V8Pete

On my 1988 110 I fed the cables up the left-hand side of the engine bay, then through the grommet in the bulkhead which comes out behind the dashboard shelf. From there you can go behind the shelf to centre of the dashboard (if that's were your switch is) and also up to the screen base for the screen connectors by going past the wiper motor. You may be able to get away with just unbolting the dash top panel, the loudspeaker/wiper motor cover and the dash end cover/handle. Only about 10 screws in total and the wiring is totally hidden. I put all my fuses and relays in the bottom of my cubby box but other than that followed the route above. I also took a feed from the screen connector to one of the spare warning lights on the main dashboard panel (the 24v light beneath the HRW light) so I could see when the screen was on and to make sure the timer was working.

Thanks. I think I'll have to give that a go. It didn't suffer the same problem with the original butterflies in place but maybe the springs had stiffened up enough for it not to be a problem.

I've got a bog standard 3.5 V8 running on SU carbs. I recently rebuilt the carbs with the full rebuild kit and set them up according to the official manual and it all starts and runs well except for one problem. After a long run the idle speed increases to about 1,200 rpm. If I turn the engine off for a minute and start it again it's fine. And it idles normally at all other times, it's only a problem after a long run on main roads/motorways. It doesn't appear to be a sticking throttle as I've checked that both throttle levers are on the throttle stop screws . I put in new throttle disks and left the overrun valves in place so I guess it could be one or both of these sticking open. Any carb gurus out there with some ideas of what could be causing this problem? Thanks

I fitted the Hawk system recently. Had problems at first then worked out that it was a bad earth on the return from the solenoids. Since then it's been fine. Mines connected to the alarm as well which also seems to be good.

I fitted one a couple of months ago to replace the original that had a dodgy solenoid. Smaller and spins faster than the original. Haven't had it long enough to know how reliable it is but happy so far.

I'm down in Gloucestershire so not very close to Lancashire unfortunately. Are they mild steel or stainless steel downpipes? Would you be able to post/courier them for the right price?

I just posted in another related thread before I saw this thread. To get a 4-2-1 exhaust is it possible to use Discovery manifolds, downpipes and y-piece and then a standard Defender exhaust from the y-piece back?

Resurrecting a slightly old thread here but also been looking at the exhaust options for my bog standard 3.5 V8. I don't particularly want the tubular manifolds so thought about getting the following: Discovery manifolds (to get the 4 into 2) Discovery down pipes and Y-piece (to get the 2 into 1) like this http://www.rimmerbros.co.uk/Item--i-LR148 Then mate that to the standard V8 exhaust Would this work or would it fowl on the gearbox crossmember? Is there any advantage in going for a TD5 exhaust from the Y-piece back rather than the standard V8 one?

Thanks for that excellent information. I agree that 0.06 is a bit tight. Based on the measurements from the V8 Forum the gap should be about 3 times that. So I think I'll measure everything again and get some gaskets from other suppliers to see if I can get one of about the right thickness.

I've just replaced the gears in the oil pump on my 3.5 V8 - it's the non suffix B external type oil pump. I have two gaskets which I could use for the body but they're very different thicknesses. The first is 0.52mm thick and looks a closer to the original, the other is 0.26mm thick (from Britpart). Would the thinner gasket help improve the oil pressure or would it restrict the oil flow too much? I believe these engines prefer good oil volume over oil pressure. The gears are 0.2mm proud of the body so the thinner gasket should just about be OK.

My decision to go for a V8 was based on the fact that they are cheaper to buy (I reckon I saved about £1,000) and this would cover the cost of about 12,000 miles of driving given the economy and fuel price differences. As it was to be a 2nd car 12,000 miles would take about 3 years. Although this argument falls down if I have to sell it as I'll then lose my £1,000 saving unless the increasing rarity of an original V8 pushes the price up. Plus I prefer the V8 from a comfort/noise/cruising perspective.

The original is held in top and bottom with a few spot welds and, as far as I could tell, this part of the C-pillar isn't load bearing for the roof. So I used stainless steel nuts/bolts on at the bottom and 5mm steel rivets at the top. To be sure this was OK I looked into the relative strength of the different attachment methods (spot welds, steel rivets and bolts) and they appeared to be close enough to be OK. I made sure all bolts and rivets were a tight fit so that there was no movement (one of the advantages of welding).

I replaced both of mine with the YRM parts. Used the whole part only because I didn't want to weld it. Hardest bit was splitting it where it's spot welded to the vertical part of the c-post. No need to take out the seat box as it's not joined to it other than the horizontal bracket part. There's a foam insert which fills the gap between the c-post and the seat box - I used the same foam tape that seals the floors panels.

I currently get about 18mpg (which includes towing a 1 ton trailer). Only change so far has been putting a Discovery transfer box in to increase the high-range gear ratios. I'm thinking about swapping the viscous fan for an electric one and I need to get the carbs tuned properly. I'm hoping this will get me to about 20mpg. A new and/or better camshaft can increase efficiency - so more power or better fuel economy depending on how you drive it. Ensure timing is as advanced as possible without pinking. Don't assume the crankshaft TDC indicator is right as they can be out by a few degrees. Make sure distributor advance works properly and that the leads and plugs are good quality. So generally make sure it is all properly tuned. No single change will make a dramatic improvement in mpg but it all helps. And when you're driving a well set up V8 you tend to forget the issue of economy

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll try disconnecting one or two of the rears to see if it makes a difference. The drivers door is a five wire, the rest two. I'm not sure whether the remote just activates the driver's door and that in turn triggers the others. If it does it could be a problem with the drivers door solenoid.

Has anyone fitted a Hawk Car Alarm and Central Locking unit to their Defender? I fitted mine and it all worked fine when I only had the two front doors connected to the central locking. When I connected the two rear side doors it seemed to lack the power to operate all the solenoids. It still works on the key but not from the remote. Hawk said that can't be possible but clearly it is. It could be that the lock mechanism in Defender doors is too stiff. Has anyone got it working properly with all four doors?

That should work although you'll probably need to take the end of the seat box off so that you can get to the inside of the C pillar section to join it to the original. The end of the seat box is easy to remove and replace.

Just to add to the potential problems, I had something similar on my V8 and found that the inside of some of the fuel lines was breaking down. Nothing came loose so didn't appear in the fuel filter (which should be on the feed not the return) but every now and again it would be starved of fuel. May not be the problem if your flexible pipes have been replaced recently but the higher ethanol in fuel nowadays cause problems with old flexible hoses.

I used these YRM parts recently to repair my C pillars. The difficult bit is getting the top of the old section off where it joins the vertical part of the pillar. They weren't a perfect fit but this could be more down to the Land Rover build quality rather the the YRM parts. I would use them again though as once they're fitted it looks pretty original.

Hi, I've just finished doing something similar. I found that there is an ignition feed on the n/s of the bulkhead in the engine bay. It's a 3 way connector, with a brown wire that goes directly to the battery. The other two sockets on the connector appear to be ignition feed and earth. I used a bullet connector to take the ignition feed to switch a 100A relay which then powered my fusebox. My Defender is a 1988 110 but I think the connector is fairly standard as it is on the wiring diagram and is, I think, intended for a simple split charge system.

Thanks for the input. The engine is low mileage (92K) and in good condition other than the camshaft so I'll probably keep it simple and either go with a 3.9 camshaft or the Piper Torque Max. Larger engine or EFi would be good but extra work and cost.

Hi, this is my first question on this forum so apologies if it's been covered previously (I couldn't find anything). I have a bog standard 3.5 V8 in a 110 and suspect the camshaft is worn so I'm planning to replace it along with the tappets etc. I'd like a bit more power because I've put a Discovery transfer box in and I'm trying to decide which camshaft to put in. Is it better to stick with the standard one or upgrade to a fast road cam? Would the fast road cam mean I lose the flexibility and smoothness? Alternatively, I've head that a 3.9 cam will fit and adds a bit of power/torque. I'm not panning to do any other engine mods as I would prefer to keep it as standard as possible. Thanks

I've just finished sort out my headlining. The card was fairly sound so removed all the old covering, cleaned thoroughly and used wood hardener on the bits that had gone soft. Then covered it in stretch carpet from Mega Van Mats. Went on really well and fits all the contours. The area around the alpine windows was the only bit that stretched the carpets to it's limits. But it all looks as good as new now. Excluding the cleaning bit, it probably took about 3 hours in total.

As they're detuned and unstressed engines they will last just as well as the diesels as long as they're serviced regularly. They run well even when they are pretty worn out so can be hard to tell. As FridgeFreezer says, the camshafts can wear out quickly (often around the 80K-100K mark) but they're easy to replace. Key thing is to check the compression and listen for rattles on a cold start up that don't disappear within a few seconds. Carbs might need a bit of fettling at this mileage but, again, none of it is complicated. The advantage of a high mileage engine is that it is likely to have done few cold starts and spent less time in stop/start traffic, both of which are bad for engines.

I bought 4 side doors from these guys - landefender4x4parts.co.uk - the quality seems to be good and they all fitted well. They've been on for about 6 months so a bit early to tell how well they'll last.