No - when I acquired it and it smoked, I assumed that the pump had been turned up (there was a big "no smoke, no poke" sticker on the back) but never got round to backing the fuelling off again. Then I changed the timing belt and the smoke disappeared completely. That's why I'm surprised, and a...

Thankyou - that's useful. The injectors may well have 180,000 miles on them. Couldn't hurt to look at the tappets - one job I've never done.

Filter to manifold is clear - I've taken all the hoses off to check. I haven't checked the tappets though. On the basis that it cleaned up totally when I did the timing, I wondered whether it was the right amount of fuel being injected too late for complete combustion. I agree injectors are...

300tdi. Smoked a lot. Reset the timing. Cleaned right up. Six months later, smokes a lot. Black smoke, i.e. incomplete combustion. And I mean a lot. Big puff of smoke on starting (always starts first time, mind) and if I a) boot the throttle when the turbo's not boosting, or b) really boot it...

Thankyou all - and yes, I tightened it to death until it wouldn't compress any more! I've made my first pipe now and was a little more circumspect with it.

OK - so it should adopt that angle but not end up so thin on the edge?

Noted re: the grease and the excess length - thankyou. On these practice flares on pipe offcuts, I've used the lightest smear of old engine oil. I'm off out to get some supplies (the welder didn't quite run out of gas this morning, but only because it ran out of wire first) so I'll see if I can...

That's really encouraging - there's some margin for error. I think I'll make sure my pipe runs have a bit of slack in them near the end, just in case I have to cut off and remake. Finally, here's what the male looked like once I'd tightened it down into the fitting on a brake caliper. It's...

I've got to forget it at least once - it's a rite of passage, no? Here's what my male flare looks like:

I'm attempting to learn to form brake pipe flares, courtesy of an ancient Sykes-Pickavant flaring tool and a friend's pipe cutter. Does this look a) good, b) good enough, c) good gracious no? Thanks in advance.

Trying to find a suitable intercooler for the project truck. LR seem to do them in two approximate sizes - small ones that have a reasonable length but next to no width (e.g. Freelander TD4) or huge (e.g. Disco 4 TDv6, Range Rover TDv8). Ideally I'd like something about 600mm wide by 360mm high...

Anyone know? No answer from the office, so I'm guessing not, but there's nothing on their website or blog to say either way.

Great - thankyou very much. Those are the ones.

Hi, I'm drawing up a bracket that will pick up on the two topmost bolts that attach the flywheel housing to the 300tdi engine block. I don't want to disturb them prematurely but am struggling to find out what size (thread size and length) they are. Can anyone help? They have flanged heads, the...

Sensible question. The answer is maintenance and spare parts - all of their vehicles are 300tdi Defenders. My starting point would have been something bigger, but they were very clear that it needed to run on the same mechanicals as everything else. Closeup of the front end below. The steering...

It's an absolute mission. Looking forward to getting it finished and getting on with life! It's for a hospital in Madagascar whose existing 300tdi Defenders get stuck on the mud roads. Hoping this will be a little better.

Been and had another look, with the axle level to the cab. I think it's just a function of where the drag link is sitting (duh) and so once the Panhard rod is in, I think it'll be fine. I've tweaked it a bit and it's about central now. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything...

Swapped out a Disco 300tdi front axle and fitted a 2003 Defender axle in its place. I haven't fitted the Panhard rod yet, so the front end's just floating on its springs, but I'm a tad bewildered. It doesn't want to centralise; rather, the chassis is coming to rest offset about 2cm towards the...

Six month update - seems to be behaving itself; the vehicle's hardly quiet and refined in any case but there are no obvious signs of the drive line bearings dying. At least, not yet!

I want to make an odd sized drag link (steering box to axle) and a disco 300tdi track rod tube (wheel to wheel) should be the right length if I omit the adjusting shaft. I'm out of the country at the moment so can't check my own vehicle - anyone know how many clamps are normally fitted to a...