Having got the Ascot sorted and road legal, one little thing that is a bit puzzling is the steering. Apart from the fact that it feels a bit more vague than mine at straight ahead, which is probably a combination of top and bottom ball joints and the pretty dodgy tyres that are on it, it's got a sort of moaning, groaning noise when turning from lock to lock. Power steering is working fine, it all feels smooth, power steering fluid is up to the max mark, it just makes a noise. Anyone got any ideas why?

Blimey, that's well crammed in. Had an email saying the Digital decoder will be here on Saturday (so I suspect although the eBay listing said it was in London it's probably actually coming from China) and had a call from H&H so as soon as I've got it we can see if we can get it to work with his spare system on the bench.

Not today but over the last couple of days I continued on the Ascot. Replaced the core plugs as two were leaking (the two that were easiest to get to, the ones that are a right pain were fine - doh!) so it now keeps all the coolant where it's supposed to be. Then decided that if I was going to keep it as a standby, it should really be legal. Phoned my usual MoT tester to find they were shut so tried my second choice. He was open and yes, could do it. Took it down there via the local LPG filling station as I had no idea how much gas it had left in it. He was impressed and it passed with only a couple of advisories. The boot on one of the lower ball joints was split and from the way it drives I suspect both upper and lower ball joints need changing anyway, and about the only metal brake pipe on the whole car that hasn't been changed for copper nickel is a bit rusty. That's it. We did find a few amusing relics from the bodgers who looked after it for the previous owner. I'd already noticed that a couple of brake pipes coming off the ABS modulator had been replaced but the original steel ones still left in place just disconnected. The same was found underneath where the old ones are still there, just chopped off and not doing anything.

Today I got really desperate and used some vinyl cleaner on the dash and plastic interior bits on mine. This cleaning lark will never catch on......

That might have a lot to do with it.......

Not got poly bushes in it by any chance have you? Like Gordon, I'd go for the Shitpart ones as original Boge are no longer available, cheap, with a warranty and easy to replace when you have to take them off to replace them under warranty.

I know you've spent hours polishing it but what have you done to the suspension? Bushes, ball joints, shocks, etc?

Originals were Boge. Has it suddenly got worse or has it always been like this?

Yes, 13 pin but with only 12 used.

Are they Allen headed bolts on the heads? Stretch bolts or just standard torque them up to the required setting?

That makes sense. A box with coax going in will be the receiver and the 3 phono jacks will be the video and L/R audio. Not sure what the second one will be though, something to deal with switching the sources maybe? If this is how it is arranged, then putting a digital decoder in place of the analogue tuner should work. Do the screens work from the current DVD player?

That would make sense, a TV aerial etched into the rear window like the radio aerials would be ridiculously directional so you'd only get a picture when driving in the right direction. I suspect it is going to be amplified too so that will need power but we'll cross that bridge when the time comes (whenever that is....).

Clean the idle air valve.

Swapping the innards over is fairly simple as long as you can get the glass off without breaking the plastic frame that holds it in place. I've managed to do it once and it popped out just as it is supposed to but every other time the plastic frame has broken. Fortunately it is available as a separate part (https://www.island-4x4.co.uk/mirror-glass-clip-stc4625-p-450.html)

If the third fob is an original supplied with the car, it should sync. The process for syncing is the 'secret' method that an LR dealer will often charge you £50 'programming' fee.

I've got a feeling the cap thread is a smaller diameter too so it won't even screw on. If you look at the Island listing it shows it as a Disco 1 part and not a P38 part.

I've ordered a digital decoder and DC-DC converter which should be here by the middle of next week so I can have a play with it. It turns out that H&H is only 15 miles from me and has a near complete spare system so we can test it on the bench. Any idea where the TV aerial is located on the car?

For £15 I may as well get one of the decoders and DC-DC converter (it says it needs 5V at 2A which is a bit much to rely on a 7805) and have a play with it. Only problem would be that I would need a P38 with the TV system to try it with which might be the hardest part at the moment. However, a pic of what you have lurking behind the dash of your car would help.

It won't work on a P38 header tank. That's a cap for the header on a Classic which is a simple plastic tank and the cap doesn't have the extension with the O ring that keeps the outlet from the radiator bleed separated. This https://bearmach.com/expansion-tank-suitable-for-all-200-and-300-tdi-diesel-engine-v8-and-mpi-vehicles-black-version-esr63 is the header tank used on a Classic, Disco 1 and Defender .

I'm sure I've seen converter boxes for just this purpose but they weren't cheap and probably aren't available now. The easiest solution would be to do exactly what we all did when digital TV first started and add a decoder box. Plug the existing aerial feed into that and then use the analogue modulated signal to feed the existing analogue receiver.

You'd need something that uses an external power supply rather than mains power and you'd need to mount it somewhere that the IR receiver for the remote was still visible (or remove the IR receiver sensor from the case and mount it somewhere else) . Something like this https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Top-TV-Box-Digital-Receiver-HD-1080P-DVB-T2-3D-Set-Freeview-Recorder-USB-HDMI-UK/372959794946 looks like it should do the job. It 5V to power it so you'd need a DC-DC converter to drop the 12V from the car down to 5V and although it has an RF out connection what it doesn't say is if that is simply a loop through or if it incorporates a modulator to give a modulated analogue signal that you simply tune the existing TV to. It seems that most of the currently available boxes don't have a built in modulator as they use HDMI and Composite video and audio that can be put into a SCART socket. But nothing insurmountable using an external modulator like this https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HDMI-to-Coax-RF-Converter-Analog-Signal-Transmitter-Modulator-for-TV-AC1994/153866624029 which would allow you to use the HDMI output and convert it into something the existing system will display.

I've just had a look as I've got a few bits and pieces here and while I've got two DVB-T receiver boxes (neither will do HD though) here, both need mains power. Sounds like a nice little project though.

Just don't give them any sweets or you'll be cleaning sticky fingerprints off your handiwork.