mickeyw

Alas all my local (within 15 miles) stations have stopped selling LPG. These were all Shell places. I also used to have a local indy car repair garage that sold it, but that went a few years ago. They were on my way to work, which was dead handy. I haven't used LPG for a couple of years now. I started with it in 2001, which was when the first local source appeared. I think I made good use of it while it lasted. Luckily I no longer run a V8 as a daily, and also I now seem to be mostly working from home. Having 3 cars on the road seems hard to justify really.

OK, I'm late to this party, but I have to agree that I am experiencing a worrying number of 'coincidences'. Recently I was speaking with my boss in the office about a new product we are working on for a customer. This is the kind of project that should not be talked about publicly prior to its release. Anyway a day or two later I'm online on my home PC (I forget what site) and an ad pops up for items related to our discussion. The product isn't exactly an everyday type of thing, so coincidences would seem pretty unlikely. We both use Android phones, so draw what you will from that. Some months back one of SWMBO's friends popped round and they had a chat out on the driveway for 15 minutes or so. No more than 10 minutes later said friend is being suggested to me as someone to be friends with on a certain social media site . Clearly some proximity algorithms were at work to ascertain this connection. Now have a think about how many government secrets get leaked and fall into the hands of the media. I bet most MPs use a smart phone without disabling the voice assistant features, and I wouldn't be surprised to hear that the press can buy data just as easily as any marketing machine. Our eldest daughter is desperate for us to get an Alexa. We've already dropped the disappointment on her.

James I hope you'll report back on the life span and performance of these units. When we had our house extension built c. 18 months ago the sparky fitted lots of Meridien GU10 LEDs from Toolstation. They give a good light in our preferred warm white, but over the last 3 months ago they have been failing left, right and centre. I am very unimpressed seeing as they too had some massive life span quoted on the box. I've been replacing with Sylvania equivalents, and will see if they can manage any better. The Lumilife LEDs in the lounge are a few years old and not had a failure yet.

Ahhh, that company. I'd forgotten about them and their grey coating. Both people I know of that went to them found the product didn't stick very well. On the Buzzweld CIO front, I have used that on my 110 for quote a while. It covers well, dries fast and sticks pretty well (especially to one's hands), but doesn't seem to stay good for that long. After a few off-roading sessions and subsequent jet washes there seems to be rust coming through. For painting agri equipment I've been brushing on a zinc rich primer from Arc Rite, followed by one of their satin finish industrial paints. This combo seems pretty resistant to knocks and bumps.

It certainly won't build pressure if there is no fuel for it to pressurise, but I would have expected to hear the pump running. Check you earths etc.

YRM https://yrmit.co.uk/ do repair pieces for all these common problems. They have some good articles on this kind of repair.

£120 for an alternator repair seems a little uneconomic. You can get new ones for less

And yet you have an R380 and 4.6. All down to one's control of the right foot

There are R380 boxes that were built to go behind the 4 or 5 cyl diesel, and others built with bell housings and input shafts to fit the Rover V8. You just need the right version. If you get one that first lived in a Discovery you'll need to change the gear stick and selector assembly to the Defender type. Ashcroft transmissions (and probably other LR gearbox specialists) have all these parts.

So if I understand this right you'd like to keep the 33" tyre diameter, but have something less aggressive that is definitely a road legal tread. A number of brands make a 285/75R16 tyre, available as an All Terrain as well as a regular Mud Terrain. This size of tyre is still 33" tall, just a little narrower than what you have. There is also the 255/85R15 that is the same height. There's much less choice in this size, and they're all MTs. They are also really a bit narrow for your 10" wide rims. I run this size on a 16x7" rim. These sit nicely inside the wheel arch, so minimal mud or cyclists would be thrown up the side of your tidy looking truck

You seem to know too much about this Steve A 6x6 race car hot hatch flattener , bring it on 🤣

My old V8 90 with it's 3.9 auto could lose your low end Focus at the lights, despite wearing moderately wide MTs. My vehicles are very much the sheep in wolf's clothes - it's warming to see the surprised faces from time to time, and tere's no need to spend all that much if this is your target 😁

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 to have a first hand experience. I don't think I'm really in JLR's target demographic, and neither is my bank balance 🤣

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.