studmuffin

You know exactly what this feels like -- Early morning - Start up Defender - slight fuzzy feeling behind middle of forehead(possibly beer/cider induced). NEED COFFEE-------- No cupholders!!!! Dont want hassle of fitting cubby-box so---Buy Mud-jobby tunnel tray----Expensive, but - Looks good- fits great and has TWO cup-holders!! Problem!! The grown up Tommy-Tippee mug which we all buy(you know the sort- anodised silver and black plastic) have tapered bottoms, and when full of liquid Nescafe will not stay upright without falling out and depositing precious anti-headache preventative caffeine all over floor mats/trouser legs. Solution--- LRO mag and others occassionally give away neoprene beer can coolers. Fold the top equally over and push on to the bottom of the Tommy - Tippee. Job done!! The other solution would be for Mud-stuff to supply an adhesive strip to reduce the diameter of their cup-holders - but hey-- I am grateful for small mercies! Cheers everybody

Definitely try local steel fabricators. Chances are they will have a guillotine and folder and for a bit extra will shear to size, and bend if required. Sorry dont know any to suggest as you are way out from my area. Do not under any circumstances buy from a supermarket for metals type business. They do not stock anything but buy it in cut to size from real stockholders/processors and double or triple the price and charge delivery, using a pallet network, so you pay for collecting from the supplier as well. If you get a prob - let me know and I`ll can maybe pull in a favour or two locally if you can pick up. Cheers

In all honesty do not use a rattle gun at work but from experience, can generally recommend Makita kit as the poodles plums. All day every day we use 110V Makita nibblers which cut up to 3.2mm/10swg high carbon steel which can be up to 1000N/mm2. They get a very hard life. Occassionally we change the punches and the tool lasts on average 3-4 years. The only tougher gear is Duplex and they are mega bucks and get used for 5/6mm plate. Unfortunately you gets what you pays for.

To me that looks like a pretty good plan buddy. Also it may be an idea to drop a bit of weld on stainless exhaust fixings?? Again a bugger to get off afterwards but cheaper than replacing.

I agree that on face value it makes little sense, and I really dont know the full answer. The insurance business works on averages. I am guessing that a much greater number of kids drive older motors which may be less roadworthy but are driven on the edge most of the time, resulting in a lot more smashes from excess speed/mechanical failure/ driver error. Also I guess you have to vector in damage to other vehicles/persons/ property/stationary objects, which can be massively higher than vehicle repair/ write-off costs. Any insurance experts advice appreciated.

I dont know either how strong it would be but I suspect that most thieving Pikies have a cousin who does roofing/ asphalt and has a propane torch on their Pikie-Pick up! Good idea buddy but they take some stopping!

Unfortunately lots of young drivers, or dadsbank, can only afford an old motor (ironically because the insurance is astronomical ) and the stats dont lie. Out of our youngest sons mates there was only one lad who didnt write off or badly damage his motor in the first 12 months. I understood that insurers had been found guilty of sex discrimination on male policy premiums and would have to increase females premiums. Logically this means premiums for chaps should reduce to adjust the balance. Has this already been put into force because I havent noticed us chaps premiums reducing, or are the insurers just skimming extra profits from female policies??

I dont think getting inside a Series/defender is the problem. We all know they can nick anything inside at will. The problem is stopping Pikies nicking doors, or bonnets. Maybe anti-tamper hardened clutch head bolts might help. Somebody must make them?? You cannot stop `em. You can only make it too difficult or not worth the risk!

I agree that hardened plugs would help. Does anybody supply Clutch - Head bolts that would fit ? From memory these are one directional, and to remove, have to be drilled and possibly extracted using a screw extractor, which takes time and makes a lot of noise. We have to get away from anything where the Pikies can buy a simple tool to remove fixings. As well as being like dung beetles ( able to lift 6 times their own body weight in stolen metal) they have access to the internet and stolen credit cards!

Some Insurers give an extra 10 - 15% discount if you are a member of the Land Rover Club. I am joining this time before I renew. Best of luck

Think this effects evertbody with a defender. There was an article in our local rag about someone who had lost a complete defender not recovered, replaced it and then rear doors nicked twice, and side doors once in a low risk post code area!!!0 Partial solution is to get 5mm stainless- steel ball bearings - squirt "no nails" in the torq screws hoilding the hinges - insert the ball bearings and then reverse a centre-punch and tap it with a hammer to knock it into the torq screw head. so the pikies cannot undo the torq screws.

I am sure we have all noticed that Defender and Series prices have gone through the roof over the past 12 months, and look like they will keep going skywards. My question is - are we insured enough? The people with Series 1`s must be bricking it - looking at auction values! The number of Defender landys going through the auction route has diminished to a dribble ! Thoughts anybody?

Thanks very much. I sometimes use pre-mixed screen wash but if I run out I have been guilty of filling up with just tap water. Will clean it out when it warms up a bit outside. Flippin freezin again today! Cheers Studmuffin

Dont wish to hi-jack your thread, but on a similar issue- I have a TD5 -90 where I set up the washers to both be perfect on the middle of the front screen-- then after about a week one of them sprays underneath the wiper and the other one sprays over the top of the screen and hits the car following! or dribbles weakly and doesnt even reach the screen!! Funnily enuf the rear wiper never seems to mal-function, and the washer hits the rear screen plumb centre every time. Should I switch the rear washer for the front? LOL. Any remedies welcome.

There is some very good advice on the UK Trade website : Galvanizers Association. They give detail on pre-treatment and painting systems. I have always found various trade associations to be really helpful. I am sure if you need specific advice about a particular paint they would probably put you in touch with one of their member companies technical people. Cheers

Dont know if this helps but there was an article in last months LRO mag by their resident Brit part specialist that looked a pretty tidy job, if you want to paint over HD Galv. He used mordant solution first. Personally I like the idea of galv doing its job without any post treatment, unless you want to cover for cosmetic reasons. Knowing that farmers are intrinsically as tight as a ducks bum, I think they would be painting over galvanised farm gates if it made them last longer than unpainted.

Sorry - meant to say it may be worth asking an old fashioned insurance brokers. There are a few left and sometimes they have history with underwriters for particular insurers where they can hustle a deal. Doesnt mean you have to sign up unless they get you the right deal. Remember, not all insurance companies put product on compare sites, so there are other options. Some companies offer accelerated no claim policies over 10 months. Its up to you to do the maths to see if it works. Also be aware about spreading the cost with monthly DD payments. If you child has a claim ( and almost all of them do ) you have to pay the whole premium before the claim is settled. Normally there is no refund for unexpired period of insurance, although they normally offset a chunk of this if you re-insure another vehicle within a stated time frame. Best of luck Studmuffin

I cannot recommend any particular insurers, but for info Lancaster and Sureterm are the same group and do not quote against each other. It depends if you are insuring your kids direct, or putting them on your or your partners policy, as a named additional driver. From experience of insuring 2 sons and 1 daughter, if you are insuring them direct it is often cheaper, strangely enuf, to add you and your other half on the policy as named co-drivers, because it reduces the premium. The theory is, your sprog does not spend all the time driving the car! Apart from that be prepared to be royally shafted - because it aint cheap. I know that some insurers insure landys cheaper than hatchbacks and face it at the end of the day I would prefer my kids to be in a 0-60 in 10 minutes Defender then a rip-snorty hatchback imbedded in a tree.

Welcome to the forum. I hope that you own plenty of good thermal clothing living there, because the heater in a Defender is definitely not the cutting edge of English technology. Cheers Studmuffin

Hi - Looks like a great project. I am looking for ideas so I can build a de-mountable aluminium cooker box to fit inside the back door of my 90. Thought this tool used by roofers might help when cutting and carving. (Sorry no pics - I am a bit computer illegitimate but if you need some I can send you them when my daughter shows me how!!! ) I had recently bought some steel roof sheets and they also sold me a nibbler that fits any drill (mains or cordless). I have seen similar ones before but this one looks pretty solid and it says it cuts 1.8mm Mild Steel / 2.00mm aluminium. It comes with a spare double-ended punch and spare anvil. So far I have only cut the roof sheets with it but its capable of cutting pretty intricate shapes down to 24mm diameter circles. The punch is quite a small diameter so its very manouverable. I paid £25 plus VAT. The delivery was included in the bulk order , so I guess you would have to add a delivery charge. The supplier was www.steelroofsheets.co.uk . Best of luck with the build.

hi everybody. I thought that I was a just a born again landy defender person but its encouraging to see that at heart, we are all LR people, and I thought it was time to say hello. So HELLO everybody. Isn`t it nice to be part of a big world wide club.