Snagger

Weren't they used on later SII 109s as well, once they stopped using ENV?

My fobs failed (95 soft dash, same one-button alarm I think) and I contacted Remotekey. They couldn't replace the fobs at the time, but were able to provide a modified later (two button) ecu and fobs with extra features not included in factory guise. It was well worth the money, and was a direct replacement with the wiring adaptor they included.

With the box and torque converter/housing from a Discovery II, it should be reasonably straight forward mechanically for a professional or experienced enthusiast, but it'd be a big job for a novice. I don't know about mountings.

I've never seen them in the flesh, but they look pretty clever to me. They'd create less drag and noise than most, for sure.

I'd refit the original water pump and thermostat for a start, but the rear mounted rad isn't going to be good for high speeds.

Adwest or secondhand would be my advice - I've had a recon unit through a LR specialist and it failed in six months. The second hand unit was going strong when the car was taken off the road three or so years after fitting it, and though there is no guarantee with s/h, the price is reflective of that.

I have been very happy with my Hellas. I had two of the round Hellas on the bull bar and four Ring spots on the roof, but later change to two rectangular Hellas on the bar and four round Hellas on the roof. The quality difference in robustness and beam accuracy is profound. I can't remember which of the Hella types I have is the Rallaye and the Comet, since I have both, but the circular type are best unless you need space around a winch. But if you have the cash, some of these new LED bars look very good.

I found on my 300Tdi the noise was coming from the water pump, even though it initially seemed to be from the top idler. The fan spindle bearings can also make noise as they have greased-for-life bearings which dry out with age. Unfortunately, they have a non-standard integrated bearing pot and shaft, so can't be replaced separately from the timing cover, unless you have a new shaft made and the cover machined to take off-the-shelf replacement bearings. Doing that cost me slightly less than a new cover and bearing assembly, but it will be cheap next time the bearings wear out.

Timken diff carrier bearings are £60 each, +VAT, so that's £144 for just those two bearings, You still need the pinion bearings and seal, wheel bearing kits at about £20 each side, new brake cylinders, shoes and drums, then there's the media blasting and painting, the labour, the workshop overheads, commercial insurance, rates and such....

I cleaned a cooling system very quickly and easily with caustic soda and water. It made a huge difference tot he heater's output, and would be down not only to clearing the heater matrix but also the block and head, allowing them to transfer heat into the coolant. You just have to flush very thoroughly afterwards - I don't think protracted exposure to such strong alkali would do the water pump a lot of good. I did have exactly your symptoms with a 2.5 NAD in my 109 while running on a 2.25 petrol exhaust. I think the mufflers are different, and the 2.5 exhaust is much wider, but couldn't say whether the same is true of the 2.25 NAD exhaust. Fitting a 2" pipe with the correct muffler stopped the problem instantly and permanently.

If they void the axle warranty on vehicles with overdrives, then they have no idea what they're doing - the overdrive results in less torque being transmitted to the diff, even in the revolutions can be stepped up while downhill. The forces are less than on standard configurations and markedly less than where engines have been changed, which you don't mention as an exclusion. There is more con than re in the recon business. Look at the prices for Turner Engineering and you'll see the difference where things are done thoroughly. I agree that for £275, it's a tosh up, not a proper recon job.

Good. I'll have an XL green polo shirt with white embroidery, please! Remind me about the payment details were written.

I never understand peoples' urge to fit electric fans except where engine driven doesn't fit (like after engine retrofits) - the engine driven fan is always the better option. I had to use electric on my 109 because a Discovery 200Tdi engine fan is too low and fouls the chassis. Anyway, the reliable budget option of: a) a new Kenlowe fan with its boiler thermostat, or b) a second hand fan from a scrappy with an X Fan is option b. There is nothing wrong with the Kenlowe fan itself, but the controller is carp. But a second hand big fan from a large car or van is ideal and little less effective than a premium fan.

It has to be reliable, and being neat is a bonus to avoid wires getting caught in the fan. While at face value the X Switch may appear expensive, if you consider the time it would take you to fabricate your own, and the cost of the materials, you'll see it's actually very cost effective. Don't skimp on parts that should save your engine from overheating; the costs of trying to be cheap will likely be very high.

The reservoirs for dual line master cylinders are attached to the cylinder itself and share the same type cap as the clucth slave, so if you change to a dual line system, the RR cap and sensor will fit.

The caps on my SIII brake reservoir and clutch master, the Lightweight brake reservoir and master, my 95 RRC brake reservoir and clutch master and the Defender units are all the same, so I would assume that'll fit perfectly.

I can't remember the mounting flange orientation of the servo equipped MC, but I agree that leaving out the PDWA valve is a good idea - they make bleeding more difficult, ar a likely source of any leak they detect, and will probably not detcect a leak anyway as they are not sensitive enough when working and re prone to gumming or rusting up anyway. The level sensing cap from a Defender, Discovery or RRC is a direct swap, you just need to connnect the wiring.

Aren't the switches the other way, the lower temperature switch to activate the fans and the highre to kill the AC if the cooling system still can't cope?

I have SIII diesel mounts on my transmission. I tried Gen Parts 2.5 petrol/diesel/200Def mounts on my 200Tdi after fitting it, having found the SIII diesel mounts (which were fine with the 12J) transmitted an awful amount of vibration to the chassis. the Gen Parts mounts were far too hard, but the Bearmach 200Tdi mounts from glencoyne were vastly better. I still have some vibration, so the transmission will eventually get them too, if I dont fit a short LT77/ R380 and BW unit similar to this mod first. I think it's something to do with the harmonic frequencies oft he Series' chassis and transmission, givent hat the same mounts seem OK on Dfenders. The snag for a transmission swap is just the VIN points - PAS was more urgent, and I don't have the points left for a transmission swap unless I can convince them of the logic that a gradual change of spec still constitutes the same vehicle over an extended life span, rather than it being radically altered by swapping a lot at once. It's very tenuous logic that is unlikely to be accepted, though...

When I did my restoration, I was relatively tight on points. I made a query to several individuals in DVLA on the springs, not trusting just one opinion, and all stated that springs, even leaf springs, constitute a service replaceable part, so even though leaf springs form the entire suspension and location system, they can be swapped while retaining their points, and that went for fitting parabolic replacements too. It's only going from leafs to coils or air, or changing to very different springs of different length (like Koos' front spring mod) that would cause issues to UK registered vehicles. So, very flexible (see what I did there? ).

By working on sections at a time, for example the engine, gear box or an axle, you get regular milestones of completion, which is self motivating. Keeping a blog or at least photo records is also a good motivator as you can see before and after comparisons to see how far you have come, and encouragement from followers of the blog is a help. Both of the above also help you finish reassembly of a section before you forget how it came apart. It also helps to occasionally visit another restored vehicle or relatively new one, and ideally go out with the owner, as a reminder of what your aiming for and how enjoyable the parts will be once they're back together.

Very good value. I'll be ordering some at some point. I'd be keen on a SIII gear box plug and maybe a transfer box plug too - the gear box oil gets filthy, the transfer box not so bad. Annoying that the Rover/Roamerdrive doesn't have a drain plug, though its epicylic gears don't seem to generate much rubbish. It does have a small filler plug but I don't know its dimensions. I suspect it's the same as on the Defender variant, so might be worth investigating - it'd still retain the rubbish generated and haul it out - the case is ali, so any steel should stick only to the filler plug. The mag plug on the RR's R380 is horrifying when I pull it. Shame there is no plug on the BW unit (news to me from above posts - I always had it done at a garage as I didn't have a pump for refilling, while the 109 could be refilled from above).

I'll be impressed if he finds the address after the magnets screw up his satnav - every direction will be north and south at the same time...

I used a hammer and sharp chisel to cut a slot, allowing it to slide right out by finger. It maade a very light score ont he crank, the raised burr I removed with a round file - the slight score doesn't do any harm as it's hair thin and it's not a bearing surface. Freeze the new bush before drifting it in.

I'm like GW8IZR - I'm keen on a polo shirt, but want to make sure I'd wear it before ordering, so as soon as the logo is finalised, I'll decide.