Boris113

No problem, I shall try and upload some this evening. I took the idea from a conversion kit that was on my old disco. Harry

Thanks all, After speaking to the bloke, he told me he wanted £600+ for it, but it is worth £3000 new apparently? On the plus side I did get a twisted performance intercooler from him :D After reading through your comments, I think I shall give it a miss and pick up a secondhand 8274, I've seen a few uprated ones in good nick going for around 5-700 and they are easy to fit/transfer between vehicles. Thanks again, Harry

I have done this conversion to my 90, very pleased with it so far. I used a gwyn lewis HD discovery steering arm and made up a bracket so that my steering damper has stayed in the standard place instead of hanging down behind the axle My 90 is 1989 with a 4 bolt steering box, the drop arm came from an S reg 300tdi discovery with the same 4 bolt steering box. Let me know if you want any pictures. Harry

I've just been offered a totally rebuilt PTO winch, It's called an H12, either by husky or superwinch. The bloke has every bit to fit it except a bumper and the price seems ok. I was looking at getting an 8274 but wondered if this is a worthwhile consideration instead. It would be mostly used for amatuer challenges, play days and occassionally shifting trees/agricultural equipment etc at work. What do you guys think? Thanks, Harry

Thanks guys! I'll keep my eyes open for a good quality one for metric ends Harry

Yep all the shocks are +5, i think i will change the front turrets and get a +2 set from gwyn lewis though, hopefully that should sort out the front end! Harry

Moose, I am pretty sure the shocks aren't bottoming out, i need to pull the springs/shocks off later anyway so i will get the JCB out and lift a tyre up, measure the length of the compressed shock then remove the shock and compress it fully by hand/measure it to check whether it is bottoming out when on the vehicle. This photo shows the maximum ammount that a rear wheel can move up, there is still a good ammount of space between each coil Bowie, Sorry for not being very clear, I have gwyn mounts on the rear, standard height turrets on the front. The springs are terra firma +2inch medium duties (+150 to 250kg i think) all around. The 90 has very little weight on the back end, it is a soft top with a roll hoop and a few cans of oil, an ammo box of shackles/spanners and a tow bar. I have also thought that the rear springs may be too hard, whilst it corners like a racing car, it's very harsh on speed bumps/potholes. I will be fitting a winch to the front so will keep the front springs as they are but may fit light duty springs (+50-150kg) to the rear to see if that alters anything. With the new chassis i will also be adding a roll cage and rocksliders which will add more weight. I put the extended bumpstops on to prevent the shocks bottoming out...although in retrospect that hasn't solved the problem! Thanks guys, Harry

Thanks everyone, There seem to be a few sykes/bluepoint kits on ebay atm so I will pick one up soon. I don't know if it makes a difference but I have a 1989 90 with discovery 300tdi axles/brakes. Most of the fittings seem to be 11mm, would this mean that a metric kit will be fine or may i need imperial considering it's age? Harry

Never tried to upload a photo before but hopefuly this will work. Although you can't see the left hand bumpstop, it is nowhere near to the flat area on the rear axle that it should meet. Harry

Thanks bowie, the rear shock pounts are the 3-hole versions that gwyn lewis sells and advertises for use with +5s though? They don't appear to sit much higher than the standard mounts either. I may take the springs out and play about with a jack to see if it is the springs or shocks that are preventing the axle from reaching the bumpstops Harry

Hello all! I'm in the process of rebuilding my 90 at the moment and would quite like to change a few of the copper brake/clutch pipes. I need to do at least 2 that are about 1.5m long and a couple of shorter ones, is it worth buying a cheapo flaring kit for £30 or so and having a go myself? My local agricultural supplier said he has always used bluepoint or sykes kits but I doubt I shall use it enough to warrant shelling out that kind of money. I'm happy bending and fitting pipes but have never tried to make them before, is it a black art or nice and easy? Thank you, Harry

Thanks all, yes I do have a lot more flex in the rear than the front, the front is very stiff indeed and that is something I would like to attend to. The main thing is that with my galv chassis on order, I can still make small changes to it. For instance I don't want to fit the gigglepin arms 2 years down the road because then I would have to remove the standard trailing arm mounts which would damage the galvanising. One thing I have noticed is that even when fully cross axled, I can't get the axles to meet the bumpstops. The stops are extended and all the shock mounts are standard height. I know the TF dampers have inbuilt bumpstops but I can never feel them being used? Is this something that would be worth looking at? Based on your views, I think i will leave as is for now though, it drives very well and i could always fit bolt-on-style kit at a later date...I was planning on a rear locker in a few months so may bring that forwards Many thanks, Harry

Morning all! On my 90 I currently have: terrafirma +2 medium duty springs & +5 dampers gwyn lewis rear shock mounts, spring retainers all round and his wide angle a-frame ball joint. also got castor corrected radius arms, cranked trailing arms, full flo-flex poly bush kit and upside down dislocation cones. I would like to get more articulation than i currently have, and hopefully i've got a set of x-springs from somebody on here which will go on the rear but where do I go next? The 90 is an everyday vehicle so it must still drive well on the road. I'm also putting it onto a galv chassis in a few weeks so wondering whether to have it adjusted to take the Gigglepin trailing arms? I spoke to a mate who said rose joints wear out in about 1,000 miles of road driving which isn't ideal. So, would I be better getting the GP arms, QT rose jointed arms, softer springs, longer dampers etc? Thanks in advance, Harry

your probably right! i should have said that! thanks all. Harry

Thanks guys. I think for now I'm going to pull it all off to paint. If it's a nightmare then I'll put some new stuff on later. Although the 90 is my everyday vehicle, it's got no silencers on the exhaust, a stretched/worn soft top, 'humming' mud tyres and series doors so the noise will struggle to get any worse! Considering every panel/component is being stripped and painted both sides to reduce rust, i would prefer to reduce the moisture traps in the first place. Harry

Morning all! I'm currently stripping down and painting every component on the 90 prior to the arrival of the new chassis I was wondering if the silver-backed foam that covers half the underside of the floor pans, the transmission tunnel and seat box is really needed? Shall i just take it off and paint everywhere or leave it on and paint round it? Is this stuff actually for sound proofing or heat protection etc? I have a side exit exhaust that runs over the gearbox crossmember then out behind the passenger door if that makes a difference. Thanks, Harry

NFU offered to insure my series when I was 17 for less than £500 TPFT I'm 20 now and my insurance with NFU is £1,100, all mods are listed e.g. soft top, larger tyres, lift kit, disco axles, retrofit 300tdi. They did get a bit iffy when I mentioned fitting a roll cage/winch though. Adrain Flux quoted me £1060 in November, with all mods listed including rollcage/winch. I would have gone with flux but they refused to give me 3rd party cover on any vehicle whereas the NFU will...it's quite handy when you drive an unreliable land rover and need to borrow other people's cars! Harry

Sorry I wasn't very clear 6 weeks minimum, could be 10/12 though. Apparently he has a back log of 150 or something! I'm saving a bit of time by going to pick it up also.

Reb I should mention that a mate had a Marslands chassis less than a year ago and we couldn't fault it. I would seriously consider Marslands because they fit the adjustable bracket strip on the rear x-member which makes aligning the body so much easier, also they state significantly cheaper prices and delivery time is much quicker. I couldn't fault their customer service. The only problem is that they don't do any custom work and I didn;='t want to grind/weld on galv. Richards were very helpful/patient and initially quoted me over £550 more with the mods but lowered their price by a huge ammount. They can do anything you want to a chassis and work closely with Protection and Performance/ North Off Road. I'm very excited about seeing the finished product and will hopefully do a rebuild thread once i work out how to post pictures! Interestingly, Marslands supply painted chassis to Land Rover, and Richards to Britpart... Harry

Thank you everyone for all your advice, I have just ordered a chassis from Richards I've ordered: - 200tdi spec with 300tdi mounts for my engine and also standard 300 mounts should I choose to fit a standard r380 in later (the second set were free) - mounts for the roll cage - dumbirons trimmed back for better approach angle I wanted rear recovery eyes but the only safe way that they can be fitted is in the same place as my tailgate hinges so I will stick with jate rings. I can hopefully pick it up in 6 weeks time. And the best bit was that he's done me a very good deal on the price too Harry

Thanks Western, in that case I'll have a look into the price differences...planning on a recon box in about 18months. Harry

Ooh now that sounds interesting I take it the stumpy option means that my 300 will set in it's current position and I can still use my existing propshafts? Harry

Thanks everybody! I have asked about a non-galv chassis and that would only save me £50 but I would have to then pay £250 to get it galved, then ream out all the holes and if it was damaged/distorted during galving/ in transit, I have no comeback. I'm going to give richards another ring today and go through final spec/get a final price. I've heard good and bad things about both and my mate had a marslands one a year ago which was great. Overall final spec will be: 200tdi spec chassis 300 tdi engine mounts in correct place for my lt77/300 set up Mounts for main roll cage hoop Dumbiron jacking points trimmed back at 45' (fitting a north offroad bumper that would leave them sticking out) no exhaust mounts on rear xmember (my tyres almost catch and I want to fit bigger ones soon) Also my side exit ends behind the passenger door and I have no intention of changing it's routing. For now i'll leave the gearbox x-member, I can always get a galv one at a later date. I did consider r380 mounts but have no intention of fitting one, because the engine is so far back, I would like to move the rad back also and get an 8274 totally behind the front grill but that won't be for a while. If I was to fit an r380 then i would need to modify the seatbox, engine mounts, gearbox mounts, transmission tunnel etc and i don't want to have to do that. I don't mind having to pay an extra £200 for richards because they can do all the alterations for me and that means i won't have to cut all the galv up later. The main thing is how soon they can deliver or I can pick it up, I've got 10 weeks until it needs to be done and MOTd Harry

Thanks guys! Having spoken to Designa, they were of little help so I have ruled them out. Marslands have quoted me £1040 +VAT for the chassis, This is a 200tdi spec chassis, no engine mounts but galvanised. They will send me a set of 300tdi mounts that I can weld in. They can deliver in 2-3 weeks for £80 +VAT. The only problem here is that when i weld the engine mounts, I'll damage the galv Total price incl VAT and delivery: £1,344. Their chassis comes with a td5 style rear x-member, adjustable rear tub tab rail and uprated bulkhead outriggers but they can't fit roll cage mounts. Richards have quoted me £1,200 +VAT for a 200tdi spec chassis WITH 300tdi engine mounts fitted in the right place prior to galving. I would also have to buy a galv gearbox crossmember (£49 +VAT.) Their chassis comes with a standard rear crossmember so my towbar will still fit. Delivery is 5-7 weeks and £117. This makes their price about £1,550 incl VAT, and I would have to wait longer but i wouldn't have to damage the galv or weld anything myself. I'm also waiting to hear if they can better their price RE the roll cage, my internal cage is a North Offroad version, and if I change for a truck cab external type it will also be from North so the main rear hoop will always be in the same place. Richards can fit mounts for the main rear hoop prior to galving and can also weld some recovery eyes to the rear crossmember, meaning that with them I won't damage the galv at all except for the rear cage diagonals and I have no idea where I will locate them yet. (The front hoop will be bolted) Both manufacturers can remove the anti rollbar mounts prior to galv if I wish but I will probably leave them on as suggested by you lot. So, do I pay more and wait longer or save money/time but have to strip some areas of galv....decisions decisions...

Thank you for your quick reply I already have all the running gear with standard length 90 props fitted to the 90 at the moment. The problem lies in that my LT77 gearbox is a 90 version (short bellhousing)and I don't want to convert to r380/long bellhousing because I want the engine to stay this far back and keep the gearbox in the original position. This means that a standard 300tdi chassis will not work because the engine mounts are 6 inches further forward. All of the seatbox/transmission tunnel is un-modified lt77 spec also. My friend has done the full conversion 300tdi/r380 from a disco etc and everything sits properly, due to my mismatch of components, no standard configuration will fit, my engine sits 6 inches further back than a a standard 300tdi 90 hence why my pipes are all extended, i shall try and stick a pic up once I'm home from work. My current rad cage is a mess so I will buy/make a new one, do you mean that the standard chassis mounts won't need moddification or am i being stupid? Many thanks, Harry