Reiny

Removing it and fitting it with the seat box in is possible, in fact it's what is normally done, but my God is it a PITA!

I have a very simple fix. It works every time. All you need is a length (about 2 metres) of flexible hose that fits inside the thin end of the bottom hose (i.e. the end that goes into the reservoir. If I recall correctly, a hose with a 10mm inner diameter is perfect. What you need to do is this: 1. Use afore mentioned hose to siphon off the contents of the reservoir into a suitable container. 2. Remove bottom hose from reservoir and lift it up as high as you can to reduce / eliminate spillage 3. Insert afore mentioned hosed into the bottom hose and push it in as far as you can (a foot or so would do it). 4. Siphon off into container. This should empty approx half the radiator. 5. Remove flexible hose from bottom radiator hose. Keep the radiator hose in the highest position you can. 6. Position the container under the vehicle in such a way that it is in the vicinity of the radiator's bottom hose. 7. Aim and lower bottom hose into the container. 8. Let gravity do its job. Radiator will be totally empty with no mess or spillage.

I know it's not a big job. I just cannot justify the cost. The Landy is getting long in the tooth and will get replaced sooner rather than later so I just don't want to throw any more money at it. Because they look absolutely gorgeous

My 300tdi 90 has 1.2 transfer case (fitted by a previous owner). I have owned hte vehicle for 13 years and got used to it but I cannot say that I like it. The gearing is a bit too tall. It's fine when I travel overland but I find that it won't hold 5th gear for long on even the slightest incline. The biggest gripe I have is that I cannot fit larger tyres and am stuck to 265/75 (31") while everyone else is fitting the beautiful 285/75 (33"). What baffles me is the fact that I think a defender running on a 1.4:1 transfer case but with 35" tyres should have more or less the same final ratio as the 1.2:1 but fitted with 33", yet all my friends who have 35" tyres never complained that the gearing is too tall.

Yes that could be the case too. An Italian employee of mine brought his Audi A4 with him and paid just 400 euro or so to have it registered. I don't know how the system works though. If you sell it to a local, the balance on the registration will have to be paid though.

Horrendous! Don't even bother checking! Registration costs have risen so much that it's virtually impossible to import any defender that's more than 2 years old. Until recently, a 2010 TDCI would cost perhaps 2000 euro. Now it has risen to in excess of 7000. As for older models, just forget it. You're right about prices being sky high here. That's because the vehicles were expensive to purchase, import and register in the first place. Secondly, our climate in Malta is much kinder to vehicles than it is in the UK. Last but not least, Defenders (and Series vehicles) are cherished and in very high demand, hence they hold their prices. I tried to sell my 1989 90 fitted with 300tdi running gear a few months ago. The bodywork is fine but it could do with a respray. i asked for 9000 euro and could have sold it within hours if I wanted to.

That's the spirit. Tell us how you get on.

Very true but I really cannot justify doing all that work and not change the valve guide seals and lap the valves in while I'm at it.

Come on go for it. Ed Poore here said that he has completely rebuilt a 2.25 diesel. That's way more complicated than a 300tdi. a head gasket is really nothing to worry about. It may sound like a lot but it's dead simple, believe me. A decent torque wrench, a dial torque gauge and a valve compressor is all you need.

If you don't fancy doing it yourself, go ahead and do it just the same. You may not be mechanically minded but you are not illiterate either. The web is full of how-to's and if step by step written instructions intimidate you, you'll find videos on youtube.

You may have your job cut out by fitting the gearbox onto your existing LT77 mounts and positioning the engine according to the position of the gearbox. It will sit about 2 inches further back but all pipework, etc will fit. You'll also be able to retain your existing floor panels and gearbox tunnel as well as your existing propshaft. The viscous fan will sit snugly in the standard Defender 300tdi cowl too.

Ditto.

If I were you, I'd go the whole hog and fit the R380 too. Convert it to long stick using parts from the LT77, put the R380 on the LT77 mounts and take it from there. Retain the LT77 propshafts, I believe no modifications need to be done to the tunnel, weld up new engine mounts, modify the radiator mounts and the rest should be pretty easy. Where I come from, it's a common conversion but it's been so long since I saw one being fitted that I have forgotten the details. My 90 has this setup and I never needed to purchase any bespoke parts. The only thing that's different in my engine bay is the fuel filter. It's mounted on the bulkhead (as it woudl be with a 200tdi) so a 300-tdi filter fouls the air filter hose (I have to proper 300 tdi defender air filter). Therefore, I use a Citroen Xsara fuel filter (it's 30mm) shorter to clear the hose.

Most definitely slave cylinder. As others have said, when you replace one, the other's usually not too far behind and the added pressure produced by the new cylinder will speed up the demise of the remaining one.

I'd go for poly bushes every time. The only reason I choose them is for ease of replacement. As for longevity, I really wouldn't know. I have destroyed a set in 3 years (I used to offroad a lot during that time) and the set that followed lasted 6 years. They weren't too bad when I replaced them but some clonks were starting to become evident.

Sorry to read that you're not fully mended yet Jeff. Just a gentle reminder re the follow up to the workshop manual and the holiday stories you had once promised

Not really. The reason is two-fold. First of all, tornado alloys look HORRID when they're in their original position. Secondly, turning circle is greatly reduced without them. I'll just be more careful in future.

Saga has been closed. Nothing i tried worked. I first tried to drill through the whole stud. Then I tried to drill through the nut. I tried to chisel off the remains but to no avail. Then I realised that i had drilled through the shoulder of the wheel rim and thought that it would no longer be safe to use the rim. Freestyle rims are dirt cheap anyway so I resorted to an angle grinder and electric saw to chop the wheel off and slice the stud. I bought a replacement rim for 50 euros and a replacement spacer for 70 euros and that was the end of it.

The saga continues. A further 3 hours of drilling yesterday resulted in..... NOTHING. The drill bits went through the wheel rim in a few places so I decided that the wheel was only good to be scrapped. I took an angle grinder to it, cut two deep slits, realized that I couldn't go in deep enough (stupid me decided to cut the thickest part of the rim, whereas the spokes could have done nicely - it's a freestyle alloy) and the grinder gave up on me. Needless to say I'm not a happy chappy. I'll buy a grinder this afternoon and have another go.

Yep, that's the problem.

I'll resort to that later. Nuts are very deep though - 50mm.

So, the tale of woe continues. I took a couple of hours off yesterday, bought new 6mm and 14mm drill bits and got to work by 4pm and didn't stop until 8. Progress? Hmmmmm, not really. I managed to drill to a depth of 50mm (measuring from the tip of the nut) with the 6mm drill bit. That should be as deep as the nut goes. Then I tried to use the 14mm drill bit but progress was very very slow. So I worked my way up slowly in 1mm incremenets up to 10mm, every now and then I reverted to the 14mm bit. Bits kept getting blunt. I tried my hand at sharpening them and I must say that I think I learned how to (mind you, they got blunt only a few minutes later). I used copious amounts of cutting oil and blew the swarf out every minute or so. What remains now is a relatively thin wall with a depth of 10mm, however at the rate I was going, I realised that it required at least 2 more hours and I was exhausted, hungry and didn't want to bother the neighbours. I'll continue tomorrow since I haven't got time today. I think I'll try to drill a few holes in the wall of the nut and drive a chisel in, in the vain hope that it loosens its grip and a few good yanks on the wheel will bring it off. We'll see.

that's what I am trying to do. Start with a pilot hole and work my way up in 2mm increments.

Sharpening drills is a skill I need to learn. I followed the thread that you mentioned but I only managed to make my drill bits even duller!

Small update. I tried drilling through the stud yesterday. I had an hour to spare. My drill bits aren't in the best condition and yet I managed to eat through about 12mm of stud (only about 30mm to go). So the plan for this evening is buying a new set of drill bits and attacking it again. Will keep you posted. With regards to the spacer, I won't bother trying to get a stud fitted to it. I'll just buy a new spacer.