I would use Lucas parts if you can, but there are good quality alternatives out there too if you cannot buy Lucas. Buy the best quality parts you can, but I find LR are overpriced for spares, so not necessarily my first choice. Lucas are OEM anyway in most cases, if they are available to you...

There are some tips I follow. Ensure you clean up the yokes internally with emery cloth and make sure the surfaces are free from burrs or rough edges. Check the yokes are straight and not deformed or twisted. Buy the best quality uj that you can afford. Clean out the circlip groove with a thin...

Cheers….5 years in….5 years to go…😂. Let’s hope not anyway. Plan is to get the gearbox in with new seals and gaskets and oils, then refurb the propshafts, fit them and probably back onto bodywork after that. Some light at the end of the tunnel now…

After a bit of blood and lots of swearing, I finally managed to get the engine in. Not an easy job on your own but got there. Nice to see that the spacers on the passengers mount have done the job and lifted the turbo above the chassis with decent clearance 😀. Been at least 7 years that there...

Fitted up the flywheel housing with a new gasket, along with the flywheel all cleaned up, the 9.5” diesel clutch and discovery pressure plate.

Not much to report this week, but I did another couple of jobs to get the engine ready to come off the stand and ready for the chassis. I cleaned up the flywheel housing which took an age then fitted a new OEM crankshaft seal. After that, daughter cleaned up the n/s engine mount, then blasted...

Love your attention to detail. I couldn’t leave a cracked weld either 😂.…….better check mine now, just in case 😄. Great work again 👏

Ah, that’s a brilliant tip. Mine is exactly the same as yours was. Will give that a shot when I come to that point……which is a while away yet 😂👍

Next thing to do was fit the new second hand leak back pipe connector which I bought from flea bay. I fitted it with new washers and connected the new hose. Following that I fitted the right hand engine mounting. I’ve used the later defender type rubber mounting with a series 3 bracket. I’ve...

Second on the list was clocking the turbo outlet round 90 degrees to move the outlet away from the inner wing and make it almost vertical. This will give some more space for the pipe to the intercooler and that clearance really is needed. Clocking entails removing the housing, drilling and...

A couple of jobs that I have been putting off for a while and thought needed doing now, finally I have got them done. First on the list was to modify the bellhousing, installing the four countersunk bolts which secure the sump, then drill and tap three holes and fit studs which match the series...

Happy with that progress, I thought I would put my blast cabinet to good use and blasted the timing belt cover. Once it was cleaned up I gave it a blast of silver paint to protect it a bit. Must admit though that it looks a bit blingy in comparison to the rest of the silver bits. Anyway, not to...

Made a bit more progress again tonight. I sorted out the studs holding the turbo on and swapped over studs from the old turbo that holds the down pipe down. I fitted new copper washers to the turbo oil feed pipe and fitted the return to the block. Also cleaned up and fitted the injector pipes...

Moved onto the exhaust manifold, and I had to cut one of the studs holding the turbo off! What a nightmare….Anyway I managed to save the manifold. I heated up the remaining part and unscrewed it which was a relief. I replaced the stud with another one, wire brushed the manifold and hit it with...

One issue I did find was that one of the banjo connectors was damaged some time ago. I would be surprised if it allowed any flow back at all! Need to source another soon As I want to get this buttoned up soon. I cleaned up the rocker cover box and fitted a new seal. Unfortunately the set was...

Feeling as if I’m making some progress now with the engine build. 😊 The valve stem caps, heater plugs, leak off pipe and injector seals turned up, so I got cracking fitting them…..Noticed that the original injector seals looked to be the wrong way round, so that may have caused some problems. I...

I bought an Elring make head gasket (3 hole) which matches the original and fitted new steel dowels. I sat the head on carefully and cleaned up the head bolts and fitted them. Dug out an angle torque gauge to do the angle torque, so fingers crossed that’s a done deal. I checked the valve stem...

Once the valves were clean, I removed the old valve stem oil seals which were pretty hard and cracked, so probably were allowing oil through…. I lapped in all the valves then fitted new valve stem oil seals, which I lubricated with fresh engine oil so they are not dry on first start up. I...

On to the cylinder head now…. I gave the head a good scrub up to get rid of the oily grime off as far as possible. After the clean up I stripped out the valves, springs etc, cleaned them up on my pillar drill with emery cloth to get rid of the carbon and oily mess. See before and after 🙂

Once the sump was on, I installed the injection pump and bracket. Fairly easy to fit, but thought it was worthwhile fitting the sprocket and timing belt while the going was good 😊. Next time I’ll focus on the head and try and get the valves removed, valve stem seals done and valves lapped back...