Rosco
30th November 2010, 10:57 PM
To all those who may be interested ....
Following on from our excellent 2010 Defender's Day Out, I've bitten the bullet and installed one of Mulgo's Ex-Boxes + his rear door gas strut.
Easy one first ... the gas strut.
No problem to fit. Mulgo (Daniel) suggests about 1 hour .. not far off the mark. I had a bit of fun with the nutserts, not having played with them before, but all good. Need to leave off the plastic trim clip along the bottom closest to the hinge to allow the trim to ride up slightly as the door swings, but all good and very happy with the end result.
Ex-box ...
Daniel suggsts 3 hours ... I'd suggest a full day for a drongo of my ilk. Though I did have to contend with the dual battery controller, the trailer brake controller and the tacho, which all added somewhat.
It is an exercise in character building to unplug all the electronic wizardy whilst gamely accepting that all will be rosey when it eventually goes back together. What an unbelieveable mess of spaghetti!!!.
However it all fits in perfectly, including the diagnostic port which used to hang somewhat like a gouged eye upon its optic nerve somewhere under the front of the passenger seat. You also need to remove and relocate the two brackets that support the numerous relays or whatever they are.
All in all ... a bit of a mongrel of a job for the technically challenged, but finally came together nicely .... after numerous pleading and enquiring phone calls to the lad himself.
Comments:
The instructions are quite precise, but somewhat bereft of additional tips and "how to's" that are essential for mere mortals.
Driving after the event ... 1st/2nd is unusual, though I'm sure its only a case of changing what you're used to. The arm-rest position is excellent .. as is the space gained under the driver's seat. Back to the good old days of my County where I could store all sorts of kit in the hole.
End result:
A big thumbs up for both. Highly recommended.
Cheers
Following on from our excellent 2010 Defender's Day Out, I've bitten the bullet and installed one of Mulgo's Ex-Boxes + his rear door gas strut.
Easy one first ... the gas strut.
No problem to fit. Mulgo (Daniel) suggests about 1 hour .. not far off the mark. I had a bit of fun with the nutserts, not having played with them before, but all good. Need to leave off the plastic trim clip along the bottom closest to the hinge to allow the trim to ride up slightly as the door swings, but all good and very happy with the end result.
Ex-box ...
Daniel suggsts 3 hours ... I'd suggest a full day for a drongo of my ilk. Though I did have to contend with the dual battery controller, the trailer brake controller and the tacho, which all added somewhat.
It is an exercise in character building to unplug all the electronic wizardy whilst gamely accepting that all will be rosey when it eventually goes back together. What an unbelieveable mess of spaghetti!!!.
However it all fits in perfectly, including the diagnostic port which used to hang somewhat like a gouged eye upon its optic nerve somewhere under the front of the passenger seat. You also need to remove and relocate the two brackets that support the numerous relays or whatever they are.
All in all ... a bit of a mongrel of a job for the technically challenged, but finally came together nicely .... after numerous pleading and enquiring phone calls to the lad himself.
Comments:
The instructions are quite precise, but somewhat bereft of additional tips and "how to's" that are essential for mere mortals.
Driving after the event ... 1st/2nd is unusual, though I'm sure its only a case of changing what you're used to. The arm-rest position is excellent .. as is the space gained under the driver's seat. Back to the good old days of my County where I could store all sorts of kit in the hole.
End result:
A big thumbs up for both. Highly recommended.
Cheers