derrick Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 Hi guys been a while.my v8 rebuild is going great but i got my old dash out today to fit to repaired & painted bulkhead which is looking great but its had it and was wondering how easy it was or not to fit the defender dash in & would it look ok if it does has anyone done this im sure they have.input would be great also i know of a defnder fitted with 8 spoke wheels shod with 265/75/16 with good rubber i know the stud pattern is the same but they dont fit snugley on the hub of the series would they be legal as i have been told the wheel should rest on just the studs aloneas it puts to mush stres on them thanks in advance for your ansers del. ps will post some pics when iv figerd out how chears Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazzar Posted August 22, 2009 Share Posted August 22, 2009 Hi guys been a while.my v8 rebuild is going great but i got my old dash out today to fit to repaired & painted bulkhead which is looking great but its had it and was wondering how easy it was or not to fit the defender dash in & would it look ok if it does has anyone done this im sure they have.input would be great also i know of a defnder fitted with 8 spoke wheels shod with 265/75/16 with good rubber i know the stud pattern is the same but they dont fit snugley on the hub of the series would they be legal as i have been told the wheel should rest on just the studs aloneas it puts to mush stres on them thanks in advance for your ansers del. ps will post some pics when iv figerd out how chears Ok, Lots of questions jumbled in there! Can I ask a little favour? Use the return key after each sentence, it helps me (and probably others) to read the questions better. Defender dash - Yes, I think that most defender dashboards can fit, except the Puma varient. You will probably have to drill holes and fit plastic screw receviers, and may have to be clever with the wiper tubes, presuing you've a series III you should be ok. As to the looks, each to their own. I won't tell you what you should like. As for the defender rims, well, standard defender steel rims should fit, aftermarket steel rims might fit and alloys probably won't. DO NOT fit them unless they are tight against the brake drums or you will find they will fall of. Aside from being highly dangerous the landrover will probably be undrivable and unsteerable. The wider the tyre, the harder to steer, and the higher the fuel consumption. As for posting pictures, well, I've not figured it out yet either! I hope I've not offended you with the request to use the return key, it's just that it is kinda hard to read if you are a bit tired. G. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazzar Posted August 22, 2009 Share Posted August 22, 2009 Oh, yes, and if you have a series IIa or older then you had better change the hubs to the series III type before fitting non original rims, the Studs can pull out of the hubs otherwise. Or the wheel comes off over the nuts,which is equally bad. I saw an article in one of the mags where a guy had fitted wolf rims to his 2a and one came off - thankfully only with minor injuries to the people in the car the wheel hit, but it must have been scarey! G. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejparrott Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 fit a defender bulkhead and dash complete, modifiying as you go - easy, done it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snagger Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 I used a Defender lower dash during the rebuild of my 109 because new SIII dash assemblies are so hard to find. There is a problem with its bulkhead side - the Series bulkhead has a big scallop just above the throttle rod linkage assembly, and the SIII dash has a corresponding scallop. The Defender dash has a flat back. You either have to remove the bulkhead's scallop and plate the gap (as I did) or remove the scalloped section from the SIII's dash and graft it to the Defender dash (not at all easy). The grey plastic vent panel from a pre-2002 Defender fits a SIII dash, though I found I had to shave the left edge of the aperture for the right side vent flap lever. Both vehicles use the same instrument pod, so fitting a Defender instrument panel is possible once you have altered the wiring to match. The gauges will be incompatible, so you'd have to replace the fuel gauge and temperature sender units with Defender units. The speedo should fit the Defender pod, though the difference in display aesthetics would look odd unless you fit Smiths Industries fuel and temperature gauges. The Defender top dash will fit a SIII (may need a small amount of trimming, but not much), though it will leave the untextured top edge of a SIII instrument pod exposed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derrick Posted September 24, 2009 Author Share Posted September 24, 2009 chears for all the info guys. have now fitted new defender dash and it looks great. still cant figer out how to post photoes so cant show you. tub has been sent in for spraying this week so things are moving on. till next problem del Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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