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rmp
3rd April 2004, 08:04 PM
Took delivery of my brand new Defender 110 yesterday. Went out and got a little dirty already, then joined the LROCV later that evening.

Pictures to follow when I get a moment in daylight over the weekend!

To my surprise, a CD player was fitted! Oh, the luxury!

Everything works except for the cigarette lighter, so I'll be back shortly to have that done. Vehicle drives very nicely. Gear change is good, engine very willing, steering is fine. No build quality issues.

I had fitted an ARB roofrack (noisy), Safari snorkel, 65L aux tank and a cargo barrier.

To do:

1. Remove those pathetic green "Xtreme" stickers.
2. Place club stickers on it, and whatever FWDV send me. And an AULRO sticker.
3. Tyres going on on Sunday (Kelly MSRs, standard size)
4. UHF radio in on Tuesday (recommendations to placement? It's a remote-head 3400)
5. Build a rear cargo shelf. In progress. It's a raised floor, to give me 270mm clearance vertically between the wheelarches. I then have a 1000 x 1500 flat space on which to place the fridge, and build a second storey of storage space. Only had 800 x 1200 in the Pajero.
6. Fit the front steering guard. Would be in progress if I had clue how to fit it. Been assured it fits though.
7. Finish fitting GPS gear. The Garmin is in (first holes drilled the dash), PDA to follow.

and #8, one I need your assistance with, and I know it's been the recent subject of a 12-page discussion, you know what I'm talking about, it has to be....front recovery points! I need some sorted by Easter! Help!!!

Current plan is to fit two hooks on the bullbar itself, next to the uprights, in line with the chassis, using a thick steel backing plate. Does that sound about right?

(oh and anyone want to buy 5 x General Grabbers, about 150km on 4 of them, available tomorrow? or a Pajero?)

My VDO revcounter arrived yesterday. Scrappy instructions, no wire, so I'll worry about that after the list above.

Noisekiller soundproofing kit is on the way too. Somewhere. I'll need it with the roofrack!

to be continued...

one_iota
3rd April 2004, 08:10 PM
If it was me I would have thought that I had died and gone to heaven! style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif

Let the journey begin and may all your accessories be worthwhile.

bigbugga
3rd April 2004, 09:36 PM
Wow, I buy and then add slowly as the money comes about.

Sounds like you will have this finished in a week.

One way to have more time out and about.

Well done on your purchase, bring on the photo's
:wink:

rmp
3rd April 2004, 09:51 PM
It makes sense to get a few accessories as part of the lease deal. The bullbar is standard equipment. I consider a cargo barrier, decent tyres, recovery points and UHF radio as safety essentials, and I can't live without creating something in the back to hold our camping gear. The GPS kit I already have. In the case of the Defender, I thought the soundproofing kit essential. Only real non-essential as this stage is the roofrack. But we all have our own ideas of essentials!

bigbugga
3rd April 2004, 09:58 PM
Ahhh LEASE!!!


understand now.

VladTepes
4th April 2004, 03:25 PM
You lucky lucky bugger !
CD player- I wish I had one
Xtreme stickers- I'd put a set on my old 200Tdi ute tray just as a ****-take if I could get some for free.

(and a note to everyone -lets keep the recovery points discussion to that thread). But yeah rmp that sounds about right.

No build quality issues? Really ? Are you sure it's a Landy ? style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif

Perhaps you'd be good enough to do reviews and/or a fitting guide for the VDO rev-counter and Noisekiller kit. I'm sure plenty of people on here would be interested :!: I know I am.

And when you put that AULRO sticker on - post a pic of it on your Landy in the 'AULRO Loud and Proud' gallery.

Oh and did you get a V8 or the TD5? If it's a TD5 then I'm even more jealous.... :mrgreen:

rmp
4th April 2004, 03:34 PM
Lucky? No, it's a big financial commitment!

PM me your address and some Xtreme stickers will be on the way, gratis, if I get them off in one piece. Or contact me on MS Messenger.

I'll be writing things up for sure.

There is no engine option other than the TD5. Or any trim level other than Xtreme.

Going back out to the shed to finish the cargo system. The false floor is in, now for the fridge mount! Then the automotive carpet. Also need to build a second storey over the top of the false floor, but I've spent enough time with power tools and sawdust this weekend already!

Oh and my new Landy has 6 non-standard holes in it already. It's quite an easy vehicle to bolt stuff to, I'm finding.

Cheers

barney
4th April 2004, 03:53 PM
i wouldn't class the sound deadening as essential, more as a "nothing else to spend my money on" option. get real man, you're driving a defender, the on road noise is part of the experience. if you wanted a quiet landy, you should've looked at a disco or rangie. just my opinion, with my drivers window open i get 95dB in my right ear, worse through the harbour tunnel.

KEV0044
4th April 2004, 05:05 PM
...

lewy110
4th April 2004, 05:57 PM
It took me five years to get most of that done to mine.

Can't wait to see the pickies.

A pair of 6x9's in the back will fix your noise problem

rmp
4th April 2004, 07:48 PM
Originally posted by barney
i wouldn't class the sound deadening as essential, more as a "nothing else to spend my money on" option. get real man, you're driving a defender, the on road noise is part of the experience. if you wanted a quiet landy, you should've looked at a disco or rangie. just my opinion, with my drivers window open i get 95dB in my right ear, worse through the harbour tunnel.

We've all got our opinions of essentials, and even what "essential" means. When looking at the Defender there were things I liked, and things I didn't like, as with every vehicle. The question I had was how easily the problems could be fixed. I couldn't create more space in the back of the Patrol, for example, but I could add a little soundproofing to the Defender. Which was very important to my family; so for that reason it's high on the list of mods.

I also don't see why many owners make a virtue out of living with things like the noise. It's a disadvantage you accept for the other capabilities, not an advantage! I'm going to try and reduce it a little, and I'll live with what's left. It'll be noiser than average, and that's fine, I knew that before I bought it and the tradeoff is worth it.

I didn't want a Landy, as in "it had to be a Landy", I wanted a 4WD that fitted my needs and the Defender turned out to be the best choice. The Rangie is not what I need, too expensive anyway, the Disco is much closer but has insufficient space in the back. Could have been the Patrol, I have no brand loyalty.

Cheers

rmp
4th April 2004, 07:51 PM
Originally posted by lewy110
It took me five years to get most of that done to mine.

Can't wait to see the pickies.

A pair of 6x9's in the back will fix your noise problem

What are 6x9s?

I know what you mean; vehicle changeover is a big deal not just because of the vehicle cost, but because of the accessories, and all the time spent customising it with little personal details. There's a few things I can carry over from the Pajero, which was built up over a few years, but not much.

bigbugga
4th April 2004, 09:09 PM
6 by 9's are speakers.

Mount them in a box each and find somewhere high to place them in the back.

Easy way to fit rear speakers to a defender.

rmp
4th April 2004, 09:17 PM
Originally posted by bigbugga
6 by 9's are speakers.

Mount them in a box each and find somewhere high to place them in the back.

Easy way to fit rear speakers to a defender.

Ah...I see. It already has speakers in the back, but not as large as 6x9. I might take them out, they don't take up much room but I'd prefer the storage space.

There are quite a few little differences between what I test drove and what I had delivered:

1. CD player (good)
2. Cupholders (not bothered)
3. Rear speakers (not bothered)

the engine immobiliser and remote central locking are the same. The interior lights also remain on for a few seconds after all the doors are closed.

It's virtually a Range Rover!

(that was a joke, just in case anyone wasn't sure)

bigbugga
4th April 2004, 09:24 PM
Pirate who is a member here has the speaker boxes up in the rear corners of his defender, leaves loads of room to load.

And the light thing took me a bit to get used too, I thought it was busted.

VladTepes
5th April 2004, 11:04 AM
See, I have an older Defender and I have NONE of these problems...



I have a whole bunch of different ones :!: :wink:

defute
5th April 2004, 12:26 PM
rmp,

sounds like you're building quite a beast, I'm sure that you'll have heaps of fun with it!!

Just some info on fitment of the tacho (Land Rover part # YAE100790) if you're interested: the +ve, -ve and illumination feeds that the new tacho requires are easy to locate behind the dash cluster. The tacho also requires an 'engine speed signal', which on the Td5 is a digital signal supplied via the Engine ECU. It can be found at the C0658/19 (connector # 658, pin 19) on the engine ECU. This wire is Yellow/Pink (yellow with a pink trace) and joins the Engine ECU and the ABS ECU. This wire can be 'tapped' into for the 'engine speed signal' required to run your tacho.

Good luck.

Antaine
5th April 2004, 12:33 PM
Originally posted by rmp



I also don't see why many owners make a virtue out of living with things like the noise. It's a disadvantage you accept for the other capabilities, not an advantage!

Ahhh noise and Land-Rover go hand in hand...in my world anyway. I often blamed my industrial deafness on my years playing with "crackers" (explosives), firearms on "rock and roll" (Full Auto) and my time as a medic in an artillery unit after leaving Infantry...that was until I climbed back into the S2A ex-Mil FFT that I'd bought. I then realised that doing my drivers course was my hearing downfall!! style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif

Congrat's on the vehicle and I look forward to the piccies. Make sure you get a few of the work you're doing on the cargo mods...I'm definately interested in storage solution ideas.

Cheers,

barney
7th April 2004, 04:51 PM
Originally posted by rmp+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(rmp)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteBegin-barney
i wouldn't class the sound deadening as essential, more as a "nothing else to spend my money on" option. get real man, you're driving a defender, the on road noise is part of the experience. if you wanted a quiet landy, you should've looked at a disco or rangie. just my opinion, with my drivers window open i get 95dB in my right ear, worse through the harbour tunnel.

We've all got our opinions of essentials, and even what "essential" means. When looking at the Defender there were things I liked, and things I didn't like, as with every vehicle. The question I had was how easily the problems could be fixed. I couldn't create more space in the back of the Patrol, for example, but I could add a little soundproofing to the Defender. Which was very important to my family; so for that reason it's high on the list of mods.

I also don't see why many owners make a virtue out of living with things like the noise. It's a disadvantage you accept for the other capabilities, not an advantage! I'm going to try and reduce it a little, and I'll live with what's left. It'll be noiser than average, and that's fine, I knew that before I bought it and the tradeoff is worth it.

I didn't want a Landy, as in "it had to be a Landy", I wanted a 4WD that fitted my needs and the Defender turned out to be the best choice. The Rangie is not what I need, too expensive anyway, the Disco is much closer but has insufficient space in the back. Could have been the Patrol, I have no brand loyalty.

Cheers[/b][/quote]

don't take this the wrong way, i'm totally jealous on your new vehicle and in all truth, given the money, i'd probably do the same thing. although a new TD5 would be like a limo compared to my 20y.o. ute so i'd probably think it was already pretty quiet. congratulations style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif