Ed Poore

Not really, "lived with it" was probably with hindsight. The tweaked engine has utterly transformed things but I was more than happy with the performance beforehand, it was just a little more sedate than with a 1.4 box. To me the biggest "unforeseen" benefit is not actually the taller gears for cruising but I feel it actually puts the gears into a much more useful range. To try and explain this what I mean is that if you wanted to sit at the respective speed limits (e.g. 30, 40, 50, 60, 70) I'd always be changing between two gears depending on inclines etc. With the 1.2 box then basically 2nd is still usable up to 30mph but you wouldn't want to sit there for long (so useful for steep hills and cornering), 3rd is where the power band is so used most of the time unless pottering along and then 4th and 5th become an overdrive to knock the revs right down. As you go up above 30 you basically lose 2nd gear and 4th becomes your main gear to stay in the power band. I can cruise along at 60mph all day long in 4th if I wanted to - which you wouldn't do with a 1.4 box, it (4th) is still usable up to 70mph if you really need it. One tangible benefit is that if you're towing on main roads then you can stay quite comfortably in 4th which is a straight through and therefore the strongest gear. The difference the tweaked engine has allowed is that whereas I would have to change down a gear for climbs or if towing then I can now just stay in the same gear. The only significant downside is that first is quite tall now. As you can probably guess I'm a bit fan of the 1.2 box with or without engine tweaks. I would say that if your engine is not in fine fettle (on a standard tune) then it might not be the best idea, but provided the engine is running well then I would recommend it. Tweaking the engine only makes things even better. Perhaps the best bit of advice I can give is if you wanted to try it out without actually fitting the different transfer box then try driving around and never use first gear, not even for hill starts, towing or maneuvering. If you can live with that then I'd say that you're reasonably close to what driving a 1.2 box would be like except without the extra gear up top.

??? Didn't you read my posts? Out of the last 8 years I've been running a 1.2 box it's only been the last 6 months that I've had a tweaked engine? Was perfectly happy with it before BUT having now got a tweaked engine it's much better. So I wouldn't worry about the engine side of things if you've already got the transfer box lying around. Bearing in mind all mine has had is a tweak to the pump, no change to turbo and/or intercooler.

It depends on how you drive really. If you're pretty laid back and just potter around I'd do it anyway. If you demand the most out of the engine, well why you driving a Defender then? I had it in standard tune for years and due to the reduced revs at higher speeds I lived with it. It was a little lack-luster at the bottom end but really only marginally got on my nerves when I was towing a lot and even then not enough to warrant going back. Had the latest engine not been tweaked for me I doubt I'd have done it myself but because it was already done for me I realise now I should have done it a long time ago.

You mean like my photo 😁 OK probably smaller than a train horn but still effin loud (they're driven off an air con pump).

I've only had a tweaked engine since Easter and had a bog standard 180k 300Tdi in it prior to that and it was fine. It's was no speed demon but then most Defenders aren't either. It felt a little under-powered sometimes - notably when I used to tow the Hampshire Air Ambulance's helicopter but then I could drop down into 4th and sit at 50-60mph rather than continually changing between 4th and 5th. In all honesty I'd have probably left it like that had I not started snapping cranks. There were only two times I had to drop down into low range and both were towing 3.5 tonnes. One was pulling out of a field at my parents with a trailer full of sheep to take to the market. The second was towing an L322 on a trailer through some back-roads in Carmarthenshire which were full of switch-backs, hairpins and 1 in 3 hills. Was much nicer to stay in low range since I wouldn't have been able to do much above 25mph anyway. I acquired a 4.6 P38 after the second crank to see me through until I moved house down to Wales and was actually seriously contemplating dropping that into the Defender. Then a bottom half came up for sale on here and unbeknownst to me it has been tweaked previously. It was such a transformation that the 4.6 idea died very quickly. If I was always towing through Mid Wales with 3.5 tonnes behind the Land Rover then I wouldn't change the 1.4 box. However in pretty much all other scenarios I'd stay with the 1.2.

It's my built in smoke screen. Should turn it back a bit, but you know, laziness and all that. Got a few months yet before the next MoT, be nice it it doesn't take a few attempts to get through on emissions.

I've been running a 1.2 transfer box in my 110 for the last 8 years or so and wouldn't go back (265/75R16 tyres so similar rolling diameter to you). I've done plenty of towing with it and still wouldn't go back, in fact apart from pulling away with 3.5 tonnes on a hill I'd say that the 1.2 box suits towing at 60mph you're comfortably into 4th gear and in the power band so 5th can effectively be an overdrive in that situation. Earlier in the year I was towing 3.5 tonnes quite regularly and was considering either a VNT or dropping back to a 1.4 and potentially sourcing an overdrive. However, after the second crank snapped and I built up another engine (which the bottom half I'd sourced had had the fuel pump tweaked slightly) then that's again transformed the vehicle. I'd say with the relatively easy tuning options available on a Td5 then go for it. In fact a friend who has a 2.4 Tdci station wagon 110 commented on a recent trip to the Highlands that mine was a lot quieter than his. There's a bit more sound proofing in mine but there are some gaping holes in the bottom of the doors. This was on mud terrains but we were cruising at 60mph due to towing an Argocat up. We actually worked out that all the 6 speed does in the Tdci Defenders is introduce a lower first gear and run a 1.2 transfer box. The Tdci's 6th gear is equivalent to an R380's 5th. Picking up on Chicken Drumstick's comments I'd actually say that the gearing is better set up for country roads and if you want to get a shift on. On a 300Tdi 2nd year tops out at ~30mph, 3rd at 50mph, 4th at 65ish and 5th depends on wind conditions as usual... I've generally found the slightly taller gearing, with the exception of first, puts the the gears in a nicer location. I will admit to having to slip the clutch quite a lot in first but after 70k when I swapped out the first engine earlier this year the clutch was hardly worn at all (had fitted a 130 clutch when I changed it at about 100k from the original clutch).

Interestingly I just saw a video where someone was being driven in a (new) Merc G Class and that you could "lock" the three diffs but all that would did was tell the computer they could be locked if required. It decided when they were locked.

You could still lock the diffs manually if you wanted. It'll just protect it by backing off engine power.

Equally I think it was Si that mentioned the more modern Land Rovers have torque sensing diffs in them which means that broken half shafts are a thing of the past because it'll kill the power to the engine / wheel in order to save it.

Was wondering how long it would be before the preacher arrived

Here is where we'll agree to disagree. Having driven well sorted out 90s and 110s I'd say that on-road the 110 has it hands down, the 90 is just a bit too short and inherently bouncy in my opinion. I'd agree it might be more "fun" but smaller things usually are. Yes the 90 is lighter so acceleration might technically be quicker but I challenge you to find two Land Rovers with exactly the same performing power and drive train to compare head-to-head. One day you'll find a 110 accelerates quicker, the next you'll find a 90 I'm sure (before you even start going into engine conversions). However, for thrashing about the roads then I'd take an L322 over a 110 for actual handling, yes the Defender is more fun but basic things usually are. But as to actually outperforming it in any measurable sense, I don't think so? A personal example that highlights this extremely well is when I used to beat on a pheasant shoot in Portsmouth I hit the same pothole on a corner in both the L322 and the 110 at a reasonable speed. The 110 due to it's solid axle on the front jumped sideways across the road as the inner wheel hit the pothole and that in turn affected the opposite wheel due to it being a solid axle, the 322 simply absorbed the shock without affecting the other wheels. Now one might argue that softer suspension on the Defender would have resulted in less of a kickback from the pothole but then that would have compromised other things. With the independent air suspension on the 322 the vehicle (and you by selecting the appropriate mode) can choose whether you want to simulate a live axle, arguably better for off-road, or fully independent suspension, definitely better on the road. You simply cannot do that on a "normal" Defender. There is one large downside a friend discovered with the 322 on-the-road (this was a 3.6TDV8) was that it's so quiet on the road you honestly forget sometimes how much speed and therefore momentum you've gained. He loved driving and the first time I took him hill-stalking in the Highlands he drove my 322 all the way up. Now he's a petrol-head through and through and it's small sports cars not off-road vehicles. As we were driving down the side of Loch Laggan, opposite Ardverikie House (where they filmed Monarch of the Glen) he commented it was little wallowy in the corners. Fair comment I said, the 322 was first-and-foremost set up for comfort, but have a look at the speedo when you go into a corner next. The response can't be written here but when he thought he was taking a corner at about 20mph he was doing more than double that. A useful comparison here I can provide is, if I'm thinking of the correct lane, Parkamoor in the Lakes which some on this forum will remember well. Although not a massively technical track there is a rocky climb in there. I did that track a number of years ago in the 322 and with no fuss or drama it simply drove straight up the track. I had not had the L322 long so was paying attention to the feedback from the Terrain Response on the screen and it didn't lock the centre diff at all on that climb. Cue a few years later and I did it again in the 110 with just the centre diff locked and it went up with minimal issue but far more slipping wheels than the 322 did. Cue a few months ago and I did it once again in the 110 but this time with all three diffs locked and that was roughly on-par with the 322 except a much rougher ride inside. Having said that the 110 was much cheaper at doing it because in the 322 I wrote off two tyres further up the track . This is the single most important thing. A very technical and difficult climb I did in the south of France saw a 3-door classic with LSDs in smash the climb (well might have been something to do with Fred's propensity to have one throttle position). The next vehicle up was a D4 which got itself beached and rather than risk damage we ended up having to do a double line winch pull off with Fred's classic to pull the Disco up. I went up fairly straightforward with centre diff and rear diff locked (didn't have front at the time). Cue a bunch of Tdci Defenders with traction control and a few attempts and increasing momentum they made it up. Then the pièce de résistance was a twin locked Land Cruiser on 35" tyres driven by someone who's driven all over the world in that vehicle, and she got stuck and had to be towed up by me. Subtly different line and slid off and risked panel damage on quite a tidy truck. Having said all that - I sold the 322 about a year ago, but still have the Defender... I agree it's a lot more fun but if I was being objective the 322 was a better vehicle all-round. All the stuff I use the 110 for at the moment I could do with the L322 to a certain extent. But I prefer my Defender - although it's getting more and more bits off 322s added to it as the years progress!

To be honest having off roaded an L322 more than most I can say that the traction control does work. It's actually really nice having the ability to change the throttle response. The off road ability as I've said before is primarily limited by tyre choice, but it massively outperforms a Defender on the road which is where they get used most of the time.

You mean like sand mode?

Simples Outcome: stuck - selected wrong mode Outcome: not-stuck - selected right mode

Ah but that was the intermediate Terrain Response, the latest L405s have an automatic mode (unrelated to type of gearbox). Not sure if it's on any other models.

I had that with a friend - has a lot of experience off road but we set ourselves the challenge to see if we could get his P38 and my 110 to the start of our land in the Highlands. We'd been doing tracks all the way up from the Lakes and around the north west of Scotland and each time he asked me to compare it to my planned route. Well, this track's a little easier than the access road... He got so nervous he phoned a friend who turned up a well set up petrol V6 SWB shogun (he and his father were responsible for Portalrover and the 6x6 designs). Anyway we set off and the first "obstacle" is a long loose 1 in 3 slope with the odd boulder that tends to wash down and the odd tree to dodge. "**** Ed - this track is looking tasty", "um, we're still a mile and a half from the start of it"

The tensioner replaces the blanking plate on the front of the timing cover. The idler pulley sits on the threaded boss below it. To tension you put a 1/2" breaker bar into the centre of the tensioner to, well, tension it and then nip up the three bolts that go into the timing cover. Only reason for suggesting it would be off the shelf parts and potentially more wrap around on the pump. But if the pulley on the pump is much smaller I don't think you'll take out the slack in the standard belt so no better off. Although you do have additional adjustment in the pump itself by the sounds of it.

Is it worth changing to the aircon setup? You'd get a bit more of a wrap around the pulley which will mean you can transmit more power through the belt or cause it to slip less as there's more friction. That's why they have that setup, when the pump kicks in you can feel the engine coming under load.

Silly question but you do have it routed the correct way around the pulleys? I thought mine was miles too long until I realised I'd got it routed the wrong way. Mind you the air con drive pulley is about 4" in diameter so if you've got a smaller pulley on the pump then I can see it being too short.

What about disconnecting the pipe from the pump first to see if you can get an indication of the pressure and flow rate it's putting out first? If that seems reasonable then it might be your pipes need cleaning out - maybe an airline up them might help blow stuff out (might want to do backwards). I've been contemplating adapting headlight washer pumps for mine, not got around to it yet though.

The simplest way I've found is to take one of the old bolts, cut it to roughly 1/2 or 2/3rds of it's original length and then sharpen the end to a point on the lathe or with a grinder. You should then be able to use this to align the bushes (whacking it in from the opposite side to the way the bolt will go in), then you can insert the bolt from the other side and knock the podger out.

To be honest I tend to follow James' advice and pop down to the local ag factors place and buy 019 batteries. You can (if you fill in the dip in the middle of the battery box) pretty comfortably fit two 019s side by side in the standard battery box. Interestingly I had two Bosch Silver / S5 or whatever they were called in the L322 (which people had ranted and raved about on the fullfatrr forum) and they were a bunch of poo, incredibly easy to kill and for the price it wasn't worth it. Had a Yuasa in the 110 which winched the 110 across the yard when I killed the second crank, forgot to ask Dad to put it on charge when I left to go back home. Cue battery that held charge but struggled to deliver when cranking the 110, been used as an electric fence battery absolutely fine since then. Never really had an issue with Yuasa or Varta. I think it was a Varta AGM that was in the 110 before I had the Yuasa and that was the original one from 1994 in it, that got replaced in 2012 I think .

OK, not been outside to check but I'm fairly sure that my belt (which is for the air-con) is a ERR2215 which is a 4PK1322.

I'll try and remember to take a look tomorrow. I've got an aircon pump on mine for the diffs.