munro

You will find the RR rear diff is shorter than the Salisbury axle so you will need a longer propshaft. You will gain a bit of groundclearance though. Need to swop lower spring seats as well.

I had a 2.5di in a 90. Very noisy, even after £100 worth of soundproofing on both sides of the bulkhead, under the bonnet, over the floor. Quicker than a 2.5n/a diesel, would pull 80-85 on the flat eventually! Did about 26-30 to the gallon but did need to be driven flat out. I fitted it as cost me a few hundred quid when tdi's were still well over a grand. Can't have been that bad as we did 2400 miles around Europe in a little over a week. Maybe the soft top flapping drowned out some of the diesel noise! Doug

I rechassis'd a 200tdi 90 2 years ago, took 8 weeks of weekends and odd evenings. It was summer which helped. I bought a richards chassis which was spot on. Worth bearing in mind richards are used to adding cage mounts and they do some work with North Off Road to add mounts. Depends where you got your cage I guess. In terms of time three of us stripped the 90 to the chassis in a day or so, the bulkhead swop took some time and was fiddly. I put a different rear axle on, new doors, new suspension etc on at the same time which didn't help. Fiddly bits are lining up the bulkhead/doors/rear tub and the wiring. I gave up trying to feed the rear loom through the chassis as it kept getting caught. P clipped it to the rear tub instead. Plan for lots of small part replacements, allow £500 for bits and bobs that you may as well replace while its in bits, new brake lines, connectors, bushes..... I didn't think my old chassis was that bad but once removed it was frightening where it had rotted away. I had an Iceland trip planned and didn't want any chassis failure when being snatched out of a river! The best bit is not having to dread the annual MOT! Doug

Do the single bolt runners not line up with the inner holes on the seatbox? Fairly sure they do, thus moving the seats inboard by nearly an inch. This was done to increase shoulder room when the Defender tdi was launched. The only problem with this is if you have a standard centre seat which will be too wide. (hence why Defender centre seats are narrower than 90/110 seats. Will need to put bolts into the remaining holes as these may help hold the seatbox together.

Be aware there are a few normally aspirated (non-turbo) diesel Defenders sold after Sept 1990 with all the Defender badging, inboard seats etc. I think they were mainly for fleet users or the mod Doug

Which engine have you got? If you have a 4 cylinder with a LT77 5 speed box the seatbox is different where it meets the transmission tunnel as I think the gearbox/transfer box sit further forward on the 300tdi/Td5. It may be possible to cut the centre section out of your original seatbox and attach it to the new seatbox. If you have an early 4 speed V8 I think it is a different seatbox again! What is wrong with the current seat box? Is it the usual corrosion where it meets the backbody? Doug

Had a fairly standard 90 tdi (galv chassis, alloys, side bars) insured by Flux. Very good price, although "classic policy" so wouldn't accrue NCB. Had to send copy of girlfriend's licence to them when she was added to policy. They lost it and then threatened to cancel policy. After several faxes managed to get a copy to them. Exactly the same has happened to a mate. Then rang them up about cover for Iceland. None of their underwriters would cover my car, even though Iceland appears on the list of most insurers' green card cover. Moved to NFU (luckily policy expired a few days before the trip). Cost more but no mileage limit (did 3000 miles on Iceland trip so that was a good move). Some of the other insurers that spend a fortune in LRO etc couldn't get anywhere close to either of the above rate rise or didn't like any mods at all. Makes you wonder how many "standard" Land Rovers there are about with cages, winches, lifts etc. Doug

Also came back about 3 weeks ago. Thoroughly recommend it. Took lots of advice from forums/magazine articles - most of which was spot on. We took a 90 and a 110 from Scrabster, both on Mud Terrains, with snorkels, diff guards, steering guards. We met up with the Icelandic Land Rover club so got to find a few interesting tracks....in the space of 5 hours you can go from 1st low ratio crawling over lava fields, over 60 mph tracks on smooth sand and through fast flowing rivers. Had to turn back from one river and wait for the water level to go down the following morning due to the glaciers melting in the afternoon. Meant we got a stunning wildcamp to ourselves. only got stuck a few times trying to get across gravelly river banks. Was fairly exciting at the time as the water levels were going up!! There were others on the ferry in bog standard Disco 3's and various Jap stuff who all seemed to have a good time on easier routes. Damage was limited to a dented gearbox crossmember (I think that was from an unseen washout on a corrugated road - made a hell of a bang) and a few electrical connections shaking loose from extremely corrugated roads. Food in supermarkets not stupidly expensive but the first £60 round of drinks in Reykjavik (for 7 people) was a shock. The people were very friendly, the weather was mixed, cold at night but ok camping. And guess who filled up before arriving in the Faroe Islands!! How gutting. Happy to provide more info on routes, local contacts etc Doug

The All wheel trim website is http://www.allwheeltrim.co.uk/ Just outside Oxford in Witney, usually have good stocks of soft tops. Soft top fits as per standard series/90 roof with ropes/straps as opposed to the poppers used by exmoor.

I have a truck cab soft top on my 90 some of the time, it is quieter and warmer than the full soft top. Uses all normal soft top fittings (got the whole lot from all wheel trim, more photos there). Less weight than a truck cab, although I think most of that is the glass. There is more room available than a truck cab too as with an extended truckcab soft top (as in red 90 above) the soft top sits just behind the bulkhead. Final benefit is I reckon the soft top is more watertight than my full hardtop. Will try and find some photos. Doug

You do need a second hoodstick or military roll bar for both the Exmoor top and the AWT extended truckcab. Bear in mind the seat back and bulkhead sit behind the first hoodstick. I have a All Wheel Trim truck cab soft top which is much quieter the the full soft top, also quicker to remove. Had a full soft top before from Exmoor, both comparable quality.