[Pre bent tube]

Feck me, i didnt think to look at Ebay!  That'll do i thin, cheers Ian

[Pre bent tube]

I want to extend my bull bar from the front, along the wing and down to the rock slider. A bit like this

 

i don’t have access to a tube bender, and a search online has come up with no results unless I submit a specific drawing which I wouldn’t know where to start, but also I’m not 100% sure how I’ll do it until I have the stuff in my hand.

 

what I would like is this; to buy some generic radius bends, maybe a few 30 degrees and a couple of 90’s and some tube, then wing it from there once I have it in my hand.  I’m getting more confident with welding and this could be a good sideline.  My local fabrication shop is closed at the moment.

 

Does anyone know if you can buy 40mm steel tube already bent to some standard angles, or does anyone have a machine to bend it for a cost?

 

much appreciated 

 

[Ideas needed! Enlarging hole in chassis with limited access]

I had a similar situation when I built the frame around the hole in my roof in that I forgot to drill holes in 2 of the leg plates to bolt it down

 

The curvature of the roof meant I couldn’t get a drill bit in there and the fact I welded it all in situ meant I couldn’t take it out.

 

I bought these  https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/060220840/ and used the smallest one (8mm ) in a right angle drill.

 

Took forever but I was cutting through 4mm steel

 

if you don’t have a right angle drill, you can attachments for standard ones, you’ll just need to check the height of the body. 

[Roof antenna and roof rack.]

10 hours ago, FridgeFreezer said:

I think physics applies to Radio 4 as well

 

Live n learn

 

[Roof antenna and roof rack.]

Well i enjoyed the pictures

 

Straight up is an ideal for signal, with a rack but you may get an issue with ground plane or is that just CB aerials?

[Engine Conversion - BMW M57 into a 90]

Good job 

[Defender 110, a Bedford cf and a utility truck walk into a bar...]

It’s also about extending all the cables, I’m sure there’s a generic ISO extension somewhere but I’ve a few more than just the usual speaker set up.

 

I had the dash out to tidy up the wiring, sort the heater controls and a few bits of housekeeping. 
 

The fan has always been abit meh and since removing the air con the middle vents aren’t really needed, just the directional ones.

The heater ducting must lose a fair bit of air before it gets the vents as it’s mostly pushed on with perishable foam making a seal.

I replaced the foam at all the joints with aircon grade expanding foam strip and blocked off the centre vents with a small aluminium plate ( since cutting a great hole in the roof, there’s a fair bit of this around!) 

 

When the vents are selected it’ll only come out the directional vents now and not t middle two.  This helps when I have the iPad on the dash.

 

Fitting a double head unit caused some issues with the clock...as in it doesn’t fit as it fouls the unit. Not too much of an issue as I poked the hazard switch through the hole left by the clock. I’ll make a bezel for it 

I got rid of the rear door switches for the heater and wiper as I don’t have a rear view mirror anymore, driving vans & motorbikes most of my life I never use it anyway, it’s just wiring and weight not needed on the back door so that’ll be stripped soon for a cat flap and half door set up 

[Defender 110, a Bedford cf and a utility truck walk into a bar...]

It’s not all making roof’s fit and welding, sometimes the little bits are important.

The heater control which allows you to control the flow of air to individual areas was broken.  A small piece of plastic had snapped on the wheel in which the control knob uses to shut off windscreen de mist and allows you to select dash vents.

 

You can see the missing piece here;

 

I had a price of plastic which is from one of my track saw runners, so out with the dremel and trimmed it down

 

Once I was happy with it, I used superglue & accelerator to fix it in place

 

i trimmed off the excess plastic and used the dremel and a hot blade on the solder to shape the channel as the break was on a curve. 
 

Ive now added some super adhesive/ hardener to ‘ shore ‘ up the back of the piece i added.

 

That’s it for now, the piece is cooking in the sun to go hard and then I’ll fit it all back in a give it a test

 

[Defender 110, a Bedford cf and a utility truck walk into a bar...]

Starting at the front with regards to the interior, my first thought was to mount the head unit above the windscreen.

 

its out the way and looks ok, however the wiring will be a pain as it’ll have all sorts going to it including 2 cameras, 4 speakers and relative power cables.  Routing all that up the A pillar isn’t in my list of things that ‘ feel me with a warm feeling ‘. 
 

Im happy to punt the speakers up higher so I’ve began partitioning it off.

 

 

I cut down the original head lining to go inside the visor part sticking over the bonnet and with the short bit I cut off, fixed that back onto the top of the windscreen with the sun visors ( might be a little overkill now  )

 

once I had the shape I wanted it was time to cover them.  I don’t profess to being any good at this sort of thing, but needs must.

 

the partitions are made from ply and covered in 6 layers of thin foam and then material.  All the foam and material was sourced from charity shops, so it’s a mixed bag, but I do love to recycle stuff 

 

This is one of the panels done as well as the roof of the cab;

 

 

I did toy with making a hatch to the left of the speaker to utilise the space behind, but it would affect the speaker and I wouldn’t gain a huge amount of storage.  I will, however fit a small cargo net to throw things in on that panel, as well as the one on the drivers side.
 

The black caps are screw caps and the reason for this is all panels must be able to be removed.  Down the line I don’t want to find an issue with something behind a panel and not be able to get to it. 
 

We are going to be travelling to various different continents and climates, so being able to identify and fix a problem down the line is first on my mind with regards to the interior.  All the fixings for the roof are accessible at a future date should I need to get to them.  Also it makes wiring easier if I add something down the line.

 

 

 

[Bench seat]

I’ve scrapped the idea for a few reasons.

 

The weight of a bench seat as is.

The need to use It as a bed with the rear bench seat is no longer needed as I’m making a bunk scenario in the rear now

 

 

[New workshop project]

2 hours ago, Retroanaconda said:

Do you know if all the variants/sizes have the colour temperature switch feature?

I don’t, the actual brand screwfix we’re supplying are called ‘ select ‘

 

website is here;

https://diamondledlighting.co.uk/catalogueproducts/trinity-tri-colour/
 

They state tricolour but screwfix doesn’t.

 

i just fitted 11 of these to a 12m x 8m garage I’m just finishing for my neighbour, plenty of light.

[As you are very knowledgeable...... (something different)]

The load area isn't huge on those track barrows and you'll probably get 1 bail of hay/straw in it.  It's a lot of hassle to carry one bail about.

You can grab a 4 wheeled garden cart which will be cheaper and carry upto 3 bails and is pretty easy to pull about on 4 wheels if you have a yard and you're not poo picking a wet muddy field

If it must be motorised, i have seen those with a small honda engine as well as battery powered ones.

 

Before we got our tractor we used an old MT ride on mower with a 13hp engine and no cutting deck.  It would pull 3 dumpy bags of hay on an old trailer tent trailer base up a hill!  It was beast until it rusted away.   They are cheap as chips to come by as people get rid of them when the cutting decks rot out.

[New workshop project]

2 hours ago, landroversforever said:

They’re just cool white?  

No, they’re advertised as such but have a switch inside which allows you to select the different temperature 

 

I fitted dozens of these

 

[New workshop project]

2 hours ago, Retroanaconda said:

Thanks all. Been busy with fascias and gutters today, pics later 

 

I have some bits left over but I’m afraid I need them for the same reason, to replace some damaged sheets on the other shed. Have you got a Wickes or similar near you that's still open? You can buy them in there, admittedly for much more than a proper builders merchant but they all seem to be shut. 

 

I haven’t got as far as thinking much about lighting yet, I was planning on standard daylight fluorescent tubes. Is the light from LED panels any better these days, as it used to be quite cold and clinical?

Screw fix do a standard led tube with 3 colour settings in the unit from very warm to bright white

 

https://www.screwfix.com/p/lap-single-4ft-led-batten-white-22w-2100lm/590cc

 

They’re adjustable within the unit

[Bench Seat - for my bench]

Got to put wheels on it...

[Defender 110, a Bedford cf and a utility truck walk into a bar...]

Not a bad idea Bowie, I’ve got surplus aluminium sheet from the hole in the roof to make the table top. 
 

For securing it into a locked position I’d need some sort of locking thingymajig..

[Interior light wiring]

Can someone explain is simple terms how the interior lights are wired up in the defender (puma)?

 

i have 3 wires going to the light

purple/brown - perm live

purple/white - switched live

black - earth.

 

what’s confusing me is how they react when I lock the truck.

 

when the truck is unlocked and doors shut, the purple/white is showing 12v

when I open the door, this drops to 0v and the interior light comes on

when I shut the door and the light fades, the volts rise to 12v again

So a reduction in volts causes the light to come on, and an increase causes it to go off.

 

the permanent live doesn’t change no matter what I do

 

 

 

[Mog 404 axles]

I realised this had skipped my radar, I’m interested too!

[New workshop project]

Good job sir 👍

[Defender 110, a Bedford cf and a utility truck walk into a bar...]

I now have an obsolete aluminium roof rack as nothing is going up top.

 

i figures to put it to good use for future purposes and if I’m honest, it does look quite cool with I’ve done...

 

original;

 

I cut it down and replaced some of the rusted bolts, a few licks of paint and voila 

 

 

Its not going to have huge loads on it but it’ll come in handy for shovels n stuff and it’s recycling old items 

[Bench seat]

Are those front hinge sections bolted through to plates on the underside?

What you have there is what i want to do, however have the entire seat pivoting backwards and not forwards. 

 

[Bench seat]

A little bit more information;

Quote

Assess the strength of each anchorage and of the surrounding vehicle structure.

Materials and construction methods should be taken into account.

For seats to which seat belts are directly mounted (integral seat belts) or where part of the seat forms the “effective anchorage” the extra loading imposed on the seat as an anchorage and the extra loading imposed on the seat mountings should be taken into account when assessing item 15 Seat Strength.

Where spreader plates are fitted to seat or seat belt mountings they must be of adequate size and radiused to a minimum of 2.5mm, the radius must be presented towards the floor of the vehicle to avoid tearing the floor in the event of a frontal impact.

Seat belt anchorage points must comply with the strength and location requirements of Directive 76/115 EEC, or to an equivalent safety standard On seats to which seat belts are directly mounted (integral seat belts) consideration must be given to the seat mounting as a belt anchorage point

Materials and construction methods must be taken into account.

Comparable methods to that of aknown approved vehicletype may be acceptable.

Evidence that the vehicle is of identical structure to a vehicle which has been demonstrated to comply with the requirements may be taken to confirm compliance.

Vehicles (particularly high capacity vehicleswith more than 2 rows of seats) may be fitted with seats that were not produced by the vehicle manufacturer but were produced by or for the vehicle converter, and are of the type used in larger capacity minibuses or buses. (For examplepedestal seats or seats having a frame of tubular design onto which the seat belts are mounted).

Particular care should be taken to verify that these seats meet the requirements for an M1 category vehicle. Where a vehicle is presented with this type of seat, the presenter will be required to provide evidence that the seats of this type fitted to the vehicle

Seat Belt Anchorages 19Revision: 9 Date: 01/07/20183of 18Method of InspectionRequired Standardmeet the requirements for an M1 category vehicle. This should be in the form of a declaration from the vehicle converter or seat manufacturer making reference to the vehicle concerned, confirming that the seats fitted (other than the original vehicle manufacturer’s seats) meet the strength and positional requirements of Directive 76/115/EEC for a category M1 vehicle, and supported by documentary evidence of the seat test results. Where the evidence provided relates to the seat only, consideration must be given to the seat mounting as a belt anchorage point

 

 I read this;

Quote

For seats to which seat belts are directly mounted (integral seat belts) or where part of the seat forms the “effective anchorage” the extra loading imposed on the seat as an anchorage and the extra loading imposed on the seat mountings should be taken into account when assessing item 15 Seat Strength.

to mean that the middle seat seat belt anchorage is ok as long as the entire structure of the seat is secured and able to withstand the forward motion of a human and the weight of the seat. 

I'd need to bulk up the anchorage points for the entire seat assembly or look for suitable independant seat belt points on the chassis/bodywork.

[Bench seat]

Requiered Standard for Seat Strength is as follows

Quote

1.Every seat must be securely attached to the vehicle structure, or other obvious suitable load bearing parts of the vehicle (see Notes 1, 2and 3).

2.Every seat mounting must be of adequate strength to support the loads likely to be imposed (see Notes 1, 2and 3).

3.Each seat, seat back adjustment and seat displacement system must incorporate an automatic locking system which operates in all positions provided for normal use.

4.A seat fitted with a displacement device to facilitate access by passengers must be fitted with an unlocking control which is accessible from outside the vehicle when the door is open. Where the seat immediately behind the seat concerned is designated for an adult, the unlocking control must also be easily accessible from this position.

5.The rear parts of the seats must not have rough or sharp edges likely to increase the risk of injury to the occupants. See Note 6

6.A system of head restraint must be fitted on every outboard front seat.

7.For outboard front seats the height of the top of the head restraint above the R point must be at least 700mm,(see Annex 1)taking into account Note 4.

Quote

 

 

There is more, but it relates to headrests.

[Bench seat]

Good point.

As it is technically a 3 seater bench seat, the current middle lap belt is fully mounted to the seat frame and can't be independant.

Well it could, but that's more work as well.

We did a dry run with it today, positioning it and working out where it gets us for being part of the bed which is the entire point of it.

It is a little shorter in width than the standard 2 seats postion and it means the passenger is sat slightly to the right ( probably 100mm ) of the normal position.

I also have to consider the weight element.

As the seat is designed to carry it's passengers and keep them strapped to itself in case of an accident, it's quite a hefty piece of equipment. The tubing is about 40mm and it must weigh 60kgs or thereabouts and that's before i've added more metal to fabricate the frame to use the exisiting seat bolts holes in the seat box.

When you consider a defender seat weighs bugger all, i'm very aware of the extra weight in the overall build of the camper conversion.

I'll spend a few days mulling it over and reading up on the IVA manual and see what i come  up with

 

 

[Bench seat]

I’ve looked on the gov website but can’t find anything with reference to swapping out the front seats for a bench seat.

 

I want to fit a fold down bench seat in place of the front seats to be part of the rear bed area. I have a donor seat to play with from a Bongo. This back rest section folds flat both forward and backwards by unlocking it and folding it down which is what I want. 

On top of that, I’d like to be able to hinge the entire seat backwards so I can access the battery and fuse/relay box
 

I’ll need to fabricate a hinge and locking mechanism for the seat base, are there specific rules for mounting points for front seats? Or does anyone know of a specific bench style seat that already has this entire set up built in?

 

If it’s a logistical nightmare the I’ll just move the battery and fuse/relay and go with my original idea of extra fuel tanks under the seats, but I like the challenge of the seat idea at the moment.