Dr Gneil Pipely

Don't have any advice other than: Don't listen to discojmz's advice. I ran a JE Engineering-remapped Td5 with an ITG filter through three MoT tests (to 100,000 miles) and had no problems whatsoever. Having the remap removed will not guarantee you will pass. My MoT tester - who does a lot of Land Rovers, this being Lincolnshire - said that my vehicle's emissions were far better than many standard Td5s he had failed and that you can't tell from the MoT emissions test whether a vehicle has been remapped. As for getting yours passed - sorry, can't offer any advice on that.

I would have no hesitation in recommending Td5 Alive for your remap. I bought a tuned Td5 Defender to export and Gary at Td5 Alive remapped the ECU back to its original tune for me - but not before remapping with his own tune, so I could compare it with the "big name" remap which was on the vehicle before. It is rare that you get the opportunity to compare back-to-back different remaps - and the difference was very noticeable. Td5 Alive's remap was much smoother on the road, but maybe not quite as powerful outright (but you would only notice this is you went everywhere flat out and even then the difference was very slight). Back at base he revealed that the origin remap used far more fuelling than his own tune, so would likely as not be much less economical. He has since remapped by TDV6 Discovery, making it a much better vehicle to drive. I used to have a 2000MY Defender which had less "lag" than the later exported vehicle. This is due to later models (including yours) having a different exhaust set-up - fitting a decat pipe will make your vehicle much more responsive. For details see http://td5alive.com.

I had a 2000 Defender 90 which had the JE Engineering handling kit - softer springs, thicker a/r bars and Koni dampers. This made a huge difference to the comfort - as the springs were softer - and to the handling which was transformed - much more at one with the road surface (the vehicle was also lowered by 25mm). Great for on-road use, but running 18" Pirelli Scorpion Zero tyres I wasn't concerned about any deleterious effect on the off-road capability. No Land Rover has left the factory with decent damping, so any half-decent aftermarket make will be an improvement. I've used Bilsteins on another vehicle and they made a big difference too - slightly firmer feel but far better control over the changing road surface.

Think you'll find that is at the 2007 DSEi show at the Excel exhibition centre. Land Rover were also exhibiting their 6-wheel, tray-backed Defender weapons carrier. Very nice...

If he wants to use a manual gearbox, none of the R380s are really suitable for seriously big outputs. Though Quaife gearkits will help. I know of a comp safari vehicle being built at the moment which runs a proven 400hp Wildcat-headed 5ltr RV8, but the transmission is Tremec manual gearbox with Ashcroft transfer box. Later ZF autoboxes are used in Aston Martins, Audis, etc and are capable of handling megapower though.

It doesn't sound as if road-performance is high on your list of priorities, but JE Engineering retrofitted a Watts linkage to P38s as part of their suspension upgrade. (Also, they moved the damper mountings outboard too, requiring wheel spacers to create room.)

This worked for me - and gave a fantastic sound for a modest outlay: 2x 2-way Panasonic speakers (best available for std size) under the dash. fit in the standard holes. 2x small Alpine tweeters fitted in the top of the dashboard. Unbolt top of dash. Cut 2 holes carefully - they will fit perfectly if you measure correctly. They are wired into the feed to the under dash units. Tweeters fit flush and give excellent definition. 1x combined Alpine subwoofer/speaker. Fitted tight behind the rear bulkhead. I had the standard LR fit Alpine headunit and CD changer (behind cubby box). I didn't fit anything else. And the sound definition and volume was superb. Cost about 4 years ago: £50, £50, £250. And about 2-3 hours to fit if not rushed. I never sat in the back - so didn't care that you got a very bass-heavy sound in there! If I was going to add more, I would fit the Genuine Part speaker encloses with good speakers (fits near where the rear lights are) and wire another set of tweeters in above the rear quarter lights to give more definition.

It does have the English version - all 627 pages of it - looky here. DEFENDER 1999 & 2002 MY WORKSHOP MANUAL SUPPLEMENT & BODY REPAIR MANUAL This Supplement supersedes Workshop Manual VDR 100250 and should be used in conjunction with the following Manuals: Workshop Manual - Defender 300 Tdi LRL 0097 Overhaul Manual - R380 gearbox LRL 0003 3rd edition Overhaul Manual - LT230T Transfer gearbox LRL 0081 3rd edition

http://www.landrover.ee/est/varia/downloads/cars.htm

Thanks to everyone for their contributions. The vehicle is going to get some workshop time this week, to see if the fault can be traced. As it happens, won't be such a bad thing if it needs parts replacing - the driver's coming home for Christmas soon, so can take anything needed back with him. And it it doesn't work whilst he's away, nobody can "borrow" it, can they?! Will let the forum know what it turns out to be.

Jungle Update: It runs fine for about a mile when started. Then if at speed starts to fail when you apply throttle but letting off throttle brings the engine back to life. When at low speed the check engine light comes on and the throttle will not work. It doesn't die just sits happily at idle. Turning off the ignition resets it and will be ok till we get to maybe half throttle then light on and no throttle again. It has never been run dry but fuel is notoriously dirty out here.

We have a 2003 Defender 90 Td5 in Africa. The driver suspects the fuel pump has failed. These are the symptoms: 1 - "Check engine" warning light on dashboard; 2 - Vehicle will only idle, dies if you apply some revs; 3 - The fuel filter is very hot to the touch (but has been replaced as a first step); 4 - Oh, and the fuel pump's been making some funny noises for a while... The driver (competent mechanic, but little direct LR experience) is currently sat reading the Workshop Manual's Fuel System section! Does anybody think that it is not the fuel pump before we send one out? Any advice gratefully received.

Not really a persuading tip, but bear in mind this quote: "Forgiveness is easier to obtain than permission". Oh, as for chassis "slice" they change from one end to t'other. Have a look at attachments (haven't attached to a post before, hope it works...) L316_CONVERSION_MANUAL.pdf defender_chassis_measurements.pdf

Have you got a link for any more details on this one?

No, Overfinch used a ZZ4 350 Chevy. The LS is quite a new engine, using a different block, etc. to the traditional small-blocks. Overfinch also used an adapter plate to match the engine, and I believe these are widely available. The gearbox was not changed in the 5.7ltr engine conversions, which put out 330bhp. They did a 6.3 version for P38s which put out 400bhp but these RRs used an uprated ZF box as standard. Overfinch would not put the 6.3 in a RRC. That's not to say that you couldn't stretch a 5.7 and uprate a RRC ZF box with P38 internals though (didn't LR do that with the Lara Croft gearbox?). Given the price of brand new LS engines and matching gearboxes, the LS route is a very sensible and cost effective way to go. Have a look at this for pure porn.

No contest really. D3's the one to go for. Better vehicle in every regard.

This is a "lying in the bath" thought, but here goes: Has anyone fitted a non-Rover V8 into a Defender successfully? There are loads of vehicles in recent years with V8 engines by Audi, Mercedes, Jaguar, BMW, Lexus, etc. Looking on ebay many - including a ML500 Merc engine - go for the same sort of price as a used Td5 engine. And I'm aware that many are also mated to ZF autoboxes of the same series as recent Range Rovers. There are several comp safari cars running Jag and Lexus V8s - but not sure of the transmissions. So, in the case of the ML engine you get 300 horsepower for a fraction of the price of a tuned Rover V8 - if you can get it to fit. Has anyone gone down this road and got things working?

What other modifications have you made to your Td5 engine, in addition to the VNT turbo?

Thank you to everybody who has taken the time to respond. The idea is really one of building something myself, which is different, relatively sensible and hopefully not too demanding. And fun! I wasn't trying to suggest that the Disco II chassis itself is stronger than that of a Defender, merely that the running gear is stronger (so I've heard). It would be built as a fast-road vehicle and the Disco II suspension should handle better than a Defender, and if a V8 source vehicle came up the engine and gearbox would already be in place. Was thinking that 20" Stormer wheels, hiding some very large brake discs, would look quite good combined with that metallic orange used on early RR Sports. I realise that the easy thing to do would be to respray a V8 90 or 110 and stick hub adapters on it but that's not really the point! Many people have created 100" hybrids on RRC chassis using 110 panels trimmed accordingly (bit off from before the wheels, bit off behind) - I suppose the key issue is how straightforward it would be to mount the bulkhead and body mounting points on the DII chassis and whether you would need to chop the interior body panels about much. It's all still a little wishful thinking at the moment, but I thought I would ask to see if it was a remotely possible project. Definitely further investigation needed for now.

Putting Disco II axles on Defender/RRC chassis for their wider track and extra strength is getting relatively common now, particularly on comp safari motors. But has anyone heard of anybody putting a proper Defender body on a complete Disco II chassis? Was thinking: written off, rolled Disco II stripped of its body mounting brackets and Defender ones in their place and building up using new/take-off panels from somewhere like Equicar (they also have low-mileage 4.4 V8s and transmissions available too, which would be nice). The chassis rails, from workshop manuals, appear to be of very similar widths. Sounds so simple....