FridgeFreezer

What Phil said - doesn't look like it'd be factory so I would be suspicious of it, either cracked drum or perhaps an attempt to cure an out-of-round one?

Removing the rear prop & driving in 4x4 will be OK, just remember to lock the front hubs or you have no drive and no handbrake! Vibrations can be hard to track down - check the prop UJ's are free to move and well greased, jack up each wheel & spin to listen/feel for dodgy bearings, see if it changes with hi/low 2x4/4x4 etc. I'm sure someone will be along with a load more advice in a minute...

David, Just to pick you up on your comment - no matter what the resistance in series with the charge light it would not cause the bulb to glow if the voltage at either end was the same, in fact resistance in series with it would discourage the bulb from glowing. What would cause the bulb to glow is an earth fault at either end of the charge light wiring, a short causing a high load on the alt, or as I have had a poor connection from the alt to the battery +ve terminal.

I think a giveaway may be the different manufacturer name on top of the engine and stamped on every cast or plastic component Can you not / do you not want to fit a different original Land Rover engine such as a 2.5D, 200TDi, 300TDi or V8? The 2.5D (Defender and some Sherpa vans / London taxis) is almost direct bolt in, the TDi's are not too much hassle and the V8, although it requires a conversion kit and a bit of bulkhead chopping, is lovely You can find conversion kits 2nd hand (often with an engine) on eBay quite cheaply. What engine are you considering?

I did say "at least one" anyway I know nuffink

I've got it - Al's building a CNC lathe!

One that worked on the RR was to jam a thing (Eg screwdriver, bit of bar, small child) into the point where belt meets pulley so that the further round it goes the tighter it gets. Mr Morfee suggested it and we all went "Naaaaaahh", then it worked first time. So he does know at least one useful thing

At the rate you work it'll be a one-off for at least two years WTF are you making, or is it a secret off-road weapon?

If you've got a membership card then Will's not dead and don't worry - H will make sure everyone who owes money is chased for it I suspect letters asking for the balance will go out fairly soon, and event info packs etc. will be dished out closer to the event as last time we got a big rush with a couple of weeks to go.

Dunno much about TDi's but blue smoke on startup / for the first bit of a journey and then nothing all day long is a sign of valve stem oil seals on the V8 as oil trickles down overnight, giving you blue smoke, but then doesn't come down fast enough during the day to be noticable.

Did he really have to make a documentary to prove that Bush is a complete twunt?

Since I can't be bothered to download GVP is there a link to have a watch online?

The amount that'll cost (esp. to pay someone to build it) you could buy a very nice 90. Obviously a Series would be cooler though B) A few questions / thoughts: Fully restored Series III - you're staring down almost £4k there for starters unless you get lucky on eBay Defender front and rear wings with wheel arch flares. - Why? What's wrong with Series arches with flares (either Series or Defender flares)? If you want the recessed front I would expect you'll need Series front wings anyway. Fully reconditioned 200tdi engine (300tdi if one will fit) - For the money couldn't you find a more interesting engine, you could almost crate an LS-1 over here for the amount you'll pay for a properly reconned TDi. Fully reconditioned gear & transfer box (advice on types would be appreciated) - May as well be R380 + LT230 if you're sticking with a LR lump, if not then whatever goes best with the LS-1 Coil springs. - So either a hell of a lot of work, or coiler axles, steering, etc... Fully galvanised chassis. - Unless you get lucky with the base vehicle you're going to rip a restored Series apart and spend a further £1-2k getting that done. Even if you do get lucky with the base vehicle you're then into chopping a galv chassis about to fit coils, or removing one galv chassis to replace with another. I guess you'll want PAS and disc brakes too, so more chassis mods for the PAS. For the money you could buy a new one of everything off the shelf, build it up (or pay someone) and end up on an '07 plate after a quick trip to the SVA. Or you could buy a very good defender, move the drivetrain back a bit and bolt a Series front on

Also kit car mags.

ISTR in Bravo Two Zero they mention their training where they shoot petrol tanks and the comment was that it's really quite hard to make one even catch fire, and that they don't explode like in the movies. I successfully soldered a return pipe back onto dad's RR tank but that was one that had been stood empty for ages, didn't smell of petrol at all so I gave it a go and I'm still here

If the trailer's in good nick then you'll be fine. If it's home-made and held together with string be very very careful. Check the brakes work (with it unladen, anchor on - you should feel the trailer push the car a bit and then pull it back as the brakes come on, often with a bit of a "bang" as the brakes bite). Check the tyres & pressures (trailer and your car) on the towing vehicle you may want to up the rear tyre pressures to cope with the weight, the manual will make mention of the correct pressures to use.

If it's anything like a proper engine (EG petrol) then a very easy way to fool the ECU is tweak the air or coolant sensor with a variable resistor - colder engine = more enrichment. A chap tuned his MS this way as he had no provision for a laptop in his Westfield, just noted down the VR values on a bit of paper and tweaked the fuel map when he got home

Sounds like you're capable of mechanical sympathy (for some it seems to be a dirty word ) so perhaps the 10-spline would be the cheapest option - anyone know if you can upgrade an ARB to 24 spline later if you need to? £130 for a compressor I'd go for a cheap aircon setup (loads of air for not much money) or even a £5 super-asthmatic tyre inflator from a 50p shop filling a lemonade bottle if all you need is the engage the locker. There's also the Disco / RR air suspension compressors - very good quality and £5 a pop at Sodbury

You can also buy battery protectors for accessories that shut down if they drain the battery, so if you leave the laptop on it will turn off before the battery has dropped too far to re-start the vehicle. I have one in a box somewhere no idea what their official name is or who makes 'em, it was handed to me by a mate.

Bluddy 109s...

I'm waiting for people to start using copper bus-bar, the currents some of the modified winches are (supposedly) capable of drawing would seem to warrant it. We have some nice stuff at work but it's a bit big to fit to a landy:

Two batteries, an X-Charge and a two battery isolator from VWP etc. Who's got some crayons I can borrow?

No numbers for you but generally joins = bad, if nothing else they are an added potential failure point through corrosion / coming undone etc... not to mention the resistance they add into the circuit. As was said, it doesn't matter how super-nice your +ve wire is if the electricities can't get back to the -ve just as easily.

Never heard a bad word about them, and the price isn't that bad (how much is a stock new prop from paddocks?)

^^^ What he said. Do people still use those nasty carburettor thingies then? For an easy boost to the 2.25 lump why not just fuel inject it and remove the dizzy, those lumps are massively de-tuned as stock. You'd probably see quite a few HP gain just by renewing all the worn out bits too... Or... "Why bother?" and bolt in something 40 years newer from a Rover, BMW, Jag, Ford... a Zetec lump would probably double the power, weigh less and be more reliable and there's one or two out there.