TSD

You managed to remove a whole Mini from the garden without my noticing for several months/years. I reckon you can probably add back a cylinder head without much trouble!

On a D3, the first place I'd look would be the rear brake calipers. They have a habit of sticking intermittently, and as they heat up they get grabby and the shuddering starts. Replacements are fairly cheap and very easy to fit.

Agreed, the 3.0 version is lovely. Similar performance to the Cummins 2.8. It would probably have made a great crate engine conversion for LR like the 2.8 before it, but as I recall, International would (or could) sell crate engines but not ECUs.

I sort of agree with your objections to the 300tdi and 2.8 because they are all getting on a bit, but if you have the possibility to source donors from South America, then both could be attractive options (2.8 from a Ford Ranger, 2.5 from a Merc Sprinter?). Should be a relatively easy fit, using mostly standard parts. 2.8TGV in good fettle will give decent power and torque. When new, mine was smoother and quieter than a 300tdi, though 15 years on it's pretty noisy, and a bit down on power too. ISTR Motor and Diesel sell an adapter for 300tdi to the Puma gearbox? (Think they also sell the 3.7 conversion mentioned above). If the RoW spec Puma gets the usual Puma dashboard, then don't forget to factor the cost of driving that into your sums. I've only seen one off the shelf conversion to drive the Puma dash (from a tdi/td5), and while I don't remember what it cost, I do remember thinking it was pretty spendy for £25 worth of electronics.

Too late! Strangely my low mileage, 24V Cossie ebay bargain was collected very promptly Didn't really want to sell it, but too many projects, and at least it was headed for a restored Capri

I used a Steve Parker adapter. It was a while ago, but I suspect it's the same as the SPLR Series adapter that you have. I think I still have one in the shed somewhere - I will try to dig it out and take a pic for you. I know I have a Cologne adapter because I found it the other day, but pretty sure theres still an Essex adapter there as well. Plenty of other Essex bits if you need/want anything - including the SPLR nearside exhaust manifold (where you can't reuse the Ford manifold) and (I've just remembered) an original Swaymar 4-bbl inlet manifold, and just about everything needed to Megasquirt it, including EDIS. Actually there's a complete Specialized Engines 3.1 Essex still sat in there too. Someone bought it from me a year ago, paid, then never collected it!

There's quite a variation in aftermarket injector washers I've seen for tdis. Some slightly thicker solid ones probably require a bit more clamping force before they deform and seal. Used ones probably need annealing too. But like Mike despite careful prep, I've sometimes needed a couple of extra nips to get a seal. Old engines, used heads etc.

Can't answer the OP question directly, but to add a point of reference - the short bellhousing LT77 in my hybrid lived behind my 3.1 V6 for many years (>10) and never gave any trouble. It got a lot of abuse too, not just off road, but also it was used for a lot of Megasquirt experiments, from the very first V1.0 version, and later for MS+EDIS development. I did a lot of full throttle runs through the gears when tuning, though always with the clutch fully engaged before stamping on the pedal.

OziExplorer for Android has one killer feature that is rarely mentioned, and I've not seen on any other software. It's possible to design your own 'screens' completely from scratch to replace the standard ones - so you can place readouts and controls that you find useful, and remove ones that you don't. You can also choose where they are placed, and how big they are. I have a 'normal screen, that shows only the map, OS Grid Reference and current speed, with hidden (transparent) buttons for zoom in/out and to change view. Then I have other screens for particular uses, such as following programmed routes when greenlaning. No useless buttons covering the map, and no diving into arcane menus to access things that apparently no-one else thinks of as useful. @elbekko Yes please on a link to the maps when available

Ah, good question. On D3 there are dedicated buttons on the dash. If you hold down both buttons it cycles all the locks. I assumed there was something similar on D4, but I've never looked closely at one. Not sure if the D4 has a similar function hidden away somewhere else.

Sounds more like a broken cable then. Get someone to hold down both 'Lock' and 'Unlock' buttons on the dashboard, while you try to lift the tailgate. If that doesn't work, then it's not the switch. You can get access from inside the car to fix it. I've never needed to try it, but there's a useful thread over on disco3 about it. Also this.

Failure of the tailgate release switch is common. When I was looking at 6yo Disco3 years ago, almost every one I looked at had an 'iffy' switch. Does it make any noise at all when you try to open it?

I had exactly this problem with a DC prop on the front of 1Bex at one time. Had a new vibration, but no noticeable movement in any of the UJs. When I dropped the front prop, the single UJ was almost solid. At that time I was doing a lot of high speed road miles and no off-road at all. The front prop was close to a straight shot into the diff at that time.

I do remember a paper that covered the reasoning and calculations, I just can't find it I think the prop phasing was originally in a Range Rover Classic manual, possibly around the US launch. As said already, front prop only, pretty sure it was offset by two splines, but I can't recall if it was advanced or retarded, or if it even matters. Not all props have the same number of splines of course, so even that isn't much help. I found an out of phase prop on the rear is very noticeable, because on the overrun it rattles the handbrake drum over the backlash in the rear diff at certain speeds.

If I was to do it again, I would print it in PETG or PETT and encapsulate it in polyester resin. I know that works and makes strong parts. I'd also try to add a texture to the surface to help the resin bind to it. But fibreglass resin doesn't bond well to the CF-Nylon. I found it looks great, until the first flex, then it break up and flakes off. I tried a few different rattlecan coatings from the shelf, hoping I'd find something that worked, but no joy. There's also the issue that printing large parts in CF-Nylon gets expensive very quickly, as the filament is costly and it's fairly hard to print to there's lost of wastage.

Realised I forgot to dig out any pics of using the 3d printer for press tooling. This is early days for me in undertsandng what I'm doing, but I've been quite happy with the results so far. Looking online, a lot of people have got away with using just printed tooling, and accepting that it doesn't last long. That worked ok, but for larger pieces I found I needed more rigid dies. So I printed them as hollow parts - the usual 3d printed shell, with some percentage of infill, but with the reverse face open. Also need to choose the infill pattern to ensure the back can be filled easily. To fill the die, I used a mix of ebays cheapest possible polyester resin, and a carefully curated mix of small pebbles, chalky soil and metal filings... OK I swept the workshop floor, picked out the big lumps and threw the rest into the die as I poured in the resin I could come up with lots of sound arguments about the strength of infill materials of random grain size, but basically nothing is much cheaper than the **** off of the workshop floor, and it means you need less resin. Once it's gone off, it's really, properly, stiff and strong. This one I made to fold a flat strip of ali to form a rain gutter on the bulkhead of 2Bex. (On the Ibex, the gutter is below the bonnet line instead of above, presumably to keep the smooth flowing lines of the body ). It would have been much easier with a bit sheet folder, but I don't have one and didn't fancy trying to make one. (The sharp eyed will notice the final part doesn't quite match the die. I put the final return lip and the joggle in afterwards.) This tool showed almost no wear after making three full lengths of gutter - 1 practice piece, 1 final piece, and then a second final piece after I cut the first one 20mm too short One of the first things I made with this printer was press tool for a fuel filler mount, because I didn't like any of the options I found to buy off the shelf. I've long since chucked the die, but heres a cut from the CAD design, and the final pressed part. It took a few tries to get it right, and it still required some rework by hand, but I was quite happy with the result. I did originally print the filler dish in Carbon Fibre loaded Nylon. It looked great, and was very stiff and strong, but I couldn't shake the feeling that one day, after a year or two of having diesel dripped over it, I'd shove the filler nozzle in and the whole lot would fall apart. I left a test piece soaking in diesel for a few months, and it seemed fine to be honest, but it just didn't convince me for some reason. Also, I failed to get paint to stick to it reliably Actually, I did find one filler dish from a US company that I liked, made in diecast ali, perfect size and shape, and very reasonably priced. Sadly when I queried the cost for them to put it in a small carboard box and post it to the UK, they apparently thought I wanted a custom made, solid 24ct gold version, and none of their resellers that I tried would ship internationally.

I think RRS wheels should fit without issue as the mechanicals are more or less the same (for D3 era cars anyway), and the RRS is more likely to have bigger calipers, as it's available with more exciting engine options. Some FFRR wheels apparently fit but foul slightly on the front? There is a longish sticky thread on disco3 in the 'wheels and tyres' section.

Lots of very simple tooling has been made along the way. Clutch alignment tools, oil seal setting drifts, that kind of thing. I've never owned a clutch alignment tool, it's always been bits of broom handle, old sockets and gaffer tape. One afternoon, putting (yet another) Tdi into (yet another) Land Rover, a little light bulb came on. Went home for tea with a few measurements in my pocket, came back the next morning with a perfectly sized alignment tool. One that sticks in the mind was an expanding plug that fits into a brake caliper piston. Probably wouldn't work on a used one, but it made it very simple to swap all the pistons for stainless on a cheap set of new calipers. Drop it into the piston, wind in the bolt, pull out the piston No seal replacement required, and a perfect, unmarked set of mild steel pistons on the shelf ready for some future breakdown. Very simple, but oddly satisfying.

Printing moulds for casting polyurethane resin has been very successful. It all started because I couldn't find a nice mount for the LED NAS lamps for the back of 2Bex. The standard pedestal doesn't fit the lamps I have without cutting a lot of plastic, and I wanted a lower profile mount in any case. The usual kit car solution for this sort of thing seems to be to wrap a length of P shape extrusion around the lamp. I figured that for about the same price, I could just buy polyurethane casting resin and do something that felt a bit nicer.... After a couple of false starts. it worked out quite nicely, and I had loads of resin left over, that I had to find a use for... Those nasty demister grommets in the Defender dash tray, that are always split and rotten? The finish looks poor here, because both the part and the mould are covered in release wax and bits of paper towel. The mould is in 3 parts, to form the undercut for the grommet lip.

I don't know what you (or possibly I ) have done to that poor Ormerod. It's capable of much better prints than that, though granted not as good as the Prusa. Also keep in mind it's very far from standard - not sure if I made it better or worse in the end My current printer is a home built CoreXY design, with a 300 x 300 x 300 build envelope. I built it because I wanted a larger build platform, and I wanted to use slightly more exotic materials. I rarely print stuff that is in plain view, so I tend to focus more on structure than appearance. (Also I always seem to end up printing in black, which doesn't photograph easily!) Also, often the 3d print is a means to an end, not the end in itself - a useful way to create tools or jigs. Here's the air intake that Fridge mentioned. This was an experiment is many ways - I was learning Fusion360, trying out nylon as a material, dialling in the new printer and working out details for 2Bex build. It fits behind the nearside front wheelarch, using the standard LR vent shape. This one is, I think, Taulman Alloy 910 (nylon), but the final fitted art is in PETG, encapsulated with Polyester fibreglass resin, which makes it stupidly rigid and has a smooth surface so hopefully it won't instantly turn green like most of the Land Rovers in my garden. I'll try to find some more pics of other stuff.

You should be able to use CEPT approved CB radio in any european country, without a licence. Technically it may be illegal to use a radio with UK channels available (even if you only use the CEPT channels), but realistically, you'd really struggle to find anyone who both knows and cares

Found my iX104 in the workshop today, so just for interest here's a couple of pics of the mods I made... The red wiring is added by me, to give power and data connections to the GPS. At the left it connects to the motherboard, stealing the connector for what was originally the external docking port. At the right it connects to the GPS module, a small pcb which is all to the right of the vertical red wires. To make space for the GPS, I had to remove an antenna module which was for cellular data, which wasn't used in this unit. The antenna connector is at the top centre, and exits underneath a plastic cover on the outside of the unit, so its invisible when not in use. The circuit board was a quick design of my own, specifically to fit the 104, though I think I later used it graft GPS into a Toughbook CF-19. Oh, and Nige asked what other things were needed, I reckon a screen protector is a must. It turns out it's really useful when 'someone' doesn't look where they are pointing the rattle can

It's a good question... with some variation between systems, AIUI the other systems in consumer grade devices are more-or-less equally vulnerable to the 'simple' jamming as above. Similar frequencies, coding, power levels etc. Spoofing may be (could be, should be?) harder for newer systems. The wide area jamming stuff will be done by people with deep pockets and definite aims, so it's probably safe to assume its happening. If your job is to prevent an ebay drone dropping an energetic xmas present down your bosses chimney, and even an ebay gps module supports several systems, it seems like a no brainer. Nasty jammers from dubious internet sources are SO nasty, they are probably already jamming systems that haven't been invented yet.

This, and potentially overrun timing if implemented, are the most likely causes in my experience. Followed closely by users who think auto-tune is a good idea Only joking, though fridgefreezer will confirm I'm a confirmed high tech luddite. I haven't messed with megasquirt for many years, but at one point I ran experimental EDIS on a V6 specifically to try to put in some of the engine braking that Ford left out of the Capri. Similar to the RV8, the Essex engine had a terrible combustion chamber design and needed loads of advance to gets best performance under acceleration. Trying to get more engine braking off-throttle might mean going from 30+ degrees advance to 10 degrees retarded, which EDIS could do instantly, accompanied by lots of popping in the exhaust and an almost undetectable amount of extra engine braking. Oh well, it wouldnt be an experiment if it always worked out, and it was a lot of fun

A slightly different issue around jamming. The problem around external USB is where you drive through a pothole, and one of the connections in the external USB plug fails for a few microseconds due to the vibration. Windows decides the gps no longer exists, and requires everything to be set up from scratch. 'Simple' GPS jamming is handled inside the GPS device itself, and it isn't too hard to detect something is amiss. The GPS might announce poor fix accuracy, or that fixes are not valid, or send predicted fixes based on previous course and speed. It might even announce that it detects jamming is taking place. The nav software might or might not take note of that. But if/when jamming goes away, the GPS will usually recover quickly and without any user input. This is the most common case, and it can be found anywhere from military active zones to alongside fleet delivery vehicles at traffic lights. (There is a more insidious form, gps 'spoofing' where the jammer broadcasts fake satellite or ground station data. The receiver has little way to know anything is wrong, and it might not recover quickly when the jamming goes away. This sort of jamming requires more equipment and effort, and the results are more variable, so it is much rarer.) Interesting (and I thought rather clever) website showing current state of 'wide area' GPS jamming, by analysing the status broadcasts from commercial aircraft in flight. Obviously this wont show the status in the most hostile places, as they aren't overflown by commercial aircraft.