oneandtwo

Well I started yesterday and took the body off, it only took 1 1/2 hr to the stage where I rolled the chassis forwards. Today I stripped the rolling chassis down and built up the new one, probably 6hrs and I'm now ready to lower the body back down. The lift is a godsend as was a swing shovel for lifting the chassis and fitting the suspension.

The latest puma doors are the best especially with the very latest lower door seal. I've had all sorts over the years and now have three sets of puma doors. The water drains actually work and they are not made of channel which just traps water. One of mine got knocked on the edge down to bare metal two years ago and there is no rust, and I live next to the sea. They sound solid when they are shut unlike the older type which always rattled even from new. Downside is they are expensive, I've generally paid £250 - £300 per door for just bare doors.

Do 90 truck cabs still come with galv cappings as standard? Seems daft they switched to mild steel for hardtops but continued fitting galv ones to truck cabs well into the 2000's.

Does anyone know if the Dixon bate adjustable hitch off a tdi will fit the standard defender 90 td5/tdci factory fitted tow hitch drop plate? Thanks

I fitted the intercooler in my series 2 with a 200tdi/300tdi hybrid and there's far less room than in a series 3

You probably just need new o rings for the unions. I often find flattened ones or missing ones on 300tdis.

I have had the lever break on a lift pump, but it was internally where it links to the rod which operates the diaphragm. The 300tdi would hardly run. To be honest, whenever I've bought a 300tdi I put a new lift pump on anyway now along with new thermostat, brass cooling plugs, revised cambelt kit, p gasket and water pump and tensioner bearing.

I have had three series Land Rovers and one Defender with bent axle casings, and also another defender with a bent stub axle. I would be checking the casings very carefully and also stub axles. All of mine have been front axles which have bent, one of them was even a lightweight with the reinforced axle casing but that hadn't prevented it bending.

Excellent, thanks for the link, that is exactly the same lift as mine. I reckon I can do it in a long day having seen that.

Has anyone here done this? Remove a 90 hardtop body as one and swap chassis? If so any idea on timescale? I have three days to do it, fully equipped workshop with a two post lift. I've rechassised at least five defenders before but always been complete rotters needing everything replaced and rebuilt. On this one absolutely nothing will need replacing, it was rebuilt from ground up by me 12 months ago with new bulkhead, sills, doors, all new fixings, bushes, brake lines, exhaust, clutch loom etc. Thanks.

They don't fit the block - tried that once many years ago

I purchased a 200tdi 90 that was previously rebuilt using a crashed 1997 300tdi as a donor, it has full 300tdi/r380, later bulkhead, 300tdi axles, later 300tdi/td5 master cylinder and servo however it still has the original 200tdi brake PRV valve and has worked perfectly for many years. I can't tell any difference between this defender and my proper 1996 defender. Ps I know it was rebuilt using a crashed 300tdi as one of the rear tyres was wearing unevenly. I inspected the axle and couldn't remove the halfshaft. Turns out the stub axle was bent, and also the r380 seatbox was rather distorted - the seat runners were not running parallel and the seats wouldn't slide!

Back on my first 300tdi 90 15 years ago it would loose power only at full throttle on the motorway- would seem to starve and then surge. We used it for a year before we changed the lift pump as we never used it on the motorway and it was fine in everyday use. That was the original lift pump failing. I've also had another original pump on another 300tdi fail - it worked 100% but the truck always smelt of diesel when parked and on inspection the lift pump was leaking fuel. Last one I've had a cheap pattern one totally fail - the operating arm snapped off! I have replaced all mine with delphi as they seem to be the only branded pump easily available. The additional filter in the top of them is handy too.

Earlier servos and disco ones don't fit - new correct Trw ones are only £60 or so. For reference, I actually have a 1998 110 with a cracked servo here awaiting me scrapping it.

Open the bonnet and inspect the brake servo - the 300tdi/td5 servo seems to crack around the curve of the servo near the right hand mounting bolt. I have had three do this now. The crack can be hard to see as they are only hairline cracks but if you run the engine and rub some spot around the area you will see the spit get sucked into the crack.

Does anyone have the part number for the latest spec rear door hinges? These are the one piece type not the old 1958 throwback brass ball and spring type! Thanks.

I own three 300tdi 90's, all have 235/85 tyres and larger intercoolers and a very slight tweak on the fuel pump. I've fitted 1.2 boxes to them all, they are so much nicer to drive on the road now. Never had any problem with towing - my parents used one to tow their large caravan and said it was fine. With my 300tdi hicap I have retained the 1.4 as used more for offroad towing and work. Regarding the speedo - with the disco box, speedo sender and 235/85 tyres the speedo now reads exactly the speed with no error, I've checked on GPS and those road signs that tell you how fast you are going and the speedo is exact

I had a 94 300tdi many years ago that was awful to get into 2nd from cold and used to crunch slightly. Fresh MTF94 transformed the gearbox - it was as if a different box had been fitted. It is also worth ten minutes to adjust the bias springs so the shifter centres itself correctly. The turret can wear around the two pins and can cause difficulty in selecting gears. I've had quite a few defender r380s apart over the years and only one of them has had a worn plastic insert socket.

From the left; first picture- U shaped brackets are where the steel inner wing screws to - you need these - they can be purchased from YRM. Next is clutch hose bracket for R380 box. Next picture- Clutch hose bracket for LT77 box Inner wing bracket as before The ones showing at the bottom on each side poking out from the bulkhead are not part of the bulkhead, these are outer front wing stays and bolt to the wing skin and then through a 6mm hole on each side of the footwell floor about an inch from the side.

Good luck, on my 1997 CSW 90 I changed the front timing cover, two tensioners, numerous belts, alternator, two water pumps, new power steering pump and all the pulleys. It still squeaked!

It's a 110 hardtop that has been driven on a beach most of its life, but I didn't realise it was this bad - I knew it had to have a new sump a year or two ago as it had rusted through and dumped its oil one night! I bought it as a donor as it does have a couple of redeeming features - 300tdi/r380, disc braked salisbury, plastic fuel tank and has only done 50k from new, The only other photo I took is of almost the same view but it shows where it has almost split in two in front of the radius arm bracket on the left of the photo. I took the gearbox out today but daren't put it on my 2 post lift for obvious reasons. I didn't have to undo the gearbox crossmember, it fell out as the side plates are no longer present!

I thought this deserved a photo! Never seen a Defender quite this bad at a relatively young age, this is a late 1998 T reg 300tdi, it's like this all the way along the rails. The rear axle has detached itself from both trailing arms and there's hardly anything left of the gearbox crossmember!

The very last 300tdis (1998) have different warning lights from pre 98 ones. They may even be LEDs or possibly darker tinted plastic so they didn't have the visible coloured squares, but still fit the earlier type dash panel. The lights are rearranged though which means it is not a straight swap!

I am breaking up a 1998 300tdi to re-engine my old hicap. I've done this before using older 300tdi defenders as donors and using the entire drivetrain and wiring looms with no problems, however my latest acquisition is equipped with the factory alarm and immobiliser. It has a unit in a steel case in the battery compartment, a number of connectors under the centre seat, led in the centre of the dash and alarm switch under the bonnet. There is the two button key fob on the keys but it doesn't seem to do anything. The led is never lit, although when the ignition is turned off there is a ticking from the dash area for a minute or so? Can this all be easily removed once the bulkhead is stripped down or is part of the main bulkhead loom and going to be a massive headache? - I think I have a spare earlier 300tdi bulkhead and engine loom somewhere I saved from a previous 90 I broke up.

They use standard spade connectors. The light is the same as the disco 2 one but with the addition of a wedge shaped spacer plate.