Prepping a defender 130 for around the world..

[The Rover Shop]

Yeah, this is one of the reasons I added the secondary temp warning unit in the watchdog...it's just as hot here in south Florida as it is back home in OZ.. The diesels tend to run pretty cool anyway and since I don't have a/c in the truck it shouldn't be too bad, if need be as you said I can remove the center spotlight very easily..

 

[The Rover Shop]

Have received a lot of PM etc asking where I get my parts from...just wanna give a quick shout out to Stephen and the guys at Safari HP, he's got or can get pretty much anything you/I need..

 

[The Rover Shop]

I had these decals on my last truck and really liked them so my sticker guy made me some more...

 

[The Rover Shop]

So I got a wild bug up my butt this afternoon and decided to tackle a job I've been putting off for a while.. I wanted to replace the possibly problematic fuel injector wiring harness as the TD5 has A problem with getting oil leeching through the loom to the ecu..I also wanted to install the new (to me) VNT turbo as well as new engine mounts and thermostat, and machine out the webbing between the exhaust manifold ports as it is supposed to stop the manifolds from cracking.. I also wanted to familiarize myself with the engine as I know sweet fart all about these.

 

[The Rover Shop]

The new turbo is a wee bit bigger than the original..I bought this unit used off a guy and it looks good, I guess we will soon see. This is the higher performance one of the 2 available from a company in England who come highly recommended. I have already has my spare ECU modified with a power programming and I had him remove the security interface just to try and eliminate potential problems in the middle of nowhere..

 

[DividingCreek]

Think you will have it back together in time for Portsmouth Island ? Looking forward to the guided tour.

 

[The Rover Shop]

Yep...replacing the front swivel hubs and rebuilding them this coming week and renewing all of the wheel bearings all round, manifold should be done at the machine shop after the weekend, already replaced the water pump, thermostat, wiring harness, engine mounts and oil feed line to the alternator (found a new one laying around so why not..lol....) and all of my heavy duty steering components are ready to go in..

 

[Kgh]

Speaking of heavy duty, saw these products last weekend.

Look like good quality, but pretty pricey.

http://engage4x4.com/en/product/defender-steering-and-tie-rod-kit/

 

[spikemd]

As always, impressive build Shayne. Even if anybody can break in, they won't be going anywhere in that beast!

 

[The Rover Shop]

Installed the new fuel injector wiring harness..



While I had the manifold off I changed the engine mounts and the water pump...just as a preventative measure, also replaced the oil centrifuge filter unit, found it had a stripped out thread in the housing, so glad I did, changing the water pump on the back of the power steering pump required removing the centrifuge housing anyway..



View attachment 349273



So I have this paranoia about being stranded with a flat battery, even though the solar panels recharge a flat battery pretty quick I feel myself subscribing to the overkill mindset......so I am installing a 3rd battery which is strictly a reserve battery, nothing connected to it... This will be installed next to the original battery but that meant having to fab up a battery tray to fill the uneven battery box floor and giv me a way Of securing them, had some 2x1 metal tubing around that did the job perfect, welded it together and it should do the job.. You can also see the bilge pump I installed...

 

[Cupboard]

I've read through your thread over a few days and love it
Regarding the third battery, it's quite a heavy bit of overkill and weight is never good
Have you thought about one of those much more lightweight li-ion jump packs? How are you planning on charging the third battery? Thing is the more VSRs you add, the more quiescent load you put on the starting battery so the more likely you are to not be able to start it.

 

[The Rover Shop]

The main camping battery, the odyssey extreme.. Is only connected to the alternator system IF I energize the linking solenoid...usually it is kept completely topped up by the 160 watt solar panels.. The addition of the 3rd battery will be connected to a manual 4 position perko switch...I.e. Battery 1.. Battery 2... Both batteries or off.. Every now and then I will switch over the battery just to make sure it's fully cycled and topped up.. I figure with all of the conversion of lights to LED I have significantly reduced the draw on the alternator. I haven't used VSR's (voltage sensitive relays..??) specifically because I don't want the parasitic loads and I don't trust them, prefer the old manual perko switch...hey, I'm old school....lol.. As far as weight is concerned, I agree it's probably overkill...but weighing in at 8000lbs I won't be push starting it... ALSO thinking about ditching my premier power welded that is run from a supplemental alternator belt and going with the welder that links 3 batteries in series, I figure with the 3 batteries I should be able to get a pretty decent weld going with these 3...

 

[Cupboard]

sorry, yes, voltage sensitive relay. They way most people that aren't using DC/DC converters do it I like the fact that I don't have to remember to isolate the batteries manually but I also like the little telltale mine has so I can tell it's doing its thing.

Isn't 8000lbs going to be over the max GVM? I thought the 130 was 3.5t?

 

[The Rover Shop]

Yes, I think it equates to about 7700 lbs.. It always a bit of a compromise to settle between something sturdy enough to last and something lightweight.. When it's all said and done I am going to weigh it twice...once fully laden (just the extra 25 gallons of diesel and 25 gallons of water can make a huuuuge difference ) and once with as much stuff removed as feasible... My truck was built by Land Rover special vehicles and I will have I see if they upgraded the GVM when they modified..

 

[The Rover Shop]

Finished the dual under seat battery install... The 2 outer posts secure the tray to the floor and stay in place and the centre one comes out, this makes removal of the batteries easy..



Back of the perko switch gets a bit cramped..most of these are small current wires for the diesel heater and power for the additional under seat and engine bay fuse panels..



Cut up some old yoga mat I had laying around, this works excellent as a battery pad, stops any chance of them sliding around..not that they can go too far..



Knocked up a quick hold down bracket...works great..



Front side of the perko switch recessed through the face of the battery box, you can also see the 10 amp resettable circuit breaker, this maintains power to the radio memory, clock, central door locking, alarm and interior lights etc when the switch is turned off, but any larger drain and it pops open circuit...if I want to totally kill the power in the truck I just turn the battery switch to the off position and turn the ignition on, it's enough to pop the breaker and then there is no power at all...