Bankz's Defender TD5 90

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For a second I thought I had solved the issue of water ****ing in through the passenger side door near the windscreen. Sadly not, but its getting worse. No obvious signs of water ingress so the headlining is coming out, sikaflex is coming out and anything that looks possible is getting sealed up.
Mine was leaking through the bulkhead bracket thingies.

Which Masai windows are you going for? I think the panoramic ones look amazing, but sadly my other half doesn't agree...
 
I cant stand the look of those panoramic windows, find them absolutely hideous. Just don't think they suit a Defender. Standard replacements just dark tinted!

Coming in from the top left corner, also coming in through the interior light at the front and the above the center bulkhead
 
I cant stand the look of those panoramic windows, find them absolutely hideous. Just don't think they suit a Defender. Standard replacements just dark tinted!

Coming in from the top left corner, also coming in through the interior light at the front and the above the center bulkhead
Roof to top of windscreen seal then?

Yeah, people seem to either love or hate the panoramic windows. I am the only one I know who likes them!
 
Think I found leak! Well one of them!

Appears to be seaping it through where the rollcage meets the roof, gathering above the door then sloshing in when I corner.

Looks like the middle leak is coming in through the rear somewhere. Investigation continues!

Headlining is out, shockingly simple. Will start covering that as soon as my glue arrives.

Parts of the cage will come out be cleaned up, painted, sealed and replaced. Sound proofing will go in aswell over the coming week.

Also going to attempt to move my auxillary fuse box to the middle bulkhead. Means extending 10 cables, running new battery cable and mounting points.
 
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Found both the leaks!! The second was the middle of the roof, there was a small nut and bolt which may have previously been used to mount a siren. Never noticed it before. Thats off and going to be sealed up! No more dripping as I drive! Rather happy about that.

Tonights job will involve
- adding Fatmat to the front of the roof
- Adding acoustic foam to the front of the roof for super sound proofing :D
- Cleaning all the rust off the cage mounts then painting with hammerite and a nice layer of matt black over the top.
- Checking my front headlight as it fell out during the MOT so I need to get new brackets! :cool:
- Refitting my CB radio somewhere good :)

As for an update on the soundproofing done so far. Jesus christ is it quiet! I am verging on Discovery levels of quiet-ness when its finished I may even be up there with Range Rovers! (well maybe lol)
 
:( miss all of them! Ill take some tonight! Thing is i usually forget because im elbow deep in something or another lol
Yes, now I have to put across my emotions with words!

I should have some decent updates on the expedition storage thread in a bit.
 
As promised pics, i remembered this time :)

Heres the state of the internal cage to roof supports -



I gave them quick rub down but will attack them with the dremmel tomorrow. Layer of hammerite then plastickote primer on top. Comes out a nice solid matt black.

Started to Fatmat the roof,



much harder :/ than the rest but got it done! Not perfect but whos guna see it?



Had just enough fatmat, got about 1sq/ft left. Got the doors left to fatmat but they wont need much!

Couldnt fit the acoustic foam as it was far too thick so cut it all down. Took a while!



Engineer friend of mine is bringing me a goody bag of various thickness/length cable, terminal connectors, adhesive heatshrink and god knows what else. So I can sort out this mess and move the fusebox neatly to the bulkhead.




Anderson connector is in properly as well, with a nice cap too. Bolts are not perfect but they work well enough.

Also turned the boost up as well, *should* be 18psi but cant test till I take it out!

(Btw also really like the new forum! Works much better when posting pics!)
 
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Got a fair bit done last night after my electrical component delivery!



I hate wiring but at least now it is starting to look much neater! and ill be able to change a fuse without taking the bloody seat out. Heres hoping it still works



Extended all the cables except for the heated screen cable which was almost twice as thick as the cable I had so buying more today and will have to run that on its own. Not got a 'main' fuse fitted yet but now its all out it will be easy to retro fit at a later date, sooner rather than later.

Acoustic foam is going in after the trim down -



This afternoon will consist of finishing the wiring, testing it all (hoping it blooody works!) then sorting out the roll cage and sikaflexing it onto the roof. No more leak! Well from the front anyway.... If I have enough time (which I should) I'll also recover the headlining with faux backed medium grey alcantara and refit it. Those trim lining fasteners are bloody tight! broke every one getting them out!
 
Thanks :)

It was made by an ebay company called TopGaiters I noticed they did a few leather bits like the gearstick/handbrake gaiters and the soft dash cover but not the gauge surround, heater control trim end, pass grab handle, steering column so I asked why, they said they didnt have any parts to pattern and would cost to much to buy them so I shipped my bits off to them. I got leather trim, they got a pattern to make more.

Then it was all fitted myself using high temperature heavy duty spray glue, been a 18 months or so now and its all still perfect. Been in direct sunlight, mud, water, general dirt, fag ash all sorts. Just wipes clean and looks SO much nicer than the standard plastic trim LR supply.

They make it affordable to have a bit of luxury inside a Defender, companies like CSK, FCX and the like charge thousands for what I have done. If you wanted to do it yourself would cost all of £185 including the spray glue. Not bad ayy, cheap enough not to worry too much about, looks 100x better. Mike at Dynachip said it was pretty much the same as the Alive custom interiors so that made me feel good :D

Here they are -

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/m.html?_ssn=topgaiters&_armrs=1&_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=defender&_sop=15
 
Thanks :)

It was made by an ebay company called TopGaiters I noticed they did a few leather bits like the gearstick/handbrake gaiters and the soft dash cover but not the gauge surround, heater control trim end, pass grab handle, steering column so I asked why, they said they didnt have any parts to pattern and would cost to much to buy them so I shipped my bits off to them. I got leather trim, they got a pattern to make more.

Then it was all fitted myself using high temperature heavy duty spray glue, been a 18 months or so now and its all still perfect. Been in direct sunlight, mud, water, general dirt, fag ash all sorts. Just wipes clean and looks SO much nicer than the standard plastic trim LR supply.

They make it affordable to have a bit of luxury inside a Defender, companies like CSK, FCX and the like charge thousands for what I have done. If you wanted to do it yourself would cost all of £185 including the spray glue. Not bad ayy, cheap enough not to worry too much about, looks 100x better. Mike at Dynachip said it was pretty much the same as the Alive custom interiors so that made me feel good :D

Here they are -

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/m.html?_ssn=topgaiters&_armrs=1&_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=defender&_sop=15

Just looked at their stuff, there are some nice things I want now!

My wiring is worse than that! Yours looks tidy now though.
 
Mainly because my engineer mate is a perfectionist and stood behind me yelling at me till it was nice lol

Yeah! The quality is really good, obviously takes some fettling/trimming to fit but hey!
 
:D 18psi on the dot! Im good :cool:

Acoustic foam is in, it makes a real difference even in a short test!

Wireing is done AND everyhing works! :D really pleased, so tidy now! And mainly so much easier to get to!



Girlfriend came round so ran out of time, but the cage supports are half painted. Hopefully get the lining done Sunnday :D
 
Haha some do some dont!

Didnt get much done over the weekend it being a mates birthday and all. Did manage to get the headlining covered, its not 100% perfect but its very good. Started to crease on one side BUT it is underneath the sun visor! So at least it wont be seen 90% of the time.

Next difficult job to do is actually get the rear headlining fitted because of where the rollcage is Im going to have to very carefully cut and force it round somehow without it looking like total ****. Bought some matt grey paint as well to spray parts of the roof before I fit the linings, so you cant see any white/black showing through. Should be good!

Hopefully get the A-Frame balljoint done this week or the weekend. Problem is I need a buzz gun! Nuts are just far far to tight, almost pulled a muscle trying to get them off!

Overall though Im really happy so far. All coming together really nicely and shockingly easily! All ready for an off road trip to France at the end of August!
 
Headlining is covered!



and refitted! Looks bloody amazing If I do say so myself! Added two extra trim pins in the center to prevent sag.



Roll cage mounts are now refitted and sealed. Applied liberal amounts of sikaflex and new stainless nuts, bolts and washers. So if that leaks again ill be shocked.



As for the acoustic foam in the roof, unless you have any spare and can really be assed its not really worth doing. What is worth doing is a strip of fatmat/dynamat down the support bars, stops em rattling if they do.

Did a little test using a free sound testing app.

Tickover on a main road is 63 - 65db.
50mph main road, driving normally. 72 - 76db.
Flooring it 76 - 80db.

Windows/vents closed, no rear headlining and slightly rattly rear windows. So overall pretty pleased!
 
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