=jon=

I bought a kit of sound deadening materials for my Forester from http://www.carinsulation.co.uk It came with stuff like dynamat but in much larger rolls and rubber based not bitumen, stick on tumble drier fluff type stuff and waterproof 3m fluff for in doors etc where it could get wet. It made a pretty big difference. The thing to remember is that different types have different effects - flashing tape, dynamat etc don't block noise, they add load and stop panel vibration - so the doors on the Foz now close with a germanic thunk not a japanese rattle. The fluffy materials absorb sound, so there should be a combination of both types to get the best results - if you look at the Wright Offroad mad there is foam underneath it to absorb sound, with the rubber top layer to damp it/reflect it back...

I've had good luck with A-Plan, the Thatcham branch (01635 874646). They insure my v6 90 with all sorts of mods with no issues

Does a v8 110 CSW count as something cool? Merry christmas everyone

I *think* that the automatic refund only applies if you have taxed it since the new tax disk-less system has come into force. If there's a paper tax disk you still have to send it back to get the refund...

Someone that knows that they are doing could get round it with 2 spanners in about 10 mins (or a grinder in about 30s!), but the vehicle wouldn't be driveable afterwards - but from what I can tell most of them are put on a flatbed if the thief is 'dedicated' anyway... I'd also be wary that it isn't very obvious as well - I can see the landy being hotwired, stuffed in low range and the guts revved out of it in an attempt to make it move, and from the look of it I'd imagine that the transfer box or gearbox would end up broken first.. Something like the x-eng pedal box is a bit more visible and makes it obvious that there are additional security measures...

Do you have any marquee makers / tent makers near you? Go visit them and ask them how they'd reseal an older canvas marquee - I'm sure they have some tricks they could share

Word used to pay for mine.... They changed the scheme, which hurts a bit. Running a v8 with no LPG would be OK, but it would hurt come holiday time. With LPG it'd be better, but there's not many stations round here, so it would mean a special trip to fill it up - and I don't think the other half would cope with it if she was using it! I had a look on ebay at a few TD5s - virtually all of them are LEZ non-compliant which rules them out for me

Thanks for the info. I would have looked at underslung tanks, rather than in cab I think, so space wouldn't be taken up... But I appreciate the other comments

Thanks for the offer, much appreciated.. If I stop going round and round in circles between petrol and td5 and 300TDI and make a decision in favour of the V8 I'll let you know...

Hmmm - I'd not considered that approach, good idea... Am half tempted to go and have a look at: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/191431301924?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT As it seems reasonably standard and has had some of the trouble areas like door skins done already.. Also found this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LAND-ROVER-DEFENDER-110-V8-PETROL-COUNTY-STATION-WAGON-/271664185936?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item3f40728250 But it's a blooming long way away, and seems very very shiny - I guess it's been resprayed looking at it, and there's no details about the chassis...

It wouldn't really be used as a main car - more a weekend toy and for holidays etc - so the difference in fuel economy would be pretty minimal cost wise to be honest - hence thinking about a v8 for the noise/power/smoothness and sticking LPG on it... V8 110s seem pretty rare though...

Hi, This has probably been asked a few times before, so apologies... I'm looking at 'trading up' my 90 for a 110 - my lad is too big to travel any distance in the middle seat now, and most of the 90 rear load seats seem like bodges - and take away all the space! It'd also be good to have something for tip runs / holidays etc with a load of room in it! So - I've been looking at 110s to replace it with. My nominal budget is about 5K - which gets me a selection of 300's, but for a little bit more you are in TD5 territory. I know the TD5 had some teething problems, but are the ones at the bottom end of the market likely to be total dogs / money pits? The leftfield option is a v8 and convert it to LPG - I've got a megasquirt already so it would be a case of getting an EDIS and wiring it up... I was very interested in the one the HoSS has/had for sale a few months back, but he's gone quiet and stopped answering emails or PMs Does anyone know any decent 110's for sale - as said there's a few on ebay but I'd rather get a 'known' one if possible! Thanks Jon

I had Discoverer AT2s on my old Land Cruiser, and they were very good - worked well in all conditions (on road - wet/dry/snow etc), lasted well and weren't noisy. I didn't try them in mud though, but I think they are more the road end of AT than the extreme end. I'd have no reservations putting them on again...

The 1KZT is also found in some imported wagons - Surfs etc. The older 1KTZ was mechanical fuel pump, the 'E' designation is electronically controlled - found in later Surfs (1994 ish?), late LC Colorados (J90s) and early 120s... I had a 1KZTE in my old surf, and it was a brilliant engine - never missed a beat in over 100K miles

Which way are you trying to change - Diesel to Petrol or vice versa? I don't think it's impossible - although it may be more difficult if you are going Diesel to Petrol which makes you LEZ exempt - you may need receipts / engineers report etc. I've wondered what would happen if you had Petrol on the V5 and a diesel engine fitted - if you got stopped in the LEZ what (if any) the offence would be..

I think that only applies if you are trying to change the designation - most land rovers are registered as '4x4 Light Utility' which is a commercial designation, and therefore subject to the LEZ. A factory CSW would likely be registered as something like '4x4 Estate', which is a private designation so not bound by the LEZ. If you try and change a car from 4x4 Light Utility to Estate they make you jump through hoops as they think you are trying to dodge the LEZ fees - but if you changed from pick up to light utility or just changed the number of seats it would likely be a load easier as the LEZ status wouldn't change.. I had a simolar issue with an imported Toyota Surf Diesel - the V5 said 4x4 Light Utility and they wouldn't change it without a written letter from Toyota saying that it was a passenger vehicle, which Toyota wouldn't provide as it was a grey import...

I had GB Springs on my S3, they seemed pretty decent and were well priced - I think they were cheaper than RM and not a lot more than the Britpart ones...

The OBDII standards are pretty limited - the bare minimum needed for US emissions testing. They report basic faults with sensors and things like the A/F ratio, boost pressure, coolant temp etc... Apps like Torque can read these out. The deeper level stuff is manufacturer specific from what I can tell - and you need much higher level hardware than the ebay adaptors. When my missus car had a problem I couldn't get much info from Torque via OBD, but I borrowed some specialist kit (£500 adaptor + sofware that ran on a laptop and gave the same level of access as the dealer's £20,000 units). It could tell you so, so much more about the car - even down to electric window calibration, disabling airbags / safety systems and flashing new versions of the firmware. As the manufacturers don't freely give away their proprietary codes, everything has to be got by reverse engineering which requires access to every car you want to support, or paying the manufacturers a very large amount of cash for a proper licence. This alone would be an absolute nightmare for a startup to support!

I've had the PVR running in overdrive recording all of the different series (car / trike / harley / triumph etc etc)

Just a quick public service announcement - the '... is born' series are being rerun back to back on Quest TV at the moment, and 'A 4x4 is Born' is starting on the 3rd June. I've never caught it before, but various people on here have said it's very good

I thought it was OK - you could see that a LOT of work had been done in the background that wasn't shown though - the axles magically got repainted and looked to have brand new swivels etc, and Mr. Glenister came across a big condescending at times to some of the enthusiasts, but they did make a very nice job of the series 1... The off road bit looked like the 4x4 without a club course at Aldermaston, although I may be completely wrong.. Car SOS was a good call, we are quite enjoying catching up with that

I've got two of the cheapy-ish ones looking over the house and garden. The (free) linux backend software is called Zonealarm and runs on one of my PCs... Some of the cameras have motion detection software built in but normally it's a bit pap... The first cam is a 'Foscam' clone - basically a chinese company called foscam ripped off another companies design and made clone cameras, these clones themselves got ripped off hence most of the cheapy ones on ebay are referred to as foscam clones. Mine's a DB Power something or other which was about £40. It works OK, the res isn't great and the night vision range isn't that great either. I ended up buying a different lens for it to improve the field of view - a lot of bits are changeable and sometimes you can improve the quality by refocussing them as they are slapped together without a lot of care.. The second one I have is a Dahua (http://www.use-ip.co.uk/dahua-ipc-hfw2100-1-3mp-hd-network-mini-ir-bullet-camera.html), which are the same as the ones you can buy in the high street rebranded as Swann. The quality (both image and build) is a lot lot better, 720p HD if you want it, and the quality at night is much better too - but for moving subjects at distance you would struggle to identify someone well enough to provide the police.. My advice would be to skip buying the cheap crappy ones and get decent ones - the quality is so much better compared. I'd also check the lens size to make sure it's got a wide enough depth of field to cover what you want If you are paranoid you can also get external IR illumination which improves the range / quality at night..

If you are reasonably technical and have a VPN connection to the UK, yes... I watched the first episode where they restore a mk1 Escort Mexico from the USA.

Next Sunday on C4: http://www.channel4.com/tv-listings/daily/2014/04/27#C4_20:00 "Philip Glenister and Ant Anstead try to bring an original Land Rover Series I back to life after it was left in a barn for 41 years. Philip also meets Land Rover lovers."

How about a defender 2.5 petrol engine? Noticeably more powerful than the 2.25, bit more economical with the weber twin choke on it, and drops straight in. They also come up dirt cheap... I seem to remember someone did some mild tuning on one and got it over 100BHP if you want more oomph..