I need a couple of open-backed headlamp bowls for the project truck. Paddocks are local to me but only have the Britpart items. They're really inexpensive, which is clearly good - but then there's the Britpart reputation. Is anyone using these, and are they any good? There aren't a hundred ways...

Right. The hard chrome place has asked for £125 to plate and grind - presumably that's plus VAT, so £150. That, plus some new bearings and a seal kit, is about the same as a reconditioned box but I'll know that the money's gone where it needs to.

Refurbed boxes seem to have a bad reputation, and new ones a price tag that will buy you a whole Disco parts vehicle. Given that I've got three steering boxes lying around now, two that wobble and one that leaks, I thought I'd pull the leaky one apart. Sector shaft had pitting round the lower...

/ 26ish in front & 30ish in back / 56 people in a Disco has to be some sort of record. No wonder the wheels were wobbling.

Swapped another box onto it overnight as I had it available. Leak is gone. Unfortunately, I'm not getting a lot of assistance at low speeds. I didn't get this behaviour with the previous box, so I'm thinking it shouldn't be the pump. Fluid level seems stable and I've bled it from the steering...

Sure enough, it was a dying steering box. By the time I got round to removing it, there was some really impressive play between input and output. Now mid-way through replacing it, i.e. I've done it once, car drives much better, new (old) box leaks catastrophically so I need to source another...

Had to take the accessory belt off for another job today so checked pump timing - it's spot on, so evidently the fault does lie elsewhere.

Sigh. Saves me the hassle of trying to fit a seal kit to a bad box, at least. I've got another box that has been on the project truck which won't be running for a while; I'll fit that tomorrow and then source another box to replace it.

Old steering box was causing a wobble, so I bought a used replacement. That was January (!) and I've just got round to fitting the replacement as mine had progressed from wobble to seal failure. The replacement has obviously been sitting for a while but even so I was more than disappointed to...

Another garage, definitely. The idea that a car should be re-chassised instead of welded is ridiculous. Unless, of course, the existing chassis is so bad that it's beyond economic repair - but that's your call, not his. So far, my 300tdi has has new (box section) sills, a new rear crossmember...

Wasn't insinuating anything ;) Just curious as to whether the MOT man could actually see what he was assessing :) On the subject of hiding things, my Disco 1 arrived in my possession with amazingly elaborately bodged sills. Patch was welded on at the bottom, but stuck on with tar everywhere...

Don't forget there's another body mount ahead of the wheelarch. For my money, I'd assume the whole arch needed to be structural and go from there, but I'd be interested to hear if your investigations turn up anything different. I might ask, Magicgrotto, whether your MOT man stands any chance of...

Cheap as in new-but-cheap? Mine was old-and-cheap - a big rusty industrial unit. For a new one, I can recommend a Clarke 135 turbo - lasted me for a decade and then I outgrew it. I get my gas from SDL Minorfern who are a local motor factor's - a big exchange bottle costs about £40 per fill, with...

Our drive is accessed from the back of the house. Long-term project lives on it and "state of scrapyard" is a fair description.

Genuine question - is a half chassis a significantly better / easier proposition than getting a good secondhand chassis, getting it hot dip galvanised, and fixing the problem for good? Can you do a half chassis reliably without taking the body off?

Agree with Neilly - maybe buying a welder isn't the solution this time round, but definitely better to get one sooner rather than later so you've got the skills in advance of needing them. Once you've dived in, it's actually not the dark art it's sometimes made out to be.

What aman said. It's impossible to overstate the importance of a) what you're welding to, and b) where you're welding from. Welding two nice pieces of clean steel together from above is really satisfying. Welding from beneath is an exercise in making holes and getting rained on by molten steel...

If you can get me a decent drawing of the bit you want cutting out, I can get things laser-cut for not very much. Would be steel rather than aluminium though.

Still got a few left - these save a lot of hassle when changing a Disco diff flange. The Land Rover official tool (LRT-51-008) goes for £170! This is cheap and basic and does the job.

I did the sills on my Disco 1 with 60 x 100 box section. Welded the body mounts to the box first, then welded the whole lot into the body. Cheapest way forward would be to buy a MIG and do as above, but I recognise that's probably not a practical suggestion. If you need a half chassis, and...