[invinci]

Originally Posted by adishell

So does anyone have any ideas of Dos n Don't of Aluminium tinkering and painting??Does anyone know of this stuff being done in bangalore?
Cheers n Thanks.

If you could find a place where they do coachwork building/repairs for Buses and Maxicabs, you can get people there who can beat aluminium to its desired shape and do the filling, surfacing & painting.

Best of Luck!

regards
-invinci

[gonewithwind]

this Land Rover Truck belongs to legendary late Bob Marley.

[invinci]

Originally Posted by gonewithwind

this Land Rover Truck belongs to legendary late Bob Marley.

Thanks for the picture!

So The Buffalo Soldier in heart of America had a Land Rover!

Very Interesting!

regards
-invnci

[manishalive]

Originally Posted by adishell

So does anyone have any ideas of Dos n Don't of Aluminium tinkering and painting??Does anyone know of this stuff being done in bangalore?
Cheers n Thanks.

A workshop in Bangalore (in whiitefield between Kundanhalli gate & Forum Value mall on right side of road) did recently worked on a landy, probably you can speak to them. There is only one workshop on the side of road so easy to spot.

Bye the way the owner has a beautiful Standard herald with him.

[abhishek_d_zulu]

Hi Guys, firstly- please accept my compliments on creating a super interesting thread! Sudarshan, NM, Polly, Sir Alec, Alban, Prithvi... the list can go on... fantastic experiences which made great reading, as always.

I have been a bit away from Team BHP lately- too much of work pressure at office, plus I wanted to keep a low profile- concentrate more on my land rover work, before I started sharing my experiences again.

Life has come a full circle for me lately too- if you remember my Series III restoration thread 6 months back- that is nearing completion. Jasvinder, who was helping me with the restoration & I took a drive in it earlier this week- still a few things to fix, but the vehicle is now running on its own, with a newly installed Series III engine & a 2A gearbox.

The other project, which I took over 6 months back, was a 300 Tdi Defender 110. That has been taking most of my time, and money. My entire bonus has been sucked in, so as my most part of salaries in these months, but the end result seems every bit worth it... of course, that doesn't make my wife happy, as you can imagine!

I am going to keep the suspense on for a few more months. Will share the entire details of this journey, once I get the vehicles up & ready. The Defender went for the paint job yesterday, post mechanicals. Once it comes back (maybe a month later), will start fitting the stuff back.

Keep writing- its great to see so much of passion flowing. And I promise I will make up for this absence with some much desireable reading material soon!

Abhishek

[Sudarshan]

Welcome , Abhishek . We will wait to see some details here .

Meanwhile you can share any Land Rover thing here ( keeping your 'suspence ' intact )

Anyways best of luck for your project

Sudarshan

[abhishek_d_zulu]

Hi Rajubhai, I have a few questions for you... this is with regards to the tyre options that you listed down earlier. I need to put new tyres for both my Defender 300 Tdi & Series III 109. While I understand that the ideal ones will be 235.85.16 (the Defender has this size currently), the only ones which I am able to find in the market are 235.70.16 or 245.75.16, both of which considerably lower the height of the vehicles. The safest option is 750.16, which again don't have the same profile as 235.85.16. Is there any other option you can suggest to me, within reasonable cost? I needed an all terrain option & not just for highway or off-roading. Found some mud tyres (Cooper) in 235.85.16 at Bangalore, but the seller quoted 12.5k per tyre! I checked at Delhi & Mumbai too, but both places couldn't offer any tyres at 235.85.16 in all-terrain.Before I buy 750.16 in Sand cum Highway, thought will ask you & the rest of the people on this thread- if you have a smarter idea.Also, I wanted to know which brake booster might fit a Defender 300 Tdi. I needed something of an Indian make which was more affordable. Any ideas will be welcome. Thanks again for your help, Abhishek

Originally Posted by Sudarshan

Hi all , here is some more (interchangibility of spares)
1) Rear wheel cyl (series 2a,3) size, 1.1/4 " cup type washer.
substitute-- Part No. 64674047 from Tvs-Girling ,(fitted in Tata,L312 LA 312, 610 LPTA, 713)
Also wheel cyl. kit No. 64967131
2) Tyres issue
a) 700 x 16 tyers ,from Tata 207 models (which have smooth design/trade pattern ) thease are suitable for on road use only.
b) MRF sandgrip 7.50 x 16
c) Appolo Bullet 7.50 x 16
Many of you might be knowing this already , but I thought this might help.
yours Rajubhai

[abhishek_d_zulu]

Prithvi,How much did you spend on Roverdrive & Twisted Performance upgrades, if you don't mind my asking? Any dealers in India to get these done?Abhishek

Originally Posted by Prithvi

Sudarshan, have taken her off roading many times. But not after the new engine swap. Want to get a new OME suspension, get the interiors done up, new tyres and rims and finally a new paint job. But this will happen after a year only.

Need to run the engine in for sometime and then will make her nice and muddy. With the 200tdi it just pulls and pulls especially after the twistedperformance upgrade to 130bhp. The Roverdrive is a joy to use on highways.

[Sudarshan]

Dear Abhishek & All

The tyre Q is really tricky with Land Rovers in India.
The 16" wheel discs have really a narrow choice . I dont think we have too many practicle & cost effective options here , except Apollo Bullet ( sand cum highway ) but its not so good for sealed surfaces it wears out fast .

providing photos of my landy , you will get some clue ( will try to provide more details later .

Pic 1 I am currently using Birla Steller on my Landy. Total height under load is 30.5" , ( wheel center at 14.5" ) on a modified wheel disc.

Pic 2

Pic 3 Ground clearence of atleast 9" ( 230 mm ) under diff housing is must ( IMO )

Pic 4 normal (original ) discs & tyres

Pic 5


Sudarshan
P.S. for booster , I really have no Idea ,but you can search by sample ( bolt fitting pattern , total length, & most important is the doner vehicle should weigh simillar to Landy , to be effective )

[Prithvi]

Originally Posted by abhishek_d_zulu

Prithvi,How much did you spend on Roverdrive & Twisted Performance upgrades, if you don't mind my asking? Any dealers in India to get these done?Abhishek

About 1500 pounds and another 500 pounds for the Twisted performance upgrade. plus freight and customs import duty is extra. IF anyone needs it I can source the same from Roverdrive & TWP.

Just did an awesome trip in my Defender 110, a total of 800 km in one day. A little tired but worth it and the Landy returned 17-18km/litre.

My next trip s to Leh and Back sometime next year. Till then will do small trips.

[abhishek_d_zulu]

Thanks Sudarshan... this is helpful.

Then I don't see I have too many options. I need to get two set of wheels for my Defender 110 & Series III 109. I wanted a long haul option for the Defender, so guess will have to go with 235.85.16 AT available in BLR. Though they are super expensive, these seem the best option. For Series III, Sand-cum-highway perhaps is best, as I can do off-road in them. Anyways I won't be using it for cross-country trips.

I am currently in the UK- so was tempted to buy some alloys / tyres in 2nd hand state from ebay- they have great bargains! But a bit confused, as the shipping charges are killing. For a GBP 250 combo price of alloy / tyres, I will end up paying the same amount for shipping & then have to haggle with the Customs. This is worrying me... guess will stick to tyres from India, instead of importing.

If anyone has a POV on it, would like to hear it...

Thanks again,
Abhishek

Originally Posted by Sudarshan

Dear Abhishek & All

The tyre Q is really tricky with Land Rovers in India.
The 16" wheel discs have really a narrow choice . I dont think we have too many practicle & cost effective options here , except Apollo Bullet ( sand cum highway ) but its not so good for sealed surfaces it wears out fast .

providing photos of my landy , you will get some clue ( will try to provide more details later .

Pic 1 I am currently using Birla Steller on my Landy. Total height under load is 30.5" , ( wheel center at 14.5" ) on a modified wheel disc.
Attachment 454388
Pic 2
Attachment 454389
Pic 3 Ground clearence of atleast 9" ( 230 mm ) under diff housing is must ( IMO )
Attachment 454390
Pic 4 normal (original ) discs & tyres
Attachment 454391
Pic 5
Attachment 454392

Sudarshan
P.S. for booster , I really have no Idea ,but you can search by sample ( bolt fitting pattern , total length, & most important is the doner vehicle should weigh simillar to Landy , to be effective )

[abhishek_d_zulu]

This is fantastic, Prithvi... this means that your engine overhaul, your overdrive & performance upgrade is proving very useful- both in terms of speed & efficiency. The value proposition compared to cost will probably take a year or two to break even- but who cares! it is the fun of the experience that counts... Enjoy!

Originally Posted by Prithvi

Just did an awesome trip in my Defender 110, a total of 800 km in one day. A little tired but worth it and the Landy returned 17-18km/litre.

My next trip s to Leh and Back sometime next year. Till then will do small trips.

[Sudarshan]

@ Abhishek, there is another option

try 15" alloys for Land Rover , here in India .For that you will need to check the PCD of the Landy ( which I dont know )

I have heard of people using 15" discs/alloys for Land Rover , give a try for this .

This will sort out most of our tyre worries about tyres as there is a wide choice of tyres in 15" sizes .

also try to fiindout something with NM ( 4x4er on forum ) he may have some solution ( as he is a main stockist of LR vehicles in here )

buying tyres or alloys from GB is going to be costlier .

Also I am a old school type guy ( people have started calling me Uncle/sir nowadays ) I prefer steel discs as you can hammer them in if they get bent & reach home .

anyways think over 15" issue

Sudarshan

[Prithvi]

The PCD for the defender is 165 5 bolt. Please bear in mind while using other alloys/steel wheels other than the original, as they must have a load rating of atleast 1400kgs. For heavens sake don't ever try and fit a Discovery wheel to a Defender, yes it can be done but its very dangerous as the Disco wheel's load bearing is very low compared to the Defender.

The best option is the WOLF wheels or Modulars and lastly the more expensive Boost Alloys or Zu rims. Now days you can get Terrafirma Wheels and many other Boost replica LR wheels out in the UK market.

Wheels are the most important and cannot be compromised at all. Get your tyres in India, but get your wheels from UK. If you can find the same wheels in India then its great.

[abhishek_d_zulu]

Hi Everyone,

Quick question- has anyone got any experience of working on Capstan Winches? The question behind the question is to seek help, incase I am able to locate a winch minus the drive shaft. Can we fabricate one easily at India or will it be troublesome? Also, if it worth the trouble, or do we just go ahead & buy a new generation 12v winch? I have been able to locate a few up for sale & was wondering if I should bring one back, considering it will go well with a Series III, instead of a new gen one...

Thoughts?

One more question on Defenders... does anyone have any suggestion on what indigenous options I can get to replace an original LR brake booster of a 300 Tdi Defender? It seems to be quite expensive to procure & there aren't many which I can anyways buy within India. So, which other vehicle's can I replace it with, which is easily available in India?

Any ideas will be much appreciated...

Thanks,
Abhishek