Today was a day of pottering, small jobs.
- Put air in the tyres, glad I did as there was less than 30psi in each. They're rated for 75psi at full weight, so I put a sensible 50psi each. I'll see how long it lasts.
- Installed some of the bits I bought at the GB LR Show in Stoneleigh, namely the internal door handles, snow cowl + wingtop grille, radiator grille.
- Spent some time going around with blanking grommets sealing the various holes from stuff I've removed. Went better than I thought, 3 left to do. I put the grommets in hot water to soften them up a bit which made them easier to fit into place.
- The jerry cans fit nicely in the side storage lockers, look forward to filling them up and having a reserve of diesel.
- The pintle for the front bumper is too big in diameter, so I'll have to source another one.
- Started applying lipstick to the pig. My Defender is exMOD, which means it was painted NATO green a few times in its life. And by painted, of course I mean sheep dipped in NATO green paint. Everything is green. Inside is green. Outside is green. All the trim is green. The plastic is green. The wheel arches are green. The windscreen rubber seal is green. The window seals are green. Inside the cubbies are green. The bumpers/ crossmembers are green. So in order the break up the sea of NATO approved matte green, I've tested a patch of gloss black accents. My plan is to paint the chequer-plate and wheel arches gloss black, similar to other examples of Wolves and MOD Defenders that I've seen, except that they'll be gloss. Hopefully it'll be a tasteful breaking up of the sea of green, but still in keeping with its history. I think the test patch looks quite smart. I'll wait for the weather to warm up a smidge before I tackle the full job. In two minds whether to paint the front bumper and rear crossmember black as well, but we'll see. Maybe just the rear bumperettes.
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In other news, made a DIY mechanic creeper from an old stainless steel frame with spinning casters. Just riveted brackets to the inside of the frame to hold some plywood, now I've a handy way of getting under the Defender without using the chassis to move myself along.