I think I will call him Thomas

[Andy_Chil]

Hi Everybody.

Andy_Chil is very proud to announce the arrival of Thomas Tamar Defender. Thomas was born 1,860kg and is in perfect health (so far).

First Land Rover and very, very excited. Got a comment from a 17 year old school kid in the Woolies car park who said "sick car mate". I was a little bit chuffed.
Also got very excited to do my first Defender wave to a bloke driving a 130.
All you blokes who said that you smile every time you get in the car seem to be spot on.:D
Now to find Thomas an ARB Bullbar!

Photo coming in a sec once I have figured out how. (Got it sorted now!)

[Epic_Dragon]

welcome thomas :D what a fine specimen you are!!!! congrats andy chil :)

[Bess]

Congrats, she/he is a fine looking child. Gotta love that feeling of driving an Icon. If it makes ya smile that has to be a good thing.
Regards Chris.

[Sue]

And I'm thinking you'll still be smiling in years to come with Thomas - in between cursing and wondering why oh why you decided to buy a Defender.. but we wouldn't have them any other way.. just like kids really.. :)

[LoveB]

Congrats. Nice colour :) im down in victoria next week.. If i see you ill wave :)

[Andy_Chil]

Congrats. Nice colour :) im down in victoria next week.. If i see you ill wave :)

Thanks LoveB. Perhaps Thomas and James could catch up for a cup of tea.

[noogie]

Thomas has a very nice backyard to play in.
He's gotta be smiling with the vic high country down the road.
Have fun & enjoy the new truck.
:D

[110 Pete]

Very nice!!!:D Good colour too!:)

Any reason as to why buying an ARB Bullbar?? Ever thought about A Tubular Bar for Thomas?

Congrats and welcome aboard

Pete

[NT5224]

Gotta agree that Tamar Blue looks terrific with the white roof. Also I hadn't realised that on the wagons you can still get black mudguards (as opposed to body coloured).

I concur with the runt in Woolies car park- Thomas is fantastic. Congratulations, and the smile -like the truck- is a keeper.


Alan

[Andy_Chil]

Very nice!!!:D Good colour too!:)

Any reason as to why buying an ARB Bullbar?? Ever thought about A Tubular Bar for Thomas?

Congrats and welcome aboard

Pete

Thanks Pete,

I'm not entirely sure what everybody means by a "tubular bar". I see a heap of questions about various bars on the forum. Is it the "Rovacraft" one?:(

[LoveB]

I believe it would be this...

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2013/03/282.jpg

I'm in melb the 28th to april 7.. maybe till april 9 even (my bday lol)

was thinking of trying out some easy places to go to. I think I saw a member (mr rover or something I think the username was) post about haunted stream and lerderderg state park... Might give it a shot!


I'll be at wantirna though.. about an hour 40/50 from you i think?

[Disco Muppet]

ARB vs Tubular type bar really depends what you want from it.
If you abide by the "**** everyone who gets infront of me" attitude then the ARB bar is your friend, most things disintegrate when contacted by it at high (for a defender) speeds.
If you're just looking for a spot for a winch and recovery points and aren't too concerned with full cover front end protection then the tubular bars are great :)

[Andy_Chil]

Thanks heaps. I am coming from the protection angle, so ARB it should be.
Popped in to the ARB stand at Farm World (Ag field day) in Warragul. Got quoted what I think is a good price - $1,300 fitted.

LoveB, never been to Lederderg before. Haunted Stream is on the way to Omeo and is a awsome 4x4 day trip. (a little bit of a drive from Wantirna - 320ish km) The turn-off is at Tambo Crossing. Will be about at Easter. Having a boys weekend at the Creek:beer:

[RVR110]

LOL... That looks extremely familiar!


I believe it would be this...
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2013/03/282.jpg


However these days she looks more like this!

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/

[Disco Muppet]

Thanks heaps. I am coming from the protection angle, so ARB it should be.
Popped in to the ARB stand at Farm World (Ag field day) in Warragul. Got quoted what I think is a good price - $1,300 fitted.


That's a pretty good price. Not sure what the new ones are like but on my Disco the fitting was pretty simple, if you can tell one end of spanner from the other then it's pretty DIY, hell I did it and I'm bloody hopeless on the spanners (for now, I'm learning :D )
Cheers
Muppet

[Loubrey]

RVR110,

That second photo is absolutely stunning! That's good enough for a cover shot...

On a different note, I see you steering guard is suffering from the same "curvature" issue on the bottom as mine! Any thoughts or suggestions on stiffening or strengthening that back edge? I've been mulling over a few ideas, but no solution yet...(needs to be a different post though)

Back to the OP! Andy, love that color as well. The unpainted spats are so much more user friendly. I would also have been keen on one of the "flat" colors rather than metallic, but SWMBO decided if its to be a Defender its got to be Stornoway Grey...

Have fun with the "accessorisation"!

Cheers,

Lou

[LoveB]

LOL... That looks extremely familiar!



However these days she looks more like this!

[IMG]http://www.lawrences.id.au/defender/Bullbar.jpg[/IG]

I just searched tubular bar in google and it came up...


didnt even notice the aus reg sticker lol

[RVR110]

Andy - love the colour combination. After having had both types of paint I recon that non-metalic paint is a great way to go. I'm usually not a fan of having the roof coloured differently to the body but I recon in your case it works a treat.


I see you steering guard is suffering from the same "curvature" issue on the bottom as mine! Any thoughts or suggestions on stiffening or strengthening that back edge? I've been mulling over a few ideas, but no solution yet...(needs to be a different post though)

Lou - I had a chat with Daniel at Mulgo about that. At the time I was considering replacing it with a steel one for the additional strength. Daniel convinced me that the additional strength would just transfer the stress to other (more expensive) parts of the car so I opted to simply replace it with another alloy guard. I'm now happy to treat it as a sacrificial component and replace it whenever necessary.
It doesn't happen often, but my wife gets out and takes photos when she's not comfortable in the car. That was one of those times. The front passenger wheel droppedinto that hole a few milliseconds later :D

[Andy_Chil]

Righto Team AULRO,

I live on a dirt road and the stones pinging on the rear wheel arches is driving me nuts (not to mention scaring the **** out of the other half). I did a quick search on sound deadening and found an old post about painting on a few coats of some black gloop like Septone Body Deadener on the under side of the arches.

Has anyone done this and does it make a difference?

Appart from this, the wireless vibrating out of the dash and the bluetooth mic not working, all is well with Thomas.

[LoveB]

Same thing happened to me. First time i heard stones hit the under body i was so alarmed :( lol

[jimr1]

Hi Andy , very nice , Tamar Blue . Years ago I used to have a Marine Blue 109 , as did two of my mates , this was back in the uk ,it's not quite the same , but similar , back then I think all Land Rovers had white roofs , my 109 gave me a lot of good memorys , as i'm sure Thomas will give you .:) all the best ...jimr :)

[Sue]

Righto Team AULRO,

I live on a dirt road and the stones pinging on the rear wheel arches is driving me nuts (not to mention scaring the **** out of the other half). I did a quick search on sound deadening and found an old post about painting on a few coats of some black gloop like Septone Body Deadener on the under side of the arches.

Has anyone done this and does it make a difference?

Appart from this, the wireless vibrating out of the dash and the bluetooth mic not working, all is well with Thomas.

Works a treat.. My hubby did it to mine a couple of weeks after I bought the car.. :)

Just be sure that the spray gun you are using doesn't break and spray that black goop all over yourselves.. but that's another story.. :o

[LoveB]

Can they be bought in cans?

[Disco Muppet]

Septone Body Deadener - 400g - Supercheap Auto Australia (http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/online-store/products/Septone-Body-Deadener-400g.aspx?pid=3184#Cross)
And Ye Shall Receive!
Not sure what the best application of it is but yes, It's available in a can as per your question :)

[Andy_Chil]

Think I will go with the brush and can method. Less can go wrong!!

[Samblers]

Great colour, love it. Never seen one like this in WA

[Sue]

Can they be bought in cans?

Yep I am pretty sire I've seen it (or something similar) in cans at either autobarn or super cheap.. :)

edited because I just saw that your question was already answered.. but I think you will be surprised at the difference it makes with the noise of the stones flicking up under the car.. well worth the effort.. :)

[Andy_Chil]

Note to self: When driving a Defender, must remember not to put wallet and sun glasses on dash in front of steering wheel with window down and corner hard to the left.:wasntme:

[Disco Muppet]

Note to self: When driving a Defender, must remember not to put wallet and sun glasses on dash in front of steering wheel with window down and corner hard to the left.:wasntme:

Done the same thing in my Disco, favourite pair of sunnies too :angel:

[LoveB]

I put my wallet under steering column.. sunnies in cup holder or cubby box

[110 Pete]

Thanks Pete,

I'm not entirely sure what everybody means by a "tubular bar". I see a heap of questions about various bars on the forum. Is it the "Rovacraft" one?:(

Hey Andy

The tubular bar is like the rovacraft one and terrafirma ones.:) IMHO They suit Defenders better (better approach angle and look nicer :P ) and are a lot lighter than an an ARB. Dont get me wrong the ARB bars are a great bar and handle Roo strikes really well and are tough as guts in construction, only problem is they are quite heavy.

The choice is up to you though, if you like the look of the tubular bars over the ARB, or you want the Roo strike protection of the ARB then you would get that over the tubular.

As much as people rant and rave, the end decision will ultimately be yours.:)

What other plans do you have for Thomas??

[Babs]

Think I will go with the brush and can method. Less can go wrong!!

Brush and can best method, you can get a thicker application and it will go further. The aerosol can is thinned. Plus you can push product into crevices better with a brush.

Sent from my iPhone using Forum Runner

[Andy_Chil]

So Thomas went in for some facial surgery today and came out with a new ARB bull bar. Went with function over form.
Would love to know your thoughts about UHF radio mounting location. Thomas does not want a roof console.