 | Home > Maintenance & Modifications > Heater Box Modified Retrofitted Upgrades Build |
 
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| geobloke Member Since: 06 Nov 2012 Location: Nottinghamshire Posts: 4410  
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Yup Ok I have seen them fitted there before. It will be good to know how effective they are. You might want to think about a snow cowl onto of the vent to keep the worst out of the mechanism.
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21st Nov 2023 1:22pm |
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| Mo Murphy Member Since: 01 Jun 2008 Location: Letchworth Garden City, Herts Posts: 2107 
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They are effective as a booster to the main fan though not so powerful that I'd make it variable. My bilge blower been in there for years and is just switched on when I need a bit of extra blow for the side window demisters
Mo The Land Rover 90 - Many are called, few are chosen. |
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21st Nov 2023 9:17pm |
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| Blue Blood Member Since: 14 Jun 2022 Location: Shropshire Posts: 82 
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I’m only rigging mine up as a variable speed item as it’s easier for me to do so when I wire in the controller (just piggy back off the existing fan power). I may need to up the fuse but other than that all should be good. And if it is overkill I can always disconnect it as I will be using twin bullet connectors.
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21st Nov 2023 9:28pm |
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| west4x4 Member Since: 23 Jan 2010 Location: Rutland Posts: 138
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Nice work. I did similar. Stripped the box cleaned up. I had planned on changing the matrix but the “bargain” alternative to an alisport didn’t fit so I cleaned the old one inside and out and reinstalled with new foams. New foam to the bulkhead and then covered box in stick on soundproofing and some pipe lagging to the box and the pipes leading to it to make sure no heat was lost. This with the extra fan in the duct has given my a powerful toasty heater
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24th Feb 2024 1:52pm |
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| Blue Blood Member Since: 14 Jun 2022 Location: Shropshire Posts: 82
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Hello again all, just thought i'd give you a progress update on how i'm getting on with this mini project.
So with the main unit finished and the defender off having its engine replaced I decided to start looking at the bilge fan. On other similar articles I could see how people had just needed to cut the original mounting legs off and that the fan just slid in almost perfect as a friction fit item...this was not the case for mine!! So the problem was in the plastic duct the hole that butts onto the heater unit was much larger than what I had seen online for others (not sure if they were made different or if someone previously had enlarged the hole for less restricted airflow. Either way I needed to mount this fan so I measured up items printed out a drawing I had done in illustrator (if anyone wants a pdf copy please feel free to ask) and then I cut it out of 2.5mm thick Aluminium. Once that was done I gave it a spray in some etch primer to help with corrosion as I installed stainless rivnuts. I also used a smidge of CT1 when I installed the fan in against this retaining plate and used 4 marine grade stainless screws as an extra mechanical to hold it in place. It is pretty fair to say it is solid now. The only mistake I made whilst doing all this was on the plastic duct I put the plate on and marked out to drill holes which I did only to find i'd put the plate on the wrong way round and holes didn't quite match up so I had to orientate the plate into a different angle and drill another set of holes, it should make a difference as it'll all be within the foam gasket and still feed into the heater if anything did get past the retaining plate (if that makes sense). Any how less writing and more pictures of what it actually looks like:  Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge I added the slots in so as not to restrict natural airflow but could always make another plate up at a later stage to see if forcing it all through the fan would make a difference. I also fed the wires through a hole and gromet on the top side ready to splice into the wiring of the main fan once I wire in the adjustable speed wiring. All in all fairly happy with the outcome and if the fan doesn't add the desired power its easy enough to adjust or remove completely. |
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29th Feb 2024 8:37am |
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| Blue Blood Member Since: 14 Jun 2022 Location: Shropshire Posts: 82
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Finally an update, it has been a while.
So I finally got my rig back and got to fitting all the refurbed pieces back on. First off my heat temperature selection flap cable was absolutely  and so I took the side panel off and duct taped my new cable to the end of the old one and pulled it all through.
Click image to enlarge I then cracked on removing the old fan speed selector out and popped in the new fancy electric unit. All I had to do was thread through the new loom part and pop on the supplied plug with the pins already installed on the harness. Not too exciting but all plugged in and fixed in place (I did hold off tightening everything until I knew everything worked). Click image to enlarge Under the hood I fixed the cable in place on the top of the heater box and the new loom on the bulkhead wall with cable ties to keep it up out of harms way. I pushed the cable in cab so it retracted and then tightened up my shiny stainless steel lever arm (of which I have a few set left) up on the shaft of the heater temperature flap. Then tightened the cable retaining bolt which worked a treat. Just a reminder on the arms the longer arm is for the top and the shorter arm is for use on the side (having an electric fan speed unit did away with this for me hence I plugged the holes with rubber grommets). Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge I wired everything into the electric relay unit and used brass double bullet push connectors on the ends. This allowed me to connect the original heater fan and the bilge blower fan at the same point. It would also allow me to easily remove a fan from the circuit if I wasn’t happy with its performance as I had heard mixed reviews about the inline fans. You will also notice in the picture I used a Wago style isolation block just on the two disused wires that originally went to the resistor that is normally housed inside the heater housing (again for me obsolete when using the Land Reiziger electric unit). Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Though not very scientific I did have a test putting a plastic bag over the wing intake and I can visibly see the air being sucked in through the wing vent appears to have a lot oomph! All in all I am happy with the look and neatness of the install, everything seems to work in terms of the electrics and cables that were swapped and I can confirm with the modified matrix and the extra from the fans dare I say may be a little more closer in line with a modern cars heater blower!! So all in all I am extremely happy with this mini project and on to the next…installing a nautilus horn with a custom wiring loom so people can hear the horn over the engine  |
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29th May 2024 4:35pm |
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| Mo Murphy Member Since: 01 Jun 2008 Location: Letchworth Garden City, Herts Posts: 2107
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Looking good, bolt on bits sell what they claim is an upgraded fan motor, might be worth a look ?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/395271229127?mk...media=COPY Mo The Land Rover 90 - Many are called, few are chosen. |
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30th May 2024 6:23pm |
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| Blue Blood Member Since: 14 Jun 2022 Location: Shropshire Posts: 82
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Ahh
I would have given that a go if I’d have known, maybe if my one packs up I’ll give it a go. Mine is a genuine new old stock so should last for a good while though and I am very happy with the results so far 😊 plus £150 is quite pricey I got mine for £60 which was a steal 😁. Thanks again for thinking of me Mo. |
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30th May 2024 7:39pm |
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