<waves hand vaguely> It's all that bit between Scousers and Yorkshire

You might also like to check the height... It IS possible to get a battery that fits the tray like a glove and looks perfect... right up until the moment you close the bonnet, and you find it's just tall enough for the stay to rest neatly on the +ve terminal just as the bonnet catch clicks...

<grin> Thanks for the vote of confidence...

New sender fitted - and it's instantly right down at cold (600ohm or so). Start it up, and it starts to gently rise within a minute or two. Lovely. I've not taken it for a drive yet - the 2cv's going to MOT this pm, after yesterday was spent swapping kingpins and rebuilding TREs on it... Mildly...

They're the same, aren't they...? Either just chop the end off and put a new flare/union on, or make up a short adapter pipe.

Lovely, ta! That confirms I've got a duff sender, in a really odd way...

The coolant temp gauge in my 2.25 3brg is being a bit... static. Not really, really static and not moving. Just... not doing much. Turn it on, stone cold, and it reads the lower end of N. I've checked the sender, and I'm getting about 100ohm at the sender terminal to earth, gauge...

1967, compulsory front fitting. 1984, compulsory front wearing. 1986, compulsory rear fitting. 1989, compulsory rear wearing for kids. 1991, compulsory rear wearing for adults. My parents always insisted on them being worn in the front, before it became law, but the back was fair game - I...

Blackstrat - I'll bet the only reason you get out of bed in a morning is because such a high proportion of people die in bed.

You could probably fill the back of a 110 with stuff that might come in useful. Odds are that no matter how much you carry, the one thing you need'll be the one thing that isn't in there. Keep on top of maintenance, and it's unlikely anything'll have a lie-down at roadside.

I guess there isn't an easy way to be able to quickly swap between tailgate and door? Tailgate-plus-catflap seems like the least-worst way of having a hardtop that you can swap to topless. Hmm... Or fit that third hinge, then have a second tailgate that's been sawn in half. Stable door, style.

If the timing was out, then you've just done exactly what was needed.

You've adjusted the ignition timing.

As much as it takes... Given that you've been leaking-and-topping up, this is probably a good opportunity for a full drain-flush-and-change. Normal green is fine, red organic if you fancy leaving it longer before the next change. But if you change to red, make sure you flush thoroughly...

True, and it does sound as if one's required if there's a puff of smoke coming from it, but if the starter is actually engaging and spinning the engine, then the solenoid is doing its job perfectly adequately.

Any chance of a photo?

Sounds like it got very hot, and was running on as a result - so I'm guessing there's not much coolant left in there. Now it's cooled down, fill it up with water, and see where it pours out. It's likely to be very obvious.

...but check it's not a Ducellier distributor before ordering that one... Another vote here for the Powerspark kit - and the symptoms I was getting from my (very) knackered points do sound very similar to those the OP's describing. But if the coil's hot to the touch...? TBH, I'd just chuck...

I went for the Wipac ones, from DLS on the 'bay, and I'm very happy with 'em. £30 or so for the pair plus the postage, including bulbs. LAND ROVER SERIES HALOGEN HEADLIGHT CONVERSION SET RHD | eBay looks to be the same set.

Within a cylinder, absolutely. Between cylinders, doesn't make a difference. Think about where the master is relative to the slaves. If the theory held, you'd be bleeding at the master, not the wheels/clutch. Try the lower cylinder in place, and have a look at where the bleed nipple sits...