Snagger

What brand was the distributor cap? In not genuine Lucas, then it could be the cause. Try refitting the old one. Likewise, leads can be a big problem if not genuine, and even genuine can have a bad one, so removing one at a time might reveal a dodgy one. The mass airflow sensor can cause problems - make sure it can move freely and that the electrical connections are clean and secure.

Well done for working it out and thanks for sharing a good learning point. Hope you hang around!

Good to know. Seems an oddity to allow a newer vehicle through less stringent emissions. LR could get past the emissions issue that supposedly killed it on new Defenders by fitting reconditioned Tdis.

You don't need a relay in the circuit between ignition switch and starter solenoid, though Defenders and RRC/Discovery have one. You just need a heavy relay or separate HD switch for the glow plugs.

Are you sure about that? I don't know the regs, but it sounds unlikely to me that a vehicle would be allowed to pass emissions tests of an older standard. It looks like a nice build, though I always liked the R380 a lot more than the 6-speed. There are a few minor differences on what I'd choose, but I like the concept and motivation, and you're doing a nice job of it.

Has that been added to hide a hole cut for a headlight? It doesn't look like a genuine part to me, but I really don't know.

What I'd love most is the Ricardo electric system with drum motors on each wheel - no diffs or transmission, no engine, no fuel tanks, independent drive on each wheel to match torque and speed to the conditions at each corner. Next best would be to transfer the drive system from a scrapped Tesla - have you seen their figures? Amazing stuff. You'd have enough space to much increase battery size over the Tesla cars, recouping the range lost by the heavier and less aerodynamic LR chassis and body. You can fat charge their batteries in an hour, use a home charger to go from flat to full in 5hr and use an ordinary mains plug to recharge in 10hr. It won't be long before those times are halved or better. Electric will be great - no noise, no fumes, no mess, minimal servicing, can recharge parked on the driveway, no starting problems... Not much good on an expedition vehicle, though. I'd be wary of fitting a TD5 or Tdci to a Series unless replacing the gearbox too - they manage with the Tdi and V8 if driven sympathetically, but those newer engines have quite a lot more torque.

It's a decade since I did it, but that all sounds correct to me, Ed.

It might be that the '83 V8 has the combined gear box and transfer box (LT85 or 95, can't remember which designation it has) while the others have the more refined R380 and LT230 combination, or it may be due to wear and age. It'd not due to the engine itself.

Get the heated screens, Ed, they're fantastic on damp autumn and winter mornings; fogging clears in seconds and stays clear - no more waiting for the engine to warm up or wiping the inside of the screens down only for them to fog up again, and likewise in freezing fog, where standard screens ice up within seconds of setting off. I used a roll of number plate adhesive tape, making two layers before fitting the screen. It does make getting old screens out laborious, but it holds them squeak free and allows enough movement to prevent stressing the glass.

How did you wire up the heater plug switching? Straight through the ignition switch or with a relay? If you didn't use a relay, you'll have fried the ignition switch.

Alloy wheels are wider than the steel wheels, which can be important for those needing slightly wider tyres for snow or sand without increasing weight on the bonnet or rear door - HD rims are a good deal heavier than LR alloys. Aftermarket 7" steel wheels alter the vehicle track, which many people don't want. I appreciate they are also less robust than steel wheels, but punctures are likely on expeditions, wheel failure is not unless you try to replicate the Camel Trophy, in which case you'd be an idiot. So, they have their place on an off road prepared vehicle as long as they're not of silly sizes or appearances.

I think Defenders can look great or terrible with adornments - it depends on what has been added, how and why. Bull bars, snorkels, roll cages - all fine if matt or satin black, but if chromed or polished stainless, then they are pure bling and not my taste. Winch? Useful to many. Big tryes? OK, I think a lot of the time it's done for posing, but some vehicles warrant them. Suspension lifts? If done correctly and moderately, fine. What I don't understand is the Urban Truck type, or the blingy Nene Icons. They don't even look like Defenders anymore. The good thing about those armour-looking panels on the Khan vehicles is that they are stick-on, not bolted, so should be removable without damage. Still, as much as I dislike shiny or pointless mods, admiring subdued useful mods only, I do appreciate that it's all in the eye of the beholder and the owner's choice.

Looks pressed to me. I'd try pressing it out using a proper hydraulic press. You may need to heat the cast part to expand it, especially on pressing the new pin in.

The engine sits further aft and lower in a Series than in a Defender, especially 300Tdi and later, so might not be an issue on them, but the V8 does have a weight advantage. Unrelated to that response, I have found that with a little sound proofing of the bulkhead, most of the noise on my 109 came from the transmission. That is going to be the same regardless of engine choice unless you replace the transmission too. Sound proofing the seat base, tunnel and floor help, but most noise still seems to come from there in my case, and that's with a rebuilt transmission (ie. not faulty). I don't know if others using Tdis with standard Series transmission find the same. So, in my experience, slating the engine for its (admittedly increased) noise and harshness is disingenuous. As for low rpm torque, yes, it does suffer from a lack of boost and is lower than the 2.5 nad at less than 1400rpm. It's a costly fix, but VNT turbos help a lot. While that may seem an impossible outlay for many who'd argue for the V8, I'd counter that the Tdi and V8 engines in good order will probably cost about the same, and that the cost of a VNT could be compared to a good LPG conversion. So, it's swings and roundabouts... I think the final arguments there will come down to the fact that the Tdi will gve much greater range for a fuel capacity while the V8 will be a nicer, smoother drive. Which is most important is down to the individual. But I think the loss of footwell space is an important issue on V8 conversions.

I'm not keen on the way it was done on the Eden Project's 110, but the Ricardo prototype from a few years ago really floats my boat - drum motors on each wheel, electronically controlled to provide ideal speed or torque to the individual wheels, so better than locking diffs, with no IC engine, gear boxes, prop shafts or diffs. The spaces in the chassis were used for batteries. So, also a low CoG with little overall increase in mass and increased ground clearance (no diff cases). No leaks, no wading worries and a near silent drive system. I think the only negative would be recharging times, but as battery tech improves, I think that'll be the future. What's not to love about that design?

So, you massively overgeared the vehicle and then say the engine is rubbish? Fitting both overdrive and 3.54 diffs doesn't often work. Then you complain that an incomplete diesel vehicle with no sound proofing is noisy? Fine to experiment, but to drive it once and get rid was foolish. To brag about it is ludicrous.

That's fine that you didn't like it, but you said there was an extensive amount of modification needed to make a Tdi work in a Series vehicle, and that simply isn't the case. Even the overdrive is optional, though the exercise would be fairly pointless for most people without increased gearing. As for my tone, your statement that fitting a Tdi turns a lovely vehicle in to a soulless truck that is a chore to drive is fairly insulting to those who have made the mod and are proud of their vehicles. Personal opinions are fine, but blanket statements about ruining vehicles and incorrect postulations about the characteristics when you only did half the job are going to provoke a reaction.

What? Fitting an overdrive, which has been a factory option since the SI, is too much of a change? Pray tell what else you think has to be changed...

Should be more reliable and long lived, too, with no membranes or reciprocating parts.

That might work on the Rover axle. 90/Disco rear discs don't work for the Salisbury axle as the calliper brackets put the 90/Discovery callipers too far inboard; you'd have to mill them thinner to move the callipers outboard. That's why most end up with the odd combination of Disco rear callipers, 90/Disco front/110 rear discs (same disc) and 90/110 front hubs on Salisbury disc conversions. The good news is that it all fits well once you add a spacer between bracket and axle flange. The disc diameter and thickness is a bit big for the smaller calliper, but it all clears. You might have to occasionally spin the disc over with the wheel off to remove thick rust with a file or grinder, but even that is unlikely. The brake system from a Discovery/RRC is well suited to the 109 - the max gross weight is very similar.

The Smart car has a very robust cab due to clever design, but it has no mass and no crumple zones, and there lies its safety problem. But Defender could easily be made safer by beefing up the door pillars and windscreen frame, or even just adding a modified MoD-spec roll over hoop. Yes, there is more cost, but not enormous and Defender buyers would accept that. I can't help feeling that McGovern has the ear of the senior management and has persuaded them that Defender is too working class and an embarrassment rather than the backbone of the brand's credibility. That view is reinforced by the pile of **** he came up with - DC100. Classic McGovern style over substance. I think he's the problem.

If you want to stick to manual steering but have the future proofing of being set up ready for PAS, then go for the 90/110 manual system - it uses the same steering columns (both upper and lower) and drag link as the PAS version and the steering box fits the same chassis brackets, so it'd just be a matter of swapping the box and adding a pump, pulleys and hydraulic lines. However, if you're not dead set on keeping manual steering, go straight for a P38 box. They are tougher and more reliable than the Adwest Defender/Disco 1/RRC type and the brackets could be installed whilst retaining the Series steering parts too, allowing you to change back if you chose. The P38 box has about the same gear ratio as the SIII box, so the same road wheel displacement for a given steering wheel movement, so handling is completely unchanged, but the wander is gone and the steering is feather light (I can turn the wheel lock to lock with one little finger while parked). While I always thought it was an un-necessary luxury/lazy mod, it was in fact one of the most transformative changes I made and I should have done it years ago. I have a fully write up with photos on my blog.

I've been saying the same thing for a while - the LR "Genuine Excuses" for shutting down Defender are lies. The main claim of engine emissions makes no sense - if the engine is clean enough for Transits, why not Defenders? As for safety, if they can sell the Jeep Wrangler, the G Wizz and the Smart Car, then they can sell Defenders. It is a purely commercial decision based on the comparatively low profit margins of the hand built Defender versus the higher margins of the robot assembled other models. Ship the assembly abroad and the cost issue disappears. Then you get a PR issue - shift the production of such an icon overseas just for increased profit and it'll hurt the image of what is marketed as a very British company. Announce the end of the line and then resurrect it elsewhere and they get seen as the saviour of the Defender, listening to the customers and saving an icon, which is a PR win. It's all pretty transparent.

Cam belts are on long enough service intervals to qualify as a nuisance rather than major issue, and while 300 heads can warp, 200 heads are pretty robust. They have potential flaws like any engine, and as always you have to be careful buying second hand, but they compare well against V8 with their cam shaft, lifter and V gasket issues. I think the biggest risk is the turbo, because it'll suffer in the hands of an idiot more than the engine itself, but that is pretty easy to check for bearing wear. But I see what you're getting at: there is a myth about them being indestructible, and that is simply untrue of any engine.