Snagger

The core engine is the same for both 200s, so you can just swap the Defender timing case and manifolds to the rebuilt engine. The turbo core is the same too; just swap the turbine and compressor casings over if the current turbo s worn out. Then you don't need to replace or reroute all the plumbing.

What age or engine type is the vehicle? Post photos of the hubs if you can, as it makes a difference as to whether alloys will fit without mods or spacers.

You can fit the Defender 200 or the 300 Tdis, but not the Discovery/RRC 200 with the turbo still attached - it fouls the chassis badly. 109 chassis are much deeper than 88s.

Read the bulkhead plates again, specifically the parts about the red knob. 30mph limit sounds about right for low range.

It will reduce the compression a tiny bit, but will have next to no effect. I doubt you'd notice it.

Do you mean the potentiometer on top of the throttle spindle? If so, that's the EGR input (signals the EGR open or closed); just leave it disconnected or remove it completely. If you mean near the back, over the fuel solenoid, I think it's called EDC and is the bit that corresponds to the "spider" on the heater blower that is connected to the immobiliser. You can swap it out for a regular solenoid setup.

The radiator cold outlet is on the same side as the hot inlet on the 300, so you'd need to either play about with making hoses fit or replace the rad, but given that the engine would still be aft in the 200 position, 300 pipes will probably not reach. You'll have the same fun with the intercooler piping, but that'd be true of using the Discovery 200 too.

I'd say that is the rear axle centreline, and always will be - it is the only point that always points at the centre of the turning circle, and does so on all radius, not just minimum, unless you have rear axle steering. I suspect it is only written in that confusing way for double rear axled vehicles, as that transverse line will be roughly half way between them (probably slightly closer to the axle bearing most weight, or if one axle has castoring or steer-assist, then closer tot the axle with fixed wheels, so there will be exceptions to it being through an axle). So, the overhang would seem to start from above the rear axle or at the back of an 8-person cabin, whichever is the furthest aft, as far as I can understand.

The facelift parts get stolen a lot, though less than when the cars were still young. I doubt it's worth the trouble. What is certainly worth the money is getting the chassis and body shell treated. It'll cost £5-600 to be done well, which means steam cleaning inside and out and then cavity wax inside the chassis sections, door frames and the body shell voids and tubes, plus a more resilient coating of the chassis, axles and bodyshell underside (floors, wheel arches, etc). I recommend Rustmaster near Hatfield - he did a great job on my wife's 90.

Another vote for the LR bottle jack. They were also included by LR on TDCI Defenders, not just RRC, Discovery and P38, though my wife's was black rather than the deep red most were. You see plenty of them for sale at the big shows for £10-15. Pick a good one (check the pistons for scoring or damage by extending it fully) and remember the two-piece handle! Trolley jacks are great on the driveway, but awful things to lug around in the car. I just use the LR type - they are surprisingly strong and with their double piston, lift a long way (Halfords and other general types only have a single piston, so only have half the lift height; don't get one of those)

Just one or two, though, Fridge... Tackling a rebuild without manuals is crazy. The Haynes manual is for the most part a reproduction of the LR Workshop Manual, with added photos. The Parts Catalogue is worth having, too.

... well, it would, because there is not enough space for the standard rear tank and they cut off the back end along the forward edge of the original filler aperture, and those Series front filler assemblies are easier to install than Defender types as they need no spot welding or folding of the cut edges. With a little effort, they could have used the original filler, and it would have looked far neater.

He'd want to keep the other engine complete, so you can swap your undrilled elbow with his switch equipped one. The rubber seal around the thermostat should keep your engine water tight when you do the swap; there is no gasket in the joint. You'll just need to top up the coolant on completion. You can use the aircon without those switches, if you keep an aye on the engine temperature - a manual switch to activate the booster fans and switching the aircon off if they can't cope will do the same thing. It's just nice to have t taken care of automatically.

Yes to all of the above. You will need the exhaust manifold from a 10 or 12J normally aspirated diesel. Glencoyne Engineering has instructions on his website how to mate it up as the stud patterns are a little different. I would also recommend a 2" bore exhaust; I found a standard 2.25l petrol exhaust caused high temperatures on long hills. As for the flywheel housing to gear box bell housing, you can try the Series flywheel housing, but I know the 12J (2.5nad) housing fits the block and only needs one stud moving to mate to the SIII box. The Discovery housing will also fit, with a few studs added after their blind holes have been tapped out, but you still need to do something about the four bolts that go through the bottom of the Discovery bell housing and the flywheel housing into the ladder frame under the block. I recommend using socket head screws that secure against the surface of the flywheel housing, drilling holes for their heads in the bell housing flange. Received wisdom is to shoulder bore the flywheel housing to recess the heads, which is neat, but then you can't remove them to get the ladder frame off for crank shaft access without removing the gear box.

I hope so, but when you have judges stating their admiration for the bravery of burglars, it doesn't give much hope in the judiciary.

That's right, Boydie. I did this about 18-24 months ago.

I would use the modern Jerry can lockers and have a piece of aluminium tig welded or bonded into the hole left above - panel bond is almost as strong as welding and wouldn't cause heat distortion, so a body shop could do it quite cheaply if you're happy having double later strips inside to lap the joints. The most expensive part would be having them paint it. As for the size of that new locker, you could cut a hole in its base and add a lower floor, allowing the top of the bottle to be below the wheel arch instead of sticking up inside the vehicle.

Try a plumbers shop, electricians supply or hardware shop. They're not as unusual as you think. A friend rebuilt his 90 using domed stainless socket screws and nuts in place of the rivets and used white plastic washers to isolate them from the aluminium. It was a very smart job.

Back on the origin of this thread, it's interesting and disappointing the brand involved in this. Maverick has also had problems with his SS exhaust, rattles in a badly assembled muffler. The SS exhaust I had on my 109 fit fine, but the grade of stainless was carp - apart from the muffler, the whole thing rusted and looked really ugly; it was solid and serviceable, but not what I had expected.

Sadly it would. Some British OAPs have been prosecuted for burglars cutting themselves on razor wire on the top of fences (a regular victim of burglary) and for falling through skylights. What the hell is going through the minds of the legal aids and judges is beyond me. If you were to whack them, the best thing would be to silence the thief permanently and dispose of the body in a cunning fashion.

Before you start throwing money at accessories and mods, live with the car, give it a thorough service, find out what needs repairing and rectifying, and slowly determine how you're going to use it and what changes if any need doing to make it work better in that role - there is no point adding lighting to a day laner, a roof rack to a pay and play or trials vehicle, a soft suspension lift to an expedition vehicle and so on. Change what you need, seeking advice on those specific issues; don't be asking for ideas on what you can change, as you'll end up with an expensive mess.

In that case, I'd use that cargo rail along the floor edges as it gives great flexibility in moving the tie downs. If you are happy to spend more, running them along the top outer edge of the wheel arches would also be good. Stainless steel is even worse than mild steel for causing aluminium corrosion. Try to put a plastic barrier between the metals.

Where are you planning to put the load, and how big is the load? Ideally, the tie downs should be bolted through the wheel arch or floor with big washers. Try to use a thin but robust layer of plastic and some grease between the washers and aluminium to prevent electrolytic corrosion.

Do you mean by "trim" the body cappings, ie. the parts that used to be galvanised on early models? If so, I wouldn't use those interior slopes for tie downs - the cappings are only secured by rivets, and I don't think they'd take a lot of force to shear or pull through the aluminium.

Everything under the bonnet should fit, but you'd need the evaporator and a housing for inside the cab, and some pipes to make it join up. Make sure you get the thermostat housing elbow from the Discovery, as it has two switches that are missing from yours that activate the additional electric fans and cshut the aircon down if the engine starts getting too hot. It'd be worth getting as much of the wiring for that as you can, so help remove the system from the Discovery, tracing and marking up the wiring as you go.