Thread: Meet my 90, and share the adventure.

Or do a Toy conversion

Mitch, reach out if you want the 'how to' build a ARB hybrid Rover/31 spline patrol locker with 31 spline axles etc. Peg the R&P and it will be strong as you can make a rover without going all exotic or chasing a rather well known reluctant entrepreneur to make you a bullet proof centre. Suits front and rear especially since you are Rover F&R. The other is a LRA F9" centre conversion but that is multiples of my idea and you still only have a 31 spline diff (well you could step up to 35 spline but would need custom bearing spindles and machining the hub for larger bearings).

Originally Posted by jon3950

As someone who has just fallen down this rabbit hole, I can assure you it is still a lot of fun.

I agree it probably would be. Not sure if something like this - building up a differential - needs to be part of the learning curve before tackling a full on diff conversion.

Originally Posted by Tombie

Problem going to say a modified ‘trol diff is lost ground clearance.
Better to beef the std units up for all but the hardest of flogging. You’ll have more clearance.

I understand, and this is where it might be possible to overcapitalise and the outcome, although stronger, would be a trade off in other areas. The 90 is a relatively small vehicle, comparative to the vehicles that have been mentioned- so while stock form has its limitations, maybe I've got enough performance capacity to work with in the factory package.
Last year, shortly after things went bang, I got a look under a GU ute (it was an ex Telstra utility) and the size of that diff is ridiculous. I've seen smaller on 5T forklifts.

Originally Posted by MLD

Mitch, reach out if you want the 'how to' build a ARB hybrid Rover/31 spline patrol locker with 31 spline axles etc. Peg the R&P and it will be strong as you can make a rover without going all exotic or chasing a rather well known reluctant entrepreneur to make you a bullet proof centre. Suits front and rear especially since you are Rover F&R. The other is a LRA F9" centre conversion but that is multiples of my idea and you still only have a 31 spline diff (well you could step up to 35 spline but would need custom bearing spindles and machining the hub for larger bearings).

I appreciate this mark. I'll keep you posted if this become a possibility. I'll have to re-read your post over on your thread a few times just to grasp how it all works together though... I am but a simple man

Just realised I hadn't added my favourite bit on the of my latest update post. For my sins, you lot get bonus content.

You guessed it! It's time for another...

TOOL REVIEW

Knipex pliers



I've come to love the Knipex range, for well thought-out and quality gear. They are made by the Germans, so what's not to love. These 3 are proving to hold their worth in the shed and car tool kit.
Left to right, we have the 71-01-200 mini bolt cutters, then the 80-03-180 Pliers Wrench, and my newest acquisition, the recently released 82-01-200 Twin grip slip-joint pliers.

71-01-200 mini bolt cutters
Originally, my toolbox had a set of linesman pliers for cutting tasks. These have their limitations with getting close to the bits you want to cut, and also, have very little leverage for cutting harder materials. Over the years, I progressed to a diagonal cutter (Irwin), and later a Wiha compound leverage diagonal cutter. The latter I thought were pretty good, but still somewhat limited for the harder stuff.
These Knipex mini-bolt cutters are 200mm long, and have great leverage for cutting and snipping. I've been reaching for these for a range of wire snipping duties, cutting nails, and have really come into their own for low effort snipping of stainless steel TIG filler wire in the 3.2mm diameter- which are a pain with standard snips.

80-03-180 Pliers Wrench
These are magic - while a bit weird to look at, these are essentially a shifting spanner, but with a 40:1 leverage factor in them, meaning that you can grip super hard to effect a turn on a fastener. No slipping and rounding of nuts with these bad boys. For general use, one of these would go a long way to slimming down the number of spanners in a in-car tool kit - the fastener size range you can work with is quite impressive.
I've got a heap of sizes of these - the smallest pliers wrench is 125mm, up to the 300mm big bois, good for fasteners up to 68mm. They have flat gripping surfaces that move thru their range parallel to each other (completely different to water pump or slip-joint pliers), so can even come into their own for chromed pluming fittings or the AN fittings on performance application stuff. I go for these when I'm not sure what spanner I'll need, and most of the time (space around the fastener permitting), these do a great job. The grip strength allows for an acceptable oblique grip on a fastener, so I was able to use this for gripping a propshaft bolt on the diff flange from behind.

82-01-200 Twin grip slip-joint pliers
These are a surprising item. The idea made sense when I looked at them, and I've used them way more that I thought I would when I got them.
The twin-grip pliers are an all-rounder gripping tool. They allow gripping both perpendicular, and parallel to the pliers length. Great strong gripping surfaces which allow the gripping of munched up, rusty, or seized fasteners. Used them to great success on a 300zx trim screw under the car where the philips head was stripped out, and I needed to remove it - just grip the exposed shagged fastener, and twist it out. Normal pliers will struggle with a task like this, but it's a walk in the park for the knipex. I also find them getting double duties for removing MIG contact tips and nozzles, as well as gripping hot bits of steel in various projects. Superb for pulling a domed rivet head out once it's been drilled for removal. I think they'd possibly work well for vac and heater hose removal in a pinch, but might be a bit too aggressive for older, brittle hose. The series resto guys would probably love this for all the rusted-in body screws etc.




Stay tuned for the next post to drop sooner rather than later - I've got a small electrical Landy project that I'm currently working on, which needs some final testing before I release the idea to the masses... For some this would be a simple 5-min trick that may help some of you touring and camping folk.

I made a small, simple mod to the landy- a Dome Light Override Switch that can be easily accessed to power on the dome light in the rear cargo area.

Why this was needed:
I find that when I'm camping, the back is usually full of crap. Most of the time, I'll leave the doors open. The problem is, that when dark, it can be a pain to rummage in the back for stuff- juggling a torch, or having to climb up into the back of the car to switch the dome light from 'Door' to 'ON', and then back off again.

I thought to myself - "What If I could bring the light switch down to me? Somewhere more accessible?" So that's what I did.

Why the factory option doesn't work:
Most of us know the deal with car interior lights. 3 settings- On / Off / Door. On is always on. Off is always off, and in the defender, DOOR setting means that it will be on when the door is on - UNTIL the interior lighting circuit times out. When this happens, it's not a simple matter of opening or closing the door, or cycling the door switch by hand. The ECM kills that circuit to conserve battery. Car would need to be unlocked to reset the timer.

This is where a simple switch to easily turn the switch to 'ON' would be helpful.

This is a 50 cent mod. The process itself is very simple - the hardest part is to route the wires to wherever you want your secondary switch. It works for the MUD Stuff LED lights like I have, OR the standard LR dome light.

How to do it:
For starters, the wiring diagram:





The solid purple wire is the 'hot' 12V in from the battery
The black wire is earth
The purple/white is the door circuit power
What happens inside the ECU-Alarm unit is a bit of a mystery, but if I were to guess, when it senses that the door switch is earthed (door open), it will start the ECU timer allowing the power to flow from battery(purple wire)>LED>Purple/white wire>ECU>Earth at door switch.
Compared to being in the ON position: battery(purple wire)>LED>Black Wire>earth (header K108)

If that's too complicated, the simple explanation is that when the light is on 'Door' setting, we want the purple white wire to find earth NOT via the ECU and door switch, but via the black wire, in the light harness.


This is the mud stuff wiring harness, light side.

If you have the standard dome light, it's the same wiring colours, except any mod you do will be on the harness side, NOT the light fixture side, as shown.

First step: Cut and twist the BLACK and Purple White wires.



Second Step: Attache spade terminals (ideally, insulated)



Third Step:Attach a switch of your choosing to complete the circuit.


I'm going to mount mine either in the rear cargo space door card, or possible in the rear trim panels. Undecided.
The annoying part is fishing the wires thru the roof lining to the chosen location. Trim clips annoy me- always a fine line between getting the trim piece off, or snapping things and lots of swearing.

Hope this helps anyone interested. might be of benefit for those who like to use their vehicles for the touring / camping kind of thing, and are looking for a bit more flexibility from the factory interior lighting circuit.

Hi mate,

I saw a post you had put up in 2017 about a boost pipe recall bracket that you fitted. My boost pipe spilt on the drivers side of my defender 110 2.4 puma and seems to be rubbing against the steering shaft similar to the issue you had on your 90. Just wondering the bracket you used did you get this from the dealer or did you get online somewhere?

Many Thanks,

Harley

Originally Posted by harthomas

Hi mate,

I saw a post you had put up in 2017 about a boost pipe recall bracket that you fitted. My boost pipe spilt on the drivers side of my defender 110 2.4 puma and seems to be rubbing against the steering shaft similar to the issue you had on your 90. Just wondering the bracket you used did you get this from the dealer or did you get online somewhere?

Many Thanks,

Harley

It was a recall. Comes from dealer.

Originally Posted by harthomas

Hi mate,

I saw a post you had put up in 2017 about a boost pipe recall bracket that you fitted. My boost pipe spilt on the drivers side of my defender 110 2.4 puma and seems to be rubbing against the steering shaft similar to the issue you had on your 90. Just wondering the bracket you used did you get this from the dealer or did you get online somewhere?

Many Thanks,

Harley

i use the snorkel to air filter box piping to zip tie to to lift the intercooler hose so it doesn't rub the steering arm.