Ed Poore

Further south and west you have Brechfa Forest which has some real gems - all perfectly drivable in a normal Defender. If you want some more scenic routes then although not challenging there's the Elan Valley (Claerwen Reservoir) but you'll almost certainly have to do a U-turn at the end. There's also Soar-y-Mynedd near the western end of Strata Florida.

One of the Jeeps I laned with in France used industrial cling film... Can't remember how they got in and out - perhaps through the sunroof. There were some neat magnetic panels for the D3s and D4s in the group but they probably won't work on aluminium

Um, fairly sure Strata is currently closed for repairs (or at least most of it). If I remember correctly they were hoping to have finished repairs by now but winter weather and Covid has put delays on it. https://en.powys.gov.uk/article/2444/Temporary-closures-of-Public-Rights-of-Way-in-Powys Shouldn't have an issue with a standard vehicle in the slightest - OK mine is twin locked and winch but running standard suspension setup and never had an issue before any of that, remember it is a green lane after all. I did it in my L322 a few years back so 18" tyres on a Defender shouldn't be an issue compared to the smears of rubber that Land Rover deemed acceptable at the time. Water wise it's sensible to pay attention to what the weather's done the day or two before because that area of the Brecon Beacons is liable for flash flooding and the river through Strata Florida can rise several feet in the matter of hours. [didn't click post and James responded first]...

You don't have to fit the supercharger if you do go down that route. If you never buy the supercharger then it'll be more difficult if you do fancy it later

Yeah but which sounded better

If the AJ6 is going to be too long then what about a shorter engine such as the AJ-V6?

That may be true but, from my admittedly limited research, there seem to be far more options for souping up a 1UZ compared to the Rover engines. OK it's all internet backside on chair research but there are multiple instances of people pushing towards 1000hp from a 1UZ (albeit with replacing rods, etc) where as everything tends to stop not far above ~300hp for the Rover V8. I realise that I'm now talking power rather than torque but since power is torque x angular velocity then provided you don't up the RPMs too much then you get more torque with more power. Will find out shortly (well hopefully a bit quicker than 6 years) with the 6x6. Mind you anything's better than what's in there currently. Was half tempted to shove my spare 300Tdi with a new crank in there. I almost went down the 5.9 Cummins but glad I haven't now since it would have been a lot of messing around with gearing as I can't do the usual trick of increasing tyre size.

When the switch is very close to the battery I don't think it's going to make a difference. I now disconnect negative first if I'm removing a battery, for some simple reason, if I hit the spanner against the bodywork / chassis when undoing the positive then it doesn't spark. Even more apt in a Defender battery tray where there's a tendency to hit the seat box with the spanner.

Thinking about alternatives, although I haven't looked into their availability. What about the L28 (petrol version of what's in the 6x6)? (and subsequent variants) It's an amazingly compact engine and favoured by the Skyline crowd because you can get big big horsepower numbers out of them. Nissan built the petrol and diesels so they're compatible and consequently the diesel crank is used quite often as a stroker for the petrol engine. Also means the petrol is (comparatively) quite a lump but immensely strong because it's basically a diesel block. I haven't investigated it too much but my general feeling is that most of the more modern "British" engines tend to talk to everything within the vehicle (E.g. Gearbox, ABS, Body ECU etc). I was pleasantly surprised that the 1UZ ECU is standalone, might be worth looking into a Jap based inline 6? Toyota springs to mind. I've got a mate with a 4.2 straight 6 (but diesel) in an 80 series and that thing pulls very very well, especially as his truck recently got weighed at 3.2t on 35s. Had a quick measure up of the engine and would fit in the 6x6 I think. Although auto boxes tend to be a bit longer.

Hey it's not the worst diversion. I had to do Surrey to the Inverness via Pembrokeshire a few winters ago, and then the same in reverse two weeks later. More or less in one hit - just a few hours sleep at my parents on the Pembrokeshire border.

A ex-builder friend of mine killed his very expensive wet and dry vac. In a rush bought a Henry, filled the bag, chucked it in the skip when full and then proceeded for the next 10 years to run it without a bag. Did eventually kill it when a delivery lorry drove over it.

If it's like most of the estates I've been on then a car with good ground clearance will travel most of the roads. After that then a car is simply too heavy and you're into foot territory, quad or similar ATV. I mean I've sunk an Argo above the wheels and that's sub 2psi of ground pressure... and amphibious. People underestimate peat.

I may have created a little Python based Web scraper than downloaded everything related to the L322. Wonder if those files still exist. Wonder if the hard drive still exists... It was certainly very comprehensive

But this is Nige - bigger is always better

@Hybrid_From_Hell - Nige just pop up to Manbat in Guildford (on the left as you go in, opposite Kwik Fit in the little industrial estate between the train station and Ladymead) - they've got plenty of batteries for you to choose from there and I popped in to get a battery and cut me a deal just for being polite . In all seriousness at least the guy I spoke to was knowledgeable and can help you out. For reference you can relatively easily squeeze two 019 batteries into at least a 300Tdi battery compartment side by side if you put a highly calibrated spacer (piece of wood) in the dip. I think the 019 size comes in from at least 830CCA - I think the Yuasa I have in the 110 is at least 900CCA so you can get 1800CCA there - hope your wiring is up to snuff! Pretty sure I found some 1000CCA as well. If you think you've got problems there was a pilot boat that my company installed a data-logger onto. Half the boat was two Marine Diesel CAT engines, quarter of the boat was batteries to start them and the other quarter was fuel tank. Starter motor contact was 2 inch solid gold...

I'm going to stick my neck out and suggest why not just picking up a Clarke machine? They're actually quite nice machines for the price - I picked up my 130EN (gas and gasless) for £100 including helmet and gloves and to be honest I've built some stupid heavy stuff with it. This was the most recent - the vast majority of that was done late at night on 0.6mm wire with the wire speed wound up because my 0.8mm wire had hidden itself away and I was on a time crunch with a 260kg sheet of steel supposed to have been delivered the following morning. Quick hitch brackets were gouged out of 20mm steel. Admittedly I did finish it off by teaching myself to stick weld because I ran out of gas... I've been doing more and more heavy gauge stuff (perhaps even thicker than Nige style fabrication ) and been wondering about getting a more powerful unit. If he gets on with the MIG then you can save your pennies for a more expensive / better TIG where I think you'll notice much more return for your money on the quality of the unit.

Wingdings

Correct, at least on the L322

On the L322 it's an emergency brake if moving. Basically sends a signal saying **** I need to stop now! After speaking to a few people who'd tried it out I chickened out but it's meant to be like hitting a brick wall and the vehicle does everything it can to stop as quickly as it can.

I think a lot of it is down to how much it's used and how well serviced / looked after it is. I've personally found the Tdis like to be worked hard. What used to be a fairly regular trip for me doing the entire length of the M4 I'd usually find about Bristol the 110 would like to sit 5-10mph faster than earlier. Guess gearbox and diff oils finally got up to temperature. Mines quite happy chugging along at 70+, 85+ (indicated) gets a bit noisy but I do have a fair amount of sound + thermal insulation in it (but also rotten doors and some holes in the exhaust which I really must get around to sorting). I got back last weekend from 1600 miles around the Highlands and have to say I think there were only a handful of vehicles that overtook me both on the way up and down from South Wales and also in the Highlands. Bear in mind that a Puma engined Defender in 6th gear is pretty much exactly the same ratio as an R380 with 1.2 transfer box, they've just got a much lower first gear. Mine is running a 1.2 box and 32" tyres. The current engine has been fiddled a bit so certainly feels a lot pokier than most standard tune Pumas I've been in. Having said all that if you're not doing the mileage and don't need a rebuild and you're happy then stick with what you've got.

I knew that, I do know you . It was more for those that haven't had the pleasure (?) of meeting you.

Don't! Appropriate thread-lock (blue or green if I remember correctly) should as @Snagger says keep the thread from rusting up and prevent it shaking loose. If you use the red one then you need heat to break the thread-lock. Now a tale of why not... Quite a few years ago whilst my L322 was still under warranty it went into a garage to have a sticking caliper replaced. Anyway about a month later it developed a bit of a clicking / knocking most pronounced when turning / maneuvering at low speeds. Bugger I thought I've done a CV or two... But it was a bit weird, didn't sound like what I'd expect a broken CV to sound like. Eventually managed to track it down and unbeknownst to me the garage had put copper slip onto the caliper bolts and they'd worked loose so the clicking / knocking was the caliper rotating as it was loose. Luckily it couldn't go anywhere but it wasn't a pleasant discovery.

? I presume you mean the electronic system because normally the handbrake is a completely seperate system for that reason.

Failing that I wonder if he rode the brakes all the way, not sure I'd have had enough composure during it but perhaps actually trying to accelerate back up the hill to slow down might have helped.

Supplementing rather than replacing I think, something comfier for cruising those Scottish roads. Also being aluminium less maintenance due to high salt content on the roads. Or cheating by buying a ready made 110 rather than finishing building his