Member Since: 08 Mar 2019
Location: Norfolk
Posts: 40
Anyone still about?
Matilda has been on the receiving end of a number of useful and obviously less than necessary modifications. It all kicked off back in early April 22 when the turbo decided it no longer wanted to oscillate in the correct axis.. Cue a hybrid turbo, some very sexual turbo oil drain goodness from pioneer 4x4 and the monster BAS intercooler to keep the intake air temps nice and low. Of course the dreaded warped manifold occurred so a de-Webbed skimmed and heat treated manifold went on along with extended studs and spacers. The offending stud came out surprisingly well with an easy out and decent drill bits ! Whilst I’m there I took the opportunity to fit a new power steering pump, new genuine power steering lines and also fitted a boost port onto the intake manifold for the VDO boost gauge. With such great access to the fuel pump regulator it seemed silly not to change it so that was done as a precaution along with a new aux belt. The whole coolant system was also given a good flush.
Having conquered the first hurdle of the year and with much improved performance I decided it was time to improve the suspension so opted for urban automotive 1" progressive lowering springs and Fox 2.0 dampers from Prolinx. I may add that the car has complete Superpro bushes throughout and an upgraded A - frame balljoint. The ride is now much improved, less choppy and much more controllable
Later on last year she gained an ORE wheel carrier which is very smart, quiet and frankly looks the business!
Which brings me up to this year So far she has required all new grease-able Delphi track rod ends with polyboots from Gwynn lewis 4x4 along with a new Bilstein steering damper. This really helped with the persistent wheel wobble. Talking of wheel wobble, I had the swivel preload set up by a specialist along with the steering box being tightened and the two together has transformed the car. Anyone looking to run 285 or bigger tyres on a defender I cant stress enough the importance of all these things, if overlooked like in my case it makes for an awful drive
This weekend I have been tackling the dreaded TD5 FUEL PUMP Access to a ramp certainly helped, miraculously all of the cradle bolts came out, and after giving the tank a good clean a brand new genuine pump was fitted and along with a YRM 6mm aluminium tank cradle the whole shebang was
reinstalled I really like the YRM design as it sits below the chassis mounts so if it ever needs to be replaced it should theoretically be much simpler.
Whilst i had access to the ramp i took the opportunity to install some anti roll bars, I once again used the excellent Gwynn lewis Delphi drop links and stainless bolt kit. I had the bars blasted and powerdcoated gloss black, then installed with superpro bushes all round. it has made a profound difference to the truck, its like having to re learn how to corner all over again
The only things i have laying about to fit at the moment are Empire Tunings cruise control kit with disco switches and an aircon grille surround Hopefully someone finds this interesting happy to answer any questions !
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Cue a hybrid turbo, some very sexual turbo oil drain goodness from pioneer 4x4 and the monster BAS intercooler to keep the intake air temps nice and low. Of course the dreaded warped manifold occurred so a de-Webbed skimmed and heat treated manifold went on along with extended studs and spacers. The offending stud came out surprisingly well with an easy out and decent drill bits ! Whilst I’m there I took the opportunity to fit a new power steering pump, new genuine power steering lines and also fitted a boost port onto the intake manifold for the VDO boost gauge. With such great access to the fuel pump regulator it seemed silly not to change it so that was done as a precaution along with a new aux belt. The whole coolant system was also given a good flush.
So far she has required all new grease-able Delphi track rod ends with polyboots from Gwynn lewis 4x4 along with a new Bilstein steering damper. This really helped with the persistent wheel wobble. Talking of wheel wobble, I had the swivel preload set up by a specialist along with the steering box being tightened and the two together has transformed the car. Anyone looking to run 285 or bigger tyres on a defender I cant stress enough the importance of all these things, if overlooked like in my case it makes for an awful drive 
Access to a ramp certainly helped, miraculously all of the cradle bolts came out, and after giving the tank a good clean a brand new genuine pump was fitted and along with a YRM 6mm aluminium tank cradle the whole shebang was
I really like the YRM design as it sits below the chassis mounts so if it ever needs to be replaced it should theoretically be much simpler.
Hopefully someone finds this interesting 
