Eightpot

cheers Les, seems it's in the box itself so hopefully an easy adjustment then. ta : )

Hello all - appologies for posting here but I'm in Jordan at the mo and could use some info before we head off for Egypt - I don't think from memory that this is covered in haynes, and I don't have any other reference with me, but I have developed a clonk in the steering box, and there is slight play in the output shaft to the drop arm - getting a bit of steering shake also - play can be seen when turning the wheel. Is there a way of adjusting this out, or is more work required? Car is reasonably low mileage, so normal wear and tear isn't high on my list of suspicions, but theres a definate observable movement in the output... otherwise, does anyone know if this will continue without much drama for a few thou or is it likely to degrade quickly? cheers : )

Wow, they must really need to clear some space! they are selling the windscreens for £3 each now! http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Range-Rover-2-door-classic-clear-glass-windscreen-New_W0QQitemZ120548705849QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM?hash=item1c11434639

Ref the two wires on the injection pump on the Isuzu - the one at the back nearest the engine is the stop solenoid - same as on your defender it needs an ignition fed live feed before it will start flowing fuel. The other wire which goes into a solenoid on the side of the pump is a cold start device - it advances the timing a couple of degrees and makes cold starting much easier, just run a switch on the dash to it. Everything else is pretty straightforward, the alternator will have a couple of wires you don't need - charge is abvious and I forget the colour of the one that feeds the ignition light on the dash but PM me when you get to that stage or have a look on the ITOCUK forum for info. Depending on what car the engine is from, the ign light feed may be a bit quirky, I think old trooper engines need to run the feed through a relay or something?

"if" a earlier screen will fit, Land Rover orphanage were selling a load recently for a tenner each brand new.

cheers chaps - so I'll check the hoses for holes first, though I think they're ok and I've replaced the main one. How easy is it to change the vac operation to manual? I'd prefer this option if it's not to much kerfuffel, but I haven't got a lot of tinker time left before we head off for Africa - I'll have a look into the vac solenoid as well, am I assuming correctly that when you throw a switch it just creates the vacuum you need to actuate whatever doodah is on the end of it?

I would suggest your best or only chance of an outcome here is to try and find the guy and give him a good hiding - he's probably already drank your money/spent it on sports casuals/invested it in a block of hash by now so you probably won't even get that. The police would have a struggle to make anything out of this as all you've done is paid some money into someones bank account - ie given it to them of your own free will - many people do this accidentally when doing electronic bank transfers and miss-key the account number - and it's not possible to get the money back unless the unintended recepient is happy to volunteer it. You have never met the guy, have no receipt, paperwork or contract from him, so how are you going to prove he was supposed to give you a car he doesn't even own? As you've never met him, you can't even identify the man to the police - even the mobile phone he used could have been nicked as well or will almost certainly be an untraceable pay as you go if he's got any sense. Sorry to say it as I know you're already kicking yourself, but you've misplaced your trust and goodwill here and lost your dough - it could have been much worse though couldn't it, he could have met you along with a few mates and took the lot off you.

Anyone know if it's ok to connect the vac pipe for the LT95 diff lock to a tee on the servo vac hose?? (diesel engine) This seems the obvious way to do it, but I'm a bit concerned that when the diff-lock is in the normal open state, I will lose vacuum to the brake servo. I seem to have confirmed this by sucking on the end of the diff lock vac pipe (something I won't be repeating, blurgh) and there's no restriction till the diff lock lever is pulled up - it seems like an open circuit. Is there enough surplus vacuum to keep the brake servo running, or should I fit some kind of valve on the line??

It never had an engine number on the V5 in the first place! Of potential nerdish interest to some (me!) my '83 Rangie ambulance started life in '79 as a left hand drive CKD kit and went off to Wadham Stringers, after Spencer Abbott stretched the chassis. (for months I wondered why the rear window wiper switch was on the left hand side of the dash. And there was no rear window wiper.) The logbook has very little info on it, not even weight. They should be glad I'm telling them something! Anyways, I'll speak to them Tuseday morning, with luck and a bit of plaintive charm they may accept a faxed copy of my engine receipt, meanwhile we're going to go off camping for a week to try the rangie out - glad I bought that electric heater last week

After three beers I'm feeling a little more zen like, and am consoling myself with looking at pictures of Land Rovers in Africa instead, my socks still damp from the day of rain I've been stood in making finishing touches to the car. As you say, I also wonder why they want such proof of the engine number unless I was trying to maybe change the taxation class - and as I pointed out to them, if the number I've given them doesn't match the number they print on my V5, I won't be let in to any country in Africa! Oh well, at least I get a few more days to do all those last minute jobs and enjoy the bank holiday

Well thanks for nothing DVLA - four weeks after I sent in my V5 for ammendment, together with a hand written letter explaining the importance of the need for the document back in the shortest time - ie we will be handing our house over to the new tennant, have both given up our jobs and need the doc before we can leave for Africa - they have finally managed to get something back to me today.... a letter saying they cant issue a V5 without a receipt of purchase from the garage that installed the engine confirming the details, or an independant inspection report - or a letter from the engine manufacturer confirming the engine number and size tried to call them earlier, but yet again they have shut all thier phones down so they can bugger off early for Easter what a bunch of utter %$@@!*$ So the process starts all over again on Tuesday. Meanwhile my car tax is now out of date, wonder which document I'll get first - the fine or the V5??

Looks like we're going to have to delay a few days - no way a V5 is going to turn up this week, and we're struggling to get everything sorted out in time - we've just had a chat and may go Tuesday instead - I'll let you know.. I'm not going to delay past that, if the log book doesn't show in time we'll set off anyway and I'll just get it couriered out to us wherever we are

I do get annoyed when I hear civil servants complaining that they don't get paid in line with the private sector - even staff in the worst of the large corporate companies would struggle to get away with such poor service, and I'm stunned that they think it's acceptable to just turn all the phones off for days on end! I've had to deal with a few government agencies over the past couple of months and I can't get over how little anyone is prepared to do - I'm positively looking forward to African beaurocracy, it can only be an improvement.

Has anyone ever tried or been succesfull in getting a new/updated V5 issued quickly from DVLA?? I'm wondering if there is a process maybe through the local vehicle registration office where they can escalate a request and get someone to press the 'print' button faster than six weeks?. We're due to set off on our trip to South Africa in a few days, and four weeks after I sent off my V5 to get my new engine number corrected, nothing has turned up. DVLA only advertise one phone number to a centralised switchboard now, so I can't call my local office, and for the last few days they have simply put a message on saying they are too busy to take any calls, look on the internet. Great. My local office is quite a way away, so before I go down there it would be good to ascertain if I'm likely to have any success or will be wasting time I don't have, and unfortunately they can't be reached by telephone. I managed to get an email response (only took four days), and they say they have no record of processing my V5 yet I am going to be soooo p1$$ed if we have to delay our start because DVLA can't get thier act together. I did think five weeks should have been ample to get a new document printed out and shoved in an envelope, apparantly not

I'd second that, Whitehouse & son have done a couple of boxes for me in the past, and I have recently spoken to him about my LT95. They are based on Bobbington airfield industrial estate, they did have a website but I couldn't find it recently. Old school small engineering firm who know all about the old stuff.

If they ever actually pick up the phone I'll give them the opportunity to refund me or send me the proper gear then, not in the mood for this kind of nonsense today, my ISP and web hosting provider has just used up the last of my goodwill.

before I go postal at a well known suppliers (not the usual one) - I ordered a set of gearbox gaskets last week, and paid five times the price for the ones listed as 'Genuine' rather than the four quid jobs marked 'replacement' the parcel arrived today, and bless me if the set didn't have a Britpart label on it. There is no sign of any genuine parts label or reference number anywhere on the package. Some of the bolts holes on the gaskets look like they've been nibbled out by ants rather than the nice neat holes I'd expect from a genuine set. I know some of the Britpart gear is sometimes OEM, but it there any way of telling?

No, no other bolts needed touching - though I think there is a locknut on them you will need to slacken off first - you should see this fairly obviously though.

yep, bolt number 1 (there is a second bolt fuerther along as well) you will see that it it pushes against the back of the seat - if you tighten it the backrest moves forward, if you loosen it it moves back. You don't get much movement, but I was able to adjust the angle of my passenger seat after my girlfriend complained it was too upright - probably a maximum of a couple of inches either way.

Yours is probably too late for this, but the early seats from 2 door and early 4 door models that had seat belts built in to the seat don't have an adjustment knob, but can be adjusted by winding in or out the two bolts at the rear of the seat, between base and back rest.

I got the last lot of tickets for a decent price by placing the booking on the phone rather than on-line - as we were meeting others in Spain who were being sensible and flying down, we could order two car spaces and book one room between us - you don't get this option on line. I also did loads of web surfing for discount codes and found one that knocked 10% off or something - can't remember what it was, maybe some cheese club or something, but I just said a magic word and they applied the discount

When a mate blew his clutch in the middle of the desert, we did use a winch to pull the gearbox - attached the hook to a Landcruiser bumper, laid a sandladder under the gearbox with a couple of jacks supporting, undid all the bolts, then used the winch to slowly drag the car forwards leaving the gearbox in situ, didn't bother taking the 'box out just to change the clutch but could have. Would have been just as possible with a hi-lift - maybe a tow but that might have been too aggresive. Amazing what you can do when you need to get home!

As has been mentioned by others, good idea to try and avoid getting yourself in a situation where you need a ground anchor in the first place - there will always be an alternative path to take, even if that means going backwards till you find another option. You will find that you become naturally more cautious once you are driving a loaded up truck anyway, and will avoid things you'd have a crack at in an empty defender. They are heavy enough to push at the best of times if you're travelling with another car, a good rope and a spade and sometimes a bit of lateral thinking will get you out of most situations. One Hi-Lift between two cars is ample as they are heavy buggers and are rarely used. if you haven't done one yet, I'd spend some cash on a off-road driving course rather than kit, it really helps keep you out of trouble in the first place and helps avoid mechanical probs. I used Whitecliff(?) a few years ago who aren't too far from your neck of the woods? found them to be very good.

cheers, glad you like it just spent the last six months solid rebuilding it. The cooker/sink stainless unit is from a caravan, but everything else is made from scratch - we're driving it to South Africa in a few weeks time, so it's all built pretty solid. I made the main unit from steel, like a spaceframe which is bolted to the floor, it holds the fridge as well - it's all topped off with aluminium lift up lids/worksurfaces - all very strong but lightweight, it can be lifted up with one hand. the bed is a steel frame slide out unit with wooden slats. Top shelves etc are in aluminium with a very thick ally main spar (made from one of the old stretcher bars!) just plumbed the shower in this weekend - going to make a change from slumming it in a dusty 90 soft top

Here's my overland camper, which I've neeeeearly finished - it's an old Wadham Stringer ambulance, who used a '79 left hand drive fleetline range rover, then converted to RHD, chopped, stretched and added bits.