Snagger

You should have frame reinforcing strips in the kit which have the buffer stud holes pre-drilled. They will show where to drill the skin. They need riveting or puddle welding (neater) to the frame, but the whole area is covered by the wheel anyway, so any rivet heads on the top will be concealed.

That pun deserves a yellow card!

That is great work. It's amazing how quickly the steel suffers even in the workshop, isn't it? Are you going to acid dip it once completed? I think e-coating the completed units would be preferable to galvanising, as it guarantees an even coating, even inside the seam welds, without distortion, blocking bolt holes or vent flap hinge furlings, or giving a rough finish. It'd be simpler for painting, too. I don't know the comparative prices.

300 even more so. It sounds like someone flicking a sheet of paper with their finger, and doesn't show any fluid loss or contamination. Performance loss is negligible, but it will eventually cause gas erosion of the head, needing a skim if caught soon enough and a new head if not.

I'm glad to hear you got a positive result. I agree with Monkie that their lack of communication while resolving the problem was poor service, and I'm not sure you'd have got the replacement if you hadn't pressed them with threats.

There is no reason why you can't fit locating dowels in place of the mounting bolts and fit catches that hold the seat frame down on those dowels, be they mortice latches or just sliding dead bolts. They just need to be strong enough and securely fitted. Seems un-necessary if you have Defender seats, though.

The 110 front axle has stronger CV joints and bigger brakes than the Discovery front axle. The diffs will be the same, though, so you'd be much better off just fitting the good Discovery diff to the correct 110 axle than mucking about with the Discovery axle. As for wheels, just make sure they fit correctly on the hubs (the 200Tdi and earlier hubs like yours are deeper on Defenders than RRC or Discovery, or 300Tdi and later Defenders). You must ensure that the back of the wheel sits fully against the nave (flange) of the hub - many wheels are held off a few mm by the bulges inside the wheel centre fouling the hub drive flange. As for tyres, you could probably do with going a bit larger diameter if you go with the 1.4 transfer box, but not much. The 1.2 transfer box is going to work against you, as it'll make the vehicle over geared with standard size tyres. That will harm the torque converter and auto box in the long run, as well as your fuel economy and performance right from the start.

That price makes me extremely suspicious about their quality. Plenty of recon boxes are merely cleaned and repainted second hand items from scrap yards.

Having had a Clarke work bench and drawer unit, I'd say spend your money elsewhere!

It was a fair question, and much better to ask than risk damaging a bearing or other internal part that could conceivably have been affected by those bolts! And yes, I did catch the context you intended over "missing something"! Good pun, even if unintentional !

No, they are only used for vibration dampers on the front diffs of RRCs or for the small steering protector on some Defenders. Plenty of aftermarket diff and steering guards use them, but they're normally left empty and have no connection with internal machining or parts.

I wrapped the manifold and down pipe of my 200Tdi with the glass cloth type bandage tape. It does make a considerable difference to temperatures under the bonnet. I also have no rust at all on the whole of the down pipe, the bandage protecting the high temperature paint I sprayed it with before installation (the mid and aft sections have been repainted and later replaced in the interim). I don't know if it has had any influence on performance, but scientifically it will have some benefit. I don't drive the vehicle hard enough to notice any change, though. You need steel retainers. The kits come with a few stainless ties similar in concept to cable ties. I didn't have enough and used a single plastic tie over a thick section, but it melted. I don't know if they can burn, but I wouldn't recommend repeating my mistake - if you need more ties, go and buy some steel ones.

It might get them to speed up their response if they know they are being watched and judged. I have used Paddock in the past, and the biggest issue was their sending out pattern parts when genuine had been ordered. They just don't care. Christmas has been and gone, so their failure to get this sorted since you reported it can't be blamed on that. I'm British, I just live in the UAE at the moment, and I can promise you that Christmas chaos has nothing on Ramadan, but also that it is not excuse for them not getting back to you and rectifying the problem or at least proposing a solution. Make no mistake; this is nothing more than unwillingness by Paddock to take responsibility over their legal obligations, and unless you stomp on them, they will string you along indefinitely. Many of us have seen such behaviour from a plethora of businesses over the years and recognise wilful bad service when we see it.

Email them a link to this thread to show them that people are watching their response or lack of it.

Call Trading Standards and lodge a formal complaint.

Well, the best thing would be to refit Defender seats - I found them very comfortable when in good condition, with plenty of lumbar support (less so the newer TDCI type, which I found vastly inferior). If you just need to be able to isolate or connect jump leads, I'd fit isolator switches through the seat base and add an Anderson socket. If you need frequent direct access to the batteries, then some sort of quick release fitting to the seats may work, as long as the seat belts are not attached to the seat itself (like on RRC, Discovery and Defender TDCI).

I can't see any deep scoring or any pitting - it looks like the spot where the seal runs is marked but not grooved. Without being able to feel that area, I can't be very confident, but it looks to me like it'd be fine with a new seal. I'd be inclined to give it clean and then a polish with fine emery (circumferentially, not longitudinally) to see how it scrubs up. The rust is irrelevant as it's well away from the seal, but a little waxoil or grease on it would be beneficial to stop it spreading to the seal area.

I have used Hilti drills many times with varying success, and my Black and Decker domestic drill with results that varied most with the drill bit. It's a standard DIY drill with conventional chuck and hammer action, but it was fine for drilling the very hard reinforced concrete walls we have in the UAE once I got decent masonry bits for it (Bosch) - it did very little with the older bits and even bent a few through 45 degrees. It went from taking over 10 minutes per hole to under 30 seconds, just because of the bits. If you think you may have rebar in the wall, do yourself a favour and get a pipe and wire detector - drilling through rebar is tough regardless of drill type.

I have DeCarbon dampers on my RRC, fitted by the previous owner years before I got it, and still going strong with over 120,000 miles since I bought it. They could do with new bushes, but that's all.

Defender seats are the best thing available for this issue, with their lift out bases cushions. Have yours jammed in somehow?

You can use a pry bar or crow bar between the outside of the socket and a bolt through the flange, with the other end against the ground, to stop the pinion turning while you remove the nut with a breaker bar. Use a scrap bolt as it'll likely bend in the process. The prop shaft nuts and bolts should eb fitted with the bolt head prop side and the nuts diff side - not only does this get around your problem with the mud shield, but it means the prop spider and inner yolks won't foul the greater protrusion of the nuts and bolt ends.

Mike, as the vendor, it's still their responsibility to ensure the parts they sell are fit for purpose and in the case of mail order, that they are shipped in a way that prevents any damage or loss in timely fashion. If they chose to sell Britpart rubbish, then they should expect a lot of demands for refunds.

It is legally their fault regardless of when the damage happened (as long as that was prior to completion of delivery) - they have legal obligation to ensure that the product is built correctly by Marsland and is delivered safely in good order by their courier - that's how this works; the buyer's contract is with the sales company, the sales company has contracts with suppliers, shippers and so on, which are of no concern to the customer.

The DVLA regs are quite specific about modifying chassis. You can add or remove brackets, but you can't remove or alter main structures like the rails or cross members without losing the VIN and having the vehicle inspected and issued with a new identity. If, however, you had intended to leave that cross member in place and add extra support for the gear box, that would be legally fine, but mechanically unnecessary. What you have done is the best solution.

That's the thing - the seal would have pressed lightly against the gasket while being fitted, rather than pressing hard, but as soon as the fitting force was removed, the material of the seal would relax and the pressure on the gasket would all but disappear. You need a smear of RTV sealant around the outside edge of the seal if it has anything other than a rubber surface, and many of them have a metal outer casing with just a leather or rubber lip inside.