Frax

Well the only good thing is its like Xmas when you get home lots of boxes with things you want, only big downside is you have paid for them. Sankey finished - chassis cleaned and painted and tub is back on so thought I would take some time and load some pictures.

They should not be as tight to need two people to push them in, mind you dont bend or twist them to much when you push or they will be useless. Try some dash sine on the window edge and the plastic inserts or a slight smear of petroleum jelly (Vaseline)

At the bottom of both seals/runners there is one small screw, if you wind down the window and the seal is letting the glass wobble about you may need to fit a shim. you get a metal strip which goes behind the seal. You may also require some sort of packer to keep the window tight in the seal when the window is down, I used rubber to pack my one out slightly and then fitted the screw. It is important that the window is a good fit even when open. If you dont do this the window will eventually start to drop on its own as the seals wear in especially if you go offroad. I found that before I did mine that if I opened the window by about 1" and drove up our farm road with lots of pot holes that by the time I was home the window would have rattled all the way down. The rattle from poor fitting windows also does my head in. Regards Frax

I have a 1995 Defender and I found it easier to put the window on then fit the seals. I slid my ones in from the top with the window down then put the window up to seat them in. Dropped the window down again and checked nothing had moved then fitted all the little screws and adjusted the bottom spacing to keep the runner tight and put in the final screws. Make sure if you have replaced the seals that you bought the ones for the glass width as there are two sizes. Frax

here are my ones they sit under the seat runner and enable the seat to go back over the back bulkhead ridge. Frax

I made some with 1" box section cut at an angle alone its length and drilled some holes, works a treat. 1mm cutting disc did the trick. Frax

You could fit 37" but it will effect your steering lock quite a bit, 35" are OK and that is what I run but to be honest I would say 33" x 12.5 x 15 are a good buy and with that your speedo will read just about spot on. It depends a lot on what you plan to use it for.

Verniers - sadly all I have is a ruler but that should do.

Thank you Ralf, I must have fitted two different widths of glass with out knowing it. Regards Frax

Ralf - help a good while back I remember you posting a thread which included window runners, I remember you saying that there were two different widths of glass on the side windows. From that I take it that there are different runner widths. My drivers window is rattling (bit like my bones) and wondered if you could supply the part No: for the narrow Chanel. Thank you in advance Frax

Starter motor solenoid - check to see if it is getting power..

You are right, at some point we all miss the obvious but it sure makes you feel like an idiot when it happens.

Well dont know if I should admit this one as you may all see how stupid I can be. The story starts as said when I went for a run - it was to pickup my son who had been out the night before and was staying at a friend house. He had his guitar + a ruck sack (teenager) you know them spotty individuals that give you loads of grief. When we got home his ruck sack strap had got stuck - what does he do - yes gives it a bigger pull. Never mind looking to see what it is stuck on !!!!!!! Well it was my battery isolation switch - you guessed it-----------it was turned off. The switch key sits in the switch and can only be removed when isolated. Needless to say - he said nothing about it. But then again I suppose I should have checked. All up and running again - no need for battery or hours of head scratching and no way anyone on here could know. I am only stupid some of the time thank god. Dont laugh to hard................ Frax

I put the rear tub on and with all bolts loose, bulkhead next and again all bolts loose. Put some protection around the tub and fitted the doors, you will need help at this point as its a bit of a struggle to get things to line up. Bulkhead square the chassis & door gaps. You can pack bulkhead to outrigger to get some movement and you can get the rear tub to move forward but not back. I would advise spending some time on this or your doors will not seal. Saying that you will probably need to redo it when the roof goes on. It takes time but needs doing correctly for a good end result. Have fun and dont get to frustrated as I did but I did persist with it. Regards Frax

I used this thread when I did my one and all went well. There is also a bracket on the left when looking from the inside which obstructs the dash when you go and put that back together. Bracket is not shown on the pictures but if you have a td5 bulkhead you will see what I mean. Every thing else went well. Very good and useful thread. Ralf this was in tech under the list - cant remember what the list was called but it would be useful if that list of fixes and MOD could stay at the top of tech. Hope you know what I am on about.......

Ye are on the go early this morning Mav, I will be going out shortly to see what I can find. I must admit I had never known of a battery going like that but have since been told it is quite common. Quite a scary thought if you do a lot of traveling. Was you able to jump your friends car ? or was it a tow home job.

Yes you are right, more expensive but a lot less hassle. will update you all on what I find.

Hi Mav Na spare battery sadly - would I not get dash light through the charger power ? dont know will get the meter out in the morning. I had a thing here for weeks that checked batteries which was a mates but I told him to take it home as I would not use it so as you say - knowing my luck it could be the battery... G90 I will check the earths but would be surprised if they have gone as I just finished my rebuilt 5 months ago - they were not new but in good condition and I think I doubled them up. Frax

Will have a look in the morning, strange thing is the battery is still charging - by now I would have expected it to be fully charged. Will stick a meter on it and see if I get volts. If its only a loose wire I would think so unless it has earthed - or I have a knackered battery.

Will need to check that out - thanks for that GB75

Hi all I was away for two weeks and the Defender was in my garage, went in and she started first turn. Went for a 4 mile run and back home and parked it outside the garage, the next morning I went to move it and it was dead - no dash lights at all. Connected up the battery charger and left it on charge for about 8 hours then went in and turned the key - still no dash lights - dead. Any ideas as to what could be wrong - I have not looked at it yet as it is pissing it down. The battery has been good, never had a problem till now, I did fit a new standard alternator 2 months ago. Regards Frax

Well trailer was delivered the day I went offshore, Its all there even the back legs and was already converted to 12v. Slight rust at bottom front of the tub and around wheel arches. Just home yesterday and have the tub removed and the underside has been need gun ed. Some small parts to weld but not a lot - tires are also good so I am a happy man. Regards Frax

Hi Easy question for someone who still has a standard Defender, I need the know the height of the rear cross member (centre) as I am about to get a Wide track Sankey trailer and I know the hitch needs to be at the cross member height. My Defender is running 35” tyres and has a 3” lift so unable to find this height on my own. I have hunted the forum for this but all I can find is to use the provided holes in the rear cross member. I want to know if it will be possible for me to keep my standard ball for my IFor trailer + the jaw for the Sankey, (depending on the height or them both) My Land Cruiser had both but I never had a Sankey so the jaw was never used. Awaiting delivery of the Sankey so unable to check that and would like to be ready for its arrival. Regards Frax

If its the 300tdi as far as I remember I used a swivel head on a 1/2 drive socket + two long extensions. Crawled under and did it from there.

Ye they look strange but that is how they work which is not a bad idea when you think about it, connector and wire can face any direction you require.