DaveSIIA

Still worth measuring the voltage across the battery terminals with a proper voltmeter. Should be 13.5 - 14.5V when the engine is running. The battery will be charging if this is maintained under load - headlights, blower, HRW, etc all switched on.

Head gasket failure is not unknown for a Tdi, and isn't the end of the world. Rather than suggesting block failure - they are fairly robust if not severely overheated - it is worth taking the head off to find if the gasket has failed. Once the head is off, it needs to be checked as flat & true. Also get it pressure tested. If not flat, it can be re-faced and the valve seats re-cut to maintain the valve stand down. It is worth checking that the top face of the block is true (unlikely not to be). I had a 300Tdi head pressure tested and re-faced recently at a cost of £50, so not expensive compared to a new head. Having done a few head gaskets on various Land Rovers, I can recommend using Elring gaskets. Any decent motor engineer will be able to do this job at a much more affordable price than the local main agents.

Possibly a fault with the alternator brushes / regulator. My 300Tdi had the same symptoms - worn brushes. Worth checking the output voltage. The brushes and regulator come as an assembly and are an easy fix. Disconnect battery, remove warning light wire from the regulator assembly, undo nuts (5.5mm AF) holding it to body and extract. Reassembly is the reverse. There's a thread somewhere in the Tech Archive covering this. You could try the Luddite method of diagnosis and give the back end of the alternator body a tap with a hammer. If the fault goes away or the output voltage increases, suspect worn brushes.

Is the intercooler clean inside? - easy job to take off and flush out. Also, are all the turbo hoses intact, no splits, etc?

Some more pointers to consider While the hub & disc are in the back of the wheel (and spline bolts removed), get hold of the old disc and rotate it around the hub - this frees it from the hub and it should lift off easily. It is worth re-packing the wheel bearings with grease (if they are the grease filled type). Spin the hub assembly after setting the wheel bearings to check for lateral run out. Excessive run out will knock back the pads, giving long pedal travel before the brakes work.

IIRC, part of the problem with head failures was down to the (lack of) height of the header tank above the heads. This allowed air pockets to form and parts of the heads to run locally hot. If this engine is a known good runner, it might be worth trying to arrange for the header tank to be as high on the bulkhead as possible, and for any bleed hoses from the heads to rise up to it. This should minimise the risk of overheating.

A copy of the SAE Spring Design Manual wouldn't go amiss. It goes into all the details of design, material selection and a more than a little bit of maths. Might be available through your local library. Another option might be torsion bar, using a 110 CSW rear anti-roll bar.

Possible baulk ring failure, locking out 3rd gear selecton. There was a known problem with early R380's. Unfortunately, it's a pull the box and strip job or buy a re-con exchange. Out of interest, how many miles has it done?

This attached file shows the layout of all the components and part numbers from the end of the crank back. IIRC, the flex plate should be 47-48mm into the bellhousing to give 1-2mm clearance to the feet of the torque convertor. This is set by the shim (item 14). Auto_Drive_Plate.pdf

Is this problem related to the other problem you posted? If so, I'd be looking at what is common to both petrol and lpg systems Ignition - already been mentioned about a fat spark and checking the timing. Breather pipes - check for split or perished pipes causing loss of vacuum. Carbs - check for dirt, sticking pistons (not lifting as demanded by air flow), split diaphragms (leaks / loss of vacuum). Fuel changeover - do the two fuel systems switch on/off as commanded? HTH

A rear PTO kit was available for the 90 (similar to the Series IIA/III) to give a 550rpm output at the rear crossmember. 70HP is a fair bit of power though. IIRC, the Series PTO was limited to ~20HP and I suspect the Defender item would be much the same. Superwinch (ex Fairey Eng) should be able to advise.

No, RHS chassis mount on a SIII is a long(ish) arm. This has to be chopped off and a short angled mount welded to the chassis (a la 90/110) to match the engine mount of the 2.5NAD. The 2.5NAD has a long RHS mount to reach under the injection pump. I don't have photo's to hand from fitting a 2.5NAD in a mate's SIII petrol, but have a look at the mount arrangement for a 2.5 P/NAD/TD/200Tdi and the type of chassis mounts will be obvious. A 2.25 engine could be fitted using 2.5 engine mounts. Engime mounts were the standard 90/110 round rubber jobs. Weld on the new chassis mounts before galvanising. If needs be, there is a new jig built SIII chassis outside with 2.5NAD mounts that I could measure later today. 2.5NAD bolts directly to the SIII bell housing. The holes in the bell housing have to be opened out to M10 as the 2.25 uses 3/8 inch (~9.5mm IIRC) studs. We used a 2.5/200Tdi clutch cover with a Series pressure plate, SIII release bearing and fitted a new spigot bush while in there. Although beyond your original question, we used a 2.25D exhaust manifold and downpipe to keep to standard parts. Some say it may be a bit restrictive, but it works fine and the vehicle (88") is fairly lively.

Finally measured the front prop - 690mm flange to flange fitted. There is about a further 20mm compression available, not sure how much more extension (poss +20mm?).

Rear of tank outriggers should be the same as the civilian ones - readily available from most good LR parts suppliers.

The propshaft is from a BW equipped non-cat RRC (3.5 V8 or Diesel). It's a standard hollow tube. I think the part number would be FTC122. I'll be under the vehicle tomorrow, so will measure the length (flange to flange) and get back to you.

That wasn't so much a bulkhead removal bar, as just something to rest the seat backs against - the 'B' posts were one piece from floor to roof, so wouldn't have needed the bar to keep the body sides from folding in.

Yes, same as 300Tdi. One of these with a cranked end will do.

Is the LT230 off the vehicle at the moment? If so, drain the oil, remove the bottom cover plate and remove the intermediate gear. Does the input gear turn freely? If not, then the input gear & bearings are set up wrong. If yes, then there are three possibilities Fault elsewhere in the transfer box? Input gear installed wrong way round? Input gear not suited to the spec of transfer box? IIRC, early LT230's ( suffix A & B ) had a different helix angle on the gears to the later ones. The later cross drilled input gear cannot be used on these boxes.

Get a length of suitable bore fuel hose from any decent car spares place, and cut to size.

Brake fluid on the pads isn't a problem. Brake fluid is water soluble, so just remove the pads in warm soapy water and dry. Oil is a different matter all together.

That Britpart kit looks to be magnetic contactless. Should work ok if it has been built and tested to an acceptable standard. Down side is that the rotor arm appears to be in unit with the magnet assembly. How does one get spares?

Remove the flaking paint, rub down to bare metal for an area larger than the oxidised patch, etch prime, high build prime then paint. Have a look at Vehicle Painting Pointers for guidance on what is involved. At the end of the day, it's a Land Rover and you could achieve a decent finish in a solid colour through taking your time and some attention to detail. Alternatively, dig deep and pay a professional.

Also, check the breather isn't blocked and the transfer box pressurising when warm.

I used to have a Lumenition Optronic kit on my IIA many years ago (when it was petrol engined) and can recommend it. That particular kit is still going strong on a mates IIA and is ~25 years old. The big advantages were - eliminates points , so no adjustment - not particularly sensitive to wear in the distributor shaft or points base plate - dwell angle scatter was virtually eliminated - fuel consumption reduced and emissions cleaned up - nothing to go out of adjustment once set The ignition amplifiers do just that, and reduce the current through the points so that arcing doesn't occur. The points are still sensitive to wear in the distributor and the heel of the points so the dwell angle will have more scatter, and drift as the heel wears. But the kits are much cheaper than a Lumenition kit. If the distributor has appreciable wear then it is probably time for a new unit - possibly the £70 conversion? The original distributor is likely to be a Lucas 25D4. There have been a couple of web sites which reference replacing old style Lucas distributors with modern contactless distributors out of Japanese motors. IIRC, these have been mainly for Mini's / Metro's / MGB's but there may be some info about LR's - Google should turn up something.

I've seen the plate with NATO eye used on some historic commercials / ex-military when towing caravans, etc to shows. Structurally it should be ok if you use a decent gauge plate (cue HFH) for the drop. NATO eyes can be purchased as loose item, just need a good welder to glue it all together. The trailing arms could be similar in concept to the lower arms of a 3-point link on a tractor, with a round bar across the drop plate, through the arms and held together with 'R' clips. Get the geometry right and the arms could tuck up to the chassis and clip in place when not in use. More practical than a D-B adjustable drop plate / plough when off road, but probably not as stable as the D-B system for road use. Not sure how much the bottom of the NATO drop plate would move when subject to lateral loadings and the impact of this on trailer stability. If this is going to be used regularly then I would opt for the proven D-B system and get two saddles for NATO and ball hitches.