Just order up 2 new square ones, fit them along with light grilles and put a piece of shaped plexi glass in front of them, saves on future stone chips, keeps std appearances and negates any faffing around trying to make something work that could be worse in the final result.

Sometimes keeping it simple is really the best option! I saw some very badly executed mods over the years, round lights in a D1 being one of the many, Defender rear lights fitted on a piece of tin, rivetted into the rear cluster hole was particularly gruesome too:rolleyes:
 
Only problem with that is they still have the problem of filling up with water because they're not sealed units (I don't think). Almost all the 4WDing in my part of NZ is rivers, so I really need fully sealed lights. Others in our club also get this problem
 
Never heard of silicone grease?

your's can be missing, but I have rubber boots on the back of my lights, the bulb tabs go through them and the are a firm fit onto the back of the headlamp, I liberally apply silicone grease where the bulb tabs pass through and where the boot seals on the headlamp, serves to keep dust and water out, if you do get water in then seal from glass to bowl issue or chip/crack.

much cheaper to smear some grease around ;)
 
Mine must be missing that boot then. However, a lot of guys in our club have had this problem and many people have just given up and drilled holes in their lights to let them drain.
 
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Great thread Trillo !

Great to see another Chch member as well :)

I used to frequent the NZLROC....

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/NZLANDROVEROwners/info

Don't know if you've seen it. Its a forum (not quite of LZ scale!) but everyone has Series/Defender/Disco, which was fine when I was driving a Disco, but now I drive Freelander - I don't go there much - although I do read most posts.

Whats the CLROC like? I quite fancy joining a group that does days out. I checked their website and their application form says...

"membership is open to all makes of four wheel drive vehicles with capabilities similar to the Land Rover, provided the vehicle is equipped with a low-ratio transfer box"

So that rather rules my Freelander out. Do they have any/many Freelanders in the club?

Is the river in the pics the Selwyn? Here's a pic of my old Disco paddling in the Hanmer River...

Hanmer_1.jpg


And another in a gulley on one of the mountains up the Hanmer River valley...

Hanmer_2.jpg
 
Great thread Trillo !

Great to see another Chch member as well :)

I used to frequent the NZLROC....

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/NZLANDROVEROwners/info

Don't know if you've seen it. Its a forum (not quite of LZ scale!) but everyone has Series/Defender/Disco, which was fine when I was driving a Disco, but now I drive Freelander - I don't go there much - although I do read most posts.

Whats the CLROC like? I quite fancy joining a group that does days out. I checked their website and their application form says...

"membership is open to all makes of four wheel drive vehicles with capabilities similar to the Land Rover, provided the vehicle is equipped with a low-ratio transfer box"

So that rather rules my Freelander out. Do they have any/many Freelanders in the club?

Is the river in the pics the Selwyn?

Haven't seen that forum. Will go and look.

Nice Disco. I do like the looks of a good old standard Disco offroading :D

Unfortunately it does mean no Hippos :mad:
Very keen on one as a daily as a V8 isn't the cheapest way to get to school! There was a 2WD one for $900 recently, but wrong time for me. Once I buy one I do plan on speaking to the club about it, and hopefully change the regulations. Problem is, what to???? Cause I don't want any old Rav4 or Hyundai Santa-Fe on 20" rims holding us up crossing the Waimak :(

Yes CLROC is a great club, really responsible (unlike other clubs drink driving etc. etc.) and allowing non-Landies in means there always a Toyota to haul out (although Landies seem to not always get away with it!). Here's a few pics from a couple of recent trip. Dunno if you saw us on the news too...

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Note the TV camera (yes, it was on the news :eek:)
 
Unfortunately it does mean no Hippos :mad:

Very keen on one as a daily as a V8 isn't the cheapest way to get to school! There was a 2WD one for $900 recently, but wrong time for me. Once I buy one I do plan on speaking to the club about it, and hopefully change the regulations. Problem is, what to???? Cause I don't want any old Rav4 or Hyundai Santa-Fe on 20" rims holding us up crossing the Waimak :(

Yes CLROC is a great club, really responsible (unlike other clubs drink driving etc. etc.) and allowing non-Landies in means there always a Toyota to haul out (although Landies seem to not always get away with it!). Here's a few pics from a couple of recent trip. Dunno if you saw us on the news too...

That does sound rather stupid - a Land Rover club that doesn't allow Land Rovers, but will allow other makes!

Maybe they should add another rule that the "vehicle should have a good chance of not breaking down on club days" - then they could ban all Landies!

TBH I prefer Freelander on the Mak (and beach) to my Disco - I'm much more confident its not going to get stuck. By standard it runs a 4WD setup that's the same as permanent 4WD but with a center diff that automatically locks - so better then D1 & Defender and superior to D2 - plus has Traction Control so superior to D1 & Defender. On gravel, sand & mud Freelander is in its element. Its only when you get a lot of water or big obstacles where its ground clearance and lack of low-range makes the others superior. Freelander's also a lot lighter, which helps out in many situations.

Having said that, mines running 2WD after I knackered my transmission. I rebuilt the front diff (IRD) with a kit sent over from the UK. I removed the pinion gear though to make it permanently 2WD - the car's main function is as reliable family transport and its been great at that, but I'm wanting to reinstate the 4WD so will need replacement crown & pinion gears. I rang that $900 Freelander to either get it back on the road or just as a parts car for the gears -but it had already been sold :(

I'm not sure if a Freelander is the ideal car for getting to school, but its a great general purpose road car. Steer clear of the 2.5's - they're prone to overheating & head gasket failure and not much better than a Disco V8 on petrol. The 1.8's do about 30MPG - but are also prone to overheating and HGF - so if you want to spend your time working on the Disco, avoid them. The diesels are the way to go - the older (up to 99) Rover L Series engines are very very reliable (the only problem with mine in 5 years has been perished leak back hoses that cost $18 at CLRS for the hose) but not very quick. The TD4 BMW units are quicker, but have more electrical bits that can cause problems. Both will give just under 40MPG - in manual, knock that down to almost 30MPG in the TD4 auto. A bit better than the 14MPG my Disco was returning in the end :) Parts are not so easily/cheaply available over here as for Disco.

Its really difficult to find cheap Freelanders - cars like that $900 one don't come along to often. There's 4 L Series ones for sale on TradeMe at the moment and they're all $5K - $6K!
 
That does sound rather stupid - a Land Rover club that doesn't allow Land Rovers, but will allow other makes!

Yep, couldn't agree more. People don't seem to realise that they are so capable. Someone needs to take one along and prove to the club that they can go offroad, well :)

I'm not sure if a Freelander is the ideal car for getting to school, but its a great general purpose road car.

It wouldn't be just for school trips :D just a good excuse to try buy a cheaper to run manual car to get my license in. I'm definitely all for a diesel, probably on some ATs and possibly a small lift!
 
Keep up the good work, looking forward to seeing the lift & 32's.

Thanks! Already done the lift and 32s, just keep forgetting to update it! Also fixed the exhaust. Am just waiting on some photos from a friend of my truck and then an update will be out.... hopefully :D
 
Yep, couldn't agree more. People don't seem to realise that they are so capable. Someone needs to take one along and prove to the club that they can go offroad, well :)

It wouldn't be just for school trips :D just a good excuse to try buy a cheaper to run manual car to get my license in. I'm definitely all for a diesel, probably on some ATs and possibly a small lift!

Maybe I'll go along to the club meet next month - cant go next week cos I'm fishing down McKenzie country.

A 2" lift, spacers and tyres will get ground clearance up to std Disco height - but it wears the driveshaft CVs more rapidly and without the low-range, it just makes matters worse. They look good and you get benefits - but at a cost.
 
Was thinking kinda 15mm lift (using spring packers for levelling out sagging springs and should allow for 1" taller tyres) and some 29" ATs.
 
Update:

Here is an update I've been meaning to do for ages, and now that I'm home sick, I figured this is a good 'relaxing' thing to do :D
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You will have seen the spacers that I have fabricated (pieces of cut metal is far more truthful :D) and have finally fitted them. It is pretty much a case of jacking the chassis up as far away from the axles as possible (leaving them in full droop) and then, using a trolley jack jack one side up with blocks of wood under the diff to act as a pivot with pushes down the other side of the axle far enough to undo the shock, and then dislocate the spring but making sure we didn't damage the brake lines (I'm not going to fit extended lines as the guy before ran a 2 inch lift fine so until I go higher, these should be fine cause a $600 cert. fee is a bit much!!!!). We started with the back cause it easier.

Jacking of the chassis

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Not sure if I've said, but if not, I run 30mm wheel spacers :D

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Shock undone

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Spring out (Note: Chalk marks to show us orientation)

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How it all looked

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Now that everything was undone it was a case of putting everything back together. After bolting up the spring spacers we used spring compressors to compress the springs (surprise surprise :)) enough that they could be refitted despite the gap being 2 inches smaller. Then it was all bolted up and we left the front for another day :D

All done

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Done for the day :D and pleased

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The next day we tackled the front. After battling the rusted panhard bolt out of it's home we worked just like we had done at the back (hence no pics). The only difference was the bolt for the shockies went into the spacers.

Shockie bolted in (Note: Threads fouling the spacer)

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After the hacksaw :D

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All done, but by the shape of that spring (but it is at full droop) I think some castor correction arms may be on the list :rolleyes:

Anyway.... the best bit. Guess whose these are ↓↓↓↓↓↓

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DAD'S NEW KM2'S!!!!!!!

But I'm swapping him my old ones for his old ones

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They're a set of 235/85R16 BFG MTs (old pattern, which is better for riverbeds). They still have 8-10mm of tread too :D. They're mounted to some old Rostyle steelies (16x6.5) which have taken a hammering (literally, trying to straighten them :D). Anways, we got them mounted up and they do look a bit odd with the flares (needs more offset despite spacers!).

How it looks now

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It now sits 4 inches higher than standard!

IMG_0989_zpsze6mjytu.jpg

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So that's what I've wanted to post for a while :)

Since then we fixed the exhaust (took 4 hours because when undid the bolts to clean the soot of the gasket so it'd seal properly it sprung forwards (obviously loaded up with the new dent in it) and spent ages straightening it!) Here's a couple of piccies

The leak :eek:

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Gasket cleaned up

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We did use exhaust goo on the gasket to help it seal.

Here you can see how it had moved (because the hit had preloaded it)

IMG_1187_zpssyihkrio.jpg


We did finish it but it was soooo cold (highest temp was 5 degrees all day) so didn't want to roll around on the cold ground to grab another pic of it done. Anyways, we fixed (thanks Dad :D) and now that it's sealed it sounds different to when it was broken and also when it was supposedly not broken. It had 2/3 bolts missing from the studs so I reckon it already had a leak.

How it sounded in the first place:



How it sounded broken:





Haven't got any video of it in tip top shape (yet) but I think my friend might (waiting to get it off him).

Anyway, final page in this chapter :), I took it offroading on 32s!!!!
What a beast!!!! It walked up climbs I couldn't get up at all on the 30s and with them being a bit narrower, they dug in nicely on the gravel track with very little hastle. I'm loving them :D. I only took one photo but my friend took a few and also some video (still waiting on the vids!) but it was a great trip. I'll finish of with some photos, and then go and get a snack :D
Cheers guys,
Trillo

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Oops, this new layout tripping me up! Got a few things to fix. Was expecting it to embed Youtube vids by now but it won't :(
Need a break but will fix it all soon
 
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