Turbocharger

Like this?

Highly modified? Pah. It's been hacked about by an amateur on a driveway. For modified you want to look to my machine, which is currently .. err .. VOR. Ok. Back OT, I used Green Flag last summer for a year's cover which purported to be European. I have no idea how good it is abroad though because I've only used it twice, both times on the M1.

Big bore will reduce the back-pressure and make the whole system more effective, but some people are put off by the noise. If it's a real problem you could fit a copper silencer in each line.

Looks like Chris had a bit of a moment there - a shame I missed the weekend in general really.

Thank you, you're all very helpful people. Apart from James and Tim. Now sorted, thank you.

As it says really - the Ninety is bust and it'll be £40 return for me and SWMBO on the train so I'll swap a goodwill / burgers / a pub lunch for a daytrip for the two of us on Sunday. We're in Shepherd's Bush but will travel anywhere on the tube - any takers?

What're the benefits of heated mirrors? Mine don't steam up like windows but I do get water collecting on them - I've always thought a viper-wiper (bit of string tied to the top) would help, but I didn't think hard enough to actually do anything about it.

Not so - there can be plenty of lateral component as long as the direction of impact is through the kingpin axis, ie hitting a wheel-height rock with only one wheel, while on full lock, could bring the car to a stop without kicking the steering if the force acted directly through the kingpin axis. Of course, with zero scrub radius your steering would be very heavy at low speed, ie supermarket car parks etc. It depends on your projected use for the vehicle. Lurching dangerously back towards reality, yes, the damper is there to mask shimmy amplitude that hasn't been designed out if the steering design was bashed out on a Friday afternoon by not properly moving the natural resonant frequency way out of the normal operating speed range. I really don't think you'll see a benefit with low speed thumb-breakers although it can't do any harm I guess. Of course if you just plan to look at it then you could run wild offset, +2" headlights and dislocating CV joints without a problem. Dampers are as capacitors: bigger in parallel and smaller in series.

... but if the scrub radius was zero, it wouldn't happen? ie if you put on massive inset (negative offset) wheels, the steering would kick "the other" way, so there's a point in the middle where, if the rock hits the tyre head-on, no kickback. It makes sense in my head, but tonight it makes sense to me to withhold overtime from a four-strong workforce with a combined weight of 64 stone and a combined IQ of 12.

Nope. That'd be the scrub radius, and it's not (well, it's much less) dependent on tyre diameter. Yes, exactly - but unlike the castor angle which behaves like a rotational spring (force x displaced angle), the gyro load is a second order force (not first order as I wrote above) because it is proportional to the speed of steering input - effectively a damper itself. In theory, if you steer hard enough and fast enough with huge tyres there is a weight transfer across the steering axle. This is why scientific evidence shows portal axles make cars turn over and catch fire*. Thing is, I reckon for a given road speed (arguable in any case because your top speed depends on tyres but you don't corner at top speed anyway) you'd have more rotational inertia with smaller tyres because the rotational speed term is second order and so will dominate. This actually proves, using science, that bigger tyres are better. I may write to my insurers and demand they reduce my premium. Did that sound clever? It did when I typed it. This is all fascinating but unhelpful. Is there any way you can use the work-hardening properties of copper pipe to damp severe oscillations? Otherwise you're stuck with the Fandango-chrome ones. * There's no actual evidence for this, but it is scientific fact.

Al, if anyone can work it out, it'd be you! I'd say you need a damper which has peak dynamic damping at or around the natural frequency of a system. There is a force (from the castor angle) proportionate to speed(?) and an inertial effect from the gyroscopic motion of the tyres (given their size and 'steering' rotational inertia (steering inertia as viewed from above, not normal 'running' inertia viewed from the side). My instinct says the gyroscopic inertial effect will be a first order force (damping?) anyway since it isn't proportional to steered angle, but it's effectively a spring-mass system so you need a damper to kill the peak amplitudes. Simple really! As an aside, I've found that a standard Defender doesn't seem to need a damper, only when there's some lift. I'd suggest that careful (read: experimental) design of the steering angles, especially castor angle, can obviate the need for damping at all.

I know that cars which are accident damaged can often get damaged or vandalised very quickly. I had a car which was smashed up on the driveway, someone broke into it without doing any damage, removed both front seats very carefully and then locked the car up again in the few days before the insurers collected it. B*stards, eh?

When the 2.5TD superceded the 2.5NAD, Ricardo did a lot of work on the cylinder head to make it flow better, and I believe this same head was fitted to the late 2.5NADs (UK Army LRs etc). That might release a few more ponies but it'll never be a racing engine I'm afraid. Bloody good workhorse though, I'd stick with it and enjoy the scenery more.

Now that's one hell of a 'home from home' workshop!

Sorry to wade into your advertising slanging match - do you do one for my auto box?

Disassembly shows the following: It's cracked around the edge bolts into the torque converter, and also nearly broken through at the centre. I'm going to reassemble it as before, without the washers, and see how it looks. I'm not impressed with the install though, when I came to pull the box backwards I find that difflock doesn't work, there's wiring resting on the turbo and some of the bellhousing bolts were either left out or worked loose. After I've taken the aircleaner off and looked down there's a visible gap around the bellhousing: I'll have a look again at the gap between the flex plate and the torque converter but it was around 8mm when it all came apart - I can see why washers looked like a tempting option.

I have a Rolson clone like Mark's. It doesn't always undo, say, a wheelnut if the battery's low but it'll whip them off once they've been cracked with a wrench. An excellent bit of kit at a good price for occasional use.

Can anyone confirm a rumour I've heard that twin-wheel Sherpa rear axles have a limited-slip Salisbury-type diff in them?

I'm quite impressed that the red machine alongside him didn't even back off - you can see black smoke throughout. LETS OFFROAD!

Birthday laning for me too - put me down for three vehicles please.

Well, I've lashed out £75 on a Carlos Fandango plate from Motor and Diesel, £75 including the dreaded. Now I've just got to hope it's the right one because I've only got one weekend to fit it...

That's the essence of my problem. The flex plate (which is part 6, more like a disc of 2mm steel with some holes in it) bolts to the torque converter via a spacer piece to make up the distance that the big converter ring provides between the flywheel housing and the bellhousing. I didn't install it all so I have trouble working out what's V8, Tdi, original and mod!

The bit I want looks much more like part 6 - it's a V8 box, t/c and flex plate.

Ashcroft only have 300Tdi flex plates in stock, M&D do their own version of the V8 one that I need. I'd like to canvas some other suppliers for their opinions - does anyone have a part number for the flex plate? It's the flat disc type and doesn't carry the toothed starter ring. Cheers in advance.