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LandRoverAnorak



Member Since: 17 Jul 2011
Location: Surrey
Posts: 11240

United Kingdom 2013 Defender 110 Puma 2.2 USW Orkney Grey
Expansion Tank Cap
I've spent the last couple of days stripping out the headlining and most of the interior trim and applying sound proofing material but as I ran out of foam, that's not finished yet.

As a little side job though, I replaced the cap on the expansion tank. I'd noticed a little bit of coolant weeping from the cap and after searching through some old threads on here, decided to fit an Iveco cap. They're not cheap but reports suggest that they're a lot more robust than the standard one. They're also equipped with a blow-off pipe:


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Old and new:


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Tracking one down that I could buy on line was a bit of a challenge but I eventually sourced it from a website called 'Vexi', which is an online store operated by Norfolk Truck & Van Ltd:

www.vexi.co.uk/parts/iveco/view/I99489567/plug Darren

110 USW BUILD THREAD - EXPEDITION TRAILER - 200tdi 90 BUILD THREAD - SANKEY TRAILER - IG@landroveranorak

"You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia
Post #710243 31st May 2018 10:21pm
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LandRoverAnorak



Member Since: 17 Jul 2011
Location: Surrey
Posts: 11240

United Kingdom 2013 Defender 110 Puma 2.2 USW Orkney Grey
Soundproofing Part 1 - Roof and Rear Load Area
Over the last couple of weeks, I've been slowly working my way through installing sound proofing to the roof and the rear load area. Having recently completed a similar exercise on a 90, I already had a good idea of how to proceed although it did take me longer than anticipated to remove all of the trim and headlining.

Anyway, with all of that removed, the first part was applying Silent Coat to the bare panels. The roof and sides got a generous portion in the middle of the various panels, covering roughly between a half and two thirds of each panel section, which is enough for it to work its' magic. The wheel boxes and sides up to waist level got full coverage, mainly because it makes carpet fitting easier later.

I use a wallpaper seam roller to install this stuff, as it makes sure that there's a good bond between the sheet and the surface. It's also small enough to get in most of the awkward corners


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This was all I had left from a box of 40 large sheets:


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Next was a layer of 6mm closed cell foam. To get the best effect, this needs to cover as much of the single skin surfaces as is practical to do.


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This is generic stuff bought from eBay in 2 x 1m sheets, which seems to perform exactly the same as more expensive branded versions.

Although a bit fiddly, I even made the effort to cover the outer skin behind the speaker housings and, when I drove it the next day, I was amazed by how much difference this detail made. The sound from the rear speakers is now much more distinct.


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I haven't covered the wheel boxes as its' compressible nature makes for an odd surface to put things on. The carpet that will eventually go in will perform a similar function, though.

Even without any carpet, the difference that all of this has made is huge. No longer do the sides 'boing' when shutting a door and I can turn the radio down a couple of notches. The only downside is that it's made the tyre noise from the MTR's more noticeable!

Apart from the carpet, the only other detail that needs to be addressed is the nonsense of the rear trims in the USW:


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I'm not sure what I'm going to do about this yet. I've got some grey vinyl in stock that may suffice but I'm also tempted to buy some white headlining material as that would lighten up the interior.

There's more sound proofing to do, too: at some point I intend to do the inside of all of the doors and the floor. Darren

110 USW BUILD THREAD - EXPEDITION TRAILER - 200tdi 90 BUILD THREAD - SANKEY TRAILER - IG@landroveranorak

"You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia
Post #711655 9th Jun 2018 10:43pm
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LandRoverAnorak



Member Since: 17 Jul 2011
Location: Surrey
Posts: 11240

United Kingdom 2013 Defender 110 Puma 2.2 USW Orkney Grey
Interior Lighting
Whilst I had the head lining out for the sound proofing, I took the opportunity to make some additions to the interior lighting. Firstly, I installed a third standard light unit over the second row seats and secondly, I fitted an LED strip light above the rear door to light up the load area.

I acquired a brand new standard interior light and backing plate from CarMan of this parish and with all three lights to hand, the first task was to fit plasticard insulators to their backs. This is to prevent inadvertently shorting out the circuit by bridging the live to the earthed backing plate when fitting LED bulbs.


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Next, I adapted the wiring by cutting the existing loom and then teeing in new feeds to the third light in front and the load area light behind:


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One of the existing holes in the head lining was carefully measured and transferred to the centre section. It was then cut by drilling the corners and then cutting between them with a hacksaw blade wrapped in tape as a makeshift handle. The backing of newer head linings is some sort of plastic and was virtually impossible to cut with a knife.


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As the plugs aren't available separately, appropriately sized female spade connectors were added to the wiring to plug into the new light:


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All three interior lights have been fitted with LED panel bulbs, which give more than enough light:


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And with all three installed:


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The load area light installation essentially replicates one that I undertook on my old 90 and comprises a very cheap LED strip light from eBay on some custom made brackets:


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These brackets, made from 20mm wide aluminium strip bent to shape, are slightly improved over the previous versions, as they are fitted with rivnuts to make installation easier.

After a bit of careful measuring, they are fitted to the back of the lip above the rear door with a couple of M4 stainless bolts:


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They allow the trim panel to fit up into them behind the light and become all but invisible:


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For the time being, I've extended the constant live and earth of the standard lighting circuit to feed this light, with a temporary switch wedged into the rear trim panel. Eventually though, this will have a dedicated feed from a second battery and a switch in a more permanent position.


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So, how do all of these lights perform, I hear you ask? The third interior light does exactly what I wanted, properly lighting up the second row seating:


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And the LED's generally, make a big difference:


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The load area light is, literally, brilliant:


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 Darren

110 USW BUILD THREAD - EXPEDITION TRAILER - 200tdi 90 BUILD THREAD - SANKEY TRAILER - IG@landroveranorak

"You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia
Post #711664 9th Jun 2018 11:28pm
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Procta



Member Since: 03 Dec 2016
Location: Sunderland
Posts: 4908

United Kingdom 
Looking pure music that!! Where did you get the stainless steel screws for the top part of the grill? ( when you fitted the anti theft device) I need those for mine, as mine have seen better days have they not! Defender TD5 90 ---/--- Peugeot 306 HDI hatch back

Success is 90% Inspiration and 4 minutes Preparation # you can make it!
Post #711669 10th Jun 2018 12:55am
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LandRoverAnorak



Member Since: 17 Jul 2011
Location: Surrey
Posts: 11240

United Kingdom 2013 Defender 110 Puma 2.2 USW Orkney Grey
Thanks. The screws came from eBay, which is great for small quantities of these sorts of things. Darren

110 USW BUILD THREAD - EXPEDITION TRAILER - 200tdi 90 BUILD THREAD - SANKEY TRAILER - IG@landroveranorak

"You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia
Post #711691 10th Jun 2018 9:04am
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Procta



Member Since: 03 Dec 2016
Location: Sunderland
Posts: 4908

United Kingdom 
what was the listing? Defender TD5 90 ---/--- Peugeot 306 HDI hatch back

Success is 90% Inspiration and 4 minutes Preparation # you can make it!
Post #711692 10th Jun 2018 9:30am
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LandRoverAnorak



Member Since: 17 Jul 2011
Location: Surrey
Posts: 11240

United Kingdom 2013 Defender 110 Puma 2.2 USW Orkney Grey
Can't remember, to be honest. It might have been from a seller called gwr_fasteners, who I've used quite a lot recently. If you put the screw size and the word 'stainless' into the search box though, it'll bring up lots of choices. Darren

110 USW BUILD THREAD - EXPEDITION TRAILER - 200tdi 90 BUILD THREAD - SANKEY TRAILER - IG@landroveranorak

"You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia
Post #711777 10th Jun 2018 7:28pm
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Profyaffle



Member Since: 03 Oct 2016
Location: N Yorks
Posts: 526

United Kingdom 
Crikey.. you've done so much in a short time.. Great work.. Thumbs Up I might have a go at adding a light in the back of Alan.. I have the LED panel in the standard light but sometimes a little extra is needed.. especially as mine is all black in the back.. 1993 200Tdi Defender 90
Post #711999 12th Jun 2018 7:40am
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LandRoverAnorak



Member Since: 17 Jul 2011
Location: Surrey
Posts: 11240

United Kingdom 2013 Defender 110 Puma 2.2 USW Orkney Grey
Thanks Smile I'm working to a plan to get it ready for a distinctly anorak-themed road trip in August.

Next job is electrics, which I quite enjoy. This will include a split charge system, a rear work light which will be a development of the system I installed in my 90, and auxiliary power in the rear load space. I ordered most of the bits last night and hope to make a start at the weekend. Still some details to iron out though, such as where to mount stuff and what sort of switches to use.

For yours, it's quite easy to add an additional interior light to the rear headlining, but a separately switched light is very useful. Darren

110 USW BUILD THREAD - EXPEDITION TRAILER - 200tdi 90 BUILD THREAD - SANKEY TRAILER - IG@landroveranorak

"You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia
Post #712027 12th Jun 2018 11:33am
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L110CDL



Member Since: 31 Oct 2015
Location: Devon
Posts: 10420

England 
Nice work you done with the lights, proper job Thumbs Up 1996 Golf Blue 300Tdi 110 Pick up. Keeper.


Clayton.
Post #712123 12th Jun 2018 8:58pm
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LandRoverAnorak



Member Since: 17 Jul 2011
Location: Surrey
Posts: 11240

United Kingdom 2013 Defender 110 Puma 2.2 USW Orkney Grey
Rear Drive Flanges
A bit of maintenance today - replacing the drive flanges on the rear axle. I've been noticing a few random clonks from the rear so this seemed like a good place to start.

I used this exercise as an excuse to change the axle oil too, so I drained the existing before starting.

With the first wheel off and the dust cap removed, I was faced with this:


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A close up of the scarily rusty flange/half shaft interface:


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The old and new drive flanges. There wasn't much evidence of wear to the splines but there was quite a lot of rust and shiney metal particles everywhere.


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Once cleaned up, the end of the half shaft appeared to be in reasonable condition:


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And with everything cleaned up, thoroughly greased and re-assembled with new drive flanges, gaskets and bolts:


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The other side looked exactly the same and went back together in the same way.

I bought a Bearmach kit of parts for this, which will do for the time being. Eventually, I intend to fit one piece half shafts but the cost of those items means they're going to have to wait for a while.

With a new magnetic drain plug in the rear diff and a refill of EP75/90, I took it for a run and it's certainly improved things. I expect to have to replace the main gearbox output shaft at some point though, as they all seem to need it eventually Rolling Eyes Darren

110 USW BUILD THREAD - EXPEDITION TRAILER - 200tdi 90 BUILD THREAD - SANKEY TRAILER - IG@landroveranorak

"You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia


Last edited by LandRoverAnorak on 7th Jun 2021 7:47am. Edited 1 time in total
Post #712677 16th Jun 2018 7:56pm
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LandRoverAnorak



Member Since: 17 Jul 2011
Location: Surrey
Posts: 11240

United Kingdom 2013 Defender 110 Puma 2.2 USW Orkney Grey
Split Charge System Pt 1 - 2nd Battery Installation
I've spent most of today working out how to fit a second battery in the battery box. I haven't gone down the pre-fabricated mounting plate route, as all of the ones I looked at seemed to be for Optima or Odyssey batteries, which are quite a lot smaller than the standard LR one that I wanted to retain. So instead, I've made my own.

First job though, was to relocate the towing electrics relay. Whoever installed this whacked it right in the middle of the side wall, which made getting two batteries in impossible. I've moved it to the front corner but some of the cables weren't quite long enough and had to be extended


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Next, after a fair amount of measuring and a good dose of trial and error, I came up with a wooden platform that allowed two batteries to just fit side by side and used the existing mounting holes:


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To be honest, it isn't perfect but it will serve as a prototype for the time being. I expect I'll re-make it from either plastic or aluminium eventually.

Anyway, to this platform I attached some long studs to form the basis of the battery clamps and then dropped it in to place. The breather tube for the main battery was also installed at this point, as it'll be impossible to get to once the battery is fitted:


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It was fixed down with stainless bolts and penny washers through the mounting holes for the original tray. To access these, it was necessary to remove the plastic shroud from the underside of the battery box, which I assume is intended as sound insulation. Removing this shroud also revealed a bit of surface rust to the edges of the battery box, which I'll have to take care of in due course.


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Then, with a bit of jiggling, I squeezed both batteries in and secured them with metal straps across the tops:


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With the main battery in this location, the existing battery cables still reach ok. I just managed to squeeze in the large supply cable to the under drivers seat fuse box, between the second battery and the side of the box. This is on the cards to be removed and re-routed completely, though.

The next task will be to install the split charge relay and associated wiring, which will go in the space at the rear of the battery box. I've got to make a bracket for it, which will bolt to the battery tray to avoid the need to drill any more holes in the battery box. Darren

110 USW BUILD THREAD - EXPEDITION TRAILER - 200tdi 90 BUILD THREAD - SANKEY TRAILER - IG@landroveranorak

"You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia


Last edited by LandRoverAnorak on 7th Jun 2021 7:48am. Edited 1 time in total
Post #714105 23rd Jun 2018 9:25pm
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LandRoverAnorak



Member Since: 17 Jul 2011
Location: Surrey
Posts: 11240

United Kingdom 2013 Defender 110 Puma 2.2 USW Orkney Grey
Split Charge System Pt 2 - Wiring
This morning I made a start on turning this lot into a split charge system:


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The voltage sensing relay that will be at the heart of it is this one. It's a generic type that's available with many different brand names and should be more than adequate for what I want:


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The first and most time consuming task was creating a bracket to mount all of the hardware on. After much measuring, cutting and drilling, I came up with this:


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It's made from 3mm aluminium sheet and some 20mm ali angle, and will be screwed to the rear edge of the wooden platform shown above.

Next came the fun part of making up the cabling. Whilst I've done a fair amount of car electrics before, I've never worked with cables of the size required for this installation, which are 16sq.mm/110 amp, so I bought myself a hydraulic crimping tool to make the ends.


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I think I paid £23 from good old eBay and I have to say that it's brilliant! It really did make short work of crimping on the ring terminals and it comes with a variety of dies for cables from 4mm all the way up to 70mm. It makes a very neat job of it:


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The first connections were to the relay itself. This has a single feed in from the main battery, another single feed out to the second battery and a much thinner earth wire. Initially, the latter will simply be connected to a convenient earth point but eventually, I'll install a dash switch on this wire that will allow me to isolate the system.

I fitted some coloured heat shrink to the terminal bodies, partly to reduce the exposed metal and partly to code them so I don't get the connections mixed up - black to the main battery and green to the second one:


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With that bit completed, I could position the relay on the bracket and connect it up to the 100amp fuses protecting each side of the circuit:


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The third fuse on the left will protect the feed from the second battery to a remote fuse box that will be mounted in the rear load area. That feed will use 10sq.mm/70amp cable and the fuse is rated at 60 amps.

And that's it for now. I've had to order some M5 bolts to mount the VSR as it comes supplied with wood screws, and some ring terminals for the 10mm cable, which should be here in a few days. Then I can take the batteries out again, install the bracket and connect everything up. Darren

110 USW BUILD THREAD - EXPEDITION TRAILER - 200tdi 90 BUILD THREAD - SANKEY TRAILER - IG@landroveranorak

"You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia
Post #714271 24th Jun 2018 8:59pm
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LandRoverAnorak



Member Since: 17 Jul 2011
Location: Surrey
Posts: 11240

United Kingdom 2013 Defender 110 Puma 2.2 USW Orkney Grey
Because it was a sunny day... Cool


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 Darren

110 USW BUILD THREAD - EXPEDITION TRAILER - 200tdi 90 BUILD THREAD - SANKEY TRAILER - IG@landroveranorak

"You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia
Post #714615 26th Jun 2018 9:57pm
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Rosco



Member Since: 03 Dec 2010
Location: Burntwood
Posts: 1797

United Kingdom 2015 Defender 110 Puma 2.2 XS CSW Montalcino Red
Looking good LRA. Thumbs Up

What battery have you chosen for your 2nd battery? Now the kids are getting older I suspect fitting a second battery wouldn't be a bad thing to power additional sockets so they can charge tablets etc on journeys. 2007 - Stornoway Grey 90 XS SW - Gone
2002 - Black Discovery II - Gone
2014 - Montalcino Red 110 XS SW
Post #714748 27th Jun 2018 12:57pm
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