Ed Poore

I made an inquiry. He said there was one but you have no idea of how difficult it will be to find it. He didn't do anything sensible like label it so it'll be a case of trawling through the yard and finding the 50 or so LT230s that are probably lying around and then either pulling off the plate to check or counting turns.

I can't remember what gearbox Bob used to put behind them but he had some 0.9 (or perhaps greater) gears made for an LT230 - by the same company that originally cut the gears for LR. He did a fair few conversions for people (few Defenders and Classics) and they were great tow vehicles by all accounts. They're basically a lorry engine like the 6BT so like pootling along at basically idle and probably therefore less than stellar fuel but then they are a big unrefined diesel lump so what you lose to fuel efficiency you make up in simplicity and reliability. I queried the overheating issue and the explanation was this. Basically to make them fit people needed an adapter plate which was usually some big lump of Ali which meant pushing the engine forward and thus losing space. They then stuck a smaller radiator on and lost the viscous fan and we all know diesels do not like overheating. What Bob did was cast some custom bell housings that took any GM bolt pattern to any Land Rover transmission bolt pattern. Thus he kept the engine further back and kept the viscous fan. He could then fit a Saudi spec radiator which, in the UK, was sufficient for keeping the thing cool when under load. Much as we like to bash the Americans I can't imagine the US Army would have signed off on using them in the Hummer if the engine was a complete pile of dung. Sure there are better, more modern engines, but there will always be. I did consider fitting one when I snapped the first crank since there was a turboed 300 mile 6.5l sat next to the Defender in his yard when I was pulling the old engine but I had the same arguments, a lot of weight for no more power (as standard) than a 300Tdi but it did have quite a bit more torque but you'd have to fiddle gearing to compensate for the lack of top end.

Good for tow vehicles because of the torque, very similar I guess to a 6BT, heavy but reliable plodder alonger,with adequate cooling that is. Seems a lot of their unreliability reputation came from conversions where they didn't up the cooling system adequately (if at all) and expected a radiator from a 2.5l engine to handle cooling a 6.2 lump when pushed hard.

Got to love structural engineers - I spoke with one about my proposed garage building and the slab and retaining walls proposed were insane. Yes it was dug into a bank but there was a 13t 360 doing the digging and you could hear that thing working getting through the ground. There's almost going to be more steel in my walls that concrete , still at least that was bought when prices were cheap - might sell it now for 2 to 3x that... Why was a trencher and root barrier rejected then? Those work a treat at preventing the roots from undermining foundations, the willow and other trees will have already sucked up water from that area anyway given their age so unlikely to dry it out enough to worry about. Anyway job is done now.

Are they any better than the General Grabber ATs (if I remember they did something silly like there was an AT which then got renamed as AT² and the AT was the new version)? Anyway I digress - I had a two sets fitted to my old 3.6 TDV8 L322 (255/55R19) and in my honest opinion they were a pile of urine. No tyre lasted more than 10k, if they made it that far. I had 3 sidewalls destructions (two would have admittedly taken out most tyres but the third was a twig), those that survived sidewall damage started cracking up after ~10k and I didn't trust then, they were brand new tyres when fitted. Replaced with a set of Goodyear Wrangler Duratracs (yes I know not technically speed rated) and they were much much better, possibly slightly noisier but when you're cruising in the comfort of an L322 cabin outside noise is largely a thing of the past. I'm also looking to replace the carp that came with my 4.4 TDV8 now with something that'll at least work in this area when it gets wet and wintery (the Pirelli Scorpions are useless on grass, even if dry) but there's little option for an even slightly all terrain tyre for a 20" wheel apart from the General Grabbers.

Whilst not hand made by our dear Stephen they were designed in the age of the Victorians I know a chap with a container full of 6.2 and 6.5 GM V8 diesels... Dare I say fitting one of those in a lightweight would be a challenge

Slightly bigger toy (in the context of this thread) picked up on Monday . The ride on you can see on the right has been taking a battering on being pushed a bit harder than it should be, in 2 years I've gone through a complete mower deck, four deck belts, four tyres, and a steering rack so an upgrade for lawn mowing duties has been acquired. Now just need to source a mower for it... ... For those interested: 2 and 4WD (hydrostatic, 2 ranges) Rear diff lock Rear 540rpm PTO Centre 2000rpm PTO 3 point linkage Drawbar And cruise control

@V8 Freak has put a fair few scratches etc., down his vehicle whilst laning and off-roading and I don't think the glass has suffered in the slightest.

Um., the stuff I linked to above does soak in very well. We used a plastic bin but once one the of 50 gallon drums was empty we cut the top off and soak the bottom of fence posts into it. One of the 12" diameter posts we had to trim the spike off the bottom and found that the creosote had soaked to all but the inner inch of the post. The icecream tub you can see on these beams got eaten by the creosote and leaked overnight - the resulting stain went all the way through the joists to the floor underneath - it had soaked through over 2ft of (admittedly very dry) timber.

Really? https://www.creosotesales.co.uk/product-category/traditional-creosote/ I think when we bought 4 drums of it we didn't even have to prove we were a farm - I think we might have added farm to the end of the address which we don't usually do. Admittely it was a few years back but post 2003.

Just thought I'd offer this up in case anyone wanted anything shifted but I'll be travelling from Pembrokeshire(ish) to Durham on Monday 11th, empty plant trailer (12x6ft I think) on the way up and slightly fuller (wee compact New Holland Tractor) on the way back. Setting off from St Clears(ish) at 8am(ish) and returning by Tuesday AM. Routes are flexible within reason, will have a largely empty L322 both directions as well.

You know what they say about publicity - any publicity is better than no publicity. I doubt the typical punter or target audience for the Defender will care that it gets trashed. The fact it was used in a Bond film is enough.

Possibly not the most versatile of cooking systems but my little Alpkit Brukit did sterling service on Friday. I was "volunteered" to help out at an open day at Whitland Abbey (well I've also been "volunteered" for mowing and ground maintenance duties over the last couple of years). Basically just a fun and information day at the ruins of Whitland Abbey. Anyway the generators loaned for the teas and coffees kept cutting out on the first morning with 80-100 visitors wanting hot drinks fairly early on. Whilst I ran back to a friend's farm, my parents farm and my place to try and cobble together enough to use a BOC gas bottle on a proper stove for boiling water I left the cake ladies with my little Brukit (picture below). Only had a little gas bottle underneath it and only holds ~1l of water. Anyway I came back with a proper gas stove and decent sized bottle but probably took about 90 minutes all told running around before I got back, during that time they'd had the busiest period for serving drinks and the little Brukit kept up with demand admirably. So always a handy little stove to have in the back, I've recently taken to leaving it in the back of the Range Rover with some water and tea making supplies so was handy I had it with me. But most impressive dealing with the volume of people that appeared. Here's a drone shot from later in the day when things had quietened down quite a lot - the cakes / pies / teas & coffees were in the gazebos to the right (the ruins are in the middle area surrounded by trees).

The 0.9 I'm talking about is for standard LR transmissions. It was custom made for Bob way way way before the Cummins crowd came along. Fairly sure its 0.9 rather than taller but I do know it's the largest gear that can fit in the casing (can't remember if the casing is slightly modified in this instance as well).

Will see him this afternoon so will ask. If we can find one (that's a big if in his yard*) then I'll chuck it in the back of the Range Rover so I can palletise it or drop it off next time I'm passing. * when I snapped the first crank in my 300Tdi he had a spare engine, knew it was in the North East corner of his yard. The pair of us spent 15 minutes lifting tarps on engines before we found it. Came across everything from 25cc petrol engines through a whole pile of 6.2/6.5 GM V8s up to and in excess of 24l engines.