custom-conversions

Those ECU's under the driver seat quite often go wrong when a vehicle is left unused & condensation is going tomake it worse. I believe the relays inside can stick, when this happens you can't adjust the seats or mirrors which is a pain. I'd have a go at trying to fix it if you can as they are a bit pricey.

Better I'd say & they have less dents in the pannel work than a factory defender.

Its not low on gearbox oil is it?

You don't really need the self leveling unit, although if you carry a lot of weight in the back they are helpful. Disco's never had them fitted but did have stiffer rear springs. Its worth checking the rear A-frame ball joint for play though as they can make a knocking noise over bumps.

FF - Do you have a couple of pictures of your v8 trigger wheels & brackets. I guess I'm just being a bit lazy, but a bolt on solution would save some time. I have already googled & had a quick look on the forum.

The distributor has 2 holes underneath that let moisture in. Connect a couple of breather tubes up so that you get air flow though the distributor. Good leads, some silicone & spray grease should sort the rest.

Thats a really poor effort for a professional welding & fabrication company to produce. If it was home made its better than nothing & functional (but not exactly safe). Presume the owner built the rest of the truck himself which is great. But for £1300 all mocking is justified & I don't think any comments mean to offend anyone.

Probably at least £5-800 just because its tax exempt. Maybe a bit more if it really is solid & relatively tidy.

What was the answer to moving your sorned 90? Officially I don't think its legal but in reality I doubt you'll get stopped if you are moving it safely. I'm sure we used to be able to tow an untaxed vehicle, is it because of the EU we now need to meet their standard of road safety!

I think the change of owner ends the SORN agreement but I could be wrong on that one. I've alway sent a SORN declaration away when buying untaxed vehicles that aren't re-taxed straight away. The new owner hasn't made a false declaration so shouldn't be liable to the upto £5000 fine. I don't really think being without TAX for one day is a huge crime, but it is a risk. Fine would probably be less that making 2 trips if it is some distance away. (One trip to look at the vehicle one to collect it). I don't view this sort of activity as tax dodging & don't think it should or would be punished heavily for that reason. You are without TAX for a day which you pay for the following day along with several days before you even owned the vehicle in most cases as you have got to buy the full months tax. Anyway, these are just my views.

So why is coffee such a rip of in the shops? If its cheap enough to be grown, in an abundant supply, only to produces 10-15% oil (by mass I presume) 16p per litre must be made from around 7-10kg's of coffee beans. So, How can a jar of nescafe be £5 ???

And you will probably have to wait for the insurance company to update the insurance database (MIB?) as DVLA will check before they issue a TAX disk, if you apply online & your vehicle's MOT or Insurance can't be verified you can't even apply for a new tax disc online. DVLA don't make life easy, but I guess its alot better than it was in the past. Although the SORN system is a nightmare! I pay my road Tax, just hate the hassle & inconvienience of it all. If you have a few cars its a lot of paperwork & potential fines if you forget to renew a SORN. Now surely I'm not the only one thats had to chuck £80 to the DVLA because after 12months my project still isn't finished & taxed again? I have told DVLA my car off the road, why the need to tell them again next year? Sorry I've probably said enough, rant over!

Yes, ignore me. I though for some strange reason you wrote the axle case needed to be ground away & I was wondering why! Is it just part of the case that needs grinding or is it a bit more involved to fit a 4-pin?

So can you use the entire P38 diff in a Disco one axle case? As opposed to just fitting the 4-pin centre in a classic/disco 1 diff housing.

The £5000 fine is if you declare the vehicle off the road (SORN) & then are caught using it without tax so not relevant in this case. Basically making a false declaration. The instant £80 fine relates to SORN aswell. You have a few weeks to make a SORN declaration to DVLA. You are correct about parking a vehicle on the road overnight if the tax is out they could clamp it. Worse case is being made to pay all the back tax from when you purchased the vehicle (the previous day) & a fine which is at DVLA's discretion but isn’t anyway near a £1000 for this type of offence. I’ve had a problem with Tax in the past, minor & unavoidable unless I wanted to hire a garage for a month. £35 fine & back tax. Didn't agree with the fine but you can't argue with DVLA so paid up & its not worth the hassle for £35. You’d be unlucky to have any problems in my opinion but it is a risk. But then so is speeding & lots of other things. The legal answer to the original question is no you can’t, just because of a little bit of paper! Any alternative shouldn’t really be considered. Personally I’d much prefer they abolished road tax & just taxed the fuel to recouped their lost revenue. What money from VED is actually spent on the roads anyway? How much is wasted on admin? How much does it cost catching all the people without TAX? If its just to prove your insured you should get a disc issued by your insurance company, if its just a proof of MOT you should have an MOT disc displayed. I hate having to find all my documents & take them to the post office. It always smells in the PO & the ques can take ages.

You'd just be a bit early for your MOT. Not the offical way to do thinks so not adviseable these days.

I'm not quite sure what work needs to be done to fit them but its only the rear diffs in 4.6 P38's that are 4-pin asfar as I'm aware. No 4-pins fitted in Disco 2's as standard.

I've done that in the past to collect a car (or 2) but I don't know if you can get away with it if the vehicle already has an MOT. Plus I never had to put it to the test, I think its bending the rules a little bit! When your 200miles from home & the copper asks why you don't have a valid MOT cert. or tax saying your on your way to your local MOT test centre would be comical & legal by all acounts if its a pre-booked test. It would be an interesting chat i'm sure! I couldn't advise anyone to do this sort of thing though as you could be driving a potentially unsafe vehicle.

Trade plate are a great option if available to you.

Yes, they think of all kinds of things to get money from us!

A-Frames aren't the answer in my opinion, they aren't legal to collect a vehicle thats over 750kg's unless braked. Even if braked are they legal? Plus towing with them is a little tricky if the tow vehicle isn't substantially heavier, I'd hate to have to tow a Disco any great distance with one. Twisty country roads would be painfully slow & scarey. Much more of a risk than driving a vehicle without tax for the day in my opinion. If you are involved in an accident & you are towing with an A-Frame your in loads of trouble, your insurance probably wouldn't pay out, especially if your at fault. Using a Land-Rover to tow another heavy vehicle isn't idea, I've had my range rover is a slide on a wet roundabout at a rediculously low speed towing a shogun for a mate, 1st time I'd used a A-frame & I'll never use one again if possible. Opposite lock going sideways around a roundabout at around 20mph is a strange & worrying moment with 2 tons pushing you along! Fun in a Lotus Elise or similar but not quite the same in a big 4x4. A trailer is the best method.

As already stated you can't legally drive it home, but if its Mot'd & your are insured to drive it I'd probably risk it & tax it the next day. I think you'll only be liable for a small fine if stopped, if at all as you would have the v5 showing that its just been purchased. You would have to get an arse of a copper to give you a ticket for that. But it is a risk so better avoided if possible.

Cheers, Thats good to know.

Are you sure they are 100% road legal? They may be a great quality product but I don't think they are DOT marked for the US highway use? Probably not road legal in the US & I presume they wouldn't be legal in the UK either. Split rims may be legal in the UK but don't they have to be made & approved (officially) before being legal or meet certain International standards. Tyres do, aren't rims the same? Why would rims made by Stazworks be legal & Saley's not? Some of Stazworks rims use second hand humvee rims with new centres welded in. Hummers have road legal beadlocks in the US with the DOT # stampted into the rims but it also states that they are for military use only so I don't know the legal opinion of their use on the highways, its questionable. Do the people at DVLA actually understand what they are being asked, you can get several answers to the same question as different people interpret the rules differently. Please correct me if i'm wrong, I'm not questioning the quality of Stazworks rims just interested to know why not many firms are offering an alternative in the UK. I'd gladly have a set of Staz rims if they weren't so expensive to import & a weak £ doesn't help at the moment.

Have you thought about using an auto box with the BMW engine? If its the M30 six cylinder lump which I think you are talking about they use the ZF4Hp22 which is almost the same as fitted to the Range Rovers. The M30 (Big Six) was fitted to 530/535is 730/735i & possibly others. They are great engines with lots of potential for more power relatively cheaply. They are a little heavy & they are quite a long engine but it should be possible to get one to fit. I think the sump may cause issues with diff clearance, as I think the oil pump is chain driven off the crank at the front of the engine, the main sumps at the front aswell. Just something to look into.