mickeyw

I think the absence of seams on the front wings makes it all look rather different.

Glad to see the presence of a stick/lever type gear selector. I often drive my mother's Disco Sport (her farm vehicle/dogmobile) - it's comfortable and quick, but I absolutely detest the rotary knob gear selector. I find it so unintuitive and not easy to quickly grab when wearing work gloves. By contrast the lever in the FL2 was pleasant to use. I notice a number of cars going away from the rotary selector in favour of an electronic lever. Good thing IMO. Reading these reports might at least make me consider having a test drive. I'm not really interested in buying one but it would be good

Nice to hear a report from someone that has actually driven one. What a shame it didn't sell itself to you. Maybe the squeaks and rattles are an attempt to make it appeal to the Defender purists 🤣 Was all that mud underneath of your doing, or the work of previous test drivers?

I've not read too much on this topic, but are they planning a long and short wheelbase version? Considering that it is intended to be more utilitarian than the new Defender I would hope it'll be a good bit cheaper. I can't see it selling too well otherwise. If you can get a LWB station wagon for £35 to £40k it might stand a chance.

I have a Karcher WD3. It has a power tool power outlet, which is very handy when woodworking. Had it several years and it's been excellent, even used on the blast cabinet.

Exactly this. I've worked with electronic and mechanical engineering post-graduates and they have bu66er all experience in anything. The electronics guys have no idea how to solder a PCB never mind a simple wire joint. The mechanical guys would design me something strong enough but have no idea how to make it. My childhood involvement with steam engineering, building cars with banger racing teams, farming, then a toolmaking apprenticeship has stood me in good stead to live in real world

In that case we'll be expecting feedback

Be aware that the ZF 4HP22 has different shift characteristics depending on whether it was originally fitted behind a 4 cyl diesel or a petrol V8. I imagine a box from a 300 Tdi would suit you best performance-wise. I can't comment on bell housing lengths etc

James, am I read this message correctly? 🚙

Take a look at the original LR folding side step. It sticks out way further than what you have shown, and beyond the width of a factory spec wheel and tyre. This is one reason they get mangled so easily when one ventures off road. They are however much better as an access aide than the tubular style.

Of course all batteries benefit from regular use Nige

A 130 and 110 will be the same. In the UK, a speedometer has to be within a certain percentage of correct, possibly 10% or so. It is normal that manufacturers make the car's speedometer read under rather than above, just to err on the safe side as they are rarely that accurate especially in a Defender.

Is this in a 90 or 110? I have 110 that has that size tyre. I find the is spot on according to 2 different GPS devices. Have you checked yours yet? I think normally a speedometer is intended to under read, so in my case a larger than standard tyre still achieves an accurate reading.

Yes, this took me by surprise the first time I had a play with my own TIG. Small (relatively) bottles plus paying for it yourself seems to make it go faster too When I was welding at work we had the big bottles plus a spare to hand, so I never really took a lot of notice of gas consumption.

TIG is great all the time you can work the right way up, and preferably sitting down. If you need to weld underneath anything (car, trailer etc) a MIG is going to be a whole lot easier. AS FF has mentioned, Justin on The Fabrication Series is a great teacher and very passionate about his TIG. Another good channels to watch is Welding Tips and Tricks Oh , and I'll highly recommend R-Tech Welding for their great kit and fantastic customer service.