Britpart do seat backs with headrests: http://www.lrparts.net/deluxe-outer-seat-back-for-series-land-rover-in-black-vinyl-with-headrest.html

Don't buy the britpart bearing kit, total crap. As soon as mine arrived and I felt them I ordered branded ones from LRdirect, £100 or so.

This what it looks like inside a chassis, lots of flakes and crevices to soak up fluids!! I don't think you could ever over-do it. I don't think total immersion would be unreasonable.

Ones like this are the safest by far, when used with a three point belt, properly secured. They fold up out of the way when not in use. Not that expensive considering all the problems they solve and the knowledge that your family are properly secured and have a chance in a crash. Or if you're...

Being pretty square shaped, most people just bend random steel to suit or use angle for the bottom lip. Good condition ones can be found on ebay too for not much.

Is it unbearable? A bit of whine is part of gearbox ageing, a bit like the groaning noise you have to make when bending over once old enough :) There could still be another ten years left in it whilst doing that.

Bare aluminium corrodes to dull grey which is the standard finish for alloy engine parts, you can polish to a mirror shine (eventually) or just a brighter grey silver but it will go back to grey fairly quickly without regular treatment. You can lacquer it but corrosion will get in at the edges...

Is this lane or just a ditch?

If that's not just a Ninety/Defender with a restamped number then I'm Donald Trump. Possibly stolen and rung? Nothing to do with Liverpool, just likely given what it looks like. If someone really fitted coil axles and managed to place them in the same position as a Ninety wheelbase wise on a...

Does it feel a bit peculiar to drive and awkward to turn around a tight corner/wants to keep going straight on? If not then it's not in 4wd and isn't winding up.

There were plenty of standard S3's delivered for military use that had standard crossmembers and general construction. The rubber gearbox refill plug cover on top of the transmission tunnel is a military giveaway.

Parts for expensive cars are always expensive, even when the car is worth peanuts. All the chavvers buying old L322 Rangies for 6k will have a shock when a suspension or gearbox fault happens.

Sounds like disc or bearing collapse. Did you change all the parts? I'm sure you'd have noticed something. Do all the wheels turn easily without roughness when jacked up? Nothing loose near them?

The 109 chassis is different in the ways I said. There isn't really a difference with an 88 as the tub is exactly the same (no rear doors see), so any version will do. You can get bolt on tailgate brackets also.

A station wagon has a door at the back so no tailgate hinges! The front 2 tub supports will also be about 8 inches too low, you'll need to extend them somehow. Detail mounting differences in this area but not a problem.

Transit equivalent short or full motor?

It's up you but it has no problem lasting decades with no protection at all, it's where it's bolted there's problems.

All that fancy pants stuff will be very hard and may be impossible. Drill out the rubber with a 3mm approx drill bit then tap out the centre, then use a new hacksaw blade to cut along the outer part then it will tap out quite easy, takes about 10 mins.

Not a bad idea for the next Defender, a strong core body with removable external panels when damaged like the old Rover P6, you could drive that around without any wings, doors, bonnet, boot or roof, it had a strong unibody frame.

An original LWB station wagon chassis won't have them (and has other differences relating to the second row of seats).