Snagger

I went to the LRM pub meet. A chap by the name of Tony drove all the way from York to Bedford for it in his 25th Anniversary RRC and won a prize for it. He has it insured for quite a high value. The LRM staff and Ant Anstead (For the Love of Cars programme) were all very interested in it, so a feature in LRM and a RRC on the second series of the programme don't seem unlikely. It says a lot for the RRC that Kingsley Cars can build and sell new build two-door RRCs with later running gear for £70k.

I fitted EBC drilled and dimpled discs and "green stuff" pads to mine, along with a rebuild of the callipers with Zeus Engineering stainless steel pistons. The brakes are fantastic, but for all legal and insurance purposes are still standard.

I may have one in the garage. I'll look tomorrow. Not sure what type it is, though it is for a coiler, or whether it is used or new - it's in a box of bits that was left with me.

It won't change the vehicle category, but insurers will want to know about it as it is a mod and because it affects vehicle security.

I have some corrosion to treat just below the cappings and on the hard top side panels - I think the cappings (109, so galvanised) are causing the issue on the tub from inside, where the lower flange sits against the tub side, and the galvanised brackets behind the upper B pillar and near the rear windows have caused similar reactions. I also have small patches along the bottom edges of the top side panels, just above the cappings which I suspect is from me polishing through the paint to expose an edge of unprotected alumimnium. This has all taken nine years since it was stripped and painted, so longer than the plain aluminium used on Defenders, but still far from indestructible!

Vastly - magnesium alloys are relatively stable, while pure magnesium is pretty unstable. Alloy wheels are mag alloy, not aluminium, and melt in extreme heat rather than combust. I like the irony that the forum software has now marked this as a hot topic!

I have a Kenlowe Hotstart elecric preheater on my 109. It's only useful at home. If you have the means, a Webasto is much better.

Not entirely right- there are different types of hub with varied spacing between the inner and outer wheel bearings, those with the wider spacing also having greater protrusion of the drive flange mating face from the wheel mounting flange. The change-over was around the time of the 200 to 300 Tdi, why you can't fit standard LR alloys on an earlier vehicle; it's not just the thickness of the drive flange.

I had dreadful unpredictable wander from my RRC, especially on the ruts of the outside motorway lanes. It was tracking. I'd suggest you get laser wheel alignment done. I don't think your curtain pole is accurate enough (I have tried something similar and get inconsistent results). Even if it is not the cause, it's another thing you can confidently rule out.

I wouldn't do it - a small fire would be turned into a major one. There is no way in hell that your insurers will cover you, and your car would be considered unsafe by the authorities. At the very least you'd have to put warning labels for combustible metals on the outside to warn emergency services, like you see on HGVs carrying dangerous goods and similar to the flammable liquids labels on fuel tankers, but I doubt it'd be legal as dangerous goods still have to be packaged in UN approved containers, not left exposed.

A galvanised door frame will work in much the same way as the zinc is sacrificial to the aluminium. Magnesium might not be a good idea in practice, though: it's a wee bit reactive! The best thing to do is remove the skin, clean up the frame and paint it with red lead or zinc rich primer, use duct tape over the steel that will be in contact with the aluminium and then refit the skin before painting. I used seam sealer in place of the tape when I built my front doors, and while it has worked perfectly and preserved the aluminium without a single fault, it was difficult to fit the skins because of the resistance of the seam sealer - tape is thin and even but 100% electrically inhibiting.

I had a quick look at Peterborough. The galv is really rough and the prep work poor - the SIIA rad panel still had the spire nuts in when it was dipped, FFS!

Fifth will be lower than overdrive, so will be much more usable anyway. Still a little tall overall, but should be better than the Series box.

4.1s are on more of a wish list than a shopping list - they're too expensive for me to justify with the RRC sitting in the garage awaiting much work.

The older type are not only thicker, their nose protrudes more and they have a bigger internal void to clear a greater stub axle protrusion. My guess is that they will fit the hubs, but might have spline differences with the shafts (diameter may be off) and would certainly pull the shafts out too far so the diff end doesn't locate properly in the diff's side gears.

Did the independent buyer agree to pay immediately? If not, then 48 hours does not seem unreasonable to me, and relisting on eBay after 18 hours would seem a little impatient - people do have busy lives and can't always make instant transactions. If he had agreed to pay immediately, then relisting as you did is not unfair. As always, context is everything.

I hadn't taken into account the big tyres, Todd. I think the 1.22 will work very well for you with that tyre and diff combination.

Cyclonic breather still allow a lot of oil vapour through, so if the breather connects to the induction system before the filter, it'll get the filter pretty dirty. I have this on my 109, with a 200Tdi and 19J filter (which is why I use a K&N).

1.22 would be best at the moment, but better still would be the 1.4 and a set of 3.54 diffs, which will cost very little - in the UK you'll get a 3.54 Rover diff for about £20-30. You will be able yo use the existing half shafts of you use the 10 spline diffs from early 200Tdi and pre-Tdi vehicles.

That's what I have been told. Are they the same as the earlier 24spl 2-pin diffs such as in the 300 Tdis, then?

Sorry for necroposting, guys. I have an issue with a Tdci 90's rear diff (2pin short). The pin is sliding off centre and catching the pinion. I can move the pin in with my finger through the oil filler hole, and can see a small spot of peening on one edge of the "high" end where the knocking has occurred. I can't see any other damage. How is the pin supposed to be retained in place, does this sound cheaply repairable, and will the 4-pin from the P38 be a direct swap or does it need alteration to fit (I'm content to swap the centres, retaining the c&p from the 90 if unharmed and a simple swap, but don't want to do the machining involved in fitting to the long nose).

Like the Rocky Mountain ones?

Can you not get an agreed value insurance policy?

How long have you been running the configuration, Mikey? The reason I ask is that my gear box was right as rain with the overdrive behind the Tdi for years, but less than six months after fitting the Defender axles (3.54 diffs), I pulled two teeth off third gear, and I had been using 3rd with overdrive quite a bit just as you describe for 30mph zones.

Rocky Mountain Spares do them: http://www.rockymountainspares.co.uk/?page_id=41 If the rest of the overdrive is in good order, then at £40 you're on to a winner.