It's definitely worth measuring the depth of the slot, and getting the spec of any potential candidates to make sure they will fit. There isn't a lot of room so you do have to make sure the wiring is tidied up behind as it slots in. I had a 1990s Sony cassette radio in my old 90 to replace the...

Invest in some solder and heat shrink and get rid of those crimp connectors while you're at it. They're nothing but trouble!

The VCUs are prone to trouble and aren't cheap. Hence why there are a lot of Freelanders driving around where a previous owner removed the prop (and so disconnected the VCU) "to save fuel". It doesn't do anything except hide the failing VCU.

A lot had their engines pillaged for old 90/110s when they weren't worth anything and were then scrapped. There's a noticeable lack of D1s about these days, but particularly vans. Keep it and restore it!

You occasionally see ex-police classic cars driving around. Technically you are supposed to cover the police markings/blue lights, but when it's obviously not a current police vehicle, sometimes people don't bother and the real police turn a blind eye as long as you aren't doing anything stupid...

The automatic Discovery 300tdi was tuned for a little more power compared to the manual- basically to offset the losses through the transmission. Without doing anything else, you'll probably find that a similar gearbox in a Defender makes it too slow for your liking. It can be done, but doing it...

Nearly there! Looks like a thorough job so far- hopefully it all pays off when you drive.

To be 100% legal, the replacement chassis should be an exact replacement. People have indeed just got on with it and had engine mounts repositioned and got away with it, but it's a bit of a grey area. As you're presumably using the original LT77 gearbox, I would go for the correct chassis and...

With the right paint, you can simply hand-paint it with a brush and roller. I did my old 90 this way and it came out fine.

Defender heaters can be pretty poor when neglected. I reverse-flushed mine with a garden hose and an impressive amount of orange crud came out! With cleaning out the air side, and some additional sealing up of gaps etc, this massively improved it. But it could also be that the engine is not...

I've been in a Discovery with Insa Turbo Special Tracks fitted and the noise alone was unbearable at anything above about 50mph. Also, traction on road was pretty terrible. The Dakar is a better off-road biased tyre, but still quite noisy. They would be fine for a play truck that gets driven...

If they are DRLs, they need to be wired to an ignition-switched supply and dim or switch off when you turn on the side light. With the integrated indicator function, the DRL should switch off when indicating. As they are integrated into the headlamp they probably do this automatically, but make...

It's true, although how many have gone up in smoke due to electrical fires! If I was rebuilding one, I'd scrap the lot and update the wiring to something more advanced.

Looking at the diagram, you realise how electrically dubious the stock wiring on a Series is! Half the circuits are protected by only three fuses, and the other half aren't protected at all. And no sign of any relays to take the load off the switches.

Isn't the wheelbase of a taxi the same as a 110? Taxi body/Landy chassis could make an interesting vehicle...

I agree that most retrofit installations are actually dangerous as often the only way in or out is to fold up one seat. So there's no way to quickly exit the vehicle in an emergency! The best thing to do with forward-facing aftermarket seats is to install them facing backwards. Then access is...

In poor condition, Defender seats are rubbish. The foam falls to bits over the decades, making them lumpy and uncomfortable. The solution is to simply refurbish them, rather than mess around trying to fit other seats in there. New internal foams make a big difference, and replacement covers are...

That's simply not the case.

Fog lamps give a low, wide spread of light which is more likely what you want. In combination with the standard low beams it should give plenty of light where you need it. You probably have the original wiring for it still installed so it's just a case of mounting them and connecting them up...

It's like small number plates on bikes. Normally you won't get stopped for it but it gives them a reason to do so and then they can look for anything else they can do you for.