keycare

I have just replaced the horn stalk, should have just got the whole shabang and changed the lot 😕

Sorry to resurrect this thread but do you mean the park switch or the stalk switch? I am having similar symptoms but have replaced the relay and the wiper motor (which came with a new park switch). Still not parking and still no intermittent wipe. Speed 1 and 2 work ok.

AFAIK the same way a kit car would be registered - IVA test. But the idea of finding a nearly dead 90 appeals. The idea of just doing a straight 110 chassis swap is still alive, but only if the process of re-registering would be easier.

May be interested. Don't need roof/lining etc as would plan to make soft-top. Are you saying that the rear axle, shocks and springs are different on a 110 and can't be transferred to a 90 chassis? Everything else makes sense to me. When you say 'brake system' can you be more specific? Sorry if I am sounding dumb here - I've never owned a 90, only a 110. I realise what I propose is a lot more hassle than simply re-creating a 110 from the donar car, but I need to understand how much extra hassle it is for the sake of building my 'for keeps' car. Thanks for the replies everyone.

Yes, that is my understanding too. I could break it up and sell the parts or create a 'kit' car. All of which are my problems to overcome. So, in this thread I am not asking about the whys a wherefores of Q plates and SVAs, that may be for another time. Firstly, I need to know which parts differ from 90 to 110.

Sorry - My mistake, it's a CAT B write off, not C. Hence Q plate and new chassis needed.

Hi Mike, I have read so much conflicting info about written-off vehicles. The rules appear to have changed in 2017 but the car was written off in Feb 18 and given a C instead of the new S or N. This has put me in a world of confusion already. The insurance co are insisting on being supplied with a COD, so I figured it's definitely a new chassis. I agreed to buy the salvage with the understanding it would probably end up with a Q plate and I am not intending to 'flip' it for profit. Most of the tidy SVX style soft-top TD5s seemed to be priced north of £15k, I wouldn't be able to justify buying another defender, let alone one at £15k so whilst I appreciate the sentiment I really want to explore the possibilities first. Take care.

This may be a little crazy, but here goes. I have acquired a 110 county TD5 Cat C that was written off due to an interior fire. There's not that much damage, drivers seat, roof lining, driver's door and b-pillar plastic and a very messy damaged dash where the perpetrators clearly tried to start it, got fed up, ripped out the centre console containing the radio and fled. It still starts and drives and is in excellent condition otherwise. So I need to scrap the chassis to comply with the cat C along with the interior due to smoke damage/toxic chemical contamination. I understand that anything I do with it will now probably (definitely?) result in a Q plate, which doesn't bother me in the slightest. I would love to buy a new 90 galv-chassis and reuse most of the 110 to create a soft top 90 (SVX style). Mechanically and body-work wise the 110 is in excellent condition so what bits would I need in addition to what can be re-used from the 110? We'll start with the rear tub, fuel tank and rear prop-shaft. So apart from the obvious soft-top components, can anyone point me to a list of other stuff I'll need? Also, is there a recommended guide for a chassis swap? I have a barn in which to carry out the conversion and am reasonably competent (I already have a 110 TD5 County daily driver that i do all the work on). All help is appreciated. Cheers. Rich.

Just a follow up... I bought a set of lower poly bushes for the rear dampers today. Removed the old ones (which were almost non-existent and was much easier than I thought), checked the dampers, they seemed fine and replaced the bushes. All took about 3/4 hour. The upshot is that the ride has returned to normal. No bouncing, crashing or rocking, the dampers are fine, it was just the bushes. Thanks all.

Hi, I have noticed that my truck rocks back and forth when coming to a stop and seems a bit syrupy. I can 'bounce' the rear very easily with one hand so though it may be the dampers. The attached video link shows that there is a fair amount of 'play' where the lower shocks are attached to the shock mounts...more that I would have thought was reasonable. I can also hear a 'chinking' noise (and a cockerel) which I am sure is not natural (unlike the cockerel). https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/s...56961126967751 What are your thoughts? Bushes? Shocks? or something more sinister. Cheers all, Rich.

Thanks for the replies. I have a 2000 TD5 - sorry for not giving enough info. I refitted the slave cylinder - probably being more careful that the rod was fully inserted into the rubber boot of the slave. I then reverse bled it and found that the clutch felt far better, started up and it looks like things are ok. Although I haven't had the time to test drive it fully yet. I examined the master cylinder and couldn't see any obvious signs but will bear it in mind if the symptoms return. Thanks all. Richard.

Having read all the posts that I can find on Clutch Slave Cyl replacement and watched the two youtube videos on reverse bleeding, I decided to have a go at replacing the slave cylinder myself. My Symptoms before the replacement were that the truck would get stuck in gear if I rested on the clutch for too long. This mostly happened in reverse but sometimes happened in 1st. It didn't happen every time. I figured that the slave was leaking as there was no evidence of any leakage on the master cyl. So, new OEM slave cyl, 50mm syringe and pipe for reverse bleeding and off I go. It all seemed to go well, push rod stayed in place etc until I tried the clutch. It was very light and the bit point seemed to be near the floor which meant I couldn't get the truck into gear. I tried bleeding the clutch with no success. So I though that I must have dislodged the push rod. Currently, the slave has been removed again, the push rod is still connected to the clutch fork and is secured with the plastic clip. So I am unsure as to where I went wrong. I can easily pull and push the rod in and out of the bell housing which I hope is correct and I am about to refit the slave. Should I hold the push rod so that it pulled out as far as it can go and then push the slave cylinder onto it, or push the rod all the way in and then fit the slave cyl? A bit confused. Cheers, Rich.

The whole child seat thing is irritating and bewildering. People have carried children in cars forever yet car manufacturers seem to want to make things incredibly difficult for us. Many years ago (mid 90s) I saw a Ford Galaxy that had rear seats that could be converted into group 1/2/3 seats just by folding the seat back down (much like the centre armrest). So why don't all new cars have built-in child seats and boosters? Ford showed that it could be done and I am sure other manufacturers could do it as well. One of the reasons that children under 135cm need booster seats is that the seat belt crosses their neck/head rather than their chest, so why not make the seat belt mounting point height adjustable? But what we have ended up with is the situation where you have to try several child seat to find one that fits the best. It is ridiculous really. Mike: I dare say that your suggestion of a car seat with a ratchet mechanism to tighten the seatbelt is a good option. But why steer clear of ISOFIX? Is that an opinion reserved for the Defender or do you have some further insight from your research? Booster seats can be dangerous projectiles if not being sat on unless they are secured via ISOFIX.

The problem that I have with all of this is that I have three vehicles - a 110 csw, mazda bongo and honda crv. I also have several child seats - a result of having 4 kids aged 1, 8, 11 and 12. The only car that ANY of the child seats fit in to my satisfaction is the CRV and that is only because I have an ISOFIX seat, none of the other child seats can be secured with any confidence no matter how hard I pull the seat belts or how 'accurately' I follow the instructions. Now this annoys me most considerably as all of the non ISOFIX seat wobble and move from side-to-side. forward and up and don't seem to offer anywhere near the protection of the ISOFIX. So I want to fit ISOFIX mounting points to the other cars - not just so that I can carry my 1 year only in them (she already uses the other non-ISOFIX child seats in both Bongo and Defender), I just want her to be safer in the Bongo and Defender. Hence, my desire to fix the Ford Focus ISOFIX mounting bracket to the Defender and other than the load area, the other logical position is where the centre front seat used to be. Either way, I would fit an after marked 3-point seat-belt there so that other passengers would be safer than just a lap-belt. Over on the VWT4Forum a poster made the following comment... current EU law does dictate that all child passengers up to 3 years old must be restrained with a suitable child seat which must be attached to the vehicle. I haven't found the source of this statement in statute but suspect that there is no explicit definition of how the seat must be 'attached to the vehicle' Believe me I am interested in improving the safety of the child seats in the defender - not merely avoiding selling it because I can't fit all of my family in it ;-) they can already all fit in it...legally.

Sorry to be resurrecting an old thread hear but I've been looking at the isofix fitting possibilities in a defender. I found a ford focus isofix mounting bracket on ebay which bolts to the chassis for ford's that don't already have them fitted at the factory. Surely these would be type approved as they are oem parts. Similarly, the aftermarket 3 or 4 point seat belts for the centre seats of a defender would be type approved (even if you have to drill thee fixing holes yourself). So if you were to bolt the ford focus isofix bracket to the same fixing points as the centre front seat, what makes this less safe than bolting it to the focus? Or even bolting the bracket to any point on the floor of any vehicle for that matter? Many cars use the same parts, many parts are interchangeable. What's the problem with having a ford isofix bracket in a landrover?