Turbocharger

Blimey Paul - get well soon and back 'on the scene' ... or at least with a welding torch in your hand, eh?

Peter - what route are you taking? I'm in southern France at the beginning of October, but I guess you'll be on the boat to Bilbao (or indeed to Morocco)?

If you're concerned about the level of performance you can get with pump tweaking etc, an EGT gauge is a good investment to protect your engine (so long as you appreciate the limitations of the kit).

2180kg, or 2190 with Mark on board.

Charlie - you might want to think about some more gussets in your diagram, base to side, side to side and side to top. There's likely to be considerably more stress for longer periods than previously... because the fuel tank will stay full for longer now you've got a diesel

Where were these U-shape brackets from? They might be what I'm looking for if they're cheaper than I can be bothered to make them for.

I used the original damper I think, with an eye at the o/s end. If I remember tonight I'll photograph it for you, I think it's a QT relocator bracket (but it doesn't fit well on my Sumoalike solid bars, I had to pack it out a bit). Pin to eye converter is easy though - bend a piece of strip into a U shape and drill a hole in each part of the U - three holes in total. Bolt that to your relocation bracket, and bolt the damper eye inside the U.

It indeed goes below the arm. That way the 'ball' is in the same place but the gubbins that supports it is higher and out of the way. If the ball was above the arm (it'd hit stuff and the taper wouldn't fit and) you'd get bump-steer because the drag link wouldn't be parallel to the panhard rod. Now you just need four standard TREs (2x LH thread, 2x RH thread) and you can specify the greasable type when you buy them.

Andy - you've got the same problem I have - small flat and no space! Problem I have is that I can't leave stuff in my car round where I live, so it's all on cardboard pads on top of the (cream!) carpet in the living room.

Given the choice I'd take Matt Neale, but Green Flag is an excellent second choice.

Can you elaborate Rick? I've heard mixed reports, but they seem to damp my amateur benchpressing efforts upside down. I appreciate that's not an in-service test though, but I've heard from some people that it'll be ok. I don't know about the internal setup, can't find anything quickly on the net and I'm not about to cut a new shock apart... Will they damp less, not at all, overcharge one end and effectively seize, will it damage them?

Hi Fi - how's rehab?

The fan has a certain resistance so if you supply 12v that is what decides the current, not whether you have a lunking great car battery or a stack of watch batteries on the other end (so long as the batteries can supply that current). It's slightly more complicated because motors have inductance too, which limit the speed they work at, but the principle is the same.

Cheers Ian - more bargain-basement tech stuff. I've heard a lot about helicoils but never seen one in action. I mean, I only studied mechanical engineering at a top university for five years - why tell us about techniques like this when we could be learning more maths, eh?

Nice install - I've got this ahead of me after I fit my new turbo. Overall that's a tidy bit of fabbing so far! I hadn't appreciated how short the Isuzu lump is - the handling must be pretty good with the weight that far back too.

Track-rod end. It's a simple TLA...

Richard, I converted my Defender swan neck and ball joint arrangement to the version you picture above. I was sick of replacing the joints because the boot comes off, they fill with mud and hold it. I bought a Disco drop arm (as you already have) and a Disco front sumo bar. Screw a TRE into both ends and bob's your uncle, and they're easier to change to boot.

Les, all I'd add is that, especially for engines where the filter is angled as above, I spear the base of it with a little screwdriver to drain it so I don't end up wearing oil up to my armpits...

On a related note, does anyone have any experience of running ProComps upside-down? I've got a pair of eye/pin shocks for the rear of my Ninety, but the eye is at the wrong end if I follow the 'this end up' instructions on the shock body.

Ian - I've got the standard valve block and motor, and a ZF74 on my Tdi. From your post it looks like the ZF74 is 13l/min, so it's well matched to the solenoid block but a poor pairing with the motor. If I upgrade the valve block, there's no immediate benefit, but would it get better with an electric-hydraulic PAS pump to decouple the flow from the engine speed? Or are we talking big-thick cables and many many amps? Has anyone tried dual pumps, using an electric unit to augment flow at low engine speeds, or is there a good reason why not? Martin's dual pump arrangement sounds interesting for more flow...

You'll rarely see a diesel running badly. They run well or not at all, and when they don't run it tends to be £££. Petrols seem to need more tweaking but will generally 'get you home' eventually. I personally find diesels more elegant, since there's only one variable - fuel. Throw in spark timing, advance, fuel mixture etc and it's a recipe for something that works but needs constant attention. Can't argue that they make a nicer noise though...

If we're being technical the studs shouldn't see very much of the shear load anyway - the conical faces of the nut / wheel centre the whole rotating assembly but the studs should be in nearly pure tension - the vehicle is supported by the clamping friction between the hub and the wheel face.

Alloy or steel? The alloys are spigot mounted in the centre (the nuts just provide clamping force AFAICS) but steel wheels use the cone faces of the nuts, so you could have the centre hole flame cut with a gas axe.

I'm pondering the same thing in my car. The conclusion I've reached is that it should be velcro'd to the ceiling upside down, with a fancy graphics driver to turn the screen through 180degrees. The keyboard will be counter-intuitive but for moving-map scenery, how often is it needed? If it gets bad, buy a USB board. When it's not in use, close up the lid and it shouldn't even be very noticeable when the car's left in car parks etc. Obviously for areas like the one where I live, it can be unvelcro'd. The power supply and all the GPS wiring can live above the headlining, and hopefully the hard disc bearings will live with running upside-down. Now I've just got to get round to implementing it.

I'm just joshing about V8s (although they are terribly susceptible to a misty day and seem to consume as much WD40 as anything else...) Ian - could there be an inertial problem with any ancillaries? If you've got anything special bolted to the heads (on your outer row of bolts?) then any vibrations might be distorting the head face out of flat when the lump's running?