discomikey
New Member
- Posts
- 303
- Location
- derbyshire, harper adams
i was fed up of my lack of space to mount things with a TDI, like the airbox for example. so i decided as part of my rebuild, i should fit defener inner wings to improve my space. heres what i did.
start with a series wing. obviously
and a defender inner wing
then cut out the inside of the wing like so. making sure that you cut it the right side of the slam panel bolts, else the wing wont bolt back on properly
make sure to leave 1cm lip round the top edge like so, for two reasons, firstly to make it look a neater cut, and secondly to give something to mount stuff like header tanks etc.
after de burring the edges i turned the wing upside down, and removed 4 of the top to side skin bolts, throw these away as theyre too thin.
use 4 m8 bolts and washers to attach the inner wing to the series wing along the top like so. the frontmost bolt in the inner wing needs to be elongated to fit. its also worth running an 8mm clearance drill bit through the holes in the series wing, as they are large enough, but it makes it easier to fit the bolts.
once fitted at the top, the wing needs putting upright, the next bit may be easier to do on the vehicle to get the right length supports. i did it on the floor. you need to make some supports from the inner wings to the series wings. there are some tabs on the inner wings with captive nuts, and if youre clever enough, the bracket from the defender wing can be used on the drivers side wing, and probably for the passengers side wing too. i made a new bracket for the passengers side though, using some of the old wing that i cut out
this is an angle shaped piece for strength.
heres the finished article on the floor.
the black bracket you can see on the bottom of the inner wing, lines up with the bulkhead support strut on the chassis, this needs drilling and bolting down.
at the front the inner wing needs bolting to the chassis or slam panel too, make sure it is clear of the flexi pipe on both steeirng locks!
and heres a sort of view of them on with the engine in (not really very well showing the space gained)
the space behind the headlight seems an ideal place for a sealed airbox, with an extra hose to come up for a deeper wading depth.
start with a series wing. obviously
and a defender inner wing
then cut out the inside of the wing like so. making sure that you cut it the right side of the slam panel bolts, else the wing wont bolt back on properly
make sure to leave 1cm lip round the top edge like so, for two reasons, firstly to make it look a neater cut, and secondly to give something to mount stuff like header tanks etc.
after de burring the edges i turned the wing upside down, and removed 4 of the top to side skin bolts, throw these away as theyre too thin.
use 4 m8 bolts and washers to attach the inner wing to the series wing along the top like so. the frontmost bolt in the inner wing needs to be elongated to fit. its also worth running an 8mm clearance drill bit through the holes in the series wing, as they are large enough, but it makes it easier to fit the bolts.
once fitted at the top, the wing needs putting upright, the next bit may be easier to do on the vehicle to get the right length supports. i did it on the floor. you need to make some supports from the inner wings to the series wings. there are some tabs on the inner wings with captive nuts, and if youre clever enough, the bracket from the defender wing can be used on the drivers side wing, and probably for the passengers side wing too. i made a new bracket for the passengers side though, using some of the old wing that i cut out
this is an angle shaped piece for strength.
heres the finished article on the floor.
the black bracket you can see on the bottom of the inner wing, lines up with the bulkhead support strut on the chassis, this needs drilling and bolting down.
at the front the inner wing needs bolting to the chassis or slam panel too, make sure it is clear of the flexi pipe on both steeirng locks!
and heres a sort of view of them on with the engine in (not really very well showing the space gained)
the space behind the headlight seems an ideal place for a sealed airbox, with an extra hose to come up for a deeper wading depth.
