keeley75

I’ve also realised you can’t get the bonnet on in the normal fashion with the bulkhead bar in place. An added bonus with the bonnet theft that’s common. Theft hmm that’s a worry.....

Thanks for all your praise. I’m on the home straight. the dining room is looking a little clearer and I only have a couple of bits left to buy thankfully. Here’s the culprit. It does have a flared end and this is what I’ve ended up doing. I’ve warmed it up and tightened it a couple of times. It doesn’t leak when it’s warm it only seems to do it when it’s stone cold. We shall see the Jubilee clips appear to grip tighter or more uniformly on this joint. ho him it’s always the simple things. I can honestly say that this was not easy. Fitting these on your own is a challenge. Wife quote “ It’s got eyes” The front hoop took some getting on. I had to pull it back about 2 inches and used a ratchet strap anchored to the rear cage.

It was worth the wait. Initial impressions. Its very black inside. Tomorrow I'm aiming to get the front end on and start the endless door adjustment shenanigans !!!!!!!!!!!! That's of course as long as the bottom water hose has eventually sealed up. I'm on my second bottom hose. The original one wouldn't seal especially on the alisport outlet. I have fitted a better quality Bearmach version and even used some heavy duty Mikalor stainless clamps. But to no avail. I have now removed the mikalor's and gone to genuine Jubilee clips and doubled them up on the bottom hose. When the engine is warm it doesn't leak, When it cools down it drips every so slightly. It may need a few heat cold cycles and a tweak tighten when the hoses are soft. However it's really annoying.

It would be rude not to trial fit the hood. I still want to make a seal between the rail and the windscreen. Plus the cage needs fully tightening once the front wings and front hoop are in. But for now I wanted to try it out. The Rail here is fitted with pop rivets and you just need to ensure its central. The hood is mainly self explanatory except where the padded velcro goes. I have 2 and the instructions only mention the one on the middle bar. I will drop them an email. Close up of the internal to external flap. This panel is velcro and stud. The rear section is zipped.

I’m up to date now.. So today I fitted the Wipac Led light conversion kit in the rear. Most of the connectors were like this so I had some new ones and crimped them on. look smart whilst I was working this turned up..

I fitted the same setup that I had on my V8 90 however the V890 had 255 85R16 Muds so the tyres filled the arches considerably. OME2761 Front Spring Type - Front Load - 50kg Lift Height - Up to 40mm Spring Rate - 35 N/mm (200 lbf/in) Free Height - 400mm OME2764 Rear Spring Type - Rear Load - Medium Lift Height - Up to 40mm Spring Rate - 39 N/mm (220 lbf/in) Free Height - 430mm The front end is going to get the Husky H10 sat on my bench and a Winch bumper. That should settle the front. The 761 springs are also designed for the much heavier Tdi engine so my uneducated guess was 761's would be enough considering a lighter engine and then the winch. The rear i have mentioned is sitting high. I need to get it finished and a full tank of fuel and then have a serious look at it. I may need a lighter rate at the rear. At the time of purchase these were the lightest rear springs OME did and were listed as a Medium load. Their range has increased since. I want the suspension to be taught and compliant. I'm trying to steer clear of fitting anti roll bars. Which are all ready to be fitted.

I couldn’t resist fitting the rear arches and I am very pleased with the Santorini Black. The pics don’t do it justice it really pops out in the Light. I also finished the rear wheel carrier. As mentioned it’s a Wolf variant and designed for a steel wheel. I did some measuring and reckoned I needed about 30mm to get a standard LR Alloy onto the carrier. I got a single 30mm wheel spacer from a company called bulldog and three LR spacers Pt no KTD500100 Fits perfectly Plus it clears the rear quarter. I may just be able to squeeze a 255 85r16 on the carrier if I need to

Yes, getting close. Lost of snagging jobs to do. I've filled it full of stuff to settle the suspension before final tightening. It will still need a Tuning Guru and some work to get the engine fully sorted. The PWM valve is doing funny things. Plus I reckon I'm going to need a day and a heap of patience to get the doors aligned and closing properly. Got an Email from Exmoor I should have the custom Hood here Monday. Thats a 4-6 week quoted time that's actually 12 weeks of waiting.

Fitted the screen rail and the gutters. Initially I fitted them wrong and had a proper look over a cup of tea. Then decided I was being stupid and sorted it out. I’m a little concerned that there is no seal between the screen raiil and the screen frame. I’ve got some neoprene so I’m considering fashioning a seal between the two.

Ahhhhh that's the ones Ive seen......Gulp £700+

Windscreen next. I had to pop off the top of the dash to refit the screen washer jet. I ended up pulling the radio out and drilling an access hole so I could replace the washer jet through the radio aperture. Prior to the screen seal going in I ran a bead of wax oil in the top of the bulkhead. The panel is just two sheets folded over and spot welded together. My theory is the waxoil will seep/creep into the panels and prevent rust. The rest of the bulkhead got Dinitrol injected wherever I could get the lance. I’ll see how much oozes out during the summer and I’ll prob give it another dose.

Mounts perfectly no twists and using genuine parts.

Seatbelts I mentioned the problems I’d created myself. Without thinking I fitted the corner anker point at the bottom of the seat box then discovered. That the TD5 seatbelts fit slightly differently. They have the anker point and inertia all on the same bracket and mount on the two body studs behind the seats. I found some 110 front seat belts and got an early defender bracket and got it all to fit. The 110 reels just need flipping otherwise they prodrude into the back of the seat and you can’t move it back. By flipping it I mean unroll the belt hold the spindle and push the belt out twist it 180 and resit it. You can remove the peg but I feared my fat fingers would slip and the inertia would go bananas as it slipped out of my digits

Cheers guys. I will for the time use the genuine loom and look to upgrade the loom when i settle on anything other than standard lights. i will for now fit LED sides and indicators and standard headlights with upgraded bulbs as suggested. So i got outside and managed the rear roll cage everything dropped into place and I am glad I test fitted before painting as it all fell into place. Rear wheel carrier on as well. Starting to come together quickly.

This seems a good suggestion. As I have a few sets of genuine Land Rover headlights. just need a quick polish. I need new securing rings though.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F382423915673

Rear stainless door strip in with back door and another badge from Ashcrofts Wax liberally coated between the rear tub mounts and the body. Once it sets I’ll polish it out

Wiring has been the chore of this build...... So I started with the tub and after resitting the body mounts back on the rear chassis and screwing it all down the cage can finally be fitted in its permanent position. Third use for my right angles drill all the sealed rivets got dunked in wax oil before squeeze...

The 1999 version of the wiring diagram definitely shows the switch running through the relay E, Working in conjunction with the dim dip relay. Everything else ie side and tail lights run through the switch which is why the switches seem to suffer. Even worse if you have a trailer with extra load running off the rear lighting circuit.

Heated Screen in with the help of some paracord. Warm water and the kitchen table..

No it’s not a Defender it’s old enough to be a Land Rover 90

That’s an interesting recommendation. The TD5 loom is already set up with headlight relays so it would just be a bulb swap. I already have a pile of newish headlights. They just need a clean and a polish. hmmmm maybe I’ll wait and let LED technology improve a while longer. The problem for me is seller A sells their LED units for X amount. Seller B sells theirs for 3 x as much. Both units appear the same in style and manufacturing and are both DOT SAE stamped.

Anyone got any recommendations on LED headlights. I don’t want something that looks like a UFO more traditional but modern.?

I also fitted the levelling headlight bowls and motors. These just fit in place of the originals and the wiring on mine was already in situ.

Bolted the wings back together and bonded the roll cage bracket behind the wing with Sikaflex 221..