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roamingyak

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Posts posted by roamingyak

    Brake wire issue

    in Defender Forum (1983 - 2016)

    Posted

    I'd greatly appreciate some sense checking please.... 🙂

    Coming down in Brazzaville, Congo about 9 years ago the brake fuse blew every time I pressed the brake.
    Seemed the wire through the chassis was shorting.
    So my mechanic mate ran a wire from the brake servo, into the dash firewall and straight down the inside of the landy and plugged it in there to a standard LR 3 way splitter and the brakes have worked ever since.
    If for any reason I accidentally cut that wire (as I did doing internal remodelling for example) the brakes didn't work until I fixed it.

    Finally today I decided to replace it ( I have the dash out etc) and it took a very angry and frustrating hour to run some wire into some cable protect and thread it along the top of the chassis and around/through all of the extras I have under there (rear wing fuel tank was really in the way).
    On the brake servo side of the new wire I added an inline fuse and put in a 10amp fuse.
    At the back the grey rubber wire connector/splitter (grey rubber thing with 3 bullet female connecters on each end) was tired and the connectors were a bit loose, so I replaced it and carefully replicated what was plugged into where. Other than the fuse and the new wire splitter its exactly the same as the old one...

    Of course it didn't work, no break lights ;-(

    I checked all of the connections and they seemed fine.... I used thicker cable could that be a problem?
    I assume the cable should go to the fuse box, fuse, and then another cable down into the rear wiring harness?
    Any thoughts appreciated 😉

    Defender dash

    in Defender Forum (1983 - 2016)

    Posted

    Funnily enough just stripped mine out yesterday.
    Are you in Zim? Do you need a heater at all?
    If not, you could...
    1. Leave the drivers dash and steering wheel as it it, not worth the hassle to move for a few inches,  easy to fix things then, resale value....... etc
    2. Strip out as in the above picture, but also strip out the heater box in the engine bay, then mount the windscreen wiper motor (thing on the left of the photo) from inside the cab in its place. Then you have a saved about a foot of space from the door to the steering dash unit..
    Send us some pictures with what you do...

    Replacement for a NATO hitch on a Defender

    in International Forum

    Posted

    On 11/20/2018 at 10:53 AM, Chicken Drumstick said:

    Jate rings are ok, but do require you to crawl under a bit to attach to them. Which off road may be an issue if they are buried in the ground or under water. You also need to have some way of attaching to them, meaning you need to carry shackles about with you. And you really should use them with either a bridle or long enough rope to attach to both sides of the vehicle.

    Thanks for the suggestion, but I have a (Aluminium) Safety Devices fuel tank guard, and suspect it would get in the way, or at least the edges of it would chaff if pulling on an angle...?

    Koni - Heavy Raid or Standard?

    in International Forum

    Posted

    Koni have the 'normal' Track Raid shocks that I've always used and had very good milage and value from over the last 14 years in a few sets, even if they have doubled in price without changing.

    It's now time to proactively change them out again, and wondering if the larger and more expensive 'Heavy Track Raid' offer any benefits?

    Vehicle is a 1991 Defender Hard Top with expedition equipment used for long trips in Africa
    LR Heavy Duty Springs, 130 helper springs at the back.
    Dual koni shocks at rear.
    Single Koni shocks at front
    No ARB's fitted

    Advantages I can see:
    - do away with dual shocks at the rear.
    - carry less spares as less likely to fail?

    Review here for those who are interested:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoNQibuDnEg

     

    Front seat head rest - metal only?

    in Defender Forum (1983 - 2016)

    Posted

    Hi,
    I'm replacing all of the foam and seats covers in the front (1991) and one of head rest metal pieces is rusted beyond use.
    Seems when you buy a replacement head rest it comes with the foam and cover as you have to specify what colour and cloth you want etc

    Can you buy just the metal piece?
    or does anybody have a good one sitting around they can sell please?
     

    seatmetalbase.jpg

    Hard Top Rear Load Mat

    in Defender Forum (1983 - 2016)

    Posted

    I think its nice to return to older threads and update on the solution used to add to the pool of knowledge out there.
    So in the end I couldn't find anything locally, and struggle to ask for it which is perhaps the biggest problem.
    Shipping from ebay for such big bulky and heavy items wasn't great, and I was ordering a whole bunch of seat stuff from exMoor trim anyway, so in the end I found a good solution from them plus others:

    1. Everything covered in Silent Coat 2mm
    2. Load bay has 2mm Tecsound Sound barrier and then this 5mm rubber from exMoor. It should be hard wearing and the channels make dust removal very easy. Could only find 3mm rubber locally and it was pitted so dust is harder to clean off.  
    3. For the wheel arches I used this kit from exMoor which comes pre cut and was easy to install. It's 'sound capturing' foam glued to rubber.
    Used velcro for now, may glue later, but velcro is better if it works well.
    The kit comes with a load bay piece, however I measured this up and it would give me 3 strips that I could use elsewhere....

    4. For the curved side walls above the wheel arches I cut two strips and then screwed them into place use Ali strips at the top and then velcro in the middle and bottom (the foam and rubber pulls apart if you don't screw it in place with the Ali strips, bloody gravity)
    5. Enough was left over the cut a strip for the part at the bottom of the internal bulkhead and the rear of the seats.

    I can't fasten it all down 100% due to wanting to fit a water tank etc, but its 90% done. I can't drive on the motorway at the moment, but its clearly moved from being a tin can echo chamber to a quieter place just from driving around my property and working inside her...

    Principle is to 1. Dampen vibrations (ie: stop it) and then 2. block sound from travelling through the air (closed cell foam) and then 3. protect these materials (rubber, which also helps with blocking sound)
    I used Silent Coat because its cheaper and seems exactly the same as Dynamat, but is silver, the black of Dynamt looks better its its not covered etc
    Brett has a video of his experiences here if your interested.

    Thanks again for all of the help and suggestions!

    silentcoat.jpg

    rubbermatt1.jpg

    tecsound.jpg

    rearmatting1.jpg

    rearmatting2.jpg

    • Like 1

    Alpine windows - glass size and painting

    in Defender Forum (1983 - 2016)

    Posted · Edited by roamingyak

    This might help.... the etched white writing on each glass panel is:
    Drivers side (rhd) correct way up (ie: readable) and at the rear.
    Passengers side, correct way up (ie: readable) but writing at the front.
    (Seem to recall the writing end had two dots pushed into the glass at the top and the bottom also?)

    Get a second person to help - when you push one end in, they hold it in place whilst you work your way down to the other end, else it just keeps popping out and its seriously demoralising 😉 
    If stuck, jump on the Eurotunnel, pop down to Portugal and for a cheap bottle of wine my neighbour will do it in 20 mins 😉 

    Alpine windows - glass size and painting

    in Defender Forum (1983 - 2016)

    Posted

    Job done. By my neighbour who's been doing it for 50 years ;)
    Watched this video for tips, painted the inside  with a white acrylic spray paint from the local equivalent of Halfords, fitted new genuine seals (expensive), used the Gunson tool kit (link) that is about £12 for the strip filler, but neighbour preferred a thin flat head screwdriver for getting the glass into the main large seal.
    Needs two people to hold the window in place at one end whilst the other pushes it into place down the other. Note when you remove the window which one goes on which side as the curvature seemed different at each end(?) and we had to swap them around.

    As suggestions for a sealer that I can use on the inside please?
    I intend to cover the inside in acoustic foam and then headlining, so would like to try to ensure that no water comes in for years, but wary of products that will perish the rubber or make it shrink etc



     

    AlpineInside1.jpg

    Alpineoutside1.jpg

    Vehicle category codes (M1G, N1 etc)

    in International Forum

    Posted

    Hi all,
    Any ideas about vehicle category codes (M1, N1 etc) as I've been given a M1G vehicle category for a 1991 Hardtop (exMOD, used to have inwards facing seats in the back I think) when having a N1 would be highly beneficial.
    Can Hardtops ever be given a N1 code given they are classified as commercial vehicles in the UK I think? (my V5 says private Light Goods Vehicle)?
    http://www.dft.gov.uk/vca/vehicletype/definition-of-vehicle-categories.asp

    Seat base sanding/painting

    in Defender Forum (1983 - 2016)

    Posted

    On 8/22/2018 at 5:08 PM, neil110 said:

    Think when I did mine I had them blasted "gently" if that makes sense? Stripped them completely first, removed the sliders from the rails and everything. Painted them with some red oxide primer that I managed to scrounge from work, we used it to paint steam pipes, then sprayed with satin black. Rebuilt them with new foams and covers, from Exmoor trim, that was umm 10 years ago and all is still good 

    Can anybody link to some paint that would give a similar finish how they are originally please?
    Happy to do the sanding and priming myself but might get a local paint shop to do a spray finish rather than my ham fisted painting efforts 😉 

    Front middle seat hump?

    in Defender Forum (1983 - 2016)

    Posted

    Had a chinwag with Drew at Wrights:
    - r380 version with the channel/hump raise built in is wider at the gearbox tunnel, so you'd have gaps either side if you go with that option.
    - as said, there for support for the middle seat, can cut it if not used as a middle seat, but I like strengthening to be in place

    They don'y supply it with the channel mould for the LT77 as apparently customers has so many different requirements etc etc etc
    I suggested supplying a product that matchs the default configuration would be a good idea.
    Anyway, cut the matting or grind off the channel is the answer.

    • Like 1
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