Snagger

I agree. there is nothing wrong with the hub unit, and the baulk rings look only slightly worn. What would stop the synchro unit working is the lack of pressure applied to the rings by the hub because of the missing springs, as I outlined above. If you have replaced the unit, keep this one as a spare and re-spring it.

The springs hold the outer synchro sleeve central to the hub member. The gear level (via the rod and fork) slides the hub towards the desired gear, and the springs carry the synchro rings to the gears' synchro cones, apply pressure to the contact faces and causing the gear and hub rpms to synchronise. With missing or broken springs, the hub cannot press the baulk rings against the gear cones, so no synchronisation will take place.Broken or missing springs will result in the same symptoms as worn baulk rings - the gears will tend to crunch on engagement unless the change is made very slowly or the clutch is double de-clutched to allow synchronisation. These springs do not hold the gear selection engaged in any way and have no influence over jumping out of gear, which is due to end float or bearing problems.

I have TIConsole (Heystee) parabolics on my very heavy 109. They're about 12 years old now, but have not sagged. I'm very pleased with them, but they're damned expensive. Rocky Mountain are a good brand at much more reasonable prices. As said, you need a kit with new gas dampers and new U-bolts (the original bolts will be too long).

To my knowledge, it's impossible to combine HRTC and OD - the gear diameters are different, so a mesh between the OD output gear and the HRTC intermediate cluster would be impossible. You could use either HRTC or OD with 3.54 diffs, and a Tdi would pull it in high range. There are two big issues, though: The first (easily overcome) is that the speedometer needs recalibration. The second is that fitting 3.54 diffs increases the low range gearing by the same 35%(ish) as in high range, which makes controlled hill descents off road a problem.

I used a Defender lower dash during the rebuild of my 109 because new SIII dash assemblies are so hard to find. There is a problem with its bulkhead side - the Series bulkhead has a big scallop just above the throttle rod linkage assembly, and the SIII dash has a corresponding scallop. The Defender dash has a flat back. You either have to remove the bulkhead's scallop and plate the gap (as I did) or remove the scalloped section from the SIII's dash and graft it to the Defender dash (not at all easy). The grey plastic vent panel from a pre-2002 Defender fits a SIII dash, though I found I had to shave the left edge of the aperture for the right side vent flap lever. Both vehicles use the same instrument pod, so fitting a Defender instrument panel is possible once you have altered the wiring to match. The gauges will be incompatible, so you'd have to replace the fuel gauge and temperature sender units with Defender units. The speedo should fit the Defender pod, though the difference in display aesthetics would look odd unless you fit Smiths Industries fuel and temperature gauges. The Defender top dash will fit a SIII (may need a small amount of trimming, but not much), though it will leave the untextured top edge of a SIII instrument pod exposed.

Yes - the turbo cooks the oil. If you fit the engine as a "DI", then you can ignore the oil cooler as well as the intercooler, which is one of that option's main attractions.

No, rotating the turbo's compressor housing only works on the 88 -the 109 has a deeper chassis section and will not clear the compressor casing. You have to use Defender 200Tdi manifolds and turbo.

The US has a bit of paranoia about copper brake pipes. The truth is that though they're more easily damaged than steel pipes, they're also more resistant to corrosion. As long as the pipes are routed with a little thought and given protection where exposed to likely damage, then they will be unlikely to cause problems. I used copper-nickel pipe on my 109, and would not have done so if I had any belief that steel pipe would be safer.

I'd wash the air filter in petrol, dry it and refil with clean oil (be careful not ot overfill it), check the valve clearances and slightly retard the injection timing. Check the fuel system for contamination - if it has stood for a while, it may have water or fungus, and replacing the fuel filter will help.

I would try another battery first, as it may not be keeping up with the starter's demand and allowing the fuel solenoid to close wen cranking.

It sounds like you are tyring to keep the original SIII identity. As long as the new chassis is brand new, unused and of the same spec, then it counts as the original. SO, you need to score three points out of the mechanical components. I'd recommend you forget PAS and fit your original steering (refurbished, of course). That's two points. If the parabolics were previously fitted to the SIII, then you can claim their two points as they're regarded as in-service replacements - they don't have to be factory original, they just can't be brand new. That will give you another two points, exceeding the required total of eight. You can fit the engine,transmission and axles. The only problems is that in fitting the LT77 and LT230, you'll have to modify the chassis' cross members. That would technically lose the chassis' points, preventing you from using the SIII VIN.

Thanks, Matt.

The standard sizes are: 2.25p - 1.25" (I think, maybe 1.5"); 2.5nad - 2"; 2.5TD/Tdi - 2.5" Going smaller reduces top end power but increases torque. It can also increase engine temperatrures and cause the cooling system to struggle. Going larger reduces torque but can increase BHP. I think a 200Di would run fine with a 2.25 diesel manifold and standard SIII petrol exhaust.

I have an LT 230 inmy garage. How can I tell what ratio it is without dismantling it, please? I think it has been rebuilt, so serial numbers may not be applicable. Can I determine the ratio removing nothing more than the rear or bottom plate?

Sounds interesting, and I'd love to see pictures of yours too. I also got a Defender's removable cross-member, so could theoretically cut away the SIII bell housing and gear box cross members, fit the LT230 with its standard mounts as a cross member in itself, and fit the Defender circular section cross member with tubular bolt hole sleeves to the main rails. I think!

Matt, I already have a 200Tdi in my 109 and will be fitting later axles. I also have a rebuilt Defender LT77 and LT230 in the garage, and have been considering fitting those to the 109 to match the 3.54 diffs and give a few other advantages. Would you mind posting some pictures of how you modified the cross members and the cab floor/tunnel cover so that I can get an idea of what's involved, please? Oh, and what do you do about the speedo? Does the Series drive cable fit the LT230, or the defender drive cable fit the Series speedo, and did you need to recallibrate it?

Genuine lights have thin red fibrous washers under the screw heads and black rubber washers inside the screw holes that press up against the backplate's screw "prongs". They are there for exactly those reasons - sealing and crack prevention.

I went for the fully blown Tdi installation on my 109. With the roof rack, roof spots, bull bar and bonnet spare adding to the aerodynamic drag, the vehicle runs out of performance at about the same point as the govenor restricts the engine in 4th with the OD engaged, assuming flat ground and light wind. Up long hills of over 5%, it starts to struggle to maintain 60mph when heavily laden (with a roof tent cover used to contain all the rack stowed items as aerodynamically cleanly as I can). Using 3.54s would leave me overgeared, despite having the turbo and intercooler. A 200DI would run out of performance much earlier, so is unlikely to need the taller gears if used in a similar fashion.Towing seems to have relatively small effect on performance from the few times I have used my Sankey, but the 3.54s would raise the low gears and reverse enough to make maneouvering while hitched up a fair bit more difficult. A small increase in my gearing would be beneficial for motorway cruising, but that could really only be acheived by fitting 3.54s in conjunction with the LT77 and low ratio LT230 I have in my garage - they would offer lower low ratio gearing for off road use while giving a higher top gearing. Using 4.1:1 diffs or 9.00 tyres would give me a 10% gear increase which would be fine on road, but is still too tall when descending steep mountain tracks; even with the standard ratios and the high compression of the Tdi, the engine was still racing away on many descents in 1st low in the Alps, needing frequent dabs of brake, which is not ideal on loose surfaces.

Try Bailey Morris in St Neots. They're a prop specialist, but not just 4wd, so don't add the usual "4x4 premium".

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.