A loose hotspot can wreak havok. I have had one punch through the head gasket and damage the block face and piston bad enough to scrap the block and head. Early investigation required. If it is just a rattle and lots of smoke it may well be an injector. With the engine on tickover slacken the...

Don't be fazed or worried about pulling the injector pump off. Scratch a good line on to help when replacing to save resetting.

It should be fine and start up easily. If not try cracking the injector unions open a bit to help bleed it when you crank it over, be quick to nip them up if it fires or get a mate to help.

First question is it steering box woes that you have ? I always look at the steering relay first when chasing issues.

Ulsterman, be very patient and the right vehicle will find you. I've had 35 or more years with Land Rovers all series and one 110 V8 Defender. All gone now as I retired I could not afford to keep all the toys and my real passion is pre-war Motorcycles. I may be moving to Norther Ireland in a few...

You do not need to be very tight, they seat down on to a sealing "crush washer" that is replaced every time an injector is removed.

Flog it and blank off the butterfly flap/linkage on the manifold. Fit a simple electric vacuum pump and never look back.

Off topic a bit but yes 500 BSA Sloper is very nice. I also have a 350 which is a whole different bike, only the crankcases are common to the 500. A bit of a rarity as they where only made for 1929/30.

Nice work, I would be lost without my lathe and Bridgeport mill. Now start thinking about pulling the steering relay out if you like a battle !

"Old BSA at 38 degrees" yes that is about right, I run a 1929 BSA Sloper at 35 degrees fully advanced. It would probably be OK at 38 or 39 degrees but the modern fuel makes me use caution. Stevenod, if you suspect the speedo cable take a look at the speedo drive they are only clamped and can...

With the ODO out is the speedo also out by around 25% ? If so you may be running on 3.54 diffs. If you have need to pull a diff out count the teeth. 4.7s have 47 and 10 teeth the 3.54s 46 and 13 teeth. That is if my memory is correct, been many years since I played with diff ratios.

Don't forget the vagaries of timing chain and cam skew drive come into it. Many mechanics even the Pro's fail to set these up correctly. 14 MPG is a bit low but you say it is a Hi Cap so maybe on low gearing? A standard 2.25 petrol on normal 4.7 diffs should turn in 16/20 MPG on reasonable...

Try and borrow an injector pressure gauge, they should pop off at 130/135 bar. I have mentioned a few times in the past my "Professional" injector reconditioner got mine from 120 to 165. BIG improvement when set right and so simple to set when you have use of a gauge.

Run it on a cheap mineral oil for a thousand KM to help with the bedding in. Avoid synthetics as they will allow the bores to glaze.

I do hope you are slackening the pipe unions when buggering about moving the pump. If not expect a nipple to break off any time soon. To get a diesel timed up is not that hard but you do need a timing chain in good condition and the cam set correctly. Try and borrow a timing tool to do the...

I did hear that Richards Chassis had stopped doing series chassis in favour of Defender ones in greater volume. Try Paddock Spares in Matlock they used to stock them.

Eberspacher if your pockets are deep enough. I use a big version as a workshop heater. On my series three 88 I got big improvements making the standard heater better by removing the matrix and flushing through from both directions with a hose pipe. Could not believe how much muck was in there...

Knut, if I where James Martin I would have taken extreme offense at the comment you made. James is THE guru on these vehicles. Do not doubt him. I have used a timing tool on my 2.25 diesel set up with a new timing chain and still needed to do a final tweak to the pump timing to get it delivering...

I bought door tops direct from a manufacturer in Brum, fitted well and no problems fitting the glass. If you intend keeping your Landie and have deep pockets look at fitting Wolf door tops or Rocky Mountain door tops. Not original but more of a fit and forget.

At 1980 you may just get a 5 bearing crank which is a much better engine than the old three bearing job. You have a chance of curing the rear main seal leak on a 5 bearing ! I have never done a three bearing seal that lasted more than 10,000 miles. When you look at the engine a 5 bearing should...