Snagger

I think that stiffening on the rear axle was pretty common on SIIs, but not SIIIs. The front axle has a filler in the pan, so any 10 spline diff will be feady to go straight in, but the rear diff is filled by a diff case plug as there is no plug in the pan. Looks like you have a bit of welding ahead of you, though you could swap the internals of a 3.54 to the casing in the diff if you're feeling bold...

The shuttle valve would do it - if the valve has moved because of a pressure imbalance in the circuits (bleeding can do this, sometimes, or working callipers or hoses), then the ECUs will read a fault and bring up the lights. The shuttle might also be restricting fluid movement to the side that had low pressure.

The trailing arm bush in your last photo is long since expired - look at how the rubber is so swollen, specially at the bottom. I'd recommend replacing all the bushes that hold the radius and trailing arms to the chassis first and seeing how you get on, though removing the arms to check the axle-end bushes would be a good idea. Your damper bushes are also worn out - see the gap in the bottom of the damper eye? Remember to check the panard rod bushes and brackets. A-frame ball joints d wear, but you can normally hear that before it becomes significant to handling, appearing as a single but significant clunk that can be heard and felt when braking or taking up drive. A-frame bushes don't tend to cause trouble. I'm not a fan of poly bushes. They increase wear and strain on the other parts. Even the comp safari guys have found that the best bushes are the original spec ones.

Multiply the mileage by 1.6 and you will have an approximate km reading. The numbers are close enough to support the idea that your odometer has switched to km. As for the three amigos, I had the same problem on my RRC, which I think has a similar system. I did have a fault with one wheel sensor, but this only brings on the ABS light, not ETC or general brake warning light. I found that switching the ignition off and restarting cleared the light after a few seconds. This meant that though the pump was pressurising the accumulator, it wasn't doing so fast enough to meet the self-diagnostic 45 second time limit (the pump has to pressurise the accumulator within a set time to ensure that the pump is fast enough to recharge the accumulator with frequent braking or rapid and frequent ABS or ETC activation because each time the ABS or ETC cut in, they will take pressure from the accumulator. My pump was simply too tired to meet the time schedule, and replacing it cured the fault. Other common parts would include relays and fuses. I don't know if a faulty reservoir float sensor would cause all three lights to illuminate - it should certainly illuminate the general "!" light, but perhaps not the ABS and ETC. Worth checking, though.

I'm pretty sure that you now have what it would have been fitted with when new, as long as you have the alloy tops with both panes moving.

And ruining his back!

That's a point, Phil. 300Tdi vehicles mostly had more rationalised axles with the thinner drive flanges and a smaller plastic centre cap on front and Salisbury rear and flattish flanges with no cap on Rover rear axles, while the older axles on RRC and Discovery had domed solid flanges with integrated shafts (ie shaft and flange were one piece). I would suspect that all the axles which had these earlier domed flanges has 10 spline diffs, but it would still be worth pulling a single shaft to check the diff end of it to count the splines - you'll have to remove the shafts to pull the diff anyway, and it's only five bolts to undo. I think the Rover axles with the thick flanges and big plastic cones (nearly the same size as Series metal cones) will also have 10 spline diffs, but am less certain of it. If you have the choice, go for rear diffs - not only are they easier to remove (you don't have so much to strip to get the shafts out), but they will have driven the correct way - LR front diffs are identical to the rear diffs, which mean they are working in reverse, which increases their wear and chipping. Given that RRCs and Discoverys are permanent 4wd, the loads and forces applied to front and rear diffs will have been equal - it's not like buying second hand Series diffs, where the front diff has spent most of its life idling. Fridge mentions to check for the filler plug. Most Series diffs were filled by plugs on the diff case nose, but went over to plugs in the diff pan (domed face of the axle casing) when they rationalised the axles in 1980. Those diffs had no plug in the diff casing. I think it's unlikely that any Discovery diff would have a filler plug in its casing as they only entered production in 1989. Check your existing axles for where you fill up - if it's in the diff case rather than the pan, then you have the additional complication of finding older RRC diffs that have diff plug or adding a filler plug to your axle case. You could make that filler mod by drilling a large hole in the correct spot and welding on a threaded collar for a plug or even a very large nut with a suitable (and short) bolt with a copper washer - it doesn't have to match the LR plugs after all, it just has to allow you to insert an oil pump hose or the neck of a 1L oil bottle. Better still would be to remove the diff pans (especially if rusty) and fit the aftermarket HD pans which are heavily reinforced to avoid the need for diff guards for serious off roaders (diff guards are prone to holding mud and water, accelerating rusting of the standard diff pan). You could get away without the filler plug at all by jacking up a wheel and removing a half shaft to pour a measured amount of oil in through the stub axle, but you will have no easy method to check levels and I suspect this method of filling would get tiresome very quickly. Some may argue that if you have no evidence of oil leaks, checking levels should not be required. Generally true, but driving in very wet conditions will wash oil away, hiding any leaks. It is an option, though.

I sold one last week for £50, and it was in top condition. To be honest, I think it was worth more than twice that, but I was fed up with it taking up space in the garage. I'd say £50 without brakes, but you might have to wait a while to find a buyer. The diffs need to come from a 200Tdi vehicle, but I think they may have gone over to 24 spline before the 300Tdi changeover. The front and rear diffs are identical, so you can pull a single half shaft from a rear axle by undoing just five bolts to count the splines on the duff end of the shaft - if it has ten splines, then pull the diff and check it over carefully. Soaking in a big tub of diesel, petrol, parafin etc will clean it up for inspection of the innards.

It's a common failure, but affects my 300 tdi much more than my 200. I can't imagine why...

The 88 is already an 8-speed, and fitting an overdrive will make it 16. It gives you 4 reverse ratios too, but include high 4wd and it gives 24 forward gear combinations and six reverse! The 3.54 diffs should cope amply with the V8 - the diffs are stronger than the 4.71s as the crown wheel is thicker and flexes less, so doesn't strip teeth like the 4.71s can under heavy load. It's the half shafts that are the weak link in a Rover rear axle, though, so exercise mechanical sympathy with the pedals. There's no need to remove the front prop if you try modifying just the rear axle first as Parrot suggested (not a bad idea, as it saves on cost initially and the rear axle is simple to do, while the front is a bit more complex because you have to remove the swivels, which involves disconnecting the steering rods and brake lines). Just make sure you don't engage 4wd while the diffs are mismatched or you'll break something expensive; put a label on the red and yellow levers or cover them with a rag - anything to act as an easy reminder. 3.54 diffs will reduce the torque through the half shafts compared to 4.71s, but not enough to protect them from a V8 if driven clumsily, so a pair of uprated shafts would be beneficial if you are going trialing. Otherwise, standard shafts should cope, but a couple of spares, or at least a spared for the right hand side (short side), which is the one most likely to fail, would be worth keeping handy. The increase in gearing won't be a problem for climbs with the V8 - the problem, as Fridge and I have tried to allude to, is descents, where the gearing will reduce engine braking effectiveness (pedal braking is a bad thing as it encourages a skid and subsequent loss of control on slippery surfaces). This can be helped by those low ratio gears and very judicious use of the hand brake.

I used self-adhesive neoprene strips to separate the seat box and sill, but you still need to think about the bolts and washers. Plenty of grease can help with that, but if you can find slim plastic washers to fit under the steel ones, so much the better.

Sharp clutches with a bit point at near-full pedal movement are usually caused by trapped air. Try to lift the nose of the car as high as possible for clutch bleeding by using ramps or axle stands (not sloping ground or high lift jacks) to make sure the air in the slave cylinder goes to the port end, not the piston end. It makes a huge difference. Just make sure the slave has been plumbed in correctly, too - the pipe should feed into the lower port and the bleed nipple or pipe into the upper port.

Take a look at the axles section of my blog ( nickslandrover.co.uk ) and you will find articles on how I modified my identical rear axle with discs in the cheaper manner. It's not too dictate how you must do it, but it does show a way that worked for me and has given me excellent brakes (comfortably over 80% efficiency on the MoT the other day). It might at least give you a little inspiration. Ignore the suspension bracketry mods on there - those were to fit the axles to a leaf sprung 109 so don't affect you.

I think they may be the same diameter as the bulb holders for the speedo's warning lights. If they are, you will be able to use T9 (wedge tailed) bulbs and plastic bulb holders from any auto-electrical outlet, which have tails for the feed and the earth. That way, you can splice them into the existing loom well back from where the wiring is breaking down and have plenty of slack for when you open the dash. I got the new bulb holders (used in the speedo) from Holden Vintage and Classic.

235438 replaces the newer 532979 on the transfer box main shaft, and 521330 replaces the later 533080 intermediate cluster. More here: http://www.nickslandrover.co.uk/axle-swap-transfer-box-gear-change/ and http://www.nickslandrover.co.uk/new-lows/ The gears cost me £80 inclusive of postage and VAT, and they're genuine. The prices may have gone up a little since.

The photo is clear enough for the purpose. It's a Salisbury. The diff pan has a ring of bolts, but the diff housing is integral to the axle casing, and you have the two large holes in the rear face of the diff housing which are for a spreader unit (like a jack) to spread the opening wider to get the diff and its bearings in and out of their seats. It's the strongest axle LR used on Defenders, though the ENVs used on some Series vehicles may have been stronger. It's a very good axle to have, and swapping the drum brakes for discs isn't hard - the calliper brackets bolt on to the flange where the drum brake back plate and stub axle are located. You can either go the expensive route and fit 300Tdi (and later) callipers, discs, hubs, stub axles and half shafts, or do what Gremlin and I did and use second hand 90/110 front hubs and the correct calliper brackets, and try different combinations of discs and callipers to see what fits. He and I came up with the same solution - 110 rear discs and Discovery or RRC rear callipers with a spacer between the axle flange and calliper bracket to line the slot in the calliper up with the disc. I don't know what the alignment would be like with 110 rear callipers - the Discovery callipers I used came with the entire braking system and front axle from a donor vehicle. Using the 90/110 (pre Defender) front hubs will allow you to retain the existing stub axles, half shafts and drive flanges.

It's very unlikely that you have the SII suffix B transfer box - not that many were made. Suffix C is the same as all the later SII and SIII units (except 1-ton models). Suffix A had a smaller diameter shaft through the intermediate cluster, so they wouldn't fit anyway.

Well, my 109 is draught free, but that's because it has Defender doors and seals and I worked hard to seal all the gaps!

I fitted SII suffix B low range gears to reduce the off road effects of the 3.54 diffs. They're a straight swap for the later spec gears and I was able to do it without removing the unit from the vehicle. They drop the ratio by about 17% compared to the more common low range, so that offsets half of the gearing increase of the diffs when in low range. The V8 should have a bit more engine braking than the original engine, going from 2.25 to 3.5 litres with a similar compression ratio, so the remaining gearing increase should 't have too severe effects unless you do very long steep descents.

Very smart. It looks like Ardennes green, and seems to be remarkably rust free. Has it been resprayed or just barely used? My M-reg 300 soft dash is good for its age and mileage (197k), but the bonnet is not as pristine as that. Glad the wife approves - I'm lucky that Helena is similar in being a fan of the marque and likes our RRC enough to let me do a full restoration on it once the 90 arrives. These vehicles deserve to be preserved.

I would assume there is a hefty return spring somewhere on the pedal - there certainly is on Series and Defender vehicles, and the latter use very similar components to a near identical system as the non-ABS RRC and Discovery. I'd bet the spring is broken or incorrectly fitted.

I spotted the LHD/RHD mismatch, I just credited you with not making the mistake yourself!

Late roofs have five or six very low profile external ribs pressed into the panel which don't add strength, they just prevent drumming. They also have one internal spot welded significant rib along the centre-line for reinforcement. My 109 used to suffer roof leaks through the joints covered by the outboard ribs (the centre rib being over a single sheet). Part of the problem is that the little drain channels in the ends of the ribs fill up with debris - these are little humps that extend sideways in the spot weld flange at the point where the curve at the end of the rib reaches the roof sheet. I did also consider drilling a few holes to allow me to fill the ribs with expanding foam to keep water out in the first place, but after cleaning the drains, it wasn't necessary. Of course, adding a headlining really helped too.

I too would keep the Rover rear axle and just uprate the brakes on that. Again, they're a direct swap, and 109 spec brakes were fitted as standard to the 1980+ rationalised axles. It would also then be very easy to uprate the diffs to 3.54, which will help enormously with mpg and cruising rpm with the V8 engine - with 4.71 diffs, you'll run out of gears even with an overdrive, and will be revving the engine uncomfortably hard at a mere 60mph, which is a problem I had with my Tdi retrofit. I am now using 3.54 diffs, which are a bit too tall for my liking, but my 109 has a lot of extra drag and weight because oft he various fixtures and accessories, but are still a big improvement over the standard diffs and have given me a 13% fuel saving while making driving at 60-70mph comfortable. Swapping the diffs on Rover axles is simple - you just eed to remove the prop shafts, half shafts and the ring of nuts securing the diff housing to the axle case. £.54 diffs will drop straight in, though you must make sure you use the 10-spline diffs from an earlier Discovery or RRC, or from a pre-Defender 90/110. The Salisbury diffs can be swapped too, but it's a complex and difficult job. Either swap will need recalibration of the speedo, which will under-read by 25% (you will be travelling 1/3 faster than indicated). JDO1.com and Speedycables both offer this service, and I just got mine back from JDO (I haven't tested it yet).

What are you on about? I just said it was a LHD wiper spindle position in my first post, regardless of whether it was a LHD vehicle or just an assembly error!