Snagger

Nige, I agree that there are far too many folk who over-extol the virtues of the Tdi conversion to the extent of being rabid, but being a zealous anti is just as bad. Let people make their own choices based on facts and needs. The one downside of the Tdi fit is the noise, but in all honesty, a very large part of that noise increase is from the tyres, transmission and wind from being able to drive at much higher speeds than the original Series engines permitted. I had a lovely little Lightweight FFR with a 2.25 petrol that was perfect as a play thing, but would be a poor daily driver. My 109 started out with a 2.25P and was hopeless.

With no wish to sound callous, I don't think the skills required to do this mod are possessed by someone who needs a step by step guide, especially one who cannot identify his vehicle or fails to recognise the importance of specifics when asking the question. A lot of novices overestimate their ability or underestimate the difficulty of modifications, invariably resulting in stalled projects and scrapped vehicles. There are good guides all over the internet of how people have done the mod, with lots of different solutions. I'd suggest google search and reading as many write ups as possible before deciding definitively if you have to tools, time, resources and ability to do this.

The oil gets whipped up into a mist when driving, so the bearings will be well lubricated.

The benefits of the Tdi over the 2.25 petrol are double the range, little more than half the fuel cost per mile, a 50%+ increase in power and torque, immunity to damp and even deep wading with simple additions of a snorkel and wading plug, and far better starting and reliability with much less maintenance. The downside is the noise and vibration, which isn't too bad with a 300. If I was to build my 109 over again, I would consider a gas fed V8 for better driving manners and better comfort, but even though the gas costs per mile are comparable (ish) to the Tdi costs, you still have less than half the range of the Tdi, which is an issue for exped vehicles, and have an especially hydrophobic engine. You also lose foot well space in the passenger side, which is already narrow enough. The Tdi is by no means a perfect SII/SIII solution, but it is one of the best. For petrol, I think a stroked and tuned 2.5 4-pot made 2.8l would be preferable to a 3.5 V8, but for my application, range and water resistance are still an issue. It all comes down to what you use the vehicle for. For low mileage play things, V8s will generally be best, but for long distance workhorses, Tdis are better.

Terri-Ann Wakeman did this on her 109 Dormobile, if I recall, to good effect.

That is exactly what the Gon2Far dumbiron does at the front end of the front springs, and the revolver shackles at the back of the rear springs. You could go one stage further and have that front hanger system and revolvers on all four springs, but I can't see it making much difference; there is enough torsion in the springs not to need it, and it would give unstable handling for little extra articulation.

Ed, when I converted my Salisbury rear axle to discs, I used 110 rear discs with Discovery callipers (all round). That combination needed spacing between the stub axle flange and the calliper bracket, though I can't remember if it was 6 or 8mm. Either way, I think that will give you the opportunity to sort the PCD issue at the same time by having a partial collar of that offset thickness, rotating the calliper bracket around a little so that the bracket retaining bolts sit into tapped holes between the stub axle bolt holes. As I recall, the fixing holes on the brackets are on lugs, not a continuous inside radius, so all bolt heads for the spacer to axle clear the bracket, and the bolts securing the bracket to the spacer needn't penetrate the axle flange or stub axle flange if cut to length.

Try to picture the movements of the springs and shackles. Double shackles are pointless and will not help articulation but will collapse and cause failures. The point of revolvers is to reduce longitudinal spring torsion when the axle articulates so it is no longer parallel to the chassis cross members. Any fancy shackle that doesn't incorporate that longitudinal pivot is a waste of time, having no benefit over the original shackles and plenty of negatives. The blue folding shackles are evidently designed by someone trying to achieve the leaf spring equivalent of coiler dislocation cones, allowing a dropping spring and wheel to drop further, but the execution is more involved than Jim Bob's plan (which would collapse). Their practical benefit is negligible.

It'd be a bit costly, but could you fit a prop with double cardan joints at each end? The other option would be to fit a prop with a double cardan at the transmission end and rotate the axle 10 degrees or so to reduce the rear UJ angle.

I don't think that rear hub mood will make a difference - as far as I know, an I'm ready to be corrected, the only difference is the bearings (equal sizes on the post 1980, same brgs as Defender and RRC), the seal and corresponding seal land on the stub, and some of the early hubs had lubrication ports that were deleted on the SIII. I think the hub dimensions are the same, so you'll only get the Rostyles on with long studs and a thin (1/4" or so) spacer or by turning a bevel on the drive flanges. As for the front axle shafts, would the right hand shaft from a coiler not work? The diff is dispaleced much further right on the coiler axles, so I think the length is about the same as on the SII and SIII. That just leaves the left (special) shaft and bearings/bushings to worry about.

Good to hear you're fit again. Would it be bad form to have a sweep stake on how long it'll be until the next A&E visit? Will you take Paypal for this and UK postage, Nige? I'm not conveniently located for sending a cheque or collection...

The agreed value will increase your premium proportionately. As long as your valuation isn't ridiculous, they won't care - they are getting their money. As above, they usually ask for 8 photos - one of each side, one front and rear, one of the engine bay, and of the interior. Many have limited mileage, with additional premiums for increasing the mileage limit.

The early axles have wet hubs, so the diff oil can get into the hubs via the half shafts. The bearings are greased on assembly, but the hub seal, drive flange gasket and plastic centre cone all keep the oil in and will be wet. Later axles (300Tdi+) have a seal inside the stub axle that runs on a raised seal land on the half shaft, keeping oil in the axle case and out of the hub. This is a backwards step as it starves the half shaft and drive flange splines of lubrication and the wheel bearings rely solely on the grease applied in assembly, which eventually dries out. My recommendation is to remove or wreck that stub axle seal and use RTV sealant when fitting the centre cone to mimic the earlier spec.

Those are not locating dowels but interlocks - they prevent the simultaneous selection of two gears by acting on a cross-pin in the middle shaft; there is only enough room for one shaft to clear an interlock at a time, the other having an interlock engaged in the neutral (middle) groove.

Series vehicles oversteer when pushed hard, especially 109s. They also have a lower centre of gravity than the Defender because the engine and transmission are mounted much lower, which helps with roll.

As Les said, removing and refitting the selector shafts and forks can be done without removing the box. It can be a bit of a fiddle, but it's not that bad. 3rd/4th comes out first, followed by 1t/2nd, then reverse. Refit in the opposite order. Make sure the reverse fork engages in the reverse gear slot, not behind its lip. It's simple enough. The position of the 1st/2nd fork on its shaft is critical, at least on later boxes. I think I included the measurement in my blog articles, but it is included in the LR manual and, if I remember correctly, the Haynes manual supplemental section at the back.

Obviously, the suspension set up for spirited driving is still going to vary depending on the rest of the vehicle - weight and centre of gravity will be hugely affected by accessories, body type and loads carried. Certainly the best results will be from stock height or lower vehicles on relatively flat parabolics. Gas dampers will deal better with the constant motion of the suspension as standard dampers may boil over. Spring rate and damper stiffness will depend on the vehicle. Anti roll bars from a 109 Ambulance will do wonders if the vehicle has a high CoG from having a roof rack or tent. A pickup bodied vehicle with no load would probably not benefit from ARBs much. Radial tyres with a lower than usual profile would help a lot. Going wide tread is good for dry roads, but increases aquaplaning in the wet, so 235/80R16 on 7" rims would probably be the way to go, but don't think spacers will help - they will adversely affect steering feel.

I have done two of my vehicles with Zeus Engineering's stainless pistons. They are truly excellent, and any disc braked LRs I have in the future will get more of the same. They provided genuine seals and retainers in the first kit, but Britpart on the second. The seals are fine, but as said, the retainers don't fit. Try to save the originals as you remove them, or buy new genuine retainers. Make sure the seal seats are scrupulously clean, with not a hint of dirt or rust, and lightly file the outer edge of the seal retainer before fitting so that they don't pick up on the lip.

They aren't structural, they just protect the floor from damage when sliding in pallets and boxes.

With the best will on my part, it's a terrible idea. One wheel drive will give appalling handling, especially in the wet, potentially dangerously bad, and will overstress the single half shaft carrying the load. Welding up diffs is an atrocious bodge and those who do it on anything other than a dedicated trialler should have their heads examined. Far better to save up and do the job properly with a locking or LSD, even second hand.

The idea behind the drillings is to allow the gasses created by the pad heating to escape into pockets rather than "lubricate" the friction interface. The grooves are for self cleaning. If you are doing sustained braking that causes a lot of heat build up, then the drillings should help. But for normal use, they will reduce contact area, and so reduce braking slightly. For off road use, they will collect mud and accelerate wear like said above. The best discs for off road applications is plain solid discs - not vented, grooved or drilled.

Whatever you do, you have to be sure it'll be safe if it malfunctions while you're driving at speed or on a dangerous piece of road or trail. So, while the hydraulic locks are legal in clutch lines, they are illegal and unsafe in brake lines, and ideas like blinding dash strobe lights or tasers are positively lethal if they go off accidentally.

It is also why some people fit the front tyres reversed (directional pattern treads), so that if you get into something too sticky, you have grip to reverse out. I have seen a fair few MoD LRs like that.

I use VWP for most of my bits. I kept it simple on my rebuild - I repaired the original loom, which wasn't bad, removing all previous mods and returning it to standard except for the engine wiring, which had a few variations in lengths for the connections to the Tdi. I only added a reverse light system to the loom and cut short the head light feeds to control relays mounted on the inner wing, one for dipped and one for high beam and spots. I spliced indicator side repeaters into the front indicator wiring, as these use low wattage bulbs and are within the standard looms capacity, and added an LED red strip to the rear door glass as a high level brake light. The Tdi glow plug relay was wired up independently of the loom, the only connections to the original wiring being the output of the relay to the cold start warning lamp holder, a trigger and kill wire off the ignition switch terminals and a connection to the battery. The accessories, including stereo, rear screen wash wipe and all screen, mirror and seat heaters (and even the heater blower fan) and engine cooling electric fan all run from a bus bar from a second battery (split charge relay), all using 20A Carling Tech switches to avoid the need for relays, simplifying the circuits and saving space. The original loom retains the fuse box under the steering column (even post PAS installation), though all the fuses are now used and the order was changed a little to be more appropriate. The accessory loom uses a Defender fuse box below the dash.

I also had EBC drilled and grooved discs, all replaced at the same time. never a judder or squeal, but markedly better braking than the original OEM pads and discs which were in worn but fair condition. What discs do you use with the EBC pads?