I once drove a 130 camper we were working on- with all the kit and auxilliary tanks it probably weighed closed to 4500kg. It had a standard 2.2 Puma engine with a modest tune on it. It went as fast as you would sensibly want to go in such a truck! TD5 should be fine as well with a similar tune...

I think pre-1998 vehicles don't have to use type-approved towing equipment- hence the pre and post-98 distinctions when you buy brackets.

Only real downside to the ashcroft box I can see (as long as you have a healthy engine) is the big gap between 3rd and 4th. Leaves a bit of a hole around 50mph where 4th is a bit high but 3rd is too low. Maybe on the flat you can plod through it but laden or towing and on a hill and you could...

It's just not the 'obvious solution' to engine trouble that it used to be. A few years ago it seemed like just about any malfunctioning TD got pulled out in favour of a 200tdi. Still more were neglected by the owners because "it's a 19J, I'm just waiting for it to break so I can fit a tdi" and...

Nothing wrong with putting a tdi in if it's a good one, but it's not always the simple, cheap 'chuck it in in a day' that it used to be. Worth taking time beforehand to ensure the donor engine really is in good order before putting it in. Otherwise you might go to all that effort and find it...

I'm sure they do still exist, but it's not like it's 2006 where you could easily buy a MOT-failed Disco, ransack it for parts and weigh in the rest to almost break even. Even the latest 300tdi is 20 years old now.

How usable is that middle seat? Seems like a bit of a tangle with the gear levers in the way.

What are my options? The front of my 109 currently has the usual square slabs of vinyl that were fitted originally. All well and good but not the most comfortable things and low-back seats aren't the best in a shunt. So: early Defender seats? They should bolt straight in right? Refurbed with...

Yes you can buy it...for non-road use. No you can't (legally) use it on the road unless you're a farmer going between fields etc.

Late Defenders had a good setup with the extra support stays. Reduces the clearance angle a bit but that can't be helped while maintaining a secure tow mount. You have to balance trailer height against dragging its arse on some more severe offroad sections. Depends what you want the landy for...

Barely worth doing this conversion now. The supply of cheap rotten discos with decent engines has basically dried up, and you're left with either an unknown engine on a pallet or a tired old lump of an engine that's gone to the Moon and back. In either case it will be over 25 years old and most...

They are all standard-sized round gauges, so swap them out from whichever manufacturer you prefer. Top row of 3 are 2" gauges, not sure about the speedo. We fitted a combined oil pressure/coolant temp gauge into a TD5 which looked pretty smart as it had a retro Land Rover emblem on it. That...

Worth stripping the seat bases and replacing the base foams anyway, regardless of whether you're fitting heaters. Defender seats are reasonably comfortable provided the base foam isn't crumbling into dust, which most are.

Agreed 100%. I've just removed the old dashboard harness to take measurements from (branch lengths mostly) but then I'm building a new one from scratch. Even a brand new one isn't good enough as, with half the circuits unfused, they're unsafe by design. So a new fuse and relay box goes under the...

Bear in mind that it's not 2004 anymore- the latest 200tdi engines are now 25 years old. Before even thinking about the expense and/or effort of fitting one into your Landy, budget for a full rebuild. They're good engines (noisy though) but aren't indestructible. It made sense when there were a...

If you're converting a diesel, the easiest way is use the original key-operated glow plug control. Discard the ballast resistor and wire them directly to the wire from the key. Alternatively use a 70A relay to take the load off the switch itself.

It can be done- people have been building "100-inch hybrid" Land Rovers for years. From a UK perspective, you would keep the Range Rover's identity as long as the suspension, engine and gearbox stayed on that chassis, with the 110 bodywork shortened to fit. This only really works if you are...

If you choose to go back to standard, I might be interested in it:)

If you wanted to add circuits in the future it's a good place to start. Otherwise you are in to adding relays to make certain circuits switched indirectly by the ignition key. If you want to do a straight swap, then it won't be any use.

I don't trust standard series wiring, even with a new harness. Half the circuits are unfused, hardly any relays so all the load goes through the switches etc... Going to build a modernised harness from scratch on my 109, with a proper fuse/relay box under the seat, a few extra circuits and...