Prepping a defender 130 for around the world..

[fishEH]

On the left spare tyre is our front runner brai grill... These things are great..

I'll take my burger with extra road grime, please.

 

[The Rover Shop]

The bugs and insects do the cleaning while your not using it..... We are driving a Land Rover with no a/c.. We ingest enough bugs and road grime already..

 

[The Rover Shop]

Been looking forward to but dreading the task of making the side storage cupboards.. This storage place backs onto the tool board.. So I cut a piece of high quality ply and sat for a good hour trying to figure out the best layout for what I need...


Making the shelving itself..




Left a couple of inches on the top for the storage of anything long..
So once I had the dimensions down of the shelving I transferred that to the face board and started cutting out the doors.. I will be using the cutouts as the doors so we have a flush mounting face with just some small hinges exposed.. Latching mechanism will be from the sailboat industry where you stick your finger through the hole and pull a release inside..

 

[The Rover Shop]

Because I am not a carpenter (and I'm doing this off the hip and I'm subject to changing my design requiremeets/ideas mid build..lol..) I spend a lot of time test fitting through the process...but this time I think I haven't changed much... The upper centre door drops down and makes a table for when you are sitting on the aluminum fuel/water tank which is doubling as a seating bench for when we are in bad weather..

 

[The Rover Shop]

as I was making this I had the wife painting all of the pieces before I assembled, this hopefully will make it easier to clean when going into other countries and lessen any water contamination WHEN,.. Not IF... We get the inside wet.. . So since I had the paint out I and I had some of the tool wall apart I decided to pull it apart completely and paint the surface.. Looks good..home made, but good.... Most of all it's functional, I'm not going for a show vehicle, im going for ease of access and secure storage.. With easy cleanup.. Australia is very tough on having expedition vehicles cleaned of all dirt etc, and it can cause you lots of charges if they have to do it for you..


The white backing also helps the LED overhead lighting of a night time..

 

[The Rover Shop]

I've had a couple of request for my selection of equipment on the recovery board.. So here's what is there.. From the back-forward..
Vertical is the pull pal land anchor and its spade.. Tucked in the back corner out of sight is the recharging holder for the stream light flashlights. Above the pull pal is a heavy duty lifting strap loop that makes the best recovery rope and tree saver out there..as well as my 75ft plasma extension winch cord. Above the pull pal spade is my hi-lift wheel hook strap.. These make lifting a wheel off the ground much easier as you don't have to lift high enough to overcome the suspension before the wheel starts to lift.. Next is the obligatory heavy duty snatch strap..has been used multiple times but I keep it washed.... Next is the hi-lift base, this is great when in sand or mud and has many other uses also.. On the bottom (sitting on a diagonal) is what is possibly the mainstay of over landing tools, this is the hi-lift extreme and has all of the attachments to be one of the most versatile tools out there when used properly.. And from the top right we have 2 shackles, an ARB tree saver and a bubba soft shackle, this sits inside of my old Swedish army bow saw, sure, they make smaller more compact bow saws but this puppy cuts better than anything out there, and when you have to go through a large tree blocking your path or making a bridge you will be glad you have the bigger unit.. even firewood is a breeze with this puppy..the blade sits in a wooden sheath which then sits into an uluminum track to support it and protect the extremely sharp teeth.. Below that is the axe (the axe head sits in an aluminum channel to support the weight of the head and protect the edge) and then the shovel.. Under the shovel blade is the snatch block that sits in its own recessed holder.. And then the most asked about piece is my Tirfor... Also known as a griphoist.. These are probably one of the best mechanical winch systems out there but are very heavy and require steel cable to be operated.. Hopefully this heavy piece will never be needed but I can foresee it being a real lifesaver.. Such as in the event of a rollover or even just tipping the truck on its side.. As long as it's the other side..lol.. Or even something as simple as in the middle of nowhere and the starter goes out... You can use this to winch yourself up a home made steep ramp so that you can bump start yourself.. Or in the event of a recovery that you simply can't get the truck to..or at least more than 200 feet away.. Wire cable will unfortunately need to be kept in the top box....
There are some other miscellaneous items that will be in there but that is the main jist of what and why..

 

[mtm_motors]

Thanks for all the info, really valuable information for some of us.

Thoroughly enjoying this build. I've actually kept the tab for it open on my computer since finding it a couple weeks ago

 

[The Rover Shop]

You're very welcome.. If you like this build then you may also like my last build..its up in the stickies section.. Prepping a camel trophy defender 110 for around the world..

 

[The Rover Shop]

So here is pretty much what the finished storage wall section will look like.. Just have to add the hidden latches and the hinges and it's done.....

 

[The Rover Shop]

I have an extremeair onboard air compressor system.. This is plumbed into a storage tank on the underbody. When using for extended periods these things get pretty warm so I can open the cover and let plenty of ventilation at it..120 psi cutoff switch and pressure guage still to be mounted..

 

[The Rover Shop]

Installed the obligatory easy access fire extinguisher and first aid kit.. We also carry a trauma kit on board for those severe emergencies.. Sandra is a certified vet tech and a lot of her knowledge carries over to humans in a pinch..

 

[The Rover Shop]

And the galley is coming together nicely.in the travelling position the table hinges up and secures all the galley items...




The table drops down and exposes all of the cooking items..

 

[The Rover Shop]

Sliding cabinet face and the cutlery drawer front are done out of a very neat wood from South America called leopard wood .. A good mate gave me a nice size piece of it use.. Looks really unique..




Cutlery drawer front..

 

[The Rover Shop]

And we finished some of the walls in a faux old wood finish?..

 

[The Rover Shop]

Forgot the slide out..



Engel refrigerator in place..



And fruit and veg storage net above refrigerator..for bread also..