johann morris

I had hoped that when LR launched the new Defender the price of the older models would come back down to earth but now that I have seen the Pretender I don't think that is going to happen any time soon. Jon

EX-boy, What can I say but thanks and I am glad that you are enjoying following it, as much as I am constructing it. Jon

Evening All, I thought that I would make the drivers seat so that I could test the driving position before I finish things off with the steering /brake levers etc. I can't believe that anyone could clamber into the drivers seat if it had a fixed backrest, so I fished around and found several designs of Panzers drivers seat and came up with this. As the steering / brake linkage is my design the seat had to fit around it.

Lets hope that it works better than their web site, all I get when I click on any of the links is a blank page. Jon

Last one for me, I have just found this picture of the boot space with the seats up. You couldn't even get the shopping in there.

I don't know how you could ever find that out, I suppose only LR know that for certain but an employee told me that they were told, LR only made 500% profit on the old Defender. last night as I was trying to find out how many unsold vehicles LR currently have in stock I came across this article that makes interesting reading. https://europe.autonews.com/automakers/why-jaguar-land-rover-losing-money-and-how-it-plans-return-profit The poor buggers only make £60,000 profit on every top of the range RR sold.

Only if they can sell them.

There was talk in 2016 that the old Defender would continue to be built in Afrika but not for sale in the EU, US etc. I don't know what became of that idea.

Evening All, For various reasons I have achieved jack since my last post but this afternoon I managed to finally complete and connect all the brake, steering linkages. How efficiently it will all work, is yet to be seen and I still have to machine the ratchet teeth into the quadrants. Jon

Somewhere I have read that JLR is for sale and that either Peugeot or Renault are interested but it might just be rumour.

I have just looked on the Defender forum and someone on there has had their personal speck priced and it's come in at just under £90k, total madness. Mind you, it seems like either there are a lot of JLR employees on that particular thread or people working for companies that have an interest in JLR, as everything is so rosy and fantastic with the new pretender and we should all buy one. I took this off of that forum, where it comes from I do not know but it looks like there maybe problems ahead for a few companies.

It should be called the "Pretender," it's nothing like a defender and will definitely never replace it. At £40,000+ I think that Land Rover have lost the plot.

A very nice job, I wish I could spray as well as that. Jon

I was going to get the exhaust valve seats in my 1950 series one Land Rover replaced with hardened seats, until my father asked why, when I told him, he told me not to bother as during the war there was no lead in petrol and that the Land Rover engines were designed to run lead free, so I didn't bother, that was in 1995. Time has proved him to be correct, when I replaced the head gasket last year, I examined the valve seats, bores etc and there is no evidence of any problem. Jon

Morning Eddy, I hope that you are well, when I saw the thread regarding the Churchill tank recovery, I thought that you had another project. The levers are as long as I can make them without creating clearance problems, I am hoping that I will be able to introduce some extra leverage throughout the linkage between the levers and the steering box. It's tight fit in the front of a Panzer II. Jonathan

Evening All, After my last post, fate intervened and stopped me getting to the victory show or really achieving much at all, however on Friday I decided to do something to take my mind off of life. I have started tackling the steering brake mechanism, obviously it's not going to perfectly replicate the original but I will make it look as near to the original set up as I can. I still need to machine the ratchet teeth in but I will wait until the whole mechanism is bolted in place, to see where they need to go, Jon

As long as people keep paying, the organisers will keep charging and I know the show will stop but it would send a message to other show organisers who may be having the same thoughts. Jon

I have to admit I was one of the people that hated Folkstone, I went to the first one and that was it for me and since it moved back to Beltring I haven't been back. As for CMV I received mine yesterday, read it and I am now seriously considering cancelling subscription. I think the publishers should read fly past, packed with really interesting articles every month and then you read cmv full of adverts and badly written, poorly researched articles. Jon

It's got to be a universal carrier for me, I was offered one when I was about 14 for £50 but mum wouldn't let me have it. One day I might get the chance again. Jon

To be honest, not much that I could show you, I have been really busy doing other things that were more important or so I am told. The rest has been a good opportunity to plan the next stage, do some more research and reinvigorate the creative juices, after the Victory show, I shall be back on it. Jon

Yes, a bit obvious but I liked Allo Allo. The inspiration actually came from a picture of Clervaux in Luxemberg in 1944 but all I could see on the sign was Café the other word below it was too small to read. Jon

Thanks for the link, I have to admit that I am starting to loose patients with them. Jon

Nearly finished, just the interior decor left to do. Jon

I just can't believe how incompetent the DVLA has become.

On the 8th August the DVLA very kindly emailed me the registration plate authorisation certificate for LXS 403 which of course is no good as the original is water marked and that doesn't show up on an email. Today I received the updated registration document with the correct registration number on it but the incorrect details contained in the original document haven't been corrected as promised. I have just come off of the phone from them again and they are now going to start an investigation and they will advise me if the registration number that is shown on the registration document is correct and why the other information contained in the document was entered incorrectly and the they will send me a new registration document...……..AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.