joint itself. A soldered joint should never be expected to support a mechanical joint on it's own.

I use these: http://uk.farnell.com/itw-switches/76-9410...h-red/dp/109282 http://uk.farnell.com/itw-switches/76-9410...green/dp/109281 They are IP67 rated and have stood the test of time on a couple of motors that I know of including mine.