Eightpot

I used a cheap extending cafe rod curtain pole I got fom Ikea which is perfect for the job. Open it out to touch both rims at the rear and mark a pencil line, then do the same at the front and adjust the track bar till the lines are just under 2mm apart.

I would be real surprised if NBC couldn't help - I've been in thier warehouses and they have stuff for Spitfires, JCB's, tanks, cranes ,cars and ships - the place was the size of a football pitch crammed with shelves 20 feet high. you'd be very unlucky if they didn't have one.

You can also try NBC Group in Telford - they stock every bearing ever made, ever. For anything. www.nbcgroup.co.uk

The way I fixed a similar problem in removing the last pulley bolt was to re-fit all the bolts on the pulley, and use one of those to brace against while trying to crack the last bolt. of course doing this meant that the freshly re-inserted bolt I'd used to brace against was now also firmly wedged in, but not as difficult as before. Does that make sense

military door catches aren't expensive necesarily - I've only ever paid about a fiver each for mine - the last ones I got were brand new from one of the shows. They come up on ebay pretty often. Militaty door tops are a bit different (post 1984ish) a they have slant cut glass with two moveable panes rather than vertical glass with one.

I'm having exactly the same problem - first pump and the peddle goes way down with little effect, pump it a second time and the brakes are spot on. I've just fitted new pads and there were no probs with the wheel cylinders, adjusted the rear shoes up, there's no fluid leaking anywhere, and I've bled the brakes three times now, all with no difference. I've just got used to doing two sharp taps on the pedal now, if I ever do get it fixed I'll have to try and remember not to or I'll end up going over the handlebars like on a raleigh chopper

I've just sent in a question about the listing : How do I know this is the Dalai Lamas car - it's obviously brand new and doesn't have any personalised items included - it could be any vehicle photo from a catalogue - also you don't have any feedback history at all. Could you please ask Mr Lama to have his photo taken sitting in the drivers seat with a copy of todays newspaper. Preferably with Sharon on his lap. Many thanks. I don't think they'll reply, but its a fair point.

The Fiat/GM 1.9 TiD used in Saabs/Alfas etc is a cracking lump - torque isn't low down enough really, though would be different on a LR drivetrain I spose 150bhp 236lb/ft as standard, or can be tuned up to nearly 200bhp. I reckon there'll be a few intersting diesel conversions coming long once these modern diesels start getting broken up.

looking at the pictures, I very much doubt if there is a single part of the Dalai Llamas land rover remaining on that vehicle - it looks completely brand new. For $75,000 I'd want Sharon Stone to blow me all the way home in it.

dont bother with sealant, just take your time and get all the old gasket off the engine leaving a nice clean flat surface. if possible use something that won't scratch the surface - if you absolutely have to use a chisel or something then go real easy with it and at a shallow angle.

Have a look under the plastic dash tray - the loom comes up from the fuse board and across under here into the back of the dash binnacle. There are a couple of multi connectors under the tray, in the centre, which feed things like the interior light, cigarette lighter, radio etc, and it's not dificult for one of the live wires to come loose and earth on the bulkhead, particularly if you fitted a radio/cb and possibly been tugging at wires for any reason.

Some interesting comments aout this on the EMLRA forum. particularly around how a retired Major sets up a parts business and then gets a major MOD contract ...

I'd like to see a 'readers rides' section

Take a day off and go down your local auctions, you should be able to pick up something very tidy for well under a grand. The stuff that dealers find difficult to sell on forecourts - anything that isn't a small hatch basically, can go for absolute peanuts, especially if it's had a bit of damage or needs a bit of paint. I'd be dissapointed if I didn't come away with something fairly recent and very clean for about £700.

MM4x4 in droitwich are even closerif you need bits, prob know that already tho.

probably worth considering putting a disco box on instead with 1.22:1 - you won't notice much difference with 1.44. I had my 1.6 box reconditioned once, and the place that did it dropped in a 1.4 without realising - I didn't notice at all! only found out when I went for the 1.22 upgrade.

probably cheaper to get them cast in alloy?

A disco 200 tdi will drop in with very little work and quite cheaply. Defender 200's are even easier but tend to fetch a premium. The one thing you will need for a disco conversion unless you are a good welder/fabricator is a steve parker downpipe conversion, £120 and makes the job dead easy. 300tdi engines have a different bellhousing and sit further back on a LT77 so you need to chop and weld engine mountings.

If you don't have access to a press, you can remove the old bushes by blasting whatevers left of the rubber with a blow torch for a minute, poking the centre out, and then hacksawing a section out of the bush sleeve. It will come out with a couple of hammer taps. Replace them with polybushes which don't need to be pressed in. Took me about 40 mins.

Anyone know of any more of those military parts catologues?? I was really interested to see what spec my 90 was issued with, as I think it has been through a couple of different guises while it was in service. The reg was 57KG88, the reg's on the sept 86 catalogue starts at 79KE, not sure of the relevance or if it means mines loads older. Interestingly, it was only brought into service in November 88 according to the cast off documents.

You could try the 'Universal' raised air intake at Rebel - you can fit it pretty much where you want then - http://www.rebel4x4.co.uk/raised_air.htm You get the mushroom, a downpipe, and a flexi pipe to route it inside the engine bay.

there is a good chance the problem you have is just that the sender is not matched to the gauge. Certainly a n/a or TD gauge will read just on the border of red when matched to a 300tdi engine sender unit- mine does. Pretty sure the 200tdi is a different sender again. If it helps, I have a an older n/a, TD car with corresponding gauge and fitted a 300tdi engine - the thread for the sender unit is different to 200/TD/NA senders so I can't seem to find one to match the gauge - I'll prob have to get a gauge to match the sender from a 300tdi defender. In normal use though the gauge sits just a gnats hair below the red and that indiciates normal operating temp.

i've got the same set up as you, using 300 rad & 200 engine, with disco power steering pipes. All fits ok, if you need any info or pics let me know. A quick note on mounting the rad - I know most people tend to chop and reweld the chassis mounts, but you don't need to do this, it fits just fine if you chop the brackets on the bottom of the rad frame, and drill a new hole in the bottom of the rad frame, connecting to the chassis mount with a nut & bolt. For the bottom rad hose, I had to make a bit of a hybrid - I had two n/a rad hoses I think, and used a piece of one to extend the other so it reached the bottom of the rad. The shape was just right and it cleared the fan perfectly - I used a sleeve of 2" grey household waste pipe and jubilee clips to join the pipes and it has held perfectly - took it over the Alps where it overheated and the joint held without a problem.

i can recommend R Whitehouse & Son on Halfpenny green airport trading estate - they are landrover gearbox specialists - they rebuild them but I'm sure would be glad to help with queires or maybe order a part for you - good guys and know what they're on about. 01384 221304