Lightning

Leave the Defender on the street overnight and the Pikeys will have that nut off for you by the morning. They will most likely leave the wheel when they see the state of it, and steal the Defender instead.

Does it accelerate at all or will it not move off idle.

I blanked off the EGR on my TD5 in fact got it removed completely because “it will perform better” and.....it made no difference at all.

I believe that for a small fee the DVLA will contact the current owner (if possible) and pass on your request to get in touch. They won’t of course give any details to you, so it’s then up to the current owner to make contact if they want to.

Just start it. All will be well, except for the brake checks suggested above, which it’s a good idea to do. No machine likes to be stood idle for months, but if it’s under cover with either a trickle charger or the battery removed and kept charged it should be fine. Better to leave in gear with the transmission brake off.

Alternatively fit some good 10cm speakers with separate tweeters at each end of the dash top (they are only tiny, mine are attached with Velcro) Then fit a subwoofer in the battery compartment, it will still work with the cover on. Or in the bottom of the cubby box if you have one. If you have a TD5 the wiring will be present for rear speakers, you just buy the corner pods, get some 10cm speakers and plug ‘em in. With the above you’ll have seriously good sound in your Defender.

Don’t pay Land Rover prices, these will be as good if not better for under £50 a pair. https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F331124355463

Are the diffs not the same at the earlier ones, such as TD5?

Again not in my experience, although l am fairly slim and so is said daughter and missus in the other seats. I guess if you were larger and had longer legs (so the drivers seat further back) it might be more of a problem changing gear without your elbow conflicting with the centre seat passenger. Like l said though, OK for shorter journeys. This is the missus’s 90. My 110 has the cubby box as l like to rest my arm on it.

Not true in my experience. I’ve used it to carry a teenage daughter and while you wouldn’t want to do 400 miles that way, it’s fine for shorter journeys. Also my missus says the centre seat is great for putting her handbag on while driving the vehicle

They are only security covers, the actual bolts are underneath

Stainless steel 5mm Ball bearings hammered into the door hinge bolt heads plus Nyloc nuts on the back are as secure as any other product and will only cost you £5

I had Autoglass fit a new screen in my Renault van, l said l wanted OE and they claimed theirs was “made by the same company” But after that the van interior got much hotter in the sun, the Renault screen had some kind of UV blocker. l always go for OE now except in my Defender where there is no technology at all, it’s just a flat piece of laminated glass. The only option is clear or green tinted

When the screen got cracked in my BMW Z3 3.0 the insurance company wanted to use Autoglass. But l wanted an OE screen, Autoglass said theirs was “BMW but without the label” but it wasn’t. They allowed me to take it to BMW but l had to pay a higher excess of £120 rather than £75.

The wipers should operate smoothly when the system is in good condition. Often the dust seals on the spindles fail and water gets in to the drive mechanism. In cold weather this water can freeze, making the wipers slow. Also the drive gears in the spindles wear, causing play, you could try replacing the drive cable which will help, but if the old one comes out rusty then you need to replace the spindles or it will never be right.

There will be an electric version as well. Now that will be something....an electric Defender

But Land Rover won’t be bothered with history. What they will be looking at is people biffing down deposits on the new Velar as fast as the salesperson can process the orders. Look at the Evoque and Discovery Sport. Our area is full of them. New owners won’t care about heritage and old Defenders, they just want a Velar/Disco Sport on their Drive.

I think you are on your own with that one! I would suggest maybe looking at truck mirrors which are often on arms like a Landy one.

Also to test the shocks properly you need them to be upright (as they are when on the vehicle) lf you test them on their side, or after being on their side, or upside down, they will initially have a large amount of free travel before they do anything.

Those Defender prices in ltaly look very reasonable, l like the look of the first one, it would probably sell for twice that amount here.

Sadly the dealers have picked up on the interest in Defenders in the USA and similar places. Some of the prices are unbelievable....l've seen them at over £40,000. Type "Defender 90 LHD" as an Ebay search and you'll see what l mean!

600,000km is probably the life of a turbo

A badly adjusted handbrake/transmission brake would not cause the cable to melt and set on fire. Although there is a procedure for adjusting it. It's not done by tightening the cable on the adjuster behind the handbrake! l'll bet they disconnected the engine earth and forgot to reconnect it (but why?)

Wouldn't a leaking or holed intercooler cause reduced turbo boost rather than more?

I was with NFU for years until about four years ago, when they biffed up the renewal price from £400 to £800. Now with Footman James as they do agreed value.