ThreePointFive

Any word on what the repair is? Seems I am now in need...

Defender people pay hundreds for them if the seller puts the word "bespoke" in the advert. No one ever talks about how much they suck ass to use. (I have an E-Type one in the XK and I regret it every summer)

Definitely want to see photos, it looks like a really nice car from the advert and one I'd never heard of before.

I may have been exaggerating the strength of feeling for the sake of debate (or entertainment 😬) but ordering an unproven car from an unproven brand, without testing it first would be a leap of faith too far for me.

Correct, there is no way the footage would have been sped up by any officer involved in the investigation, the penalties for tampering with evidence would be life-ruining. Go straight to jail, do not collect your pension, etc. Completely agree on the press....

Oh right, this whole thing still going is it? Not sure I love the "You want to drive one before you spend £50k, are you a loser?" attitude. I am sure that pressuring potential customers for wanting to drive a car that has so far been 99% marketing hype will be a workable long term strategy. A Company that was prepared to stand by its product should be putting out demonstrators etc before the build slots open. No one should be buying blind.

Ah, so the exact opposite.

Which shaft do these use? Front/rear/24/10 spline? I might have some 10 spline front ones you can use/have Badger, if that helps.

I feel some mild workshop jealousy... that looks like a nice, bright, clean space. I had to squeeze down the side of my car to get to the back.

For what it's worth, I did the same thing for my rebuild as it's the closest I'll ever get to owning a new Defender. You can always put it back to the right number.

Thanks for all the replies. I will be splitting the transfer box off it first as I know how heavy that is on its own, so that's a given. I can get to the bolts on the bellhousing so shouldn't need to take out the floor but I might be saving 30 minutes of work only to cause 2 hours in faffing and frustration by not doing it. Does this one go high enough to reach a Defender gearbox? Also welding is pretty much a no-go for me so if it needs that, I'm better off looking at other options.

I'm planning ahead for the removal (and hopefully refit) of my transmission at some point. If possible, I'd prefer to do this without removing the transmission tunnel and sticking the engine crane in through the doors due to the potential for damage and removing the tunnel is soon to be slightly more difficult. I've seen these Draper scissor lift jack things but I'm not sure if they're up to the job. They're also expensive for something I'll use twice and I'm not convinced by holding the awkwardly shaped transfer box with a strap. Does anyone have experience of these, or any better alternatives? I have seen ones that bolt to a standard trolley jack but they look rickety at best.

That's nicer than my house.... As I'm about to try carpetting something for the second time in my life I have the utmost respect for the quality you've achieved with this. The finish on the panneling is really nice too, I love these colour choices. I don't (and never will) have Instagram so don't forget about us on here when you're updating!

But you'll hit less problems if you have fewer vehicles.

That'll be a yes then... According to this I'm at least 500rpm over at all speeds, this requires more experimentation. Sorry to derail the topic.

Is there any kind of comparison table between the RPMs at a given speed for the different transfer cases? This is something I'm interested in as I feel like mine is too low geared even with the 1.22 Disco box, 70 is about 3,200rpm which is a bit ridiculous for something considered to be tall geared. I know/expect it'll be different for diesels.

There's a lot of injustices going on in the world at the moment, this is definitely one of them.

I thought they now supply a very limited number of mats that have options built in for cutting them according to your gearbox, I am not certain they make individual mats for each model or LHD/RHD now. Certainly the case for my genuine ones purchased last year.

I really like that.

I had intended to leave my transmission tunnel completely bare and rely on the original sound deadening. It turns out that's not going to be pleasant on long trips, so I've applied Silent Coat sound deadening on the tunnel which will need a covering of some sort. The only two options I can think of are carpet or rubber. Wright Off Road don't make anything for the LT85 so that's out. I can't see any carpet options for just the tunnel, I don't want a full seatbox/mats/bulkhead set for reasons of cleaning, inevitable dampness and liking the look of the metal interior (yes I know how ridiculous that sounds). MUC1253 is described as a rubber tunnel cover which sounds spot-on for what I want, but of course is out of stock everwhere but Craddocks, who haven't got back to me about whether they actually have one as their site says (I know they don't). It's a complex shape so I don't want to DIY this, I want it to look factory. Is there anything obvious I'm overlooking that would suit an LT85, or am I going to need to have something made? I should add, anything I get will need to be able to account for 4mm of extra sound deadening now added.

You can buy a brand new one from Turners for that price +VAT.

Channelling my inner Ralph: NRC9238 | Air Filter - 4 Cylinder Pre Tdi | Defender I once found a whole bird in mine, completely dried and preserved. Made no sense as the intake had a grille it could never have fit through. You've made a good find with that dash, not too many good quality ones still about. I wish mine had been that tidy.

Cannot recommend that enough, it helped for my own TD5 conversion. My speedo now reads bang-on so well worth the upgrade.

Less likely but possible is that the guide channels can rust through, but you can't see it as the felt keeps them together. It might be that one side has snapped.

I had both, the bolts are still accessible.