I don't think proper galvanizing can come away, it bonds with the steel at a molecular level. Could it be an old galv paint treatment?

Looking at videos of how far a childs head moves in a crash, even a restrained one, and the position of the gear lever in an S3 I wouldn't have done it with my kids. But then in my day we just rolled around on the back seat of Dads Cortina :)

See here for the chassis crossmember differences, mainly at the front: http://www.richardschassis.co.uk/series-chassis/series-iii.html#S3V8

I bolted mine to a piece of wood before cutting it about to keep the feet in the right place, you can add as many reference points and marks to the wood as you need.

How terrible. Hopefully they're insured, if you have an insurance policy on it you should tell your insurer as it's their business to know too. It may be you have to claim through that channel if you can't with the garage. Try and gather together information and picture evidence of it's...

It can't give you any more power and torque than it would anyway, but they do make a difference to feel. The new MINI comes with a three way response selector and the sporty setting 'feels' more powerful even though technically it isn't.

Is this pic from Cumbria anyone on here helping out? Looks like the front wings got scagged on his lovely Defender. Passenger on the bonnet looks like they're about to get a bit :)

It might just be the worn UJ all along that was causing the clunk?

At that price its either going to be a Diesel Discovery 2, TD4 Freelander 1 or super high mileage/ratty Freelander 2. All will be around 30mpg or less though.

Hire a van and trailer combo, forget putting it together, even the smallest task will take hours while you look for the bolts etc. Good luck. If you can't trailer it there's plenty of services who can and hire a van for the parts maybe.

There's no need to get hung up on the points thing, they're a guide to the originality of the vehicle at a design and construction level. If you buy replacement axles that are like for like replacements then you've lost no 'points'. Likewise, a replacement new chassis loses you no points...

No, you'd need to do nothing and you'd all be legal and dandy. The op's raging problem is an unstamped chassis that may or may not have had an identity before, which has caused the suspicion, compounded by it being all shiny and a different engine type to the original too. Chuck in parts from...

Hmm find the serial or part number on it at least? Or take some pics of some distinguishing bits or shape and start looking at rwd mercedes boxes on ebay to try and narrow it down?

Sounds like you're on the way then, wings and tubs are plentiful and cheap enough to have another go if you don't like how it comes out. I think construction is the same, just differences in where the wheelarches are and size of them.

That Green one looks straightforward, just extend a 90 chassis with some straight steel and some parts from a second chassis for the other axle and use a butchered 110 tub/roof over the top. If you start with a good 90 you wouldn't even have to dismantle that much to get going, just get the...

What chassis did you start with? Those are some big changes, you'll probably have to chop things about a bit, maybe use Defender wings with the wheelarch extensions, and a defender rear tub?

Nice house, what's that next to the double garages, a giant catflap??

It's all bull****, especially that lidl -60 degree crap, how do they get away with it every year? I always mix it at least as strongly as the recommendations and come the first -2 morning it's all frozen in the pipes??

Massively overfilled with oil?? The dipstick can be miles out if the base has been loosened so don't trust that.

I think there's mounts on the chassis to fit the handbrake on the passenger side (for LHD versions), would prob need a little linkage that's specific to that installation to connect it across. It would be well out of the way then.