[Closed] I am man! Defender! Provider! Mechanic!

I miss my Landrover -

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Of course with a 200 you can run veg oil!
Round here it's a quid a litre. Both my old n/a 90 and the 300tdi 90 loved the stuff. The current 110 has a 2.8 Isuzu lump that runs equally well.

I ran various Landys for over 20 years starting with a very early 1984 90" upto a TD5 90" and loved them all and i would still have one if the goverment didn't tax fuel as much, rant over. I still wouldn't mind a Series one though.

It may not be a 'proper' Land Rover, but it still gets us to places very few others go to, and behaves just like a car when it's not growling at sand dunes 🙂

[url= http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5542/9048193862_a8e422c0fc_z.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5542/9048193862_a8e422c0fc_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/mark_farrell/9048193862/ ]Goog's Track[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/mark_farrell/ ]Mark-Farrell[/url], on Flickr

I wonder what spam resurrected this?

Anyway, my CSW is currently in the operating theatre and just a few bolts away from me being able to lift the bulkhead off.

Going to treat it to a galv bulkhead to go with the galv chassis:

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Probably take me a few months to finish but if the weather breaks I can get in to the workshop again without melting.

Shoot!

Someone call a Doctor, Stoner has the worst case yet seen of LandRoveritis.

BurnBob, full marks for observation. The pic was taken at Warbeth. I bought the Land Rover in Orkney when I stayed there. It was an ex civil defence soft top wheni got it. I found the hard top in the Orcadian. It used to be on the airport Land Rover either on Eday or Westray. Certainly when I wnt to Westray everyone recognized the roof.

The Land Rover is still up near Dounby, I kept the number.

I saw another at the supermarket the other day.

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Zokes - Looks like a good adventure. Would you have been 'brave' enough to have tried it in the Freelander without the support of the second truck ?

Stoner - Beware, its a slippery slope.

good luck

Zokes - Looks like a good adventure. Would you have been 'brave' enough to have tried it in the Freelander without the support of the second truck ?

Out there? No! But we wouldn't in any other vehicle out there alone either. We didn't see anyone travelling alone, be they in a Cruiser, Patrol or anything else. Properly remote country, and had it not been a public holiday weekend, it's very likely that we wouldn't have seen anyone else out there. Any car can break down, and there's only so much water you can carry...

We have been down to the bottom of the EP, and over and back across the Vic Alps and Kosuiszko on our own though, rarely touching tarmac. It's surprised a lot of people at camp sites who couldn't quite fathom how we got there. Sure, I'd rather have a Disco (or a Defender, if someone would drive it the 1000 km to the start of the dirt for me). But, for the cost, the Freelander's an amazingly capable vehicle, whilst being 'just' a comfy car when it's not getting muddy. A guy from another group in a lifted Patrol followed us over the last bit of the Goog's track and he said he couldn't work out why we weren't getting stuck - he'd see three wheels spin then stop, yet we just carried on up the dune as if we were on tarmac. Very clever traction control.

I can well imagine that a lightly loaded freelander 2 is ace in the sand. - Drop the tyre pressures, turn the dial and away you go !! I've just got back from Morocco in a fully loaded defender (4 people and probably 100 litres of water as we were on our own !)and it was a handful in even small dunes. I took a good few spares but its a bit scary knowing youre a long way from help and there's a lot of stuff you may not be able to mend with a hammer, gaffer tape, and cable ties.

Lightly loaded it's a hoot I agree - very perky engine and pretty light compared to most 4wds

Lightly loaded it is not on most of our trips though - 80 L water, 40 L fuel in Jerry cans, second spare wheel, tools, food, beer (lots of this), firewood. The only reason we got stuck was because we bottomed out in the ruts thanks to all the weight sacrificing us about four inches of clearance. Nothing a bit of digging and a bit more right foot on the second attempt didn't solve though. But, despite that, the only thing we used to get us out that wasn't carried by us was a second spade and some muscles to use it. So I guess it's self-sufficiency with a safety net, which really, in properly remote conditions you need. I have no intention of dying a horrendous death from dehydration due to bravado and travelling alone in places like that.

You got any pics from the Morocco trip? I do like Defenders, but possibly one too many compromises as a day-to-day car for me, and definitely too many compromises for my wife! They're considerably cheaper than a disco though, so I may well come round to one. Pity they don't have a bit more oomph under the bonnet though - it's a de-tuned Freelander engine is it not these days?

More fun around the camp fire if you're with a mate anyway. I've got a few photo's from Morocco, but as always not from the real interesting stuff as I was too busy not getting stuck / lost to take pics. - I'll try and learn how to post them when I get chance. There may even be 1 in next months LRO. My defender's a 2010 with a 'transit van engine' and is pretty comfy for distance. I'm about 5'11 and routinely drive 500 - 600 miles in the day either with work or sometimes pleasure without feeling too frazzled at the end. Wife and 2 kids dont complain either. The only time its felt 'underpowered' is when laden and with 3 tonne on the back, which I can live with for the better mpg than a disco. The latter is probably not a issue for you in Aus where they virtually give the fuel away.

Stoner, we need pics of the ongoing bulkhead project.

has come to a halt for a few days. The Bulkhead is free, but it appears I need to remove the sills as well to be able to lift it clear, so I'll climb back under one morning soon. Of course all thaty will happen then is I'll look at the sills and reckon they'll need replacing too 🙄

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Just take the sills off.

6 brackets either side I think.

Only decorative, throw them away and put some tree sliders on.
(not for tree sliding but to add some side impact protection)

not that simple, the sills hold the b pillar up too dont they?

Those little sill like things are decorative at best. Bloody bolts will be solid though.

we're not talking about the sill capping, its the box section rail. I thought that held up the rear door hinge pillar. Im expecting the bolts to be siezed though 🙂

Im going to pop out and have a crack at it now.

doh, Im a div, of course the sills dont hold the door. the second bulkhead does

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...but the sills are joined to the B pillars 👿

Ah well, out it all comes, and just as well, because they're shot too...
2 steps forward, 3 steps back.

[img] https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-aasoK7sF4ek/UfZzIK3viQI/AAAAAAAAGdY/hUmRLUqpCFw/s640/IMG_20130729_140712.jp g" target="_blank">https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-aasoK7sF4ek/UfZzIK3viQI/AAAAAAAAGdY/hUmRLUqpCFw/s640/IMG_20130729_140712.jp g"/> [/img]
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Save this link

http://www.yrmlandrover.com/epages/BT3575.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/BT3575/Categories/Defender_parts/Land_Rover_Defender_110

Great company!

cheers.

Im going to be getting the bulkhead from these guys so will be talking to them about other parts too like outriggers and those sills.

http://www.ashtreelandrover.com/About_Us.html

Why not repair the one you've got and get it dipped yourself?

Is it that shot?

Save £800

http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic22028.html

Ill take a pic of it when it's out, but "shot" would be kind. "Absolutely rotten away" is closer 🙂

And Im not too shy of spending a little bit of cash on this thing (just got paid for last year too). I'm hoping to keep it for many, many years so want to makesure I have the key parts in very good nick before I start gluing it all back together again as I wont want to be doing this again.

Fair point, heard very good stuff about Ashtree and like you say it will last for years.

Impressive stuff 🙂 I want one of these.

[url= http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5461/9378544564_bd9a6803f4_c.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5461/9378544564_bd9a6803f4_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexleigh/9378544564/ ]Welland Steam Fair[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/alexleigh/ ]Alex Leigh[/url], on Flickr

for a brief moment on Saturday morning you could have found my crawling underneath that exact same landy looking at the bulkhead fixings, Alex. 😳

🙂 I fancied it more for the machine guns. Would liven up the commute no end!

Slightly more modern version:

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Tiger6791, I have taken both the sills off now and got help to lift the bulkhead out.

Not sure if this is rust or just a sticker?...

Needed a video to take in all the horror 🙂
I will get ashtree to weld the b pillars on to some new sills. Maybe see if they can hot dip them too.

I often see old landies & wonder about them, sort of fancy one myself, well I did, then I watched that video, all the cheap ones must be axactly the same... For that reason I am out.

Keep the thread up though its nice to see one getting a decent makeover.

Yikes!

When you get your new galvanized bulkhead pump it full of Waxoyl or Bodyline cavity wax.

It's hard to believe Land Rover have ignored the corrosion issues that have plagued all their products. The costs of installing a galvanizing facility at Solihull would have repaid themselves in repeat custom many times over.

I saw some chassis rust on a Disco 3 the other day that would write off any economic repair. The car was five years old 😯

will do. Everything will be well coated/painted.

Since this has turned into a bit more of a full refurb Im going to take the seat box off the chassis mounts and treat those too before refitting all the floors and sills. It just seems a pity that when the chassis swap was done three years ago, they just moved everything else over locks stock. The chassis is obviously impeccable, but the 25yr old body is all shot where' it's steel . The Al stuff is pretty sound still though.

One day I shall treat it to 5 new doors though, but at £400 ish each that might have to wait a bit...

Sometimes after driving my 90 on wet salty roads I could actually smell the corrosion happening when I was working around it. It's a distinct metallic/electric smell that you never forget.

Still, are Landies any worse than any other car? My Dad owned one of the first BMWs ever imported into the UK, an early 2002. It was an exciting car but the ventilation was dire and within two years the front wings had rusted right through in front of the A pillars.

globalti, a good point, all old cars rust, even early fully galvanised ars are now getting rusty.

Throw in the odd river crossing & dumping a boat into the sea into the mix & its no supprise Landies are getting a bit rusty, good job Stoner is there to fix em.. (well one at least)

she's looking a little naked now...

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Good work 🙂

Updates?

wings, bonnet and roof back from the painters. Looks ace.

I got a salvaged rear tub from a breakers yard off an '01 TDI that had been rolled, so I can re use the rear floor and the cappings (thats £500 quids worth new! 😯 )

Ive stripped the donor tub, just got to break down my tub and then rivet panels together and get it to my painter.
This evening I have been working on fitting my eberspacher diesel heater into a new central cubby box. It looks sweet and it runs perfectly. Ive tapped into the diesel line under the drivers seat.

I have some pics on the phone, but the phone is downstairs and the missus is downstairs with some frump from the school governors so you'll have to wait 🙂

Ive also had a delivery of all the wiring stuff I need to re-wire all the lighting systems so that all circuits are relay driven with dedicated earths.

It appears I have some crap photos. I need to do some good ones. Will do as soon as Ive rebuilt the wings and their looms.

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Which Eberspaecher have you bought ? Did you factor in getting a remote control - there's nothing like the smug feeling of getting out of the shower on a cold winter's morning, pressing a button on the remote and knowing that your Defender is starting to warm up and de-ice all the windows.

🙂

Nice work and well done.
I'd planned on fitting a extra heater to our 110 for the winter but the clutch and flywheel thought they would eat my money instead lol

Just read on the BBC that production of Defenders is to end in about 18 months time.

I wish the EU would look at 'whole life' emissions - I'm sure these vehicles would come out fine due to their longevity.

Got a brand news 200 tdi pas pump to box pipe cluttering my garage if you need one

cranberry - it's a D2 that I had in the camper van. It was put in the camper van 6 years ago and Ive used it about 6 times since then so think it's going to be far more use in the landy. The heater in the landy is notoriously crap, where as the D2 with 2200W will do the whole car from one outlet. The louvred outlet can be aimed at the windscreen or down into foot wells.

I might fit a remote control but I have a timed controller for mine so can program it to come on for the skool run 🙂

I had to put a cowl on the back of the cubby to be able to mount the D2 far enough back in the box so that I can get a flexy hose on the outlet. It's come out quite well - I just need to fit a tidy protecting plate above the cowl so the boys dont climb on it.

orangeboy - a lot of people put an eberspacher in the drives stowage box, with a duct that bridges the seatbox gap so that it is sucking air in from the second row footwell.

cheers Tiger - mine already has PAS. Not sure when it got put in though...

I was fortunate that I bought my Defender ( LHD TD5 van back ) 2nd hand and all the work was already done - The heater is under the driver's seat and that means that the battery has been moved to a newly created stowage bin in the back in the wheel arch - this also allowed for the fitting of a 2nd battery, ideal for camping and running the Eberspaecher - all in all a lot of work and all done to a good standard.

You'll *love* that heater when the weather turns cold.

They are great heaters, I will be very chuffed when it's running this winter.

Im guessing that the yellow wire to the controller harness is suitable for a remote switch, bypassing the controller itself. WIll have to test it out and then I reckon I can stick a £10 12v remote switch from chinesebay on it. It saves having to run out into the cold morning to push a button 🙂

Im going to keep my battery box under the passenger seat - there's a big one in there, and Im going to put some relays and bus bars in there, as well as a distributed earth.

The louvred outlet can be aimed at the windscreen

Don't do this!!!!

I learn't the hard way 😥

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Its all right. Ive already broken my windscreen - trying to fit the ****** back in to the frame! Grrrr.

But in my defence there was a big chip right in front of the steering wheel from which the cracks all propagated so it probably wasnt long for this world in the first place.

How much heat were you hitting your windscreen with? Mines more likely to be a warm wash of air, rather than a blast from a blow torch.

Just warm air did that 🙄

There a reason the Defender heater is rubbish, it's to save the screen 😯

If you've bust your screen already put a heated one in. There's a few surplus stock factory ones kicking around at the moment. Check eblag

I was toying with it, but once youve taken the £100 for the screen and another £100 for the switch & relay and timer and wiring etc, it gets a bit much.

"Gets a bit much"... Stoner + Landy refurb..... Sentence does not compute 🙂

£100 + £100 = gets a bit much.

That's only 2 tanks of Diesel which is about 750 miles 😯

Get the heated screen put in and stop fanny'ing man

(*your gonna have to buy a screen anyway)

bastards. The pair of you.

I will look in to it further then...

Just order a pair of replacement headlamp bowls today.
Had a pile of electrical stuff turn up.
Hopefully start rebuilding the wings & looms later this week.

At least Ive saved £20 by hammering back into shape two rear quarter protectors salvaged from the crashed CSW. That's something. Isnt it? 🙂

Screen - £120
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/161117420941
Relay - £9
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221292823310
Switch - £2.50
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/310162801309

HTH 😀

Oh....

and I've got a spare pair of later type headlamps kicking around somewhere.

thanks for the links Tiger. I shall have a look.

Tiger - just had a quote from a local windscreen man to supply and fit a heated windscreen for £150. Which is a bargin so going for it. I wouldnt want to run the risk of breaking a £125 screen myself. And he's providing the filler strip for my seal as well. All the screens on ebay for £105-165 are pick up only in Yorkshire too. So not really an option.

Firend of mine put a light sensing diode and timed relay in the remote line for his eberspacher. Then he taped the diode to an old indestructible pay as you go Nokia and hard wired a 12v charger to the phone.

He could text the camper van wherever he was it would pre heat the interior. Much cooler than the remote control...

until the Nokia started getting lots of calls from the Payment Protection Insurance ambulance chasers 😉

cunning plan, pictonroad. But I think for simplicity I can manage to nip outside and press the button.

Had a delivery of parts today (specifically the silly j-clips unique to landrover needed for the side lamps) so could crack on with the wings.

One done. Really pleased with it.
New paint job, new lamp bowls and reflectors. New vent covers. Repainted lamp surrounds and checker-plate, new indicator and sidelight units. Repainted the eyebrows, refitted with new clips. Starting on a new, relayed, lighting loom.

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Now for the n/s.

White 😯 Is it to appear in a sanitary towel advert ?

Lovely!

Nice, keep them coming.

White ones look good:
[url= http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8032/8036437051_023f3f2eb9_b.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8032/8036437051_023f3f2eb9_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/matt_outandabout/8036437051/ ]Glen Dubh[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/matt_outandabout/ ]matt_outandabout[/url], on Flickr
[url= http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8450/8036447471_b2d0f63732_b.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8450/8036447471_b2d0f63732_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/matt_outandabout/8036447471/ ]Glen Dubh[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/matt_outandabout/ ]matt_outandabout[/url], on Flickr

Cheers guys.
Matt, that's pretty much how mine will look. Although Ive taken the snorkel off mine (it was rotten anyway) and I dont really have a need of it. It's also worth noting that a landrover bow wave will trough right where the wing intake is 😉 Maybe the design wasnt all that haphazard...

Don't mind me, I am just uber jealous, as I think I am

[url= http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/car-choice-talk-me-out-of-buying-a-navara ]Turning Japanese[/url] 😕

And that's the rear tub dismantled and n/s quarter removed.

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I think the spark-monkey with the spot-welder got carried away when gluing my landy together. Took a lot of goes with the weld cutter to get the rear panel off in the end. It's been backed into something and is all bent and holed - although you cant quite tell from this angle.

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Now just to give them a clean, and get to work on them with the sander and grinder, with a little bit of panel beating (god bless landrover's flat body panels 😉 ) and I might be able to get the last batch of bits to the painters by the end of next week (doors and rear tub lowers and uppers)

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I love a productive day. Time for a sluice and then it's beer o'clock.

until the Nokia started getting lots of calls from the Payment Protection Insurance ambulance chasers

Happy today.
Chappie from National Windscreens (Worcester depot) turned up and fitted the alpine lights to the roof. He had to sweat it a bit to get them in right, so Im very glad I didnt have to attempt it as he didnt make it look particularly easy and he's obviously got aeons of experience. Last bit of filler lefft hanging out to allow the rubber to retract a bit before trimming and stuffing in.
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He wasnt happy doing the heated windscreen into the frame with it off the body so he took them away to the depot to do it with some help from colleagues and the workshop. His colleague just dropped it off this evening and it looks brilliant.
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Just need to check the wiring configuration for the 3-tab one as I was expecting a 2 tab. But since Im yet to fabricate the loom it doesnt matter.

Refitted the sunroof after refurbishing the sealing rubber with some wet & dry and some olive oil.
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I need to go and chase up Ashtree for my bulkhead. Im getting impatient now. Ive been working on the sliding side windows this week too.

Jeez Stoner, it'll be too good to take into the forest.

Too tight, it shall be cuddled up in cotton wool every night 🙂

Quick vox pop question on colour:

The slam panel is a minor body panel that goes around the grill. You can see it on matt_outandabout's landy above below the bonnet. But it doenst go out to eh sides. Its the strip with the landrover decal on it. It also includes the bit below the grill above the numberplate.

Now what would people think if it were black, instead of white? The wings are still white with black light surrounds remember?

Or should they be white so that there is that link across the grill between the two wing ends?

I think the slam panel will look better in white as Mattoutandabout's. All the black bits line up that way.

I think you're probably right. I was just wondering as I dont think Ive seen one with a different colour between the wings.

White i think. If you did it a different colour it may look like you've grabbed a panel off a scrapper.

Have you had that realisation yet that you could have walked into the dealer and bought a new one for the 'time' cost ? 😕

Where's the fun in that?

Anyway, you cant buy a 200tdi, galv chassis, galv bulkhead, galv sills station wagon. You have to make one yourself. And when it's done it will outlive a factory new one born today despite being 25yrs old.

Cheers sharkbait. Yep, I shall prep the slam panel to go with the others to the painters then. Need to find some nice decals for it too 🙂

Yeah - but finding warm E90 running down your arm, rust in your eyes and skinned knuckles 'fun' must make you question your sanity. I know it does me ! Looks a nice build by the way and you're almost certainly right about the new ones not lasting as well. The steel sections of my 3 year old defender are about half the thickness of my 'fun' 40 year old project 2a.

yeah, Ive heard terrible things about the steel quality in the latest td5's. And to think how it could have been if Landrover had bothered to install a hot dip galv tank at Solihull... 🙄