Thread: Interior cooling - 110/Defender

I put the vent flaps back into my County, it takes a bit of work but its worth it. I think it also looks a lot better, both internally and externally.

Originally Posted by mark2

I put the vent flaps back into my County, it takes a bit of work but its worth it. I think it also looks a lot better, both internally and externally.

Thanks Mark2.

I had thought of putting them back in but removing the dash insert with the aircon is the bit that really concerns me.

Mine's got the factory air: what did you do with that? And how did you attach the flaps? Do you happen to have photos?

Steve

I'm sure I have seen somewhere an additional rear A/C unit that sits above the rear door.

A second generic mini bus air con can be installed above the rear door or above and behind the rear seats. Coventrys etc can supply these units complete for about $1000-1200. Not real hard to install and utilises the existing compressor. The one with the remote switch is the way to go mounted along side the existing air con switch so you remember to turn both off. I have seen a couple done like this. There is a specialist unit for Defender but from memory by the time you imported it from the UK it worked out about $3000AUD.

Here's an idea I had for the SIII, which could equally work on the County. I never got around to developing it.


Fit an air scoop on the roof between the reinforcing ridges (they're not on the Defenders for those looking at later vehicles). This is best fitted to the front, as the slope will allow water to run off.

The air scoop is low and discreet. Probably made of chequerplate alum. but can be made of fibreglass etc/

Inside the scoop mount a Davies Craig thermo fan (laying flat).

Below the fan, inside the scoop fit a vent that opens into the cab. Use the circular caravan type vents that you turn by hand to open / shut and that lay flat.

At speed the air flow provides a positive pressure in the cab that prevents dust ingress. At low speed, turn the fan on to provide the positive pressure.

Fit some insect netting to the intake to prevent insects or leaves blowning in.

• The high pick up means you get mainly clean air.
• The mounting position helps prevent water ingress.
• The design (like the travel vents in caravans) reduce dust ingress.

Why not build one and send me the pics so I can see if my idea works.














Stage 2 Developments :









Use this design to develop evaporative A/C for your Land Rover.

mark2

I have a very similar problem with my 110 county, gets very hot in summer and have also thought about putting in the vents in the bulkhead.
Where did you acquire the parts to fit the vents? and in terms of time/cost what do you estimate it would take to put in the vents?

cheers

Adrian

I wonder if you could fit one of the rear ones from a 7 seater Disco. I think they were an electric unit (or were they only in Saudi).

Originally Posted by tam242

mark2

I have a very similar problem with my 110 county, gets very hot in summer and have also thought about putting in the vents in the bulkhead.
Where did you acquire the parts to fit the vents? and in terms of time/cost what do you estimate it would take to put in the vents?

cheers

Adrian

OK. I got rid of the factory air and all the vacuum fittings as it was never very good. That also enabled me to remove nearly half the wiring in the vehicle! I dont think you actually have a choice if you want to install vent flaps, it just wont work with the factory air.
The vents and insect screens were straight off a Series 3, I had to drill out the spot welds holding the Series 3 external hinges onto the firewall, these were re-spot welded onto my firewall. The hardest part was drilling out the spot welds which retain the blanking plates under the black plastic dummy vents - there are about 10x too many as there needs to be. These holes from the drilled out spot welds will be under the vent rubbers but really need to be filled - I did mine with a spot of weld then ground each one down.
You will also need a couple of plastic parts from a Defender dash and the metal plate which the vent controls mount to. Its very similar to a Series 3 one but the Series 3 one won't fit.

All up the parts cost me about $40. However there is a fair amount of work in stripping the dash, removing the a/c, drilling out about 60 spot welds and welding them up. A panel beater would probably drill the welds and then fill the holes in a couple of hours - about $150 worth of work.

So its not expensive, but takes a bit of work. Is it worth it - yes. The 110 is cooler and to me at least looks better from the outside and inside. Also the wiring and dash is now a lot simpler with less to go wrong. I reckon its about 50kg lighter without the a/c, thermo fans and all the wiring I was able to remove. Downside is I now dont have heater which doesnt worry me anyway. A heater from a Defender could be fitted I'm sure, but they were never very good either.....