Eightpot

yes you can, but if you can find cheap veg oil at the moment, can you let us know where it is please! Most supermarkets are selling it for around 110p/litre - up from around 54p six months ago. At that price it just isn't worth the hassle and having to dispose of loads of plastic containers.

you could get a set of aluminium lifting blocks, fairly expensive for what they are, or buy some 90 HD rear springs, 110 front springs. and use the rubber spring isolators from a disco - should give you a good 1" lift all round and cost about 120 quid. or you could use britpart heavy duty springs, perhaps a bit cheaper - I've used both, and would go with the genuine option and isolators for a mild lift as its cheap and retains quality and a good ride - britpart HD springs are a little firm perhaps for a 90. there are quite a few different spring set ups available, I'm sure some of the other guys will be able to make some recommendations as well.

In Libya in January, I filled my 90 and six jerry cans for less than £12. Thats 7p a litre. 7p. Mind you I bet it's closer to 8p a litre now and they're all crying into thier scarves and walking to work.

I always use Frosties boxes...... They're Grrrrrrreat.

loose baffle in the exhaust or a broken exhaust bracket maybe? I remember my Dad had a similar probem years ago in a Range Rover - vibration and noise that only happened at high speed under load - took ages to find the fault, but it was a problem with the handbrake - the shoes were catching against the drum. I forget the exact cause (it was about 15 years ago) but probably worth checking everythings ok in there.

Going back a few years, when there was an IRA bomb scare in Bimingham, I was travelling down from Brum through Wiltshire later that night, on a main unlit road about 11pm. Nothing else in sight, nowhere near a town or village, no cars, totally unlit road and I was just relaxing, enjoying the night drive listening to music. Then out of nowhere two army landrovers reversed at high speed out of bushes at the side of the road, blocked it off and everything lit up with spotlights I had to slam my brakes on, and by the time I had stopped there were about ten soldiers surrounding my car with rifles pointed straight at me - no yellow bits on the end, and no fisher price magazines installed. They were then closely followed by armed police who searched the car inside and out. Had no problem with drowsiness for the rest of the journey.

Depending on how cheap they are there, you cant go far wrong with standard springs. Do you have a 90 or 110? If you have a 90 and want to beef the springs up a little, you can use 110 fronts and 90 HD rears

Nice work Reads90 - Can I ask how you got the Y pice in the filler neck to divert fuel?

It is possible to fit a rooftent to a softop by the way - you can mount one across the rear tub, but you would need to get a bikini hood or something - or if you have front and rear rollbars you can weld small brackets on so you can fit roof bars. I inserted metal eyelets like you can get from an upholstery shop in the hood for the bolts to pass through. The roof bars also make it much easier to get the tent on and off.

Check the radius arm bushes as well, they can leave a fair bit of play and a fairly quick win if they need changing.

To 'adjust' the gap at the top of the door - open door put knee in middle section of door grab top of door Heeeeeave job done. Sounds a bit brutal but you dont actually have to bend the door very much to close even a 1cm gap at the top.

First check the slot in the lock lines up with the latch - you may need to adjust either the latch or the door lock assembly up or down a little to line them up nicely. If it needs a real good slam, then the latch post is sitting too far inboard - loosen the bolts a little and tap the striker post out a bit. Tighten it up, see how it feels, and carry on adjusting if it's still tight. A little grease on the striker post helps as well. Also check the front edge of the door isn't pressing too tightly into the seals stopping the door closing properly - sometimes you need to twist the door frame a little to stop the top half pressing in too tightly

There are a few reasons to stick with ground tents, but roofies have a couple of things going for them. Speed to get set up - two minutes and your camp is made, beds already made, nice comfy matress to sleep in - this alone is a big plus While floor dwellers are still hammering pegs in, you can be on your second tinnie. The only thing to disturb your enjoyment of the second tin is the WHRRRRRRRRRRRRR noise as they have to get the air compressor out to inflate a mattress, then the swearing as they find the puncture. Much easier to pack away as well, and without the rigmarol trying to re-pack your car with tents, bedding, air bed/matts etc. Not a big deal for a weekend away but appreciated when your on a road trip and moving on daily. Also if you are on uneven ground no problem, or a slope you can level a roof tent out by jacking the car slightly Roof tents are a lot easier to live with in bad weather as well - you can put them away wet and not get mud and worms on your trousers or in your car. Dont see any benefit whatsoever in Oztents, they are big heavy things, you still need to take all your bedding seperately and in reality not that quick to put away. I'll be using a basic ground tent for weekend camping in the UK this year, but might use a roll of upholstery foam as a mattress, rolled up and thrown in the back of the car, not going back to matts and air beds!

Didn't remove the wings when I did mine - in fact I would recommend leaving them on as it will make it easier to line everything up afterwards. Did the swap on my own over two days. When you list down all the things you have to remove it looks a daunting task, but it's just nuts and bolts. When you undo things like peddle box, heater and other gubbins on the engine side, just use zip ties, string, bungees to hold stuff back, no need to completey remove. Take measurements before you remove any bodywork or the bulkhead - measure to the millimeter how wide the door apertures are both sides, top middle and bottom. This will help enourmously when you fit the new bulkhead and try and get the doors and roof lined up. Park with your wheels straight ahead so when you reassemble the steering column it all goes back lined up. Buy a few of those captive nut things that the door hing bolts screw into on the bulkhead - the little buggers drop inside the bulkhead fairly easily and can snap if they're rusty

Paddocks sell genuine ones for 27.90+vat, coopers ones for 10.50 +vat or britpart for £5.50+vat Dont do themselves any favours do they.

I have an ex-mil 90, but have changed to a Discovery Tdi engine so downpipe is going to be different - but I have used a late 300Tdi exhaust centre and rear sections. The centre silencer is fairly free flow , and there is no rear silencer. Pipe diameter is much wider than n/a. On the late models, the rear exhaust section is the same shape and follows the same path as your n/a exhaust - ie it does not have a transverse mounted silencer like earlier tdi's. The centre box sits back slightly further than the n/a box, so I had to make a couple of extension brackets and used some mounting bushes I got off the shelf from a motor factor. You might be able to use a 300 tdi front pipe as well, but might have to modify it a bit - have a look at the images on here and you will get an idea of what might fit - http://www.paddockspares.com/scp/DEFENDER/Exhausts.html

I live a few miles away in Cookley - don't have cause to go through Stourport very often but if he comes my way and can drop them off I'm happy to hold them for your courier and throw some wrapping on.

If the bulkhead just has holes in the floor you can plate them easy enough, if its rotten under the windscreen then maybe change it - its only basic spanner work and easily done in a weekend. Get a cheap paint job and flog it as a soft top and you'll get a decent price for it- 2-3k if you can make it look nice?

I've got a bunch of shims in the shed, let me know if you need any posting down - you'll have em by the weekend.

Mornin dude, as said above, just drop the drag link and set it to the upper end of the specified range, or till it feels right by hand (fairly stiff) - they do bed in quite quickly, mine did the same and have been perfect since I dropped one more thin shim.

I've been having the same brake problem for quite a while now, and the rear shoes are a prime suspect. I went out last night and whipped the drums off to have a look, but the shoes don't match descriptions posted earlier in the thread - mine is an 86 model tho so perhaps there was a change? All shoes have the lining mounted in the same place, and only two of the shoes have pegs on. after adjusting the shoes last night, the brakes have improved, which I suspect is down to the linings wearing down further and perhaps matching the shape of the drum better - previous adjustments have done nothing. Still too much travel for my liking though. After adjustment there is some rubbing at high spots as well (britpart drums...) so I don't suppose that will help either.

Oh well, best just to get on with it then eh, you'll be laughing about it in a few months time. before you bring the discovery back, fill it with as many parts as you can and make the jouney worthwhile.

I think if you put new shells in, you should only attempt to make the one 250 mile trip and be real careful - I would also take another set in case you get stuck halfway! I remember when I did the same with my MGB it did just about last for a couple of hundred miles before the clanking got too loud, but my journals weren't as badly scored as yours. (and I didn't have to drive over mountains!) Is there a more economical way to get an engine - delivered on a pallet maybe? what about sourcing one from France - Italy has a few Land Rover clubs as well?

bit of debris in the oil clogging an oilway I would have thought - it's probably been wearing down for a while and it will go quite suddenly when theres enough play to send the conrod banging up and down on the bearing mind you, number 2 is quite worn as well, so could just be general wear or poor maintenance in the past.

oops - a couple of posts went on while I was typing this - yep, the journals are goosed. look like they might grind up ok though, I bet a lot of the rough surface is metal transfer from the bearings