Big Blue - Firms We Used

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These are the people we used during the conversion.

AEW Paddock Motors, Matlock, 01629 854499

Paddocks are a good source of cheap parts but we had problems both with quality and broken promises on delivery (see diary for details).

Anglia Radiators, Stanley Road, Cambridge, 01223 314444

Dug out a suitable radiator for us from their stock based on the dimensions we gave them. Excellent once we got to speak to the man who knew rather than the people they had protecting him from the public.

Autosparks

They supply car looms for anything and some years back supplied Paul with new wiring after Baby Blue lost all its wiring in a fire. It was very good so we went back to Autosparks this time for a new rear loom and for miscellaneous wiring. The only down side to them is that their e-commerce solution (Actinic) is broken as a broken thing from Netscape.

CFE Hydaulics Ltd, Milton, Cambridge, 01223 420466

Our local supplier of hydraulic bits. Supplied the plumbing for the power steering. Very helpful. Nice dog.

C&R Tyres, Milton, Cambridge

Conveniently next door to CFE. They supply and fit all our tyres and exhausts now and were happy to do supply only on Big Blue's exhaust.

Designa Chassis, Doncaster

The only supplier of coil sprung chassis for series land rovers as far as we're aware. We met them a couple of years ago when we broke down near Doncaster while heading for Scotland in Baby Blue and they were most helpful then (in their other guise as Arrow Services). How well the chassis works we'll tell you later, but they were certainly on time on delivery.

Discount Auto Parts

Not as good as Wilco (see below) but we've had odd bits off their branch in Newmarket Road, Cambridge.

Famous Four, Louth

Supplied the second hand LT77 and R380 and a flywheel. Nice people.

Glenwood Bolts and Screws, Linton

They supplied us with lots of new nuts and bolts. In the diary Beth said "the chap did a grand job of listening to my vague descriptions and coming up with the goods for very reasonable sums of money."

Milner Conversions, Matlock, 01629 734411

Supplied the conversion plate to connect the V8 to the LT77 for a 2.5. More information in the diary. They also converted the flywheel, including skimming the plate which was pretty rusty before they got their hand on it, and supplied the clutch.

Sadly they've got out of the conversions business now and are just Milner Off Road however Andrew of CPE has bought the business. He's on 01246 855520.

Mackays, Cambridge

Absolutely excellent local hardware store. Sells the best selection of tools and accessories and supplies us with welding gas and consumables. Their metal shop can supply everything you could desire, cuts it to size for you and still charges a fraction of B&Q's prices.

Maplin

We bought various electrical items from them, plus cable ties (they do a tub of 1000 in 10 colours for a tenner) and cable P clips which we used for the brake lines. Worth getting a business account if you can because then the carriage is free.

Marshalls, Cambridge, 01223 377777

Our local Land Rover main dealer. Their spares department can be either surly or helpful depending on who you get. Prices are dreadful, but they sometimes give Paul (but not Beth - odd that) trade prices which helps a bit, and if they've not got stock they can get it next day. They also have a Unipart franchise, which often has pattern parts for things like brake shoes.

Namrick

Nuts and bolts by mail order.

National Power Steering, Leicester, 01116 251 4706

Supplied us with the basic kit for the power steering. We weren't very impressed with some of the parts supplied (threads cut very short on one ball joint, chassis mounting point needed "modifying" somewhat to make it fit and the instructions needed work). In addition they forgot to send us the drag link, although another was sent promptly when we phoned and told them they'd forgotten to pack it.

We later discovered that the drag link they send us was the wrong length. They promised to replace it but it took many calls and faxes before we got them to supply one the right length. They also then revealed that they were stopping doing this kit ... which doesn't bode well if we have problems with it later.

And as it turned out it didn't - when we started to use Big Blue actively the power steering was dire. It "bump steered", so when you went over a bump it turned one way, then the other as it came down again. It was also quirky to the point where Paul was never comfortable driving it. In the end we went back to un-powered steering - which works.

Rimmer Brothers

The do spares for classic British cars such as Triumphs and Rovers. Which means they stock parts for V8s and, specifically, for the SD1, which is the donor vehicle for Big Blue's engine and hence its ignition. Their e-commerce solution works a treat and they were happy to add an item to an order we had already placed, and didn't charge for the second lot of carriage even though they sent it separately.

Simpers, Cambridge

Good place for workwear (we got our overalls there) and they also stock disposable gloves, rope and chain.

Screwfix

Screwfix is really a DIY specialist. They offer next day delivery if you order before 5pm and they never fail in our experience. We've used them a lot for other projects. Their relevance here is that they're a good source of tools (we got the alligator saw from them) and consumables (goggles, masks, saw blades, ear defenders etc).

Steve Parker

Specialists in kits for putting other engines in Land Rovers. We went to them for a V8 to LT77 kit but they would only sell us the whole kit including engine mounts and a remote oil filter housing which we already had. A guy there said we could buy the kit and then return the parts we didn't use but we preferred to go to Milner (see above) who supplied the kit to Steve Parker in the first place. Milner also offered to convert the flywheel, unlike Steve Parker who told us to get it done locally. We concluded, having seen how precise a job Milner had to do, that this would not have been a good plan.

Wilco

Of our local motor factors Wilco are by far the best, having a lot more things you really need and a lot less arse. Good for specialist tools, good for consumables. We have two in Cambridge. The smaller one, in Milton Road crams stuff in and sells things no other motor factor does like rivnuts and rivets in sizes other than 3mm. The larger one in Mill Road sells decent brake pipe and a good range of tools and the staff are genuinely helpful.