mickeyw

Phil - is that engine in standard Defender position? When I fitted my Efi engine, I found the intake for the Defender V8 dustbin fouled on the back of the plenum. One day I'll fit it, but it'll need surgery first. For now though I'm using the much smaller RRC air filter.

As I would expect a good mechanic to do Chris. Alas there seem to be rather too many fly-by-night types with no interest in nurturing good customer relations. Glad you are sorted and that the problem was an easy one. Saves anyone mentioning inferior parts

This is my thinking too Simon - the flap lining having got stuck to the wrong face. There's also the heavier section rectangular foam 'gasket' that fits between the heater box and bulkhead. If that's missing you can lose a lot of air into the engine bay.

I cannot read the linked post on FB as I am not a member of the group concerned. However I agree with David - profiteering is not acceptable behaviour when others are suffering from natural disaster. When people are stranded, they often have no choice in what measures to take. In this instance it may not have been an emergency, but this was a couple's wedding we are talking about - THE most important day for them, that has no doubt been spoiled not only by the weather, but far more so by the reprehensible actions of Kankku. I would have been offering to help those less fortunate at no cost, as I did a couple of winters back when we had severe floods in Surrey and Sussex, and I evacuated a family from their home. Such gestures of goodwill often lead to generous offers from grateful rescuees, but I certainly don't expect anything. The large number of 4x4 Response and other similar volunteer organisations provide a valuable resource in assisting our emergency services, yet do they go about demanding mercenary fees? I have driven past Kankku's base when I have been travelling in the Lake District, and seen their brightly coloured vehicles lined up at the side of the road. They are ideally placed to assist with the situation. They chose to act in the way they did, and chose to charge heavily at the same time. I think it is the excessive fee that grates more than anything. The opportunity to have saved a bride's day, and possibly received some fantastic local publicity from would have been a winner. Imagine local media publishing something like 'Local off-road tour company saves couple's wedding day in the face of Storm Desmond'....

Having owned a factory original 1986 V8 90 hardtop (a rare combination IMO) for 20 years, I can tell you it wasn't slow with the Stromberg fuelled 3.5 and 7.50s. This truck is also the origin of the sketch in my avatar When these were new they were deliberately downrated to 114 bhp, and the performance figures were kept hush by LR, as it was actually faster than the Range Rover of the time (still 3.5 and carbed at that stage). That would have been very bad PR for RRCs. When I blew that engine up, through off road abuse at extreme angles, it seemed rude not to fit an available 3.9 serpentine engine. It became an absolute hooligan machine in that config. Later came a ZF 4HP22 and the trf ratio changed to 1.4:1 from the original V8 90 exclusive ratio of 1.192:1 I sold that truck just over a year ago, and as far as I know it's still on the road.

This must be easier on a 90, as there is not fuel tank in the way (at least on pre Td5 models) Can't say I've ever seen a rear PTO on a Defender, but I like the idea of one.

I've bought lots of bits from 3waycomponents on ebay They also have a non ebay web shop

I replaced my blower resistor with a 50w aluminium cased power resistor from RS Components. It cost less than £3 inc vat. There was nothing wrong with my blower, other than I wanted to increase the slow speed slightly. I don't recall what R the new resistor was, but it now means that slow speed will keep the screen clear on damp days.

I've also bought coach enamel in Landrover colours from Craftmaster paints on eBay. http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Craftmaster-Paints-Ltd No affiliation, just a happy customer.

No one has mentioned using a towing A-frame yet... This would have the advantage of a solid connection between the two vehicles, and much safer than a single towing pole. Also there would be no need for anyone to be steering in the towed motor, although any braking effort would be useful. If the hairpins can be driven without a shunt, a trailed vehicle on an A-frame should also make the corner.

Well I've had a few more thoughts on this. Our microwave died recently, so I felt compelled to see what useful components it might yield. The harvest included a small-ish 7-segment display. I had a read up on the Arduino and how it could drive such a display with enough characters Next idea involved a very cheap digital tyre pressure gauge from the bay. Having dissected this device I see beautiful simplicity. No doubt there is much cleverness hidden in there too. One very small barometric sensor, a very small LCD, a power source, the PCB with a simple tactile switch, and a clever bit to convert the pressure signal to an LCD output. This all looks very usable. That tiny LCD could be packaged to be very discreet on the instrument binnacle. The wires can be extended to the engine bay, where the sensor can be hooked up to the air hoses. I have discovered a couple of hurdles though. The unit auto powers off after 30 seconds or so, which is fine for battery power - not so much for an always on display. Easy I thought, just bridge the switch contacts. Not so simple it turns out, as that is the same as the press and hold required to switch the unit off! So it seems that the chip under the black blob on the PCB has a clever program on board. I wonder if that can be read and modified......... Now waiting for that Cwazy Wabbit to tell me that's an easy job

I hear what you're saying about costs of importing new skins. However, thinking further, I recall reading about a chap the made his own door skins from ally sheet. He made a wooden template to form the lift up door handle aperture and rolled 'shoulder'. I'd say this is a bit easier with a lift handle series door, than a push button Defender door. There are some clever folk out there.

The trouble with this corrosion is that you can only ever keep it at bay, never be rid of it entirely. You can make a darned good filler and paint job, but in my experience it'll be back within a couple of years ? I've experimented with gentle use of a wire cup wheel and a drill to clean up with rough surface, but you can never be right into the porous corroded surface. Then a good wash with soapy water and point a blow gun into the holes. If the weather is nice and warm it should hopefully dry out more easily prior to painting. There are expensive solutions (acids) they use on aircraft to deal with aluminium corrosion, but I've never gone so far as trying any.

I was about to mention the same as David. Look for a cross pin.

From my own recollection, the pin I a pressed in part. That said, I've never looked for a replacement item. You could have a pin machined to spec...

I know this discussion has moved toward Defender transmission options, but I don't believe I've seen any suggestion of fitting a 4 cyl series box with the Tdi. I managed 9 years with a 3.5 coupled to a series 3 box in my 88" and didn't kill it. Drive sensibly and it can work well for a long time. I did a fair bit of towing with mine, plus the odd donut in the work car park, and it still survived.

If it's any use to you, I have a surplus rad from my V8 110. It's a full width, water only unit. In very good condition, only removed because I fitted one with an oil cooler. Gatwick area. £75 if you're interested.

Now if it were mounted in the was the 109" Pinkies were I'd consider it not friendly for the road. https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4132/4841397687_e14bcb518a_z.jpg

There were a few different drive ratios ranging from pretty slow to effin slow. Denoted by a coloured spot on the axle case. The Landy wasn't much faster when hauling this combo. I do recall resorting to low box when climbing Pebble Hill in Betchworth. That was somewhat less dramatic than driving an 8 tonne steam showmans engine plus living van up that same road.

I used to have an interest in a Standard Fordson model N The need for a means to tow that to shows was the original reason I bought a Landrover. I somehow feel I was towing rather overweight for my 88" 2.25P. A quick search tells me the tractor was around 1500kg, and the hydraulic lifting Lo-Lode trailer was mighty heavy on its own. That was 25 years ago... The Landrover bug got its teeth in deep

I did the celebration tour a month or two back. Definitely a good day out.

Zim, I must counter your bluntness Carbs can be absolutely fine when set up well. I won't argue though that injected engines put out more power. I put a Stromberg carbed 3.5 in my old 88", and it went like a rocket, and had plenty of potential to do dangerous speeds. That was one good engine. From memory the cam was std 3.9 spec. I rebuild the heads, fitted new rings etc, so it was in good health shall we say. Now the 3.5 in my 110 was a gutless lump, that had certainly seen better days. It was also the 114bhp Defender spec version of the engine, which again put it at a disadvantage. So to the OP, I'd say to find out what spec of engine you have. There were many varaints of the 3.5, dependng on its origin. Looking at the engine number would be a start to determine this, although it may have been rebuilt to a better spec at some point. And to reiterate was others have said: Check the timing is set correctly. Do a compression test. Get someone that knows carbs (not so many of those these days I'll grant you. Do you know any retired old skool mechanics?) to look them over and check they are correctly balanced. Yes, you could pick up a cheap 3.9, but there's no guarantee that'll be in any better condition.

PMSL. Hope that was no one on here.

I've used Sparex Stratos blue brushing paint before on my 90. The colour match wasn't great, and it dried a bit too fast to get a good finish. I've had good success applying coach enamel from Craftmaster Paints. No connection, just came across them on ebay.

Some years ago a mate fitted the SD33 into an 88" hardtop. In fact he used the entire Nissan drive train, giving excellent disk brakes to slow him down. That truck didn't pull well! That engine was beautifully smooth and powerful sounding, and revved most willingly.