Eightpot

Britpart actually supply a lot of parts to the MOD, I've noticed a lot of cast parts at withams from them, and a few defenders ive had from them have had Britpart stuff on. Not always under Britpart branding, but most mod soft top hoods are labelled Border Holdings. Good hoods as well. Maybe their contract gear is a bit different to the blue box guff.

Looks good. To be perfect, those side flaps for the, er, not sure what to call it, back door flap! Should tuck into the pockets, and there will be a slot for the strap to pass through to the buckle. Make sure to keep the hood drum tight all round for a good while, don't let it get wet with any part of it loose or opened or it will shrink. You can relax over time once its had a few soakings and seasoned itself. Edit - oops, didn't spot westerns post : )

One other thing you might consider is taking it into a local exhaust fitters who should be able to weld a proper mount on for you - its only a run of the mill pocket money job

You can fit an lt77 or r380 no problem. The later gearboxes used holes in the chassis that were already in place on the early rangies I recently fitted a disco r380 with gearbox crossmember which slotted straight in to my 79 rangie If you use a disco box you may need to cut the centre tunnel a bit so the gearstick can poke through. If you have a 2 door a longstick lt77 fits without cutting the tunnel.

Before you spend 20 quid at halfords, Might be worth checking the cost of a new bit of chequer plate?

You shouldn't have much trouble with brackets and hangers, the one you'll have the worst problem with is the centre hanger, which is likely to be in a different position. Halfords sell some very useful universal exhaust hangers for a few quid which will sort that though - mechano style metal strip one end which you can just attach to one of the pto cover bolts on the gearbox, exhaust clamp at the other end. Assuming that you dont have the gear to weld a normal hanger on of course.

The header rail is a clamp which grips the canvas between the windscreen panel and the header rail. Four bolts pass through the header rail, then through a small spring, then through the windscreen panel and a plastic cam lever screws onto the end - this is what pulls the header rail down tight against the screen top gripping the canvas. I've just checked a header rail here, and working from the edge, first hole is 90mm, second hole is 40mm in, and the centreline is a groove running the length of the rail, in line with a couple of oval slots. having massive pc problems today, so will see if I can upload a photo from my phone.

Noticed some vibration and knocking on my 110 this week, particularly on overrun at highway speeds. Has been difficult to diagnose, but rocking the back wheel like checking for wheel bearing play gave it away, was easy to hear the worn inner splines of the drive shaft knocking in the diff.

The differences between the normal isuzu and more powerful frontera engine are bigger turbo, two stage injectors, and an intercooler. I think the pump may differ slightly due to the altered needs as well. Have you connected up the cold start device on the pump? This is next to the wire for the fuel solenoid and should either be on a timer relay or manual switch. When Activated it advances the timing a bit to make cold starts easier, but makes engine clatter. Are you sure the frontera pump has an imobiliser on it? The turbo whine after shutdown is normal, I always used to let engine idle a bit before turning off to help slow it down a bit.

What are you thinking of putting it in to?

You dont need to fill any of that stuff in. Just enter the make, model, body type, colour, VIN number, rhd/lhd, how much tax you want and tax class (PLG)

Don't get too ahead of yourself ; ) The spring clips will shoot into another dimension as soon as you touch them with a screwdriver, the screws holding the door handle on will sieze in the brass bushes which will just rotate in the plastic, the barrel will probably be siezed all the plastic clips on the door card will snap, and refitting will not be as easy as removal! Gotta love em!

Door card off, remove the spring clips on the operating rods and disconnect the two rods from back of door handle, remove two screws on each side of the back of the door handle and pull handle out. Remove cross head screw and small lever from end of lock barrel, put key in lock barrel, push a pin in the small detent spring on side of lock barrel and wiggle barrel out with the key. Sometimes need a bit of plusgas in the barrel if its sticking.

What engine code is on the VIN number? If it's for a V8 you might actually be ok, if not just drop whatever engine in that's on the VIN code and fit a V8 when you get there. you absolutely need a V5 to get through customs. If I send ex MOD vehicles over, I have to get an MOT, pay for road tax and register it just so I can get the V5! They won't accept even a letter from the MOD confirming age/identity, so a purchase letter will get you nowhere.

You can use standard pipes, if you can do a little welding. You can use a standard 300TDi downpipe, it needs shortening by 170mm if using LT77 gearbox. If you remove the 170mm section just after the bend where the pipe is on a slight decline, it will also shorten the height of the pipe, allowing it to pass over the gearbox crossmember, so long as you are careful gettingthe angle of the pipes right when welding it back up. I use the 170mm section as a sleeve to join the two halves of downpipe together (slit a section out, roll it a little tighter and push it inside the pipe) which helps keep it in place while welding and reduces blowthrough. Sometimes the downpipe still interferes with the crossmember, i usually notch a section out. From there backwards you can then use normal pipes, though you'll more than likely need to add a couple of brackets.

people have been bending the rules way too far and way too frequently. The US has always had strict rules around what cars can be sold there. They have made a concession to allow people to import classic vehicles, so cars that could never have been sold there during production can now be imported and used on a classic basis. The rules stipulate you can bring in a production vehicle, the rules also stipulate you cannot bring in a remanufactured vehicle - they count remanufactured as stripped down/rebuilt, new or galvanised chassis, re-engineered engine.transmission or modified body. Some of this has been overlooked for a while and many have taken the opportunity to send ringers or completely rebuilt, almost new vehicles over which have then changed hands for astronomical figures. I was looking at a 25 year old Defender with TDCi engine and puma body for $120,000 dollars recently. You may still, as you always could, send a correct vehicle in its original state, but popping a TDi engine in, puma bodyshell, trick suspension or anything that deviates the build from the code on the VIN tag will result in your vehicle beinhg refused entry - you can then either ship back to original port or they will dispose of it for you.

The wiring there all looks quite home-made. If i were mine I would look for a good used main harness, with the blade type fuses from a 200tdi defender, possibly 300TDi though not if it has alarm spider/ecu etc and definitely not TD5 If the engine harness is in the same state, you can use any pre TD5 diesel harness with very little modification, maybe just change terminals for the alternator. I would then just start removing your main harness, every bit of non standard wire, anything scotchlocked on etc, put the new harness in and away you go. It's not to difficult to change the harness, they look like a mass of tangled hair when you put them on the floor, but straighten it out and it gets fairly self explanatory where you need to thread the strands.

i believe Britpart sell quite a lot of spares to the MOD, so it's possible army bumpers, particularly replacements, are Britpart. Quite a lot of the soft top hoods I see are labeled with Border Holdings, which owns Britpart - and they are good quality ones too.

They are fitted with heavy duty rear, standard on the front.

Looking into this further, 'office 8, 10 buckhurst Road' is a residential flat. Looks like there are many other web based companies (hundreds) operating out of there, all looking slightly dubious. Might be time to contact police. One of the companies he's running is fixeasy handyman services - 01424 221841 and 07907 224507

thier domain name gives the following details (address may be thier website administrators): Domain name: salvagesparefinder.co.uk Registrant: Darren Watson Registrant type: UK Limited Company, (Company number: 6376019) Registrant's address: DBH Tees Valley, Belasis Hall Technology Park Coxwold Way Billingham Cleveland TS23 4EA United Kingdom Registrar: Fasthosts Internet Ltd [Tag = LIVEDOMAINS] URL: http://www.fasthosts.co.uk Relevant dates: Registered on: 18-Oct-2005 Expiry date: 18-Oct-2013 Last updated: 31-May-2012 Info from companies house gives following address: Salvage Spare Finder Ltd Office 8 10 Buckhurst Road Bexhill-On-Sea East Sussex TN40 1QF Companies House Registration Number: 6376019

I've always advised people to be really careful when sanding down ex military vehicles because of the dangers of breathing in dust from the IRR paint. I sand down quite a lot of them myself and always take the necessary precautions, but it occured to me that I should really get to understand the specific dangers, as dust can still be left around the workshop, on clothes etc an I don't want to add any risk if something nasty might happen on skin contact, gettting into eyes etc etc I've been searching for paint data sheets and hazard information on IRR paint, but so far haven't been able to find any actual warning about breathing in sanded dust particles or information on harmful compounds contained in the paint - the paint data sheets suggest a hazard from breathing in the mixed solvent fumes - zylene, butyyl acetate, ethylbenzine etc but no mention of anything else. So has anyone got any information on what goes into this paint, and the effects and dangers of coming into contact with it when dried and turned to dust? Think this would be a very useful thing to establish and understand properly given the amount of ex military vehicles handled modified and repainted by enthusiasts who may be unwittingly doing serious harm?

I've used them in the past, basically works the same as any other car auction but the bidding is all done online. If you want to bid and buy a car, there is a membership fee to pay which lasts for a year, If you win, there is a commission fee, and you may have to pay VAT depending on where the vehicle came from. I think the commission info is on the website, if not if yougive them a call they will be helpfull. Stuff that goes through copart usually comes through insurance companies, will often be burnt/smahed to bits/stolen or all the above. They don't check or guarantee anything, it's purely an arena for selling smashed metal so don't get involved if you're not confident and aren't completely happy you're doing the right thing. Bidding can get pushed quite high sometimes as there are lots of overseas buyers bidding - doesn't matter to them if it has a cat C on it, they just fix it in poland and sell it on, so you need to be well aware of your cut off point.

Have a look at the Copart website

You only need to do the nut up till the bush is slightly compressed, and you need to have at least three turns of exposed thread showing. There is no set amount, different shocks have different shaft lengths, different lengths of threaded bar, bushes are of different thicknesses and nuts can vary. If you compress the bush too much you make it harder, lose flexibility and shorten it's life. If it's too loose you will start to wear the bush and the shaft.