jerboa

Just out of interest, what's the score with fitting a Series II "Smiths" round blower as an auxiliary heater on a Series III? Is there enough room below the dash? I figure there must be plenty of thermal energy left in the coolant after it has left the normal heater, could the smiths be added in the circuit (provided it would fit) to give a bit more warmth in the cabin? I'm not suggesting piping it up to the dash though..

You're been subject to coil spring luxury for a long time, a Series will be quite differant! As far as I know, every one uses 88's for RTV stuff, but I could be wrong. Try and pick your self up a tax exempt series II or IIa, or failing that a very late Series III (best bits like fine spline half shafts + build quality was better in the 80's..!) Without major modification and faffing about, there are few parts from your disco that work transfer over to the series save for the engine, even then it's not that easy! Axles, gearbox etc wont fit unless you're a metal smith! Certainly a the r380 g'box your disco has just wont go in at all. Your rear propshaft would be 3" long!

Thanks for the advice so far Gents! I have had the turbo Recon'd, the chap at Turbocentre (I mention the company on the basis that I can properly recommend their services, not affiliated) said I need to crank the engine until oil comes out of the turbo oil feed, stick some oil iin the turbo then put the banjo on. Crank it some more and fire it up. I feel I need to re-iterate a point though, my concern is priming the oil cooler circuit; its quite a large set-up in terms of capacity. As soon as the thermostat opens it'll have to fill it rather then send oil where it needs to be.. Does it need priming?? What did everyone else do??

Hi all, I normally post in the Series forum, but as my 109 is powered by a 200Tdi Disco engine, I thought it more applicable to post here! I'm in the process of rebuilding the engine after low oil pressure woes, the engine was found to have worn (evenly, down to copper all round) main+big end bearings and the turbo housing + thrust bearing needed replacing.. Now amongst many other component these have been replaced with OE parts, I have also had the radiator re-cored. My question is this; in light of the fact that the oil cooler in the radiator will be empty, will the system need priming before start-up? The usual key-it-over until the oil-light goes out wont suffice because the oil cooler thermostat won't open and the system will remain empty 'til a few miles down the road. Is it necessary to separately prime the system? What other precautions should I observe prior to start up in order to best protect my hard work??! Or will the usual pull-a-face-like-you're-being-electrocuted look suffice?? Thanks in advance Chaps!!

What company made the springs? If the are foreign (a la rocky mountain) drivers/passenger side could be opposite..?

I'm fortunate to have done many overland miles in both Discovery's and Defenders. Both of them have their pros and cons. I would not travel in anything made by Land Rover after the 300TDi generation vehicles. Air suspension? ECU? Electric Fuel pumps? ABS? Trick Electrics? Rather you than me! An Ex-Family Disco Series One is a very good bet. If you're not going further than Morocco you won't miss the load space offered by a 110 CSW. If you're going further and pack sensibly then you still won't miss the load space offered by a 110 CSW. They're comfortable and quiet, they do everything a 110 defender can off road. Which ever land rover you get, and having found this bit out the hard way, my advice would be to NOT lift any land rover. Just fit good quality suspension components - think Old Mn Emu. New bushes all round, but don't get the hard ones - they will increase the risk of damaging trailing arms on rocky tracks etc. The cheaper the vehicle, the easier it is to get a Carnet (which you wont need for Morocco). You can get away with telling the RAC your disco cost £800 (try that with a defender!), meaning your carnet bond for somewhere like Egypt would be around £2000. **** does happen, think what you'd be less gutted about..!

Plus it has a leaky radiator. And V8's don't like running dry..

Stuck is right. At the very least, setting off in it and breaking down within a mile of the sellers house would be the cheapest way of getting it home! You don't pay for the AA's fuel..!

There's a company on Attercliffe called Autorads. I've had a 300TDi rad done there before and was impressed, at the time it cost £99 + VAT, but they cleaned my intercooler out for a tenner too. Would I go back? Yes. I'm going to have a 200TDi rad done before I drop it into my Series. They charge £108 + VAT now.. As far as I know they use OEM cores too, far better than the chinese carp.

I do wonder about tracking devices. Surely a high enough proportion of stolen land rovers would have them fitted? I have heard that thier main tactic is to park up round the corner in a box-van LGV thingy and drive the stolen vehicle straight on. If said van was lined with the appropiate material (I'll not say what it is) it would render all tracker signals totally useless. One might imagine they would have the warehouse (not a yard) lined with this stuff too so they could process the vehicle without the tracker yielding a signal. They're sods.

I'm afraid I can't help right now with the measurements, but if the hangar is horizontal something is deffinately wrong. Does the spring look flatish? It should be elliptical, even under load. Check the lengths of the leaves and make sure none of the individual springs have snapped! How have they managed to put rangie axles on the front? If its not the spring, it could be a very crooked chassis, or a badly welded dumb iron..!

I've just ordered the plastic pipes from LR Series, OEM spec too. Lets hope for the best..

Good evening! I'm in the process of converting my 81' Petrol Series Three to 200TDi Power. I plan to run the vehicle on Biodiesel once complete, my question is this: Can the series (Plastic) fuel pipes handle Biodiesel? Biodiesel is a strong solvent and eats rubber/NBR/Synthetic rubber for fun..! The alternatives are expensive (£250) to fit out the vehicle in pipework that will handle it! Thanks, Alec.

There's n app for iPhone which I'm about to download called outdoors/ My mate showed it to me this weekend and I have to say I'm very impressed with it. You buy maps as packages but they are OS maps. 1:50k maps for Yorkshire are £6.99 I think, with 1:25k being a bit more. It actually saves them on the device, so you don't need network coverage at all!

This is a really goo thread so far; Gazzar, keep it up!

Sounds like some good info.. Thanks Guys!

I have seen people run it back to the filter - and they had problems.. One of the things I was wondering about was if the diesel sender incorporated a fuel return, but if as Jon says - there's a separate return, then I just need one of them. Cant imagine it'll be easy to find one though!! Maybe I'll do as Gazzar says..

Super quick question. I'm shortly going to be embarking on a 200tdi conversion into my '81 Series Three 109" station petrol wagon. I've done all the research and I'm planning it out exactly to the last nut+bolt before I start. I have one question remaining - all of the forums/research resources I have looked up/on in order to solve this question has as-yet failed to provide an answer. The vehicle is currently petrol (also LPG), so the fuel system has one delivery pipe. TDi's have/need a return pipe. My question is this. Can I fit a diesel sender to the tank in order to facilitate the installation of a return pipe? Or do I have to make a hole in the tank to fit the return? The other option is to put a T-piece in the fuel vent pipey-thing - but will that leak diesel out the top? I quite fancy the latter solution.. My intention is to remove the tank and repaint/refit etc prior to undertaking the work. Thanks guys,

I rather fancy the helicopter they have in..

I'm thinking about taking my 109 to North Africa next year. It wont be the only overland trip I've been on, but it will be the first in a leaf-sprung Landy. I have been thinking about what modifications I want to do to it before I go. Calling on the experience a few overland miles has given leads me to this conclusion; I won't make any at all. If (as Snapper says) your vehicle is serviceable and in good order, it'll be good for the trip. You don't need any upgrades to aid performance - it's all there! It will cut you up more if something happens to the vehicle and you spent too much on it. I suffered this misfortune - I "lost" my disco in the western desert. Think damage limitation. http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/sahara-travel-forum/egypt-gilf-kebir-warning-32826-2 Although, for the same reasons as Snapper says, a 200tdi could be a good idea. It's not necessarily the speed, more range is the call of the day. It means you'll carry less fuel. Less fuel = less weight, less strain on mechanical components etc. I will be fitting parabolic springs though. And the only reason for that is the fact that my old ones have seen better days and you can't get decent OE quality replacements these days. That's it. Make sure everything is serviceable. Put a few J'cans, tools, spares in and go. Keep it simple..! P.S. ToyRoverlander, Toyota HJZ75/78 (as above) - one word; mint..!

The only problem with turning off the water on a water-to-water heat exchanger is that it'll eventually boil. What about the heat exchanger from an air cooled VW beetle/van? They're compact and are air-to-air - no need for complex plumbing!

Drawing inspiration from the arctic WOLF's the Marines use, they have an extra heater built in to the space where the middle seat in the front would normally be and a some outlet pipes. Has anyone ever thought of building a heat exchanger/motorbike radiator into a cubby box for some extra BTU's?? Could use some airless connectors (provided you filled it up first) and a motorbike radiator can be had for peanuts. If you're lucky they'll come with a fan too..!

You can go to the DVLA and get a form to request the address a vehicle is currently registered at. You have to declare that you aren't doing it for any illegitemate reason i.e. to nick it etc.. I know this to be the case as at 2008 at least!

Maybe I should just put up with it, the previous owner said he had replaced the bearings and seals etc - but to what end?? I will check that nut..

Hi there (again) I've had a scour of the forum and cant seem to find anything that relates specifically to this problem.. I'm seem to have a slight issue with the gearbox in my '81 109 Series Three.. 110,000 miles (if it hasn't gone round the clock twice) At low rpm with moderate to heavy load in third and fourth (only) there is a very loud and intrusive chatter or rattle that emanates from the gearbox. It sounds like the internals of the box are wobbling eccentrically and are going to fall out. It also occasionally pops out of third and fourth on the over-run when heading down hills. I might need to rebuild the box, any diagnosis of what the problem maybe before I get there?? Cheers, Alec..