Death wobble was down to a loose track rod :shock: Two minute fix and all okay! Now swivels, track rod, drag link etc have been replaced I need to concentrate my efforts further up to get the steering how I want (still too much play for my liking!
Anyway, time for a long overdue update on what I've done so far:
Wire up reverse lightFollowing on from fitting the reversing camera previously, I still had to wire up the reverse light and gearbox switch! This was surprisingly easier to do than I expected.
Floor up
Hole in selector re-tapped and switch fitted
and wires connected
Fitted interior lightThis was a £3.99 find at a filling station whilst on my travels south. I plan on wiring in a more permanent solution at some point but this works well for now! I covered it in black insulating tape to help it blend in a bit!
New hoodWhen bought, Alfred came with a rather old but reasonably watertight FFR tilt. Whilst it kept me mostly dry, I wanted to improve how Alfred looked, have the ability to roll up the sides and have side windows. After a bit of research I opted for a new hood from Undercover Covers (despite the rubbish website!). After a wait of around 6 weeks, the new hood arrived and was fitted.
Christmas tree duties Rescued my son when he got stuck in his Defender Fitted new tailgate hingesHaving seen these elsewhere on the tinternet I decided to get a set of two-way tailgate hinges from Purely Metal. I had to wait a bit as he had no galvanised ones in stock but it was worth the wait.
The kit:
It was fairly simple to fit and has made the back of Alfred so much easier to use and get in and out of. Would highly recommend this!
Fitted new door handlesI got a bit fed up of my passenger door flying open randomly and didn't think usung dog leads to secure it was going to be a long term solution
I also found cracks in the driver's side mechanism
So I ordered some anti-burst door locks from SP4X4. I got the kit that included all the bits required including a step drill bit (I already have a set but have found the one supplied useful for drilling out rounded off screws etc!)
Oddly, one of the strikers seemed to have been previously opened and had mis-matched screws holding the rubber block :?
Anyway, old handles off
and new ones fitted
Much better now but still require a bit of fettling. The driver's door works fine although the handle is a little stiff, however the passenger door first proved almost impossible to open. I have adjusted it a fair bit but now the door doesn't close as tight as I would like. I think the doors themselves may need adjusting at the hinges so plan to tackle this on a sunny weekend sometime.
Swapped cord on tailgate flap for bungeeI'd been meaning to do this since fitting the new hood at the end of September but wanted to wait until the hood had been through a few wet/dry/hot/cold cycles so as to reduce the chances of shrinkage. Anyway, this was a fairly easy job. I ordered a 2m length of bungee from Amazon and found an online chandlrey that could supply crimps to allow me to create eyelets at either end. I put the first eyelet in before threading the bungee though the flap and fitting the eyelet on the other end. I used heat shrink to seal over the crimps and hopefully protect a bit from the salty air here. Along with the new tail gate hinges, this has made a massive difference to getting acces into the back of Alfred.
Moved my son's kayakDrove through the Highlands in the snowFitted excellent lower dash ventsNot much to say about these other than that I am really pleased with them (there's lots more here
http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic59006.html)
Soundproof the rearAs Alfred is my daily driver and I spend at least an hour a day at the helm I was a little concerned about the effect on my hearing. I ordered 2 boxes of 3mm Silent Coat from deadening.co.uk and a 2m roll of 6mm ribbed rubber mat from Amazon (actually from a seller in Bristol and significanlty cheaper than any Land Rover parts supplier). Obviously I picked the coldest day of the year to fit so it was out with the heat gun. Took less time to fit than I expected and was pretty easy to do. The hardest part was removing the seats.
I have left the upright surfaces for now as I want to retain a little originality and patina in the back. I have lined the inside of the tool box and need to re-fit the catch pin.
Rubber matting was cut to fit and laid before re-fitting the seats
and most importantly rug back down
I still have 1 box and 1 whole sheet of Silent Coat left over but I plan to apply this to the cab area shortly. I already have a Wright Off-Road cab mat fitted but hope that the Silent Coat will improve things further. With this fitted in the back I think i have lost about 6db when driving at 55mph (according to my phone anyway) but can have the radio turned down a bit low and can hear it all the time now. I still need to fit a rear seal and retaining strip on the floor at the back (the old one crumbled away a while ago).
Roll up the sidesHaving had the new hood for 6 months I finally managed to get the sides rolled up yesterday before heading home from work!
Sides rolled up again today but no pictures yet!
Still to do:
-Continue to improve the steering
-Fit soundproofing in the cab area
-Fit MPH speedo, spare instrument dial (still to be refurbished) and new instrument panel
-Source and fit new lower dash (found mine is rather tender when fitting the vents)
-Adjust the doors (or even replace them). I also plan to make door cards.
-Wire up a front pair of speakers so that I can use my bluetooth hands free (aparrently doesnt work through the rear speakers but there has been little point with no soundproofing)
Apologies for the long post. Hopefully I won't leave it so long before updating again!