Eightpot

I had a poke about on some of those old Landies in Wadi Halfa - unfortunately they've managed to keep most of them going by putting Toyota engines in

If your floors aren't bolted down and you have no insulation/carpet, you will get a lot of noise coming from the gear/transfer box and engine which will make it sound a lot worse than it is - get all this bolted down and fit some mats before you go changing engines. Even a 1.6 transfer box will get you comfortably towards 70 with 235/85/16 tyres at a reasonable engine rpm, though 60 is more suited. have you checked your speed with a GPS, or are you going off the speedo (which can be miles out)? Check oil levels in gearbox and especially the transfer box - they leak like sieves and can get low or even empty without too much trouble, and that will cause a lot of drag in the drivetrain - also makes a lot more noise - I always knew when my old tranny box needed topping up as it started screaming more on the motorway. My old non-turbo 90 with a 1.6 transfer box would get to over 60 on the motorway, so if yours can't then somethings wrong - check everything that should have oil in does, you aren't leaking turbo pressure (check hoses, and the small tube that comes from turbo to the fuel pump - if this is split you lose pressure), check someone hasn't tried to alter the fueling and goosed it up, check air filter!

my old man had to have a couple of bits done at the main dealer to his newish chrsyler 300 a couple of weeks ago - replace an engine sensor and a centrifugal fuel swirl pot or something - dropped it off on Tuesday, collected on Wednesday. the labour charge was £1300. All to make a light go out on the dash.

Just had to wait a bit I guess - very little on google, but some copies of the Eurosports coverage now appearing on youtube: DAY 1, part one

Looks like Dakar is only being covered by Eurosports in the UK, has anyone got link for a decent internet site providing downloads of the days racing highlights or live streaming?

I've sat in an Azalai - very, very nicely finished, but I nearly fell over when I asked the price...when I got my breath back I nearly fell over again when I found that was just for the conversion, you first have to buy a Defender to go under it. But, a nice piece of kit. Defender ambulances make a good conversion, there have been a few Wolf XD ambulances released by the MOD lately, these are a bit bigger than an Azalai, and you would get one converted for far less. There are lots of 110 ambulances around as well - I believe quite a few were sold in Turkey and the middle east. Fitting out a Defender for a camper isn't massively difficult, you just need to find someone who can fabricate the framework for a bed and storage, fit the electrics out for water pump, fridge, solar panel etc and do the upholstery. I've travelled overland with people who have had work done by some of the main UK companies, and don't think they were good value for money. I've seen a few camper conversions done by German companies which have been fantastic, and very high quality - can't think of any names of the top of my head, but worth investigating. Also check out http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/ and the For Sale section.

Also check that your ignition switch is firmly secured and can't rotate when you twist the key - if the switch has some movement, it's possible for the terminals on the back of the switch to touch a small bracket on the steering column, which then melts the loom very quickly indeed. happened on an ex MOD 90 I bought once, the entire loom was destroyed. if it was all ok before you changed the glow plugs though, that's most likely where your problem lies.

can do, won't be bringing much to the party with raised and uprated springs fitted, though the boge unit only weighs a few Kg, so not much to gain by removing it either.

Interesting Wolf going through auction at Withams at the moment - really hope there wasn't a passenger in it when it got clobbered... Amazing how much people will pay for these things - can't see that much that's salvageable - axles, tailgate, wheels, maybe engine, looks like the gearbox has been whacked and not a straight panel on it... £2500 at the moment, and still got to pay to get it home. How much of the wolfy stuff is left intact to make it worth the premium?? http://www.mod-sales.com/auction/vehicle/related/40333/Land_Rover_Wolf_90_Soft_Top.htm

Thanks for the replies - I did some electronics at college, but that was 25 years ago and was obviously skiving off on the day we covered transformers and AC power So yes, there is a small board with the transformer/rectifier etc, which feeds into a relay which operates the motor. I've attached my car battery to the relay. Was presuming the motor was 12v, and I certainly get a decent wire speed using the car battery but will investigate further - hope it's not 24v. So presuming I've actually got the correct transformer, all I want to do is remove the wires to my car battery, remove the old dead transformer, and connect this one in its place - still confused over which wires to connect though - thanks for the links, looks like there might be some good info in there, I'll have a thorough read through..

I'm going to have a go at fixing the power to the motor drive on my Sip mig welder - the mini pcb mounted transformer which powered the motor circuit died a couple of years back, so as a quick fix I just connected two wires to the motor control, dangled them out of the welder and connected them to a 12v battery - not sure it's a good idea to sit next to a car battery in a shower of welding sparks though, so time to fix it proper. I've picked up a decent sized 240v>12v transformer, but am a bit wary on the wiring - I'm presuming the thinner guage red/black are 12v +ve/-ve which I connect to the motor drive circuit, and I'm also presuming I would attach the thick orange to the 240v live and the blue to the neutral terminal in the welder - can anyone confirm if this is correct?? Bit wary on this as I tried wiring up a smaller transformer I picked up from Maplin a few months ago, but it had more wires and more colours - my initial attempts at deciphering the wiring using a 12v car battery and a voltmeter ended abruptly when I inadvertently built a very successful tazer device and deployed it up my own arm

Maybe do the clutch if you don't know it's history and it feels iffy , then do a thorough service - check oils in axles, gearbox, engine, swivels and change if it needs it. Wouldn't bother changing bearings, unless you know they are knackered, but check for play and nip them up a bit as a preventative, but do take some as spares, along with oil seals and lock tabs. Check & grease UJ's, take a couple spare with you. Check the viscous fan, if in doubt maybe fit an electric fan. Bad roads tend to finish off worn shock bushes, exhaust rubbers, panhard bushes, steering damper, so check these and replace if they look old. Check all the water hoses for chaffing, dodgy hose clips. Take some bits of hose, gaskets, gaffer tape, instant gasket, cable ties with you - you can't pack everything, so just make sure you can fix the stuff that will stop you rolling. I personally wouldn't change the head gasket if all was ok, but I would take a spare and any tools needed to do the job - if you're cooling system & fan is ok then you shouldn't be too worried. Leave plenty of space for the beers

I think the footwells mainly rot out because water, mud and stones get thrown up by the front wheels, splatters on the outside of the footwells removing the paint and starting the rusting process, and also builds up in the space between the outrigger and the footwell to make a nice gungy footwell removing paste. I made a rubber mudguard to cover this exposed section - attached to the inner wing and down past the outrigger, and now the road spray doesn't hit the footwell. Such a ridiculously simple thing I can't believe Land Rover never thought to cover this exposed bit?? Water gets inside as well through door seals, holes in the bulkhead, up through holes and gaps in the floor panels - If you take care to remove any carpet or mats regularly, dry it out and keep it painted, it shouldn't cause the massive flintstone pedal holes that normally appear.

Did you get to the bottom of your rear drums locking up? I'm having the same problem with a drum-braked 110 I've just acquired and am suspecting it may be the G-valve as the front calipers seem to be working ok. It's just failed the MOT because of the locking up under fairly moderate pressure, and I'm wondering if it's the kind of thing I can remove, clean out and replace or if I'd better get a new one on order quick before the retest..

I had a Bosch silver calcium battery fitted to my 90 - don't think I got a years use out of it before it died after running it flat a couple of times.

How can shipping be $70?? I had a chrysler radiator grille shipped from the states a few weeks ago and they only charged $10 shipping, which arrived next day! Shouldn't cost more than four quid for a jiffy back with some fittings in. If they aren't prepared to post it out at a normal rate for you, could you just book a courier yourself to pick up the order from them and deliver it to you?- I was very impressed with the TNT service.

I used a Sumicom carputer hooked up to a lilliput touchscreen for a while, which was great but walloped through the power - have you got this on a power supply in the car or just on battery? I imagine it's much more frugal though. Centrafuse is a great bit of software for a car PC if you haven't seen it before - gives you a big ipad style graphical interface on screen so you can easily flip between programs on the move, and Garmin maps for mobile was a great bit of software as well, turns it into a massive Nuvi - maplin were selling it really cheap a while back.

That looks really good - I made one myself once (though nowhere near as nicely finished) for my Engel using a couple of those bubble wrap type car windscreen heat reflector shields or whatever you call them, from the poundshop. I used gaffer tape for all the seams, nowhere near as nice, but I think the finished job cost about 3 quid! Knocked it up in an hour or so before a summer trip into southern Morocco. Don't know how much it helped keep the fridge cool, though no doubt a masive help when the fridge is in direct sunlight, but it really helped keep the dust and sand out. Nice job, ridiculous the price Engel charge for the 'official' one, considering for the same price you can buy a massive family tent, four sleeping bags, or a decent dometic fridge for the same price as a fancy bag...

Maybe something a little smaller Love it! Only down the road from me - how have I not noticed that before

^ ^ like he says ^ ^ - nobody is likely to recognise a UK plate, in Africa or even Europe. And fortunately, the majority of people outside of the UK tend to be a little more welcoming of foreign visitors, and the only thing liable to get you a negative response is a negative attitude. I've travelled through much of Africa and the middle east, and to date have not been targeted by Islamic militants, kidnapped or killed despite driving a very English car, with a union flag at front and back . I have been offered food, drink, put up in strangers homes and given the most extraordinary hospitality, because they saw my English car. So don't think on it too much Oh, and as already mentioned, you do need to put on temporary plates in some countries - Libya & Egypt for example. It shows you've paid import tax etc And putting plates on from another country may actually mean you pay higher temporary import duty, in a similar way to the difference with visa charges.

What about an Isuzu Trooper? Seem to go pretty cheap, and the 2.8 diesel engine is excellent - seem to have a decent enough following as an off roader, ITOC forum is busy enough.

just read the thread on concrete lathes, and it put me in mind of some of the ingenious home made machines I saw in Africa - particularly the welding sets. Most of them were completely home made from scratch, using short bits of wood wrapped with old electrical flex, then covered with cardboard as the windings, mounted inside either an old shopping trolley, wooden box or beer crate. Power was increased or decreased by attaching the 'welding lead' (lots of bits of old wire sellotaped together) to one of two or three bolts attached to the windings. The end of the 'welding lead' would be attached to a pair of pliers which they held the rod with. This set in Uganda was finished off quite nicely in a nice metal frame - wouldn't have fancied touching it though The one awful thing is the guys doing the welding can rarely afford a mask, and aren't aware of the dangers, so either squint as they weld, or if they are lucky, have a cheap pair of sunglasses to put on. Next trip out I'll be taking some cheap filters with me to dish out.

The leatherman Micra (think it's the cheapest one??) is without doubt the best tool since the first ape picked up a rock, and hit something with it. fits unobtrusively on a key ring, and I have used mine so much since getting it about six years ago, I've worn it out. I bought one for a mate of mine, who initially said thanks, but he wouldn't be able to use it as he always carried an excellent swiss army knife, passed down to him by his late father, which he treasured. A few months later, he had said nothing, but I noticed the swiss knife was in a drawer and the leatherman on his keyring . Most useful bit on it is the scissors - I've used them for cutting toenails, cable ties, cutting up tin cans to make shims, chopping up meat, nose hair and wire stripping. The screwdrivers actually work as well, and the knife blade is like a mini samurai sword. I finally wore the scissors out, so I'm going to return it under warranty and get it fixed, feel like I'm missing my third hand at the mo.

think they are twin tube, either way I won't be dismantling them myself as I wouldn't have any bits to replace any bust bits anyway - and I could see it getting messy in my shed attacking some gas filled rams with a set of molegrips, rusty screwdriver and a claw hammer There's a guy flogging some sets of new heavy duty Armstrong shocks on ebay for 14 quid a pair so might just bung some of those on for now.

I've read a lot about one of the advantages of buying Koni adjustable shocks is they can be rebuilt - so now my Heavy Tracks are mullered, I thought I'd get in touch with Koni to see how I can get mine rebuilt - seems a shame to bin them if all thats wrong is some valves & seals. They got back to me today though, and let me know that they can't rebuild them for me, only sell me a new set. before I get a replacement set of shocks, does anyone know if there is another route (economical) to get them rebuilt?