muscat

Side opening rear half doors are still available. I got mine from LRS. ALR7259 With front half doors you will also need the correct door stays or you can convert the door to accept defender door stays (much better IMHO). Paintman Panels p/n SKU 068 and 069.

Thanks Simon, but I should be OK. The vehicle was registered with its original VIN. The engine has been changed, which is not reflected in the new registration, but I’ll agree that before shipping the car back to the UK. I’m hoping it will then “sail” through the import and registration process! Hoping being the operative word!

Thanks Maverick. Worth the effort. Without the forums advice I might have taken an easier, and subsequently very expensive, alternative route.

To update - our exit from Oman was delayed but it’s now imminent. As in I fly out in days for a new contract in Germany. But today, after years of effort, and with the help of a wonderful Omani ex-rally driver, (who it turns out was actually the guy who originally crashed the car!! Small world), I got the defender registered with the Royal Oman Police on the original VIN. So hopefully I will now be able to bring the car to UK without problems. The only remaining issue is that the ROP registered the car with the original engine number. I’ll work on that problem when I’m back here for a few weeks break mid-contract. sincere thanks for the advice given. only taken 20 years and two cyclones..! Some photos: first is as I bought it…

I’m sure Withams has a LHD Wolf at the LRO show in Peterborough last week. Exmoor Trim also had a prototype padded roll cage and soft top similar to the NAS 90 model. The padding was missing the textured finish of the NAS90 and SV90, but apparently they are working on that.

Thanks, Eightpot. There are any number of freight forwarding companies here. We will need to ID one relatively soon to ship our household effects, but my concern is finding one that will understand, and be familiar with , the UK requirements for import. I will take you up on your offer for contact details via PM. Many thanks. Mark

Just noticed that MinistryofDefender http://www.ministryofdefender.co.uk/custom-land-rover.html claim to build new 300tdi defenders from new and refurbished parts, and then register with DVLA as a new vehicle. How is this possible without using an existing VIN? Or does this result in a Q plate. Would this be an option for me in order to avoid the need to buy a donor? I ask because, having just researched 2nd hand defender prices, the asking prices seem extremely high even for basket cases. Thanks again Mark

Thank you all for your replies. So if a 110 VIN would not be acceptable in UK, there would be no point in registering the vehicle in Oman first. I purchased a crash damaged td5 90SV, from which I salvaged a number of parts, and for which I still have the VIN plate, but I suspect that registering in Oman with that VIN would still leave the problem of using a second hand chassis. Best bet seems to be, as Eightpot suggests, to bring the vehicle over as an unfinished project, purchase a donor in UK, and rebuild the donor on a new chassis with my “shiney” parts. Would this be the least risk method? Given the time and money spent on this project, I would hate for the vehicle to be seized or destroyed. Can anyone suggest an import company that could help with this? Thanks again. Mark

Thanks, Mike. Axles, engine, gearbox, and suspension all came from the same discovery. These bar the suspension were fitted to my old 110, before being removed and fitted to my 90. Bulkhead is new, chassis 2nd hand. I have the VIN from the donor discovery, which should allow traceability of serial numbers fitted, but would that help given they are now fitted to a defender? Bringing the vehicle over in one piece would certainly be preferable. If I were able to register the vehicle in Oman under the 110 VIN, which it seems is acceptable in Oman, and even though it would not be roadworthy, would the 110 VIN be acceptable in UK when attached to a 90? Does anyone know of a reputable importer that could help me with this? thanks again Mark

Hi All, Hopefully, this is the correct forum, but please feel free to move... I am wondering what would be the best way to import a “bitsa” D90 from Oman to UK. I de-registered my old 110 years ago, and salvaged as many parts as possible to build the 90. I built the D90 on a second hand galvanised chassis. 300tdi engine and auto box from my old 110 conversion - originally from a disco. New galvanised bulkhead. All door frames, capping etc galvanised. Griffin exhaust. Td5 fuel tank. SS brakelines. Discovery axles. Custom dash NAS style padded roll cage from a 90SV. New ROW chassis and engine looms. I built this with the intention of keeping it for a bloody long time, hence the extensive galvanising My original intention was to register the vehicle in Oman on my old 110 VIN, as this is, or was, perfectly acceptable here. It should then have been relatively straightforward to export the vehicle. However,, it looks increasingly like I will not finish the build before needing to leave Oman. I have way to much time and effort invested in this build and would dearly like to bring it back to UK to finish. Is this possible or would I need to break the vehicle, import the parts as spares, and rebuild on a new chassis in UK? I’m not happy with the existing chassis so would happily buy new in UK. Or, import as spares, purchase a D90 in UK and rebuild that with my parts? Any ideas? I really need to find a way to keep this one... TIA Mark

If the area where the seal contacts the shaft is damaged / worn / you will have difficulty making a leak proof seal even with genuine parts. Both my 90 and my discovery II leaked like sieves with genuine seals. After fitting Zeus seals both steering boxes are sorted. I believe that the Zeus kit seals to a different area of the shaft avoiding the damaged / worn areas. Bloody tight fit to get the Zeus seals in though! as to why it only leaks at full right lock, I would guess that the pump is producing maximum pressure on full lock - both at full left and full right. Not sure why it’s OK without weight on the wheels...

Thank you both for the feedback - nice to know I’m not being a complete idiot! I’ll give James a call as meeting halfway would be difficult - I’m in Oman, so halfway would be somewhere near Istanbul... Again, many thanks..

I know this is an old thread but ..... I am having a hell of a time trying to fit a Griffin side exit exhaust to my D90 300tdi. I have a td5 rear tank fitted and simply cannot get the exhaust to fit without fouling the heat shield on the tank. I’ve tried every combination of hangers that I have to reposition the exhaust but it seems that I will need to shorten the exhaust by a few inches or reposition either the fuel tank or the upper links.... Given the quality of the exhaust I have to suspect I’m doing something wrong. I’ve spent hours on this! Does anyone have pictures of the complete installation? I’ve searched all the forums and gleaned some useful info but have not found anything showing the installation in detail. Many thanks in advance.

I had the same problem - galvanised chassis and galvanised bulkhead, with a >10 mm gap. The bulkhead was a new, unused item, which was within a few mm of fitting before I had it galvanised, so I was confident that the galvanising process had distorted the bulkhead slightly. I didn't fit a support bar to the bulkhead mounts before galvanising. I took Dave's approach and used a hi-lift jack to spread the bulkhead, however my jack was too short to fit between the A pillars. I installed one mounting bolt and then jacked against a chassis rail and the other A pillar using softwood pads. Two man job to stop everything slipping...

Western, you're a Scholar! Just removed my cowl and checked the part number - ESR 3276, i.e. a Discovery cowl. Looking closely at the pictures you supplied, I can see that the circular 'cut out' for the fan blades seems to be offset lower on the Defender cowl. I would never have thought of this, and I've never seen it mentioned in any conversion write ups. Good call and many thanks!

The fan cowl is the original from the Discovery donor...

You do, yes. The Discovery radiator mounts are 'U' shaped brackets extending about 20mm (ish), tack welded to the bottom of the radiator frame. I have removed these and fitted spigots that locate in the isolating rubbers fitted to the chassis mounts. If you imagine a straight line drawn across the wing tops, the top of the radiator sits slightly below this line. Just drove home and spent another fruitless hour trying to spot the obvious. Still stumped...

After a (very) long lay off, I've finally found the time and money to continue my 90SV rebuild. After fitting an exhaust, I hooked up the battery to check for exhaust leaks - engine ran fine, no exhaust leaks, but coolant temp climbed quite rapidly. Given it's 44C in the shade and I'd not fitted the viscous fan, I wasn't too worried. Refit the viscous fan, thinks I, and check her again... Problem - the fan won't fit. With the fan loosely placed in the shroud and the blades in contact with the bottom of the shroud, the engine pulley nose sits about 50mm below the centre of the fan, i.e. the engine seems to be over 50mm nose down. Some history: It's a second hand, galvanised,300tdi LR90 chassis, fitted with a 300tdi and autobox from a Discovery. Genuine parts engine and gearbox mounts were used. I have confirmed the fan diameter (433mm IIRC). I have re-cored the discovery radiator and removed the side brackets and lower brackets from the discovery radiator frame. The radiator sits at what appears to be the correct height on the chassis mounts and the shroud is seated correctly on the radiator. All body panels align (within LR tolerances, anyway...), so chassis misalignment/damage doesn't seem likely. I have visually checked the engine bracket locations on the chassis and these seem OK. I don't have a template to confirm the mount locations, but I'm estimating the mounts would need to be about 25mm low to cause 50mm drop at the fan, which they are not. The gearbox X-member came with the chassis. Any ideas? I'm stumped!

Interesting. Does a ROW spec harness: Have the AMP type connectors? Would it be (almost) plug and play with a tdi 300? Would the TD5 rear harness and wing harnesses need much modification? I assume that the TD5 gauges mod that you have detailed elsewhere would be needed? Thanks for this info, James. I'll drop you a PM Mark

Agreed, and this is basically what I've done. I was concerned that I would need to rip out all the redundant wiring from the TD5 bulkhead loom to mate it to a 300tdi.

I'm in Oman and couldn't find an ROW loom for reasonable money... By the time I've paid postage, spares start to become seriously expensive so I usually pick up bits and pieces when I'm back in UK. At the moment I have a new LHD TD5 bulkhead loom, TD5 chassis harness, LH TD5 wing loom, and TD5 gauges. I also have an Amp weatherproof connector kit from somewhere I can't remember, so changing out a couple of connectors will be OK.... That said, I do like the idea of being able to swap out the 300tdi for a TD5 at a later date (read when they become affordable in Oman.) Was your original intention to leave the TD5 harness basically unmodified, with the exception of mods required for gauges and warning lights? I guess I'll fit the harness as is, connect up and start working through the systems that don't work... Errmmm, could be a long week(s)....

Gents, Do I understand correctly: It is possible to mate a standard td5 bulkhead loom to a 300tdi without major modifications to the loom? I have a couple of td5 bulkhead harnesses and thought that I would need to strip out the redundant wiring. I was also modifying the harness from RHD to LHD, but have just scored a new LHD Td5 bulkhead harness (YMC000540, £100 - shiney!!). If this can be mated up to my 300tdi relatively easily, I will be one happy chap!

Thanks for the replies. My main concern was that the pressure was holding steady, but as Bogmonster said, the guage was holding steady not necessarily the cylinder pressures. In which case it could well be rings or poorly seating valves. I guess I would need to do a proper leakdown test... Should have realised that myself... Thanks again.

As part of the on-going 'build a 90 from the ground up' saga, I am looking at buying a 300tdi from a crash-damaged discovery. I have just checked the compression and am a wee bit concerned... Short version: Compression in each cylinder ranges from 220psi to 260 psi, dry. Pressure held for a couple of minutes after cranking the engine without dropping. Almost seems like reason enough to walk away, but... Long version: The engine was salvaged from a Japanese half-cut import and fitted to a discovery. I do not have accurate figures, but most Japanese imports here average between 50,000 km and 100,000 km. After 6 months, the disco owner lost a fight with a truck, writing the vehicle off. Damage to the vehicle was front LHS, bending the dumb irons and pushing the rad into the engine, and rear LHS, where the disco 'bounced' back into the truck. The engine was torn from it's mountings, but I have removed it and there seems to be no other visible damage. Oil level is good, turbo spins freely with no visible signs of damage, and there are no head leaks. The engine has sat for 6 months without being turned over. When I checked compressions, the engine did turn over without alarming noises. What's your opinion(s)? Is it possible that compressions could improve after the engine has been run for a few hours? The scrap yard owner claims that the low figures are a result of the valves not seating fully after being sat for 6 months, but if this was correct I would expect to see a rapid pressure drop after cranking the engine. That said, I am sure that the engine has relatively low mileage, and that coming from a Japanese import it has likely been looked after. These engines are gold-dust here, with most being snapped up and shipped to east Africa, so I am keen too not let a good one slip away. Any thoughts?

My comments about the tensioner bearing were more by way of a rant against LR and what seems to be a deliberate policy of making us buy complete assys instead of making them repairable. But I suppose most manufacturers are guilty of that... The shaft diameter where the bearing sits is 22mm. I would be reducing this to 20mm and there are a number of waisted areas on the lower end of the shaft that are thinner than this. Assuming that the reworked area is properly chamfered at the profile change, do you think that this would be cause for concern? I certainly do not want an unexpected shaft break!!