Snagger

The Tdis are prone to vibration because they were first generation direct injection - DI is harsher than indirect injection. Later engines use multi stage injection to soften the combustion stroke. The 12J and 19J were indirect injection engines, so are smoother than the Tdi, so you can fit whichever mounts you prefer. Series square mounts should be strong enough without needing any fettling of the left SIII brackets.

The Tdis are prone to vibration because they were first generation direct injection - DI is harsher than indirect injection. Later engines use multi stage injection to soften the combustion stroke. The 12J and 19J were indirect injection engines, so are smoother than the Tdi, so you can fit whichever mounts you prefer. Series square mounts should be strong enough without needing any fettling of the left SIII brackets.

It's only an issue with the Tdi - the other engines run smoothly enough not to cause vehicle vibration problems. I had a 2.25p which I replaced with a 19J (never buy one of those!),then a 12J and later a 200Tdi, so I have tried all but the 10J and 2.5 petrol! The large round rubbers don't fit the Series left mount well without trimming the mount flanges, but that is easy enough with a grinder. They're all the same thickness and all have similar diameter studs, but I expect the Series mounts use Imperial threads while the large round mounts are metric.

Im impressed they handle that weight - I may need to look at fitting some, trouble is I have a Tdi bonnet with SIII wings.

There is no master cylinder wear compensation system on either brake type - as the brakes wear, if they are kept adjusted, the slave piston displacement at rest will be greater and the reservoir fluid will need a top up. The differing comments are only valid where drum brakes are not adjusted as they wear, in other words, not maintained (so the shoe returns to the original position, with excess gap and excess pedal travel). Disc brake master cylinders produce more pressure but less volume than drum as there is usually very little distance for the pads to move to apply pressure, unlike brake shoes on drum systems, contrary to some comments. That is why the master cylinder is so thin on a disc braked Land Rover than a drum braked one - the smaller diameter allows the same pedal force to create a greater hydraulic pressure as for the same force, reducing the square inches means a rise in pressure on each square inch. You will find that for disc brakes, you will at the very least need the vacuum boosted master from a dual circuit SIII 109. That may be sufficient for the Zeus kit. However, it wasn't nearly good enough on my 109 when I fit Discovery/RRC brakes, and it needed a matching master cylinder. It is possible that the servo failed as the change was made, as the servo and master didn't work well on the Lightweight with its standard brakes. I did incorporate the biasing valve from the donor Discovery into the 109 rear line .

Glad it helps. For future reference, the blocks of the 2.25 petrol and diesel (10J), 2.5 petrol and diesel (12J), 2.5 TD (19J) and 200 Tdi (both Defender and Discovery/RRC) are fundamentally the same as far as mountings go, the 300 Tdi is not, though. So, a 2.25 left mount and 2.5 right mount will fit all those engines and give good flexibility. The rubbers vary - there are small diameter circular rubbers for 2.25 petrol, square for 2.25 diesel and then larger circular for all 2.5s including 200Tdi on Defender mounts. The best rubbers seem to be the Bearmach units that Glencoyne Engineering stocks. As I understand it, Bearmach have two or three grades, so you need the right one. Other brands, including LR Gen Parts, are too hard with the Tdi and transmit a lot of vibration.

Delphi should be OK, but if there is an underlaying cause like a blockage, they will fail prematurely because of working so much harder. We all have to replace these pumps from time to time, but yours is premature. You could have been unlucky, but I'd be checking the rest oft he system over. If there is a fault, it'd likely ruin an electric pump quickly too, and I really don't see much of an advantage in one. They're not cheap, either.

Yes, or a blockage between tank and filter that the lift pump can't overcome. Have you checked the gauze strainer on the bottom of the pickup pipe? It might be clogged with sediment.

Given their age, you can expect any MoD vehicle to have rust inside the bulkhead. How bad depends on its history rather than age. But given the choice between a 12J powered 90/110 or a Wolf in similar condition, I'd go for the latter.

Bleed the clutch with the vehicle parked pointing uphill (or jacked up, remembering safety pints like chocks and axle stands) to make sure that any air in the slave cylinder is forced to the bleed nipple - it's impossible to get a 100% bleed with the vehicle level or pointing down.

As you have a plain bonnet, then the type in Ralph's link is easiest to use, as fitted to TD5 and TDCI which didn't carry bonnet mounted spare wheels. If you have a spare wheel there, then this prop is too weak and you'd need the older single rod prop from the Tdis, but that swings backward and clips along the parallel bonnet frame runner in a small clip, and is more awkward to use (especially with a bullbar). I have that type and while it has the strength. I dislike it. I'd rather have the old scissor type.

I'd be surprised if it's not a dry UJ squeaking. I've had that before where greasing would only get to two or three cups, the others remaining dry, and the needles eventually wear, break up and squeal. It sounds like a cup of tea being stirred while driving. Repetitive squeaking from the bulkhead is usually the bonnet hinges - a little light oil stops that for a little while, a longer term fix being removing the bonnet, cleaning out the rust inside the furl of the bulkhead part of the hinge, applying grease and then reassembling.

If you'r planning to keep the vehicle a long time, I'd recommend removing sills to have them regalvanised, or at least give them a damned good clean up, remove any rust and prime with something highly rust resistant, paint, and give the interior of the B and C pillars a very thorough wax coating. As said, they're expensive to replace. The simpler sills on three door models were galvanised, but they get a lot of road spray and eventually start rusting. These more complex sills weren't galvanised on five door models, at least the late ones, because of the difficulty of painting them.

One knock per wheel revolution fits with the diff cross pin idea.

2.5 mounts fit 2.25 blocks, so you wouldn't need to do anything to convert back to 2.25.

Oil being forced out of gaskets and seals can be another indication of breathing problems.

I used Turner Engineering for parts for my 12J and 200Tdi, and more recently had them rebuild my 300Tdi (I wanted that specific engine rebuilt, not exchanged, for vehicle originality, and they were happy to oblige). I have also had plenty of advice from them over the phone. I rate them very highly.

I have seen a couple of 109s done this way. You could use SIII van sides which would give rear windows but solid sides, or you could find some older SII panels which are solid at the back too. You could also fit 110 rear panels, which would be solid throughout. As much as I dislike the aesthetic of missing the rear windows, they are the weakest point in terms of security, ridiculously easy to push in. Of course, you could always fit guards or the Masai type bonded glass if you use the panels with solid sides but glazed rears.

I suspect the prop shaft, but check your wheel nuts are secure and check the tyres for damage. Check the rear diff pinion bearings for play. I did have a problem with the rear diff on a 90 that sounded like the rear door rattling and was road speed dependent, and it transpired to be the diff cross pin's roll pin having sheared, allowing the cross pin to slide out. It can't go far as it gets held in by the ring gear, but the end of the cross pin was contacting the head of the pinion at higher road speeds, leaving witness marks on both. You would e able to see the pattern on the pinion with a torch through the filler plug hole.

It could be an air leak before the pump. Have you checked the oil level and smell? If it is higher, then it may be diesel leaking through the lift pump diaphragm on the pressure stroke, which would allow air in on the sucking stroke.

The lift pump has two non return valves.

Bushwhacker, you can use a step cutter, which is essentially a stepped conical drill bit, to make a 1/2" hole at each low spot - that's all it'll need. Spiker, a thorough wash out inside and out with clean mains water is important to get mud and salt off. Let it dry fully before applying wax. Nene Overland have a Waxoil workshop in Peterborough, but Dinitrol is a better product (it's what Boeing use on their airliners), and I'm no fan of Nene. Given your location, I'd recommend Richard at Glencoyne Engineering.

If the pump initially sucks well but later doesn't, it suggests the engine breather is blocked - the vacuum pump dumps its air into the crank case's cam shaft gallery.

The strongest Defender axle is the drum braked Salisbury, followed by the disc braked Salisbury, then the 4-pin Rover diff type like on TDCI 110s. The Salisbury diffs are the same in both generations, but the shafts are constant thickness on the earlier units while the later have thinner shafts with raised sections for seal lands. The later type also has thinner drive flanges with shorter splines and their wheel bearings are closer together, which reduces their side load resilience. It is possible to convert a drum braked Salisbury axle to discs, using the later axle's caliper brackets, early 90/110 front hubs and 90/RRC/Disco rear calipers. If you want to fit alloys, then it needs more work as the old hubs and drive flanges foul the inside of the wheel and the plastic centre cone is longer than late axles - you need a 1/4" spacer (the centre of a scrap brake drum works well), and arguably should use longer studs to compensate for that lost 1/4" of thread (I used Wolf studs, which are 1/2" longer, which subsequently required the wheel nuts to be tapped out deeper, but I have no concerns about how secure my wheels are!). The plastic cone will still protrude through the centre of the alloy wheel unless you do something like I did and have the drive flanges cross drilled and pinned to the shafts and the ends welded up flush with the end of the flange.

Hi folks. I have been following Duncmc's thread and read through all of Task's CSK rebuild, but do any of you know of any other documented restorations of RRCs? I'm after a little inspiration, missing my RRC and 109 locked away in England.