Prepping a camel trophy defender 110 for around the world...

The Rover Shop

Explorer
Well here is a brief bit about the objectives.. Prepare my camel trophy 110 for a trip around the world...where we go and how long we are gone for is completely undecided...all that has been decided is that it needs to be done real soon because lets face it guys...this world is going to crap in a hurry, even as we speak civil unrest and crime is on the uprise... anyway, back to my objective.. prep the camel for any real world scenario I can thnk we might encounter but do the modifications without altering the originality of the camel...when I got my camel she was missing most of the original bolt on goodies and still to this day I am not sure of her history. Went about ordering the correct front bumper and brush guard from Rovers North (these guys are the best, especially Les, he knows his stuff) Have ordered the correct brownchurch rack with Jerry can holder installed and am waiting patiently for that to arrive.... here is a pic when I first got her..
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One of the first issues was to repair the bad sections in the frame, I really should have just gone ahead and replaced the frame but I think we all know where that goes...4 times as much as we planned and 4 times as long...and as i said i wanted to try and keep her as original as possible...may just do a new frame after RTW...
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once that was mostly tackled I needed to make a way to keep valuables as safe as possible so I designed a safe to go under the drivers seat in the cubby box where the spare gas tank sometimes is placed...now i only made this about half as high as the cubby box so that once closed i can put stuff on top of it and hopefully make it look like there is just cleaning supplies in there, that is of course if somebody even knows there is a cubby box under the panel under the seat..in order to make the safe as secure as possible the decision was made to cut the side of the seat box out and slide it in from the side...this was necessary because the cubby opening in the top isn't as big as the box itself...this section i cut out will be replaced with new sheet material and then covered with the seat box trim..
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The ribs you see on the underneath of the lid are to stop anyone from getting in there with a lever and prying it open....and to give rigidity to the lid, the lid is intentionally curved so as to stop the lid from rattling once locked...I used a medeco lock unit to lock the lid and it worked out perfectly...have to have it painted once she's finished..
Next step was to address the issue of fuel...the 200 tdi is pretty good on gas but i wanted to be able to carry more...so I set about designing and mocking up in cardboard a tank to sit in the empty area behind the left rear wheel...this tank should give me about another 10 gallons of fuel...so 20 gallons in the tank...15 gallons in 3 jerry cans on the roof (3 out of the 4 are fuel..the other one is water..) should give me a total of 45 gallons or about a range of 1200 plus miles..???? This aux tank will be plumbed in with a 3 way valve so that I can dump it into the main tank or in the event of pucturing the main tank I can switch to this and use this as the main tank..it will be filled from the inside with a non-venting cap so that I don't get any fumes inside
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next was instruments.. I wanted something a little more.....shall we say reliable...in the way of instrumentation so i swapped the standard units with some similar looking units from sunpro and added some more in a binnacle over where the ashtray was...the temp guage now is a mechanical unit so it always shows the temp...I will get to the reason for this later..I now have fuel, volts, oil pressure, coolant temp, turbo temp and amps guages..should satisfy the mechanic in me...
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next I started to address the storage and cold weather sleeping area... First of all I made a drawer box that was the same level as the side boxes, I elevated this off the floor by about 1/4 inch by using some of those rubber feet pads they used for furniture... I did this because i know at some point in time I will be fording some deep water areas and i wanted to allow stuff to dry out in the event water gets inside...also acts as a heat insulation air gap..once that box was done i started making the second layer...this posed a bit of a problem due to the camel trophy interior roll cage, I didn't want to drill through the roll cage so i first of all made some side boxes to allow some boards to lay across...this gave me additional storage on the sides and still kept enough support for the plywood upper shelf pieces...I did it this way so that when its too cold to sleep in the roof top tent we can sleep inside in the comfort of heat...Now i am 6'2" and I can't stand being cramped into a space so i needed every inch of space inside...so when we sleep inside another board joins up with the forwardmost one..hence the reason for the lip left on the front section of the side boxes..
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and it rests on top of the fridge and storage box...this allows me to have my head at the back door, so you don't lose your pillows and my feet have plenty of room on top of the fridge...makes for an interesting maneuver to get out in the morning but oh well.., when not needed these panels all stack on top of each other or can be removed completely...
 
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The Rover Shop

Explorer
The design of the side boxes and shelf system like this allows me to have storage on the sides for things like...on the right side I have my air compressor and fresh water on demand pump mounted ( more on those later) and the right has an additional heater unit installed which runs off the engine coolant and is ducted towards the back of the passengers seat...gotta keep my woman warm on those frigid driving days...happy wife makes happy life...:)
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Now I left the front sections this way so that I have the ability to carry 2 passengers in the back by simply moving the fridge and storage bin to the back and then placing 2 cushions where the rear seats used to be ( a board goes in to act as a backrests......the side boxes act as armrests but are also storage boxes, I left the seat belts intact and install the centre buckles if I am going to have comapny for a while..such as when my kids come to travel europe with us while they are on school holidays..:wings:..
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Under the large storage box and the refrigerator is a false floor, this allows me about a 6 inch cavity that runs the full area of the rear seat floor position (where your feet would normally be)...in this section goes the fresh water bladder bag, this keeps it cool and safe and is pumped out by my on demand pump which is mounted next to the air compressor, I will have 2 recessed plugs to plug hoses in and this will allow you to use the pump to either pump water out of or into the water bladders.. (if you need to refill your water bladder you simply connect the hoses the other way and your pump sucks it out of a bucket or whatever else and pumps it into the water bag...or you can use the pump to suck from a stream or whatever and just use that water....shower, washing dishes or whatever else (more on the showering system later).. the false floor has 3 ribs going across...this gives rigidity to the floor and will hopefully reduce any sloshing effect of the bags while driving..I am yet to source the bag in the right size...but not urgent as of yet...if you design it...they will come...:victory:
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I installed the ever popular lockable tuffy box so that I could securely install my specially sourced shortwave radio, i had to special order this radio from somewhere in the middle east as it was the only place I could find one...it allows you to listen to radio stations all over the world and it has a switch which allows you to change your radio steps from the USA freqs to the european freqs...they run on different frequency steps..
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overlander

Expedition Leader
Awesome writeup! I'm doing the same kind of overland configuration to my 110, and enjoy reading writeups with little ideas and considerations I can steal!
 

The Rover Shop

Explorer
Finished off my air compressor tank installation... I have an Extreme-air air compressor setup inside the truck and its wired through a 100 psi pressure switch via a relay...should I desire I can connect a hose from the compressor to the underbody tank and it then charges the tank and once pressure is obtained shuts off, I used an air suspension reservoir tank from a range rover classic...I welded two tabs onto the frame to bolt it to so that if I need to I can remove it..I know it looks like the nipples etc will get packed with dirt etc but I figured I can buy a pair of heavy duty latex gloves and cut the fingers off and use em like air nipple condoms..LOL.. I installed it as high as possible and its slightly higher than the frame...hopefully this will stop it from getting broken off on the trails..
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I have been spending ALOT of time in making an overhead electronics rack to house the CB radio...the Ham radio and also house alot of the electrical switch controls...my main concern was to make it as user friendly as possible...I wanted everything to be able to be completely turned off...switch on and off with ignition power and also be able to be switched on without the ignition being on... I installed my shortwave capable radio in the ever popular tuffy box and it switches on and off with ignition but since there is some space next to the face plate in the tuffy I installed a switch which now bypasses the ignition switched off and on allowing me to have it on without the ignition on...I wired the speakers into the overhead console so they can be heard while driving or while laying down in the back in nasty weather... All accessories are run through a yellow top optima battery which is also charged by an 800 watt solar panel..its protected by a 50amp main breaker setup...the other battery is the main battery for starting, they are connected through a perko 3 position switch, I will have the starting battery hooked up through a low voltage cut-out switch just in case i forget to turn it onto the accessories battery when camped..I have this strange paranoia about being stuck somewhere with a flat battery..
 

4Rescue

Expedition Leader
Man am I glad I subscribed to this thread... [rubs hands together giddly while smiling somewhat redicuously] this is such a great build thread (come to think of it, we've got alot of really neat builds going on in alot of different sections) thanks for taking the time to write it up and post the pics and what not.

About the air tank, it looks like it's on the outside of the frame rail right??? Like between the frame and the body sill. Are you planning on putting aliders or anything esle that might protect it more then just the tank??? As someone who's intentionaly cut the head off an o2 tank to demonstrate the massive dammage they can do, I'd be kinda worried about it being down there (espescialy if it's under the passenger or drivers seats... I thought I'd seen rovers with the rocker armor similar to a Jeep Wrangler where it mounts directly to the bottom of the rocker and not at a stand-off from the frame. What if you used some expanded metal grating and span the distance from the rocker armor (if you're planning on running any) to the frame rail to create a little tank skid if you will. At least with the armor you'd have two solid beams on either side of it and it'd be far less likely to have anything reach up and grab it...however, LIFE being what it is and considering by just MENTIONING this issue, with my luck I'd have the problem happen several time ;) Anyway. the spanning bit of expanded steel grate would be more for smaller objects reaching up like bushes and unseen roots/sticks/rocks that somethimes (actaully ALL the time :D ) seem to come out of nowhere... Anyway, that was WAY too much typing/talking so sorry for that, but it was just an idea that poped into my head when I saw that picture of the tank.

Cheers

Dave
 
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Subscribed too. I'd be interested in your overhead console too. I am in the process of building something similar - a shelf/console that spans across the windscreen above the visors. I have a sunroof so I can't really put anything in middle overhead.
 

The Rover Shop

Explorer
I will be running rock sliders as well and yes..I may place a bridging piece between the frame and the slider that will also aid in side impact to sliders.. The tank won't be aired up except when I am using it...the extreme air compressor will inflate most tyres etc up very quickly without the need for a tank.. tank is only to be used if I need to use air tools, will not be charged... I also am not using this vehicle for too much extreme stuff, the tank is welded to 2 pretty secure brackets on the frame but I believe still being able to break away without doing major damage to the body...and yes, it is under the DRIVERS seat...but if you notice on one of the pics there is a 3/16ths solid steel plate above it...that is the reinforcing plate that secures the floor safe in the cavity under the drivers seat...so if something happens my *** is protected so to speak.. In regards to the overhead console I will take pics of it very shortly but it actually goes behind our heads and is secured between the internal roll cage tubes...I wanted it behind so in the event of being tossed around or rolling over we don't split our heads open on it...
 

4Rescue

Expedition Leader
I will be running rock sliders as well and yes..I may place a bridging piece between the frame and the slider that will also aid in side impact to sliders.. The tank won't be aired up except when I am using it...the extreme air compressor will inflate most tyres etc up very quickly without the need for a tank.. tank is only to be used if I need to use air tools, will not be charged... I also am not using this vehicle for too much extreme stuff, the tank is welded to 2 pretty secure brackets on the frame but I believe still being able to break away without doing major damage to the body...and yes, it is under the DRIVERS seat...but if you notice on one of the pics there is a 3/16ths solid steel plate above it...that is the reinforcing plate that secures the floor safe in the cavity under the drivers seat...so if something happens my *** is protected so to speak.. In regards to the overhead console I will take pics of it very shortly but it actually goes behind our heads and is secured between the internal roll cage tubes...I wanted it behind so in the event of being tossed around or rolling over we don't split our heads open on it...

Aha... that's just what I was wondering aye. If it's not charged up then like you said, it's not gonna be an issue so that's good. Air compressor tech has come a LONG way aye ;) . Keep up the great work mate, and like I said, thanks for taking the time to share. This is such a neat truck and it's even cooler when you get to see a great build-up thread to go along with it. The nerd in me just loves to see how every little thing goes together.

Cheers

Dave
 

Christian P.

Expedition Leader
Staff member
Wow, this is a great project! I really hope you get to take it around the world when you are done, it deserves it
 

DividingCreek

Explorer
That looks like a 3gal eas tank for a Classic with air bag suspension. If it is I have the same tank, mounts etc. I ditched oba system project for a 20lb co'2 tank setup . That eas tank was designed to hold a constant 140 psi for the life of the truck bolted to the frame rail. That tank was made in Ireland ,sticker is still on mine.
For a rtw truck Co2 wouldn't be very practical. Looks pretty neat the way you set it up.
 

Skookumchuck

Observer
Great thread I hope to one day jump in the rover and drive untill I am out of money. unfortunatyly right now that wouldn't get me to far so it is back to work tomorrow. Anyway merry Christmas to all
 

The Rover Shop

Explorer
That looks like a 3gal eas tank for a Classic with air bag suspension. If it is I have the same tank, mounts etc. I ditched oba system project for a 20lb co'2 tank setup . That eas tank was designed to hold a constant 140 psi for the life of the truck bolted to the frame rail. That tank was made in Ireland ,sticker is still on mine.
For a rtw truck Co2 wouldn't be very practical. Looks pretty neat the way you set it up.
You are exactly correct...wasn't a big deal to set it up the way I wanted it...the biggest problem was me trying to decide what I wanted it to be able to do.. I put a lower pressure switch in the system so as to not put un-necessary load on the compressor...if I need more pressure in the tank I can bridge the pressure switch and get up to the 300psi that the pump is supposed to be able to put out...why I would need anythng more than 100psi though is beyond me..
 

The Rover Shop

Explorer
Okay...made progress on the overhead console...I wanted a way to make sure that all of the expensive communication gear was kept high and dry as well as hoping that it will be not so visible to would be thieves, I also wanted it to be the main switching panel for the items in the back such as the LED strip lighting, the rear fridge as well as the onboard water system and air compressor.., thankfully I have a roll cage already in this vehicle so it makes it easy to build up on that..
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I bought a 6 switch panel with built in circuit breakers, I took some 3 wire 110 electrical cable and ran power, ground and a switched power to the overhead console, I ran them straight to a switch in the o/h console so that I can turn the whole console off if i needed to, but then I changed my mind, I ran it to a 3 position switch...off, ignitioned switched or constant on....I did this so that when driving around towns etc it switches off and on with the ignition but when I am camping I can have it on without having to have the ignition on, I also ran the cb and the ham through another switch so that I can leave them on and the volume set where I want it and the channels i want and with the flick of a switch they both turn on or off as well as the same other options.. I have probably over-engineered/thought this but I wanted to try and factor in all needs and requirements as possible, the o/h console is powered from #2 battery (optima)run through a 100 amp circuit breaker, as that will be my main camping battery and the one being charged by the solar panels..(more on that later)..
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The hella map lights have a constant power to them so that they can be switched on at any time..
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When I did the wiring I used bus bars for both power and grounds so that I can easily add anything at a later date...the back cover is hinged so I just go in through there to do any add ons or repairs.. I have left plenty of space for other stuff at a later date..
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Once I am done with it i will have a couple of sheet metal plates screwed to the surface as I have magnetic lights that can be placed there shining down as well as hooks and some of those high power magnets...always handy for stuff... ..??? when reading or..??? I will also have some velcro material sections for..???
and then it will be covered in material with small "drapes" to cover the faces of the radios etc to stop prying eyes..
I had installed a tuffy box and now that the speakers were up I could finish installing the stereo.. you can see the switch to the side of the stereo...this allows me to switch it from being switched on with the ignition to being switched on without the ignition, so that when camping I dont have to have the ignition on, but while driving around normal I don't forget to turn it off and come back to a dead battery..
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This switch gave me other ideas as well for some hidden anti-theft switches since the tuffy box lid is lockable with the stereo completely covered and secure, I have ordered an anti-theft fuel cut off solenoid and I will have that switched through a switch in the same position next to the stereo...normal driving it is automatically switched off and on with the ignition but then when I need added security at the flick of a switch and the lock of a tuffy box they won't get far...I have some other anti-theft ideas coming up soon as well..
Being that this has gotten more and more electrically out of hand and the car doesn't have an accessories circuit persay I used an ignition on wire to switch a relay to give me a good ignition switched power feed to power the things I wanted on a switched circuit, don't wanna go letting that LUCAS smoke out...I even used original land rover relays and plugs..
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I then decided that I wanted to monitor the voltage drain and draw so I had to go down to the starter and break into the main power feed wires and run large wires up to inside the car into my amps meter and then back out and back down to the starter (needs to be in-line at the main power feed point AFTER the starter motor feed), I have one spot left in my dash guage housing and that is set aside for the dual battery voltage monitor guage...
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The Rover Shop

Explorer
The other 2 guages are the amps meter and the oil pressure guage...so now in the dash I have a mechanical water temp guage, a new fuel guage and a voltmeter and then in the centre pods I have amps, oil pressure and battery monitors.... that should keep the paranois mechanic in me satisfied...well mostly...
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The hood came back from my painter and now it is time to install the spare tyre carrier, problem is that since I am running bigger tyres the wheel holder needs to me modified, does it ever end..???
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The height and position of this wheel is one of the reasons I was comfortable installing the additional guages on the dash where I have..
I did mange to modify my favourite gear knob to suit the camel...its a famous Aussie spider called a redback...
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I also managed to find the correct Superwinch husky 10k lb winch for the front as well...will be refurbishing this very soon to install in place of the brand new warn I installed...
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..I also got a finished tank back from my welder, and trial fitting was perfect, now he just needs to place the mounting tabs and filler neck and then I get to install it...
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