Graham Thomson

Been a sore and uncomfortable night, so went to casualty this morning. Parked in a massive 20-car-long parking bay on the side of the road just outside the hospital, rather than clog up the car park in A&E. Came out at seventeen minutes past nine, to see the parking stench putting a ticket on my windscreen. Apparently it's residents only, and there were some little signs to say this. Strange, since the only residents on that street are those in a little sheltered housing complex across the street, who all have their own parking spaces. You know you can pay by phone 24 hours a day to Salford **itty Council? Wish they'd spend our resources a little more wisely than on parking wardens who travel around in cars, two in each car....... Perhaps this explains why our new singing-and-dancing recycling service "All bins will be delivered to households in your area by 8th Feb" is still not running.

Ralph, was attempting to fit the bonnet myself. The aircon init no longer exists, but the cover is still there and seems solid and securely fitted.......... The old bonnet only has some reinforcing struts in it where i think it has been used at some time for a bonnet mounted spare. the new bonnet has a slight "inner skin" around the left and right hand side......it's here where it sticks. Also, the new bonnet has completely different connections for the bonnet prop........ So, might i have a non-landrover manufactured one? The chap i bought it from told me it was from a 96 defender, mines is an 89 badges as "Land Rover 110". All help gratefully received!!! Graham.

Every cloud has a shire blue lining!!!!!!!

Actually the really bad news is that the 96 defender bonnet i bought and carefully sprayed, cut and polished will not fit the truck!!! The ac unit prevents closure.... AAarrrgh! Anyone want a mint condition shire blue bonnet?? Reasonable price?

Yes, thanks for that - the damage seems to be readily repairable. I suppose it only matters that they arrested the driver, it DOES appear that it was his car, it WAS insured etc. They actually arrested him for gobbing at the police who were quite quickly on the scene....... If I was being kind I would give him the benefit that he panicked and fled.........

My neck is sore, as is my left side - so definitely A&E in the morning - will let all the drunks ship out first.

Sat in stationary traffic today.........about 4 yards behind car in fron that was indicating right. Without warning, got rammed at about 50-55mph by a vauxhall astra with 4 late teens in it. Hit me so hard I bounced forward and hit the car in front, a nissan x-trail. The vuaxhall then sped off, unfortunately for him he turned down a side street that was a dead end. Unknown to me, he was pursued by the owner (and some employees) of a chinese takeaway, who apprehended two of them, including the driver, before handing them over to the police. The chinese lads also speculated that he was drunk, but I cant confirm. A bus driver that was following the astra also video'd the driver fleeing the scene. There is a little damage to my brand new a-bar, one of the new spots has been pushed back a bit, the nearside rear wing will need replaced, new rear step, tow bar and the whole sill underneath the door. The x-trail - significant damage to the rear, and the vauxhall astra had most of its front trims strewn across the road.........I'm glad i had just dropped the little un at home a few minutes before. Really narked - had just got it out of the garage this morning with all the upgrade stuff done. Hey ho, tomorrow must be better! :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Hi folks, Trying to find a complete hitch-hikers guide the the V8 in my 1989 CSW. I don't think there is a Haynes one, anyone know of a decent alternative? Thanks in advance!

So I painted it......... Three tins of paint............flatted between coats........and all was almost perfect ........until........ with 1/3 of the paint remaining in the last tin, it sputtered, spat globs of paint and ceased to spray . Swapped nozzles with the other can, no joy. The air was blue, and I don't mean shire blue !!! So, on to the paint man, another 30 quids worth, some more wet and dry and went for one final coat. Carefully applied, even managed to have a little paint left over..........job done, tiptoed out of garage with a lingering over-the-shoulder look at the big shiny glossy-glossy-sheen-of-shire-blue reposing in the corner. All seemed almost perfect..........until........ I ventured back into the garage the following morning for a quick satisfied running-of-the-fingers-over-the-bonnet only to find............it had dried absolutely dull dull oh so dull matt blue. Couldn't believe it, kicked the dog and went to work . On reflection (and the bonnet wasn't doing much of that in its' matt state!), it must have been the cold. Spent about 3 hours today with some Farecla G3 cream bringing the whole thing up to a very nice shine , using cloths, car buffer, and my fair (and now very sore!) hands. As a amateur paint job, I'd score it about 8 out of 10, certainly good enough to go on the truck. She comes back from the garage on Tuesday, after lots of other bits have been done. Once I get the bonnet on, I'll do some nice pictures, for now though, it's some well-earned vodka and coke and some ibuprofen gel for the hands.

oops....that's 1989, not 1898!!! I know they've been making them a long time...........

Mines' is bust to bits and I binned it.............. Anyone know the correct size for 1898 defender rear plate??

Mechanical or electrical?????????????? Help! :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

I had lots of nice gauges fitted to my moggy minor.......not so much for function, more to put some comfort lighting in the car in the dark . Which left me thinking...........what gauges would it be useful to fit in my V8 truck, which types (electrical or mechanical), and does anyone have any nice web links....? Cheers!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/LAND-ROVER-DEFENDER-...1QQcmdZViewItem :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Ok, replaced the lights on the trailer with shiny new ones. Wires on first light - red, black, yellow and white. Wires on second light, red, brown, green and black. Hey ho . And shifting from a 3-buld arrangement to an indicator/standard stop lamp arrangement. A little educated guessing and all was well. nice new number plate on trailer, and the whole thing is now road-legal. By the time I had finished the temperature in the garage was down to way below zero, decided not to put the final coat of paint on, freeze-dried coffee is ok, but freeze-dried shire-blue I'm not so sure about. Now thawing with a mug of soup.

ok, painted it, the colour looks great and the spraying is not too shabby either. Got two runs that need sanded before the final coat . used two tins of paint, which is now bone dry. got one more tin in the locker (all ordered courtesy of nice paint link from this web site). going out after dinner to spray that too. Also to replace the lights on my trailer.

ok ok paint it is!!!

I have a very nice new bonnet for the truck. It is in great nick, no dints, no scratches, nowt. Problem is, the truck is shire blue in colour, and the new bonnet is a somewhat darker shade, sort of halfway between shire blue and navy blue. I've got the spray paint and my last attempt at spraying (fibreglass bumpers on the moggy minor) was quite good really. Do I paint, or do I have a very nice contrasty bonnet..............

To fit some groovy speakers to my 89 CSW? And any known problems therein??

:rolleyes: :rolleyes: OK OK Keep yer wig on I only asked!!!! ;) ;)

Anyone tried it? Anyone got opinions? http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Powered-Induction-Ki...1QQcmdZViewItem

Drilled 'em all out. Had to go to B&Q for some top titanium drill bits though, cause the "metal" ones in my bit set only succeeded in polishing the top of the screws . Had to drill them out from the rear and the front. Fitted nice new black grille with some 5mm shiny steel bolts. Been a bit of a Landrover weekend, much to the annoyance of her indoors . Painted all the galvanised bits matt black, painted the gas tanks same, fixed all the lights (finally!), and then used the same top B&Q drill bits to fit the nice new number plate to the front bumper. Painted the rear bits matt black too, so the old girl is starting to look quite smart. Next week sees the a-bar, front spots and some sidesteps, along with the exhaust being fixed (probably a new one ). Downstream from that.......lamp guards (though the metal front ones don't line up with the indicators very well ), then cubby box, then replacing the battered and checker-plated bonnet with a nicer not-checker-plated model (after I've re-sprayed it shire blue!). Then to get the rear seat belts to work because the MOT is due in 3 months.......... Anyway, if anyone wants a good-nick shire blue front grille, there's one going free in Manchester. PM me if you want it. Been a good weekend after all, there is a sort of strange satisfaction in fighting with Britain's finest!

Western, that is the toppest of information. Cheers! Drilling tomorrow. Must get a picture of the beast up soon............

Thanks M.O.G., perhaps I should have explained better. I've actually done what you suggest, the problem is trying to remove the actual grill from that piece.

Finally got all the lights working on the beast. Now trying to remove the grille from the body. No go. Screw heads rusted and spinning. The grill is attached to the "extended front part (it's an air-conditioned vehicle). Do I drill 'em out???