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

[Badger110]

Thank you, that’s good to know .

 

you’re right that it’s never really going to need to have both at the same time, but it’s knowledge stored on how it works 👍

[Stellaghost]

I endorse what Ross has said, my ARB lockers can be activated a few times before the compressor tops up, if my compressor is going a bit to often then I know I have a leak somewhere, you can easily determine which line is causing the issue by activating the lockers in turn, the ARB system I have operated the rear first and then the front, it also blows my tyres up reasonably quickly, I can't think of any reason why you would need to blow tyres up with locker engaged other than it you had a slow puncture, I have stated on previous threads that some people keep lockers engaged continuously when off road I would advise against this unless you want to forget how to drive offroad, for me they are to be engaged only when necessary regards Stephen

[Badger110]

Spent some time insulating the now leakproof side panel on the truck and filling in lots of screw holes before fitting the AIrtop and the Compressor. 

both these will sit inside a small unit with the ducting going into the main rear area and also up into the roof space for heating the sleeping area.  I've ordered a movable flap for the ducting which will allow me to isolate the sleeping area or living area as an when needed.

 

The copex from at the bottom left is the airlines for the inflation system, the 22mm flexi is for the shower/hot water set up from the other Webasto thermo top ( see previous post somewhere on here ).

 

Wiring is my downside... i can never make it look tidy, it always looks like a birds nest so i'm still undecided where to put the fuse board for the rear.  It was on the other side of the truck but to be honest, this side will need it more.

The compressor will be fused and hardwired to the batteries with the switch up front hidden away.

 

I need to extend quite a few cables, some from the lights, some from the Thermo top, pump etc...is there a place anyone gets their cable from? 

I found vehiclewiringproducts.co.uk which do most sizes, but i'm not sure what is an average size to order?  I don't need anything heavy duty, probably .5 to 1mm...it would be nice if i could order a ' beginners pack ' for wiring the truck

[Badger110]

I got the fridge mounted tonight amongst other things.

The build is such that any component can be removed without having to remove anything else, ie the fridge needs to be independantly mounted, as well as the water container and pumps, compresors, units etc etc.

Also, everything does one job.  The webasto thermo top provides hot water only.  The airtop provides heating and the other thermotop will provide engine preheat when i get round to it.

The water tank has it's own pump ( the shower system also has it's own pump ) and can be removed when not in daily use ( ie when not travelling ) and we use bottled water for drinking etc.

So the fridge was abit of a head scratcher.   Firstly the model is a Dometic C30, which is the draw design. We went for this as stand up mini fridges end up with dead space as you can't fill up as such ( cans not included! ), the good thing about a draw is you can fill it up and it's low profile AND the compressor can be remotely fitted elsewhere.  This is achieved with a 1.5metre insulated copper pipe connecting them.  It's a delicate job, but worth it for space saving and getting the compressor out of the way.

 

So the idea i came up with was the 60litre water tank sits across the bed area at the rear door, above this sits the fridge and then i'll construct some units above this or re instate the unit fixed to the rear door, but i'll get to that another time.

 

The tank, as i said, is removable and won't be in use unless we're travelling and able to carry the water for long duarations. I haven't worked on a mounting system just yet but it will probably be a simple pair of ratchet straps bolted to the floor to keep the tank ties down as 60 litres of watertank can make a mess if it's allowed to fly about.  The nice plumbing set up you see, is practical and not seen when the door is shut  From right to left we have a manual isolator for filling dog bowls with, then a t junction, the bottom section will attach to a hose which can feed the shower ( 1 way valve will be fitted to stop any contaminants from the shower pump getting into this tank ).  the top section goes to the sink via 10mm barrier pipe.  All fittings are pushfit and the first manual isolator swivels downwards incase you're wondering how i fill up the dog bowls The 12v pump is for the sink tap and will be wired with releasable connector.

 

The fridge has ply on one side as a leg and the other side required me to make a brace from 3mm steel and twist it and drill a hole so it could be bolted to the L shape bracket at the corner of the side panels of the Landy that the roof bolts through.  Fiddling with the heights, i bolted another 3mm steel between the mounted holes at the side and welded a plate and bolted that through the web at the rear door. 

 

This allows the fridge to ' hang ' from this side whilst bolted to the floor via the ply on the other side.  it means i can remove the water tank without having to remove the fridge.  The compresor is shown sat on the fridge but is now above it in a unit i've build across the rear door...i'll get more pics when that is finished.

 

I also come up with the idea for the table, but i'll cover that in another post once i get an idea of what slider to use.

 

I've also built and installed a unit on the other side above the compressor and airtop...but i'm still not sure on the electrics..it'll come to me soon

 

 

[Badger110]

I'm a little excited as my new doors arrive tomorrow.

After months of buying useless aftermarkek bodge jobs to save some pennies, i sold the family tortoise and bought some shiny Sp4x4 Series split doors for the defender and they're here tomorrow!

 

Woot!

[landroversforever]

Getting rid of puma doors for series ones?  

[Badger110]

I have indeed 

 

The Puma doors are heavy and full of electric window stuff and quite frankly, not what i wanted.

 

I sold the 4 doors to a chap on Def2 who was building up a 130 and bought a pair of front military split doors will alu tops.

 

The 2nd row were abit more difficult to source as i wanted sliding windows and lift up handles and as far as i could tell, LR only produced these ' safari ' style 1 piece doors in a limited time frame on the S3?  I could be wrong, but they are pretty difficult to get hold of.

 

I found a pair of aftermarket doors which were one piece, slidey windows and lift up handles and were, to put it mildly, carp.

 

The Os door doesn't follow the contour of the truck so there's a 15mm gap at the lock and the NS door frame is 10mm out along the top so standard glass wont fit! I had to get some perspex made up to fit in which in hindsight isn't the end of the world as it saves on weight

 

Then along came an original NS safari door from Paddocks, old stock which i bought with another aftermarket door, which actually fitted but looked like it has been used as a sledge at a gravel quarry. ( on my videos you can see i have a light coloured 2nd row door )

 

Spending too much money i'd had enough of carp lock locations on the doors which means the strikers are spaced out by nearly 10mm, gaps, leaks and all sorts on the aftermarket OS door and bought the SP4x4 versions which i am assured will fit with no issues.

 

I also paid extra for the cappings to continue the line from the front doors onto the rear doors and then down the  rear panels.

 

Now i have 2 sets of 2nd row doors, one set which will give you a laugh should you try and fit them, the second set will fit but will require some TLC and of course my shiny new set from SP4x4 

 

I just need to work out the colour of the door i currently have as i've fallen in love with it

 

[FridgeFreezer]

I have a pair of removable-top Safari rear doors I nabbed at Sodbury years ago - they need some TLC but they were so cheap it was worth it even if they only act as a template.

Also need to source an alu door top for the driver's door, is there a sensibly-priced source of them these days?

[Badger110]

2nd hand market is touch n go.

 I was lucky with my Alu top doors as i bought a pair for £450 but the NS bottom part was damaged and i had to replace it, but there are the alu tops only at £450 a piece recently on Ebay.

Those that want them know their worth, those that sell them, also seem to know their worth but now and then you'll find someone selling them who has no idea, but not very often.

 

Sp4x4 do the galvanised framed alu tops for £92+VAT which if you're looking for something that'll last, it's not a bad compromise

[Anderzander]

On 12/6/2020 at 6:37 PM, Badger110 said:

The airbox has been modded by removing the fan and making the inlet hole upto 100mm.

I’m way behind ... but ...

I had a go at this on a spare airbox and got it wrong - took too much out and made a hole. 😞

I’d bought some convoluted pipework and the plan was to dispense with all of the Td5 pipework to the wing and run a sealed connection to the old style safari snorkel / that pokes through the wing.

It all stalled when I wrecked the spare airbox though ...  at some point I might experiment with plastic welding ..

[Badger110]

With the right heat output you can mould plastic to bend to your will 

[landroversforever]

1 hour ago, Anderzander said:

I’m way behind ... but ...

I had a go at this on a spare airbox and got it wrong - took too much out and made a hole. 😞

I’d bought some convoluted pipework and the plan was to dispense with all of the Td5 pipework to the wing and run a sealed connection to the old style safari snorkel / that pokes through the wing.

It all stalled when I wrecked the spare airbox though ...  at some point I might experiment with plastic welding ..

Aren't the fins are there to drop some of the carp out of the air before it gets to the filter? 

[Anderzander]

2 minutes ago, landroversforever said:

Aren't the fins are there to drop some of the carp out of the air before it gets to the filter? 

I think so - but the only place it could drop to is inside or be sucked up to the filter - and it clean as a whistle in the box.

[Daan]

3 hours ago, Badger110 said:

I have indeed 

 

The Puma doors are heavy and full of electric window stuff and quite frankly, not what i wanted.

 

I sold the 4 doors to a chap on Def2 who was building up a 130 and bought a pair of front military split doors will alu tops.

 

The 2nd row were abit more difficult to source as i wanted sliding windows and lift up handles and as far as i could tell, LR only produced these ' safari ' style 1 piece doors in a limited time frame on the S3?  I could be wrong, but they are pretty difficult to get hold of.

 

I found a pair of aftermarket doors which were one piece, slidey windows and lift up handles and were, to put it mildly, carp.

 

The Os door doesn't follow the contour of the truck so there's a 15mm gap at the lock and the NS door frame is 10mm out along the top so standard glass wont fit! I had to get some perspex made up to fit in which in hindsight isn't the end of the world as it saves on weight

 

Then along came an original NS safari door from Paddocks, old stock which i bought with another aftermarket door, which actually fitted but looked like it has been used as a sledge at a gravel quarry. ( on my videos you can see i have a light coloured 2nd row door )

 

Spending too much money i'd had enough of carp lock locations on the doors which means the strikers are spaced out by nearly 10mm, gaps, leaks and all sorts on the aftermarket OS door and bought the SP4x4 versions which i am assured will fit with no issues.

 

I also paid extra for the cappings to continue the line from the front doors onto the rear doors and then down the  rear panels.

 

Now i have 2 sets of 2nd row doors, one set which will give you a laugh should you try and fit them, the second set will fit but will require some TLC and of course my shiny new set from SP4x4 

 

I just need to work out the colour of the door i currently have as i've fallen in love with it

 

Sliding windows are the proper Land rover fitment, and the future in hot climates.

[deep]

On 2/16/2021 at 8:22 AM, Anderzander said:

I’m way behind ... but ...

I had a go at this on a spare airbox and got it wrong - took too much out and made a hole. 😞

I’d bought some convoluted pipework and the plan was to dispense with all of the Td5 pipework to the wing and run a sealed connection to the old style safari snorkel / that pokes through the wing.

It all stalled when I wrecked the spare airbox though ...  at some point I might experiment with plastic welding ..

My neighbour gave me a Suzuki quad. I was alarmed to find the leaking fuel tap turned out to be a cracked, plastic fuel tank.  Undaunted, I searched the internet for tips on how to weld plastic, got a blowtorch* and a big soldering iron, and went for it. The key is to match the plastic you fill with to the original (most plastic things have markings to help there - I used a damaged fuel container).  Much to my surprise, welding plastic is very easy and the fixed tank hasn't leaked a drop yet.  Definitely worth trying and seeing how you go.

*For the boring types out there, of course I didn't point the blowtorch at the fuel tank!  I used it to heat the iron.

[Anderzander]

Thanks @deep - I think I saved some of the bits I cut off in case that might be a possibility.  I’ll watch some videos to see if I can get an idea how it should go. 
 

Thank you. 

[Badger110]

The doors arrived safely and were unpacked and marvelled at and then the missus looks at me and says


' I've had an idea '


We were never happy with the original Landy colour, it's a bit boring if I'm honest and so we ventured down to the local paint shop to look for a new idea.


And we found it


And now the workshop has been turned into a spray shop and I'm wondering why I put myself through this sort of thing when I've got a list as long as my arm to do already


The colour?

Unlike Binky, I won't make you wait 9 months to find out

[Anderzander]

Ok - that’s long enough (2 hours) - what colour ? 😂😀

[Stellaghost]

2 minutes ago, Anderzander said:

Ok - that’s long enough (2 hours) - what colour ? 😂😀

No no no, if you show too much interest he'll keep us hanging on lol regards Stephen

[landroversforever]

hi-vis pink for sure! 

[Badger110]

33 minutes ago, landroversforever said:

hi-vis pink for sure! 

You’re not far off
 

not my choice I might add! 

[landroversforever]

the shade of pink used on the desert patrol cars? 

[Badger110]

Pink panthers or pinkies as we called them.

No it's not that colour although one of my choices was Libyan Sand, however as we're going to be abroad for years at a time in areas that might be a little hostile or trigger happy, I figured I'd stay away from anything that could look military!

We've done 4 doors and just got in and decided to do the front of the truck tomorrow as I can get that into the workshop out of the weather.

[Stellaghost]

31 minutes ago, Badger110 said:

No it's not that colour although one of my choices was Libyan Sand, however as we're going to be abroad for years at a time 
 

Now your really winding us up lol Regards Stephen

[landroversforever]

Barbie pink? :P