Snagger

OK, thanks for the answers so far. The engine is a 200Tdi, and the transmission is standard SIII (except for the overdrive). The chassis is a Marsland unit, built with a standard left engine mount and a 2.5 diesel rhs mounting (12J/19J) as I was using a 12J at the time of the rebuild. The 12J and 200Tdi both used the left bracket from the original SIII engine, and a 12J right side bracket. Both had the same fitting problem: The gearbox mounts went on fine, though the nut on the bottom side of the rubber didn't have much space inside its steel bracket. I later put large washers between these "feet" and the cross member lugs to raise the feet 1mm to make sure that the nut on the rubbers' bottom studs weren't vibrating against the cross member. This had no effect. The engine mountings don't line up with the brackets, and the rubbers had to be forced, even though the gear box rubbers look straight. The rhs slopes forward, while the left one slopes aft, and they're at significant angles. Given that the left chassis mounting is standard SIII, and that the gearbox seems too far aft, I think this chassis and engine bracket are correct. The rhs chassis bracket is clearly in the wrong position, about 1.5" or so behind where it should be. Interestingly, I was contacted hrough my website by a fellow SIII owner who had Dunsfold LR rebuild his 88" with a Marsland chassis with the same engine bracket mods, and he had exactly the same trouble. DLR had to remove and refit the mountings. A further result of this aft engine position is that when I fit the Tdi with Defender manifolds and turbo, the turbo's elbow fouled the left foot well. I shimmed the left bracket away from the block by about 1" to widen the engine's "V", raising it higher and shifting it a little to the right to gain the turbo clearance (it also helped line up the mounting rubbers a little). This, of course, means the engine axis is now pointing very slightly to the right at the front end. Do you think that's the cause? I do intend to modify the rhs mounting. I also wonder whether the gearbox cross member is in the wrong place (too far aft) because the gearbox mountings all look fine.

Hi folks. I'm just after your opinions on the likely cause of a gnashing noise and increase in floor vibration when accelerating and going over small bumps or undulations on the road. It's more prevalent in 1st-3rd and when accelerating hard, but happens at all speeds. It also happens on bumps when cruising in 4th, but not as harshly. Smooth tarmac results in none of this unless accelerating in low gears at full throttle. The gearbox and prop are in mint condition, having been rebuilt. Now, I have a few ideas on what may be going on: 1) The torque going through one prop shaft instead of two is causing the slip joint to bind, so any bumps cause the axle to shove the transfer box; 2) The Marsland chassis was made with 19J engine mounts, and the right side one is about 1.5" too far aft, shoving the whole engine and transmission back about 1" (witnessed by the gear stick positions, turbo initially fouling the foot well and the engine mounting rubbers distortion) - the torque reaction could be bringing the flywheel housing into contact with the bulkhead (there's not a great deal of clearance); 3) Axle wrap from having all of the Tdi's torque sent to the rear axle, combined with the use of parabolic (albeit 4-leaf HD) springs. I intend to realign the rhs engine mounting when the weather and time permits, and that would eliminate one potential problem. I also plan to eventually fit Defender/Discovery axles while retaining the leaf sprung suspension. If axle wrap is a likely candidate, would fitting HD standard leaf springs be of that much help, or should I use an anti-wrap bar to the A-fram ball joint bracket?

With the Defender/Discovery front axle, I'll have a couple of inches extra clearance laterally from the tyre and the 1-ton suspension arrangement gives a little more vertical clearance for the drag link from the spring.I have seen some American conversions where they bolted the steering box to an 8mm plate, tack welded the nuts to the back of the plate, and then welded the plate to the outside of the chassis, having drilled holes large enough in the side of the rail to clear the plate's captive nuts. I don't like that idea because it puts all the load on one side of the rail, not spreading it across both, but I'm not an engineer and the principle may be sound. I'd hope that two of the four bolt holes would be sufficiently clear of the cross member to pose no difficulty, and that the other two could have their nuts affixed by cutting a semi-circular access hole in the bottom face of the cross member near the chassis rail without disturbing the front and rear faces, leaving plent of strength for its lateral bracing role. Fridge - I'll be retaining leaf sprung suspension.

Has anyone tried a P38 steering box? I gather that they fit the outboard side of the chassis rail, so you wouldn't need to chop lupms out of the chassis cross member. I'd be interested in that, because I don't want to foul up my galv chassis, and the Defender axles should allow plenty fof clearance for the drop arm once fitted.

I tink standard 109/110 rims are 5.5", FC rims 6" and 130/Wolf rims 6.5".

Sounds very sensible, making the mod reversible. My rear wings were cut, so I can't remove the wheel arches in the future (though the plan to fit Defender axles would prevent that anyway).

Only if you cut the body panels to match the profile of the Defender wheel arch. However, it looks daft unless you have the later wide axles or wider wheels (spacers alone don't move the wheel far out enough to be proud of the panels - you need at least 2" of outer side wall adjustment). If you do this, make a cardboard template to transfer the shape accurately onto the panels, remembering to leave 2" long tabs that will be bent 90 degrees inwards after cutting. These tabs will be for the plastic rivets holding the wheel arches in place, so need to be in line with the rivet holes on the wheel arches. Consider that while replacing the outer panels on the front wings to later return the body to standard is easy, repairing the tub is all but impossible - it's a one-way mod. Before you do it, have a close look at other vehicles that have had it done to make sure it's what you want. Mine is in the December LRe magazine (subscribers received it yesterday), so that's one you can look at (one note - the wheels are 7" rims with a 2" offset over the standard LR rims, not 7" offset as written in their article).

Do you remove the 4wd housing from the front of the transfer box too, when you do that, or do you only separate the transfer box from the gear box?

You may need to rebuild the box as the Craddocks chap said, but the main shaft nut and new detent springs sometimes work and are a cheap and simple first try - it'd be a shame to go to the trouble and effort of a rebuild if that's all that was required.

I find the best way of setting the inner hub nut is to fit the hub, washer and first nut back onto the stub axle and tighten the hut up finger tight, rotate the hub both ways several times, heave and pull the hub in and out and rotate it again to try to settle it fully into its position. Once I'm satisfied that the bearings are full seated, I slightly undo the nut, then with a healthy smear of grease all over the hub nut box spanner and a light grip, tighten the nut until the spanner spins in my hand. Then I fut the new lock washer, the second nut finger tight, lock the first nut with the washer, fully tighten the second nut and then lock that. You don't want to apply much torque on the first nut - it should be just strarting to nip. ANy tighter and you'll have excessive pre-load, resulting in bearing failure.Clear as mud.

I'm still waiting for the p[revious owner to give me the manual - it's only been six years so far! His daughter goes to the same school as mine and he's promised to get it to me soon...

Well, it's an odd colour, hence my hesitation. It's a pale beige-grey, neither one nore the other, and it's not dirty either. Here are some photos to try to show the colour. They're not great for that, but the one of the A pillar shows the contrast between the grey and this colour (the plasic wind screen surronds match the head lining perfectly). I also included a photo showinmg the complete single-piece lining that is not available from after-market suppliers.

Very interesting - I retro fitted one of these to my '95 soft dash (not SE spec) (plugged into the standard loom), but never realised that the power is removed when reverse is selected. To be honest, it's usually switched off anyway.

Hi folks. My '95 Classic's headlining has finally succumbed and fallen away from the backing. I don't want to replace it with an after-market item because a> their quality is poor, and b> because this is a "soft dash" with a one-piece lining without a sunroof, which no-one makes replacements for anyway. The plan is to re-cover the original backing. Could anyone please tell me the name of the colour used on these - it's a very pale beige fabric, while the rest of the interior (except the windscreen surrounds which match the roof) is light grey. Thanks!

If you have a Fairey type OD, then the standard nut will be there once you remove the OD unit form the transfer box. If you have the Rock Mountain unit, the nut is replaced by a differnt type stah still does the same job, and is secured by two grub screws instead of the tab washer. In either case, if it's loose, 2nd gear tends to jump.You also can't tell that the detent springs are weak by looking at them, or comparing them to another old pair that have been in compression for decades. they only cost a few pence, so you'd be best off replacing them.

Like with all things, you get what you pay for. TI Console and RM make good springs, but here are other makes, especially the "unbranded" ones, whose quality are poor. As for the handling, a lot depneds on the dampers you fit with the springs and your tryes. Many expect miracles from the new springs, even though they have retained their original dampers to save a few pounds. the original dampers can't cope with parabolics, but many ignore the advice and then blame the springs. The same applies to drivers who are using old cross-plies at low pressure - the tyres will undo any benefits in handling gained by better springs. My 109 uses radial tyres, HD TIC springs and Proconp ES9000 dampers. the handling was nice and tight, though it seems to have gone softer recently, especially since the Alps trip. I suspect the dampers have failed - Procopms are good when working well, but they don't seem to last, despite their life-time warranty.

I think if it had been blowing between pots you'd have some serious erosion of the gasket - copper is pretty soft, after all. I have no idea how long it normally takes to drain the diesel through the piston rings, but overnight is much longer than I'd expect (never having done it or heard of it as a test before) - I'd anticipate the bores draining in about half an hour. From the position you're in, it's not a great deal of extra work to remove the sump, pull the pistons and check the rings for coking. At least you'd have the peace of mind of showing I'm wrong! You'll need a torque wrench for the big end cap nuts, but you already need one for the head bolts. You'll also need a ring compressor. Bad valve stemn seals will cause oil burning. To replace them, you'll need a valve spring compressor so that you can remove the valve stemn collets, washers and springs to access the seals. Make sure you get decent replacements - there are plenty of bad pattern parts around. You can check the valve seats and guides while you're at it.

One thought. The rings are all gapped, which means that for the diesel not to have drained into the sump within the two hours, the gaps must be clogged. I suspect you might have coked pistons and rings.

Jumping out of second is one of the symptoms of a loose main shaft nut. Make sure the castellated nut on the back end of the shaft (inside the transfer box) is fully tight. If it has come loose, you may need a new lock tab washer.

Well, the seal suppliers that I tried all said that the size needed wasn't available in polyurethane (the preferred option, and a possible opportunity for Polybush and the likes, I think), and PTFE o-rings would cost me £60+VAT for a minimum order of 100. I'll be sticking with standard rubber o-rings, then. The size needed for a SIII is either 14x2.5mm or 16x2.5mm The 14mm (inside diameter) is a snug fit in the groove, while the 16mm is just loose enough to rotate freely whilst being totally secure. When I bought LR replacements in the past, they were 14mm, but this time I have gone for the slightly larger size from my o-ring kit (a few pounds from Halfords). With a small application of graphite grease, it should last reasonably well - I think it was the abrasion that killed all the others over the years.

Don't buy the brake parts from Paddocks - they'll be Britpart, which have a terrible reputation for swarf filled leaky cylinders, oval drums and faulty shoes. Make sure you buy Lucas/GKN hydraulics and Delphi or Lockheed shoes. Goodridge make good brake hose4s which offer a big upgrade over the originals. Britpart seem OK for bearings, sttering rod ends and electrical parts, though.

Ok, so we all know the SIII, and most incarnations of SII, have a rubber o-ring in the groove of the ball at the bottom end to stop the stgeel ball rattling against the walls of the steel "cups" on the end of each selector rod. The problem is that these o-rings, being plain neoprene rubber, tend to wear out quickly, and the use of grease or oil to reduce the abrasion of selecting gears causes the rubber to perish. I have been trying to find alternatives. Polyurethane seems to be out because they don't make o-rings of that size as a standard - they'd need to be custom made, which would make them very expensive. PTFE has been suggested to me by a seal retailer, and they're getting back to me with a price for a minimum size order. Now, PTFE would have great longevity, but will it be to hard to prevent the stick from rattling? Apparently, it has some give in o-ring applications, but is much harder than rubber. Has anyone tried this successfully, or would anyone be interested in trying it if I have to make a small bulk order?

You can't use the Protection & Performance bar like I did in my 109. I think you could only remove pert of it, using the kit from www.mudstuff.co.uk , but it may cause trouble for the fuel filler neck and you'll need to think about the seats- the standard seat backs are supported by the bulkhead and will fall down if it's removed.

Wow! That's an amazing turn around. I love that cockpit green on a Series vehicle, even though it looked bad on the Defender Heritage edition. As far as the bumpiness goes, an ex-MoD vehicle probably has HD springs to cope with being fully loaded, so replacing them with standard or even parabolic springs will make it much more comfortable. I lined the back of my tub with the chequer plate patterned matting from Wright Off Road, matching the kit in the cab. It's excellent stuff. I also glued a cheap, chopped up camping roll mat to the roof panels before fitting a LaSalle head lining, which smartens things up no end (as well as stopping the internal rain). The December edition of LRe should have some photos of it, or you can take a look on my blog (sig below) to get an idea before you fit water absorbing and easily stained carpets.

I had already replaced the outriggers, dumbirons and rear cross member on my 109, together with a patch on the main rail next to a silencer box, but it was nowhere near that bad! The next piece of rot I found resulted in me starting again from scratch with a new chassis. I figured that if you have rot as bad as that in one place, then nowhere in the chassis is going to be terribly good, and it's be a lot quicker, safer and cheaper in the long run to replace the whole thing. Good luck with the repairs, though - you obviously have a talent for welding and are much braver than me!