Whooohooo! There's an incentive to finish by 88" S3!

That's what I was hoping it was jamesmartin. I'm going to try to turn the front flange whilst pulling the lever into lock position to make sure the teeth align while there is positive force on the collar.

Thanks for the replies guys. The spigot on top of the transfer box is turning (but I don't know how much it needs to turn). I have turned the input shaft with the engine, but haven't got it to lock. I don't know if it only comes in under load or something. There's every chance the linkage is...

I've got a 300tdi engine and transmission on my trailer out of a Disco 1. All seems fine with engine and gear selection including hi and lo, but I can't get the diff lock to do anything. Whatever I do with the lever, if I turn one drive flange by hand, the other turns the other way. The lever...

I note it's "Fitted with Ø42mm cap and suitable for most European models." Will that fit a 109? Won't you need an imperial fitting? I am taking a keen interest in this because I will soon start work stripping my 109 front axle to fit to my 88. Wondering if it's worth bothering now.

My first thought was "that explains why it was so cheap....how the hell did I miss that??" My second thought was go and have a second look. Pic shows a new angle. No crack, great optical illusion.

OK. I've done a days work, 3 pints in the Prince of wales and I've prioritised gearbox measurements over getting the kids from school. 1st pic shows the R380 as 37". Second shows the series 3 box as 27". I accept that this is 10" difference and I declared 9" - but the tdi R380 does look...

7.4L - seriously?? That's a bloody big engine. What gearbox are you using and what's the advantage of something that size? I don't know what the differences are between the V8 R380 and the tdi R380, as this is the only one I have seen. I am conscious that the whole 300tdi + R380 is nearly 5...

I really don't understand how you end up with 7" prop. From memory, the gearbox is about 9" longer than the series 3 one (I'm not getting my tape measure out at this time of night!) and the rear prop about 22"? So worst case is a 13" prop. I am hoping to share the extra length around a bit...

Hi Dr Evil, I am in the South of the county. What's the deal with a disco R380 in a 88" then? Are they just too long? I know they're a long lump. There are other options... I've still go 2 series boxes. It cost next to nowt, so can spend money converting it. I can cash it in and buy a...

Hi. Just to let you guys know what's happening in rainy Cumbria, I've got a S3 rebuild project on the go... Last Summer was spent rebuilding the bulkhead (which turned out to be much worse that I thought it was) and that's now sitting in the shed waiting for a chassis to put it on. I can...

Thanks Lawso, I will keep that in mind. I really don't understand lift pump failures - some people say they fail and it makes no difference, some people say they fail and there's no power. I'm sure my problems are air and soot, so going to have to blast them out with some running.

I had similar problems. I picked up a 300tdi engine out of a barn off a bloke I found through Facebook. It hadn't been started for years. I cracked the banjo open on the front of the injector pump and primed the fuel through on the hand pump. After a bit of playing, it would run for few seconds...

Cheers Chris, It's sorting itself out now, probably getting up to 1500-2000rpm. I think it's just got some air in it. It's not been run for a few years and I haven't got it to temperature because there's no cooling. I think it's a good engine now, so my plan is to renew fuel hoses and clips to...

Jobs a good 'un, thanks Tuskenraider - easy start did the job! Next problem, it won't rev up. I may still be bleeding the air out of it, or that it's coked up because it's not ran for a year. It could even be because I've got all the pipes hanging in the air with nothing on the end of them...

I don't think it's idle speed too low, as I was pulling throttle cable as it cranked. If anything, it seemed to crank slower as I pulled the cable ?!? I was thinking it was cranking fast enough as there's a big battery and a "charge and start" on it, but I guess some easy start wouldn't hurt it.

That sounds reasonable. How can I test lift pump? All I have done up until now is hand crank it and checked there's fuel up to the injector pump union. I guess I could take the injector pump union off and put it in another jar and check it fills that jar when the engine is turning.

I managed to find cheap Discovery 300tdi engine and gearbox, which is sat on my trailer in the garage. I've 'hotwired' the fuel solenoid and changed the oil, but the damn thing will not start. There's fresh diesel in a jar and I've pumped it all the way through to the union on the front side of...