What have you done on your 90/110/130 today?

Last weekend we went camping for the long weekend. Luckily the weather held, for the most part!

Friday we went to Goodrich Castle and Puzzlewood, staying at a campsite near Talgarth overnight.
Saturday was a visit to a waterfall and a bit of a hike, back to the same campsite at night.
Sunday was Elan Valley and the reservoirs, absolutely gorgeous area of the world. We'll be back again for the greenlanes, didn't get a chance as it was getting late in the day. Sunday night was at Coco's Wild Camp, another stunning spot.
Monday we made our way home. Stopped in Ludlow for a bit of an explore, then left as it started to rain.

All in all the weekend was amazing. Drove some amazing windy scenic roads (stayed away from motorways, what's the point??). Saw the beautiful Welsh countryside at a sedate pace, limited by the 2.5NA engine. But after a little while I didn't really care that we weren't the most efficient, going at the speed limit to get there faster, because we had no hard plan, and I was having fun just driving.

Sleeping in the back was so comfortable, warm and dry. We had an air mattress with a 2" memory foam topper on top, with a proper duvet and pillows. The curtains over the back door window and bulkhead worked great for keeping draughts out, and heat in. Insulation on the roof worked great, I assume. We were quite warm overnight anyway, and it had dropped to about 2-3degC overnight, so i'm calling that a win.

Completed since last update:

• Insulation fit to the roof and sides from the bulkhead back to the rear, including the rear wall around the door.
• Curtains have a temporary fitting solution.
• Fold down table temporarily set up. Wanted to make sure it worked before committing. Got some small changes to make before final fit and finish.
• Packed boxes, bungie cords to hold together, phone mount on windscreen, battery clock on dash, small bits.

To do:

• Second layer of insulation in the back, and first layer in the cab. There was a lot of condensation in the front in the mornings, insulation will help with that. Just didn't get the time before we headed out.
• More permanent solution for the curtains. Probably a pole for the back window, and velcro for the bulkhead.
• Replace the air mattress with some form of foam one. Deflated slowly overnight, not much fun but not a showstopper.
• Make the changes and finish the fold down table on the rear door. It worked great, just need something sturdier than paracord to hold it up, and more permanent as it was a quick easy solution for the time being.
• Find and fit a centre seat in the front. The wife didn't have as much fun in the side facing benches in the back as we had up front.
• Some form of electric and lighting. Probably use portable stuff for the time being, but just a bit more.
• Ground cover for outside the rear door. Churned up a lot of mud climbing in and out, as well as standing there to cook. I'm thinking some plywood with rubber over top. Mostly just to provide a dry stable surface to get in and out from.
• Will also look into those camper levelling blocks, they look cheap and cheerful, and may help get a bit more level so we're not sleeping head down.

We had a great time, the Defender worked great for the entire weekend without a single issues, and we cannot wait to go again!

Took it for it's MOT.. failed.

RustyDefender said:

Took it for it's MOT.. failed.

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That's not good, did it fail on much?

I have finally managed to wire up my washer jet!

They have never worked since I purchased the 90 and gave up chasing the old wiring so repurposed some redundant rear light wiring and connected the pump to one of the vacant switches.

Hey presto it works. Can’t believe I am so pleased with something you normally take for granted!

It reached 110k miles. And I had my insurance renewal through. It has gone up by £14 which isn’t too bad!

RustyDefender said:

Took it for its MOT.. failed.

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They never fail… it just means you still have some work to do

RustyDefender said:

Took it for it's MOT.. failed.

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Failed on the crossmember?

Made a hole.

Made a floor, sort of wish I made it in 1 bit but couldn't get it in there and didn’t want to cut the floor out before hand.
Just mean a bit more welding.

So since the last update we've been for a weekend in the Cotswolds (last weekend). Had a great time again, saw some cool towns and areas. Visited Clarkson's farm shop, saw some nice cars and bought some overpriced lager. Got some nice plastic pint glasses for the Defender though!

So, onto the Defender stuff:

Completed before Cotswolds trip:

• Hung a pole across the rear wall from one side of the roll cage to the other to hold up the curtain. Worked great, made some brackets that bolt onto the roll cage and hold the pole securely. Will take it down at some point and paint it pretty.
• Swapped the air mattress for a Z Fold foam mattress. Much better! Nearly as good as the mattress at home, very pleased with it. Just about fits in the back with the side facing benches, bit of a mare to wrestle into place, but great when in.
• Bought levelling blocks, camp table, and a 4 gang sockets to camper plug in thingy. Didn't use any of them on the trip, but hey I have them now at least.

In the last week:

• Upgraded the gas camp cooker with one from Costco. Much more substantial, with a metal hinged lid and 2 rings. I'm planning on having the propane bottle in the exterior locker, with a line run to the back door. Should be good?
• Committed to making the back a camper. Till now, I'd been wanting to have it modular, easy to set up as a camper, but also able to carry people in the back. The weekend trip made me realise that I just need to commit to it being a camper in the back, as it'll make life so much easier. To that end I've started to build a drawer system to fit in the bottom of the rear space, that the bed will go on. I've also decided to take out the rear benches to make assembling/ disassembling the bed easier. Bought and got some plywood cut at B&Q, have started the assembly progress. I'll post some photos when it's done.
• Bought a load of small bits in Ikea, like boxes, organisers, hanging racks, that kind of thing. Cheapest Ikea run ever!
• Finally found and bought a middle seat for the front. £46 on eBay, collected it today.

Started to put the middle seat in this afternoon, learned a lot about the cab of the Defender. Number 1 was that the MOD decided that the best place for the driver and passenger seat to be located was an inch inboard. So first up was move them back out a little bit, to make space in the middle for the seat. Secondly was to move the seatbelt mounts out as well for more space. And that is the end of what I achieved today. I'll need to by the lap belt kit this week before I go drilling mounting holes, to make sure everything lines up nicely before I make mistakes.

Still to do:

• Insulate the front cab. I also want to add another layer of insulation to the back, to double it up, and add some carpet over top to make it pretty.
• Finish the fold down table at some point. Maybe.
• Finally fit the driver side step. Found the offending bolt fouling step placement, so I can take that out, fit the step, and move the bolt.
• Build the rear drawer unit.

That's about it for the moment I think!

Mate of mine bought a new LR over the weekend and needs a screen.
Most are 'collect only'.
Just wondered if anyone knew of one near the Glasgow/Edinburgh area ??

miktdish said:

Mate of mine bought a new LR over the weekend and needs a screen.
Most are 'collect only'.
Just wondered if anyone knew of one near the Glasgow/Edinburgh area ??

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Hope this helps for a guide point I paid £170+vat for a windscreen (heated) fitted recently