Snagger

I had the same problem fitting Polybushes to my speings - the bush would squeeze out when the steel insert was 3/4 of the way in. In the end, the only way I could fit them properly was to cut 2-3mm off the inboard end of each bush piece, and that worked well.

Only if heavy all-up weights or regular steep gradients result in you using lower gears because of lack of engine performance. In a lightly laden 88 used on relatively flat ground, not acclerating and stopping all the time, the turbo will cost you a small amount of fuel, not save it. Turbos increase air pressure to allow more fuel to be burnt per combustion stroke, nothing more.

I may be mistaken, but I'm 99% certain that Discovery diffs, like RRC, are 10 spline - it's the outer ends of the halfshafts that are 24 spline, but not the inner ends. I don't like the idea of swapping the diffs - it's pretty tall gearing that you can't selectively lower (about the same as driving with the OD engaged all the time), and raises the low ratio gears by the same 25-30%, so engine braking is severely compromised, as is the crawling ability in low 1st. You would also need to have the speedo recallibrated. I'd recommend you stick to just the OD, especially since you use it for towing. As for turbo chargers improving economy, that's only true if you find you spend a lot of time in lower gears and the turbo would allow you to use top gear more. If you are already using 4th OD a lot, or use lower gears because of speed limits, then the turbo will only increase fuel consumption (marginally).

Deleted for double post.

The o-rings go nearer the selector forks, with the white plastic washers used to pack the void between the o-rings and the steel retaining plates once fitted. I tried these with no great improvement over the original type seals. I have heard of a few people trying two o-rings togther on each rod, each person reporting success.

As Les said, it won't. The pick-up pipes in the tanks have gauze stariners on them to keep any significant sediment or FOD out of the lines.

Though the Peugeot engine may have more power than the LR engines, it probably won't have the torque, and the vehicle will be dreadfully slow and unable to accelerate or climb hills. The overdrive was always an option, not fitted as standard, so most SIIIs won't have one, regardless of age. The Tdi bolts to the SII/SIII transmission with minimal alteration, so is the most viable option. All you'd need to do is fit a SII HD or SIII clutch plate as appropriate, use the old engine mount brackets on the new engine, and modify the flywheel housing simply by fitting studs to the blind holes and using socket head screws through the four lower bolt positions (replacing the four bolts that atttached the LT77 bell housing), and drilling four holes in the SII/SIII bell housing to accomodate the heads of the 4 socket screws so that they act like dowels. Electrically, it's dead simple - use the SIII temperature sender to be compatible with the gauge and use the Discovery's glow plug relay and wiring harness. For cooling, you can use the original rad and a separate oil cooler, or the Discover combined unit. If you fit it without the turbo, you can ditch the intercooler and just use the existing rad with the oil cooler unions on the filter housing blanked off (remove the oil stat first!).

Though a Tdi will generally start without glow plugs, it's best to use them - it'll stop embarassing clouds on start up and will also reduce the amount of unburnt diesel that makes its way past the rings into the sump, diluting the oil. The SIII pertol models and Tdi Defenders/Discoverys use the same ignition switch. The ignition switch controls the glow plug timer relay, and wiring it up is dead simple, especially if you retain its wiring loom. You just connect its existing ring terminal to the starter motor battery cable post, the white wire to the white wires of the SIII fuse box (accessory circuits that are only live on the second "on" key position, which will activate the timer relay), the white and red striped output of the ign switch (the starter solenoid activating wire, to instantly cut the timer relay and ensure all battery power goes to the starter, not split with the glow plugs), the output to the rear glow plug, an earth wire and the last thin wire (black and yellow, IIRC) to splice to the cold start warning light on the dash. Simple. Use the SIII engine brackets after removing the existing brackets from the engine. Fit your SIII temperature sender to the Tdi engine - if the threads are incompatible, use the brass adaptor for the 2.5 petrol. The wioring is all the same as on the existing engine, though you'll have to allow for the new position of the starter solenoid atop the starter itself, instead of being on the battery tray leg. You may need a new battery cable to reach all the way, though the old ones could be used by connecting them both to the same terminal of the existing solenoid, bypassing it. The white and red striped wire to the existing solenoid needs to be re-routed to the blade terminal on the new starter solenoid, and the battery cable, brown dash feeds and alternator should all be connected to the new starter motor's stud terminal. Have a look at Jayhoe's thread to work out the flywheel/bellhousing mating. You'll need to cut off the htreaded section of the viscous fan mounting spindle aftyer removing the fan, and fit a 14" electric "pusher" fan to the front of the rad. You should be able to use the existing cooling system until you go for the turbo option, at which point you'll need an oil cooler and intercooler. You could retain the existing rad and fit a separate oil cooler in front of the rad, ot use the Tdi rad with integral oil cooler. If you do fit the engine without oil cooler, remove the oilstat and washer from inside the housing attached to the side of the oil filter housing and blank both pipe unions on the filter housing. The PAS pump will either need a looped circuit to lubricate its bearings, or will have to be removed. If you remove it, you'll have to modify the alternator mountings to bring the alternator pulley into line with the other pulleys. Have a look through the engine section of my blog, Nick - it's all in there with plenty of photos. As for the diffs, they will give you a big but manageable gearing increase for road use, but will require speedo recallibration. They will, though also raise the low ratio gearing by the same proportion, and this may be too high for off road, especially for hill descents.

Tony is absolutely right, and this is why there is such a difference in prices between different manufacturers. TIC/Heystee are horrifically expensive compared to some of the cheap brands, but you get what you pay for. RM are more affordable than TIC, but still dear compared to most others. Correspondingly, their quality is very respectable, but not quite the best available. Cheaper brands then these two are not worth the money - the springs will need replacing far too soon.

The 1980+ hubs still used the o-ring and galvanised cone. It was the 90 and 110 hubs that used the plastic cone. The 1980+ hubs were rationalised to use the same bearings and seals as the Range Rover, and were superseded by the 90 and 110 as they entered production. The late axles did change to 24 splines at the outer ends, but the diffs remained 10 spline. This did not alter strength, only the resistance to spline wear at the drive flanges. The torque strength od the diffs and half shafts was unchanged. The other change that occured on these axles (other than the stub axles, made to match the new bearings) was the rationalisation of brakes to the 11", dual circuit, twin leading shoe (front).

I have the grey plastic part of a pre-2002 Defender dash on my 109, and a Mudstuff.co.uk centre console.

I have been using one for a bit over three years, with a Tdi pulling the heavy 109 on autoroutes and up 1:3 skislopes and up to 10,500' glaciers in the Alps while fully laden and it's running beautifully. I don't think the Fairey I had before it would have survived the Tdi transplant and certainly not that trip.For Fairey overdrive fitting, this may help: http://www.nickslandrover.co.uk/archives/619

It looks like I need to fit a set as my rear parabolic springs' eyes are no longer gripping the standard bushes, but Paul Heystee reckons good polys will deal with the problem. So, can anyone please help me sort the wheat from the chaff? Please give me recommendations and condemnations, who to look for and who to avoid!

If it was running properly when it was removed form the donor, it's a fuel supply problem. It could be the electric pump in the tank obstructing the lift pump on the block, and air lock or leak in a pipe, or an electrical issue preventing the injection pump mounted fuel solenoid from opening.

I echo that advice. Britpart cylinders are notorious for leaks, and I have read comments about them having a mixture of different linings on shoe sets, and of the linings being incorrectly aligned on the plate and becoming detached. The specific fit problem may be due to the pistons not fully retracting in their bores - I had this problem on one of my cylinders (twin leading show system) when I fit four new Lucas (OEM) cylinders a few years ago. I couldn't see any fault, but something was stopping the piston from retracting is last 1/4".

A complete Discovery engine would cost about £300. You could then transfer all your ancilliaries onto it. The trouble is, without pulling the head off, you don't know what you're gettting. I'd suspect it was a valve problem, listening to that clip.

I have been told by the most respected parabolic manufacturer that most poly bushes are not polyurethane but cheaper polyethelene, which lasts next to no time. Of course, it' should all be in the fine print what the different manufacturers of polys use, so check carefully before buying.

That's much more than I paid, and I found it made a big difference in my R380.

You need to make an excuse to your family to do a trip for the big UK LR shows, stopping at Vass on the way home! The 1-ton rims are wider than standard (6.5" if I recall correctly, as opposed to the standard 5" for 88s and 5.5 for 109s and Defenders).

They are 1-Ton wheels, and their off set is much less than a set of 7" 8-spokes or modulars, even when the 1-tons (or Wolf rims, for that matter) are fitted with 30mm spacers. 7" after market rims will put their outer tyre wall about 45mm further out than 1-ton rims. So, the offset of the 1-Ton or Wolf rims are better mechanically and for handling, but worse aesthetically to most people. Vass sell 1-Ton rims for £30 each and Wolf rims for £40.

You're braver than me!

It's a civilian spec vehicle. the give aways are the side lights and indicators, the side-fill fuel tank, the tapered rear cross momber and the standard bonnet sparte wheel clamps instead of straps. However, even MoD 88s had standard suspesion height.

Youd have to have them converted as I think 4-pin diffs only come in 3.54: ratio as standard. Ashcroft transmissions could do it, but it'll cost a fair bit. You could get some diffs from a scrappie and convert them yourself using your old diffs' crown wheels and pinions, if you know how and they're good enough.

Your steering will be very heavy and your speed and mpg will suffer a lot.

Thanks for the reply. The fuel cap is vented and is clear, but it's something I hadn't thought to check until you mentioned it. The engine idles at the correct speed and isn't smoking at all, but fuel consumption seems to be up and the engine vibrates a little more than it used to at all rpm. The surging first became apparent when I tried running on a blend of diesel and SVO. I immediately diluted the mix with diesel and have never tried it again on this engine. After getting rid of the SVO mix, the surging became very small, but has become much worse over recent months. I suspect it's the injection pump, but don't want to shell out that much until I'm more certain. The air filter is clean, the fuel filter has been replaced and the tappets are good. The timing belt was replaced around 10,000 miles ago and the timing was set very accurately. Any other ideas before I spend a small fortune on the pump?