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LandRoverAnorak Member Since: 17 Jul 2011 Location: Surrey Posts: 11324 |
A relatively simple little modification today - fitting LED stop/tail lights. As I already have NAS lights fitted, I've opted for the LED equivalent from Perei. These lights, which came from Dun-Bri Group, come with simple fly leads to which I've fitted three way Econseal connectors to match those on the vehicle loom:
Click image to enlarge In use, they're much brighter than regular bulbs and also have the advantage of illuminating quicker, which is really noticeable if you see them side by side: Click image to enlarge I'm not a fan of the usual aftermarket offerings for LED lights - particularly clear lens types - but these look virtually identical to the originals: Click image to enlarge I've just got the indicators to do now, but that's slightly more involved and will wait for warmer weather. Darren 110 USW BUILD THREAD - EXPEDITION TRAILER - 200tdi 90 BUILD THREAD - SANKEY TRAILER - IG@landroveranorak "You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia |
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21st Feb 2020 9:34pm |
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LandRoverAnorak Member Since: 17 Jul 2011 Location: Surrey Posts: 11324 |
A few months ago, my interior lights developed a fault whereby they would flicker on when driving over a bump. I checked and lubricated all of the door switches but couldn't find anything amiss. I then began to suspect the wiring that I'd added to feed a third interior light over the second row seats, but because it was above the roof lining and therefore a pain to get to, I turned the lights off and ignored it.
Fast forward to yesterday and the car alarm went off in the middle of the day for no apparent reason. Again, I suspected the interior light wiring and so with a dry day today for a change, I set about stripping out the interior trim. The joint that I'd made with the original wiring was above the centre of the rearmost roof section. Because of the way everything interlocks, it's necessary to remove all of the interior trim from the B post backwards to take out that section! I got as far as removing all of the side trims and all of the roof trim fixings and then discovered that with the roof loose, if I tapped it I could make the lights flicker. More convinced than ever that I was on the right track, I set about disconnecting the centre light so that I could remove the first roof section. It was at this point that I realised I'd made a stupid mistake. As I carefully prised the light fitting out of its' hole in the roof lining, the lights flickered again. One of the improvised connectors that I'd fitted (the proper connector isn't available separately) was a non-insulated type and was loose on the slightly too narrow pin onto which it was pushed. There was just enough movement for it to touch the backplate, which is the earth point for the light, and was clearly moving when provoked by a bump. The solution was easy - a bit of insulation tape in the appropriate place and the problem was solved. I then spent another hour reinstating all of the interior trim that I'd needlessly removed Click image to enlarge To add insult to injury, I also managed to blow the fuse whilst faffing around with the light fitting. Tracking it down was a right pain as the graphic on the fuse box cover is no help at all. After a bit of internet searching though, I established that it's fuse 29 that feeds the lights and a new 15 amp fuse restored normal service. Click image to enlarge As a little addendum, I mentioned above that the proper connector for the interior lights isn't available as a separate part. However, I've just bought a roof wiring loom from eBay for a few quid and next time I strip the roof lining out, which I need to do for another little project in due course, I'll replace the additional wiring with a section salvaged from that! Darren 110 USW BUILD THREAD - EXPEDITION TRAILER - 200tdi 90 BUILD THREAD - SANKEY TRAILER - IG@landroveranorak "You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia |
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7th Mar 2020 5:25pm |
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LandRoverAnorak Member Since: 17 Jul 2011 Location: Surrey Posts: 11324 |
I recently found my Land Rover in need of an oil change (oh, the joys of having a DPF equipped vehicle ) and so I booked it into my local independent, Challenger 4x4. Anyway, I decided to take advantage of the visit and also ask them to fit the new suspension components that I've had in the garage for six months or more. I did intend to do this one myself, but time and weather always seem to be against me.
Click image to enlarge The general idea of this work is to replace all of the hardware with new, galvanised alternatives and incorporate spring isolators. To that end, I obtained a pair of Gwyn Lewis front shock towers and a complete set of galvanised spring seats (from the man himself during a visit last summer), and clamps from Defender Upgrades. The latter, bought via their eBay shop, was the cheapest I could find for what is a very simple part. The front spring isolators are those from a Discovery 2, which incorporate the top spring clamp plate into the rubber: Click image to enlarge The rear ones are more complicated as rear 110 springs are bigger than fronts and so normal Discovery isolators won't work. Instead, I used an Old Man Emu part that's intended for a Toyota (part no.OME80PR10), bought from Devon 4x4: Click image to enlarge All nuts and bolts are stainless and I asked the garage to treat all of the areas where the new parts are fixed to be treated with Dinitrol before re-assembly. At the front, I've re-used the existing springs: Click image to enlarge At the rear I've swapped out the standard USW HD springs for a set of white/green/green station wagon springs: Click image to enlarge Whilst I know that it's not necessarily fashionable, I've gone for new standard shock absorbers and steering damper. My 110 is on around 54k miles and I figured that just fitting new components should give a clear benefit. First impressions are very good. Handling has been noticeably sharpened up, which I attribute to the new shocks. The edge has been taken off the ride harshness by the isolators but the biggest change is from the rear springs. Where I live, there are lots of speed humps and the back end now comes off of them in a much more civilised fashion than previously. None of this has significantly changed the ride height. I measured before and after and it's a pretty consistent 5-10mm higher all round, which is great: Click image to enlarge Darren 110 USW BUILD THREAD - EXPEDITION TRAILER - 200tdi 90 BUILD THREAD - SANKEY TRAILER - IG@landroveranorak "You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia Last edited by LandRoverAnorak on 24th Mar 2020 9:35am. Edited 1 time in total |
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22nd Mar 2020 10:31am |
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90 Dreamer Member Since: 13 Jul 2019 Location: Oop North Posts: 2142 |
Personal thing but I would not use stainless steel bolts in any sort of stressed / critical area........
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22nd Mar 2020 11:12am |
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LandRoverAnorak Member Since: 17 Jul 2011 Location: Surrey Posts: 11324 |
I understand. I'm comfortable with using them for this particular application, though. Darren
110 USW BUILD THREAD - EXPEDITION TRAILER - 200tdi 90 BUILD THREAD - SANKEY TRAILER - IG@landroveranorak "You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia |
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22nd Mar 2020 4:06pm |
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LandRoverAnorak Member Since: 17 Jul 2011 Location: Surrey Posts: 11324 |
Today’s little adventure was to fit a raised air intake to my 110. There’s a bit of a saga to it though, so bear with me.
I’ve always liked a Land Rover with a snorkel and have had various different types over the years. My favourite type though, is the Mantec plastic version of the traditional style as fitted to the G4 110’s a few years ago. I even bought one but due to the notoriously restrictive air intake duct on the Puma, I also bought a Nugget induction kit, reasoning that it would offset any losses through the snorkel. However, having assembled all of the parts, it became apparent that they weren’t compatible. One needed to be fixed from the inside and one from the outside but with either in place it was impossible to install the other. I umm’ed and ahh’ed for a while about modifying them to fit but eventually gave up and sold the lot. I still wanted a snorkel and a decent compromise seemed to be the one from Nakatanenga as it has a large bore and connects directly to the airbox via the top of the wing, making the original restrictive duct redundant. A kit was duly purchased and collected from Peterborough last summer. The kit is very comprehensive and includes all of the fixings required to install it. The metal parts are powder coated aluminium and are very nicely made. There are no instructions though, which is disappointing at this price point – it was almost as expensive as the Mantec and Nugget kits combined! Click image to enlarge I made one small modification, which was to apply self-adhesive foam tape to the underside of the plate that sits on the wing. This isn’t in any way a seal – it’s just to prevent metal on metal contact and, in my case, to tidy up the joint between the flat plate and the wing top chequer plate that’s fitted to my 110: Click image to enlarge With the top of the airbox and pipe to the turbo removed for access, the first task is to remove the plastic wing to airbox duct. Click image to enlarge This is far from straightforward as without dismantling half the vehicle, it won’t fit through the gap between inner wing, steering column and master cylinder. After much swearing though, it was persuaded to come out… Click image to enlarge With that out of the way, I also removed the impellor from the airbox inlet: Click image to enlarge The first part to be fitted is a reducer spigot, which goes into the airbox inlet. It’s a very tight fit and was encouraged into place with a block of wood and a hammer. It’s also very close to the alternator and it was necessary to lever the airbox over slightly to aid this. Once in place, it just clears everything around it. Click image to enlarge Next is the flexible pipe between the wing top and the airbox. Because access is so restricted, I fitted the pipe to the spigot on the metal pipe that mounts on the wing first and then threaded the pipe through. Did I mention that access is restricted? To make as much space as possible, I re-routed the bonnet release cable so that it was further under the wing. This involved moving it’s mounting clip from near to the suspension turret cover to a convenient hole in the inner wing: Click image to enlarge With the flexi-pipe threaded through the top of the wing, it was obvious that it was too long, and so I cut off about 4-5 inches before wrestling it into position on the end of the airbox spigot. This was very difficult, with virtually no room to allow a decent grip on the pipe, but got there eventually: Click image to enlarge In hindsight, I may have made a tactical error at this stage. It was only afterwards that it occurred to me that I may have got the routing of this pipe wrong and that it should have gone backwards under the wing, under the master cylinder and around in a loop to the airbox. Having cut the pipe short, it was now too late to test this idea and I may have shot myself in the foot when it comes to fitting a ProVent, as I’ve filled the usual space for one with pipe. Still, it’s fitted now and that’s a problem for another day. Click image to enlarge With the under bonnet stuff completed, I turned to the external pipe. As is typical with snorkels, this comprises a pipe that matches the rake of the windscreen with a suitable bracket attached and a flexible rubber pipe to joint the two metal parts together. The windscreen bracket is welded to the pipe and designed to be fitted with 5 no. 5mm rivets. I had what I though was a cunning plan for this though, and decided to glue it in place with Sikaflex instead of drilling into the windscreen frame. Needless to say, it didn’t work and I ended up drilling it anyway The final step is to fit the Donaldson pre-filter head, which is a substantial bit of kit. As the spigot on the pre-filter is essentially the same diameter as the pipe, a short rubber collar is provided to clamp the two parts together: Click image to enlarge So there you go – a quick spin shows a noticeable improvement in pick up and general smoothness and I also think it looks pretty cool, which is at least as important Click image to enlarge As for the kit, I’ll give it 8/10. A decent set of instructions would go a long way with this, as it’s not your typical bolt-on goody. Darren 110 USW BUILD THREAD - EXPEDITION TRAILER - 200tdi 90 BUILD THREAD - SANKEY TRAILER - IG@landroveranorak "You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia Last edited by LandRoverAnorak on 24th Mar 2020 9:39am. Edited 4 times in total |
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22nd Mar 2020 5:57pm |
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blackwolf Member Since: 03 Nov 2009 Location: South West England Posts: 17353 |
Good choice!
Click image to enlarge
I routed mine further back as you describe, you can see it in the photo below. You can also see that with a Provent space is becoming tight - it'd be worse if I had a/c! Fitting a Nuggetstuff air box is a further significant enhancement, although it does mean that the induction system in total costs almost as much as a decent second-hand car! Click image to enlarge |
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22nd Mar 2020 9:42pm |
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LandRoverAnorak Member Since: 17 Jul 2011 Location: Surrey Posts: 11324 |
Hmmm If it comes to it, I'll have to invest in a new length of pipe but I'll have a play with the ProVent first and see what I can do.
Why do you say it'd be worse if you had A/C? Is there some other obstacle that I'm missing (as I do have A/C)? Darren 110 USW BUILD THREAD - EXPEDITION TRAILER - 200tdi 90 BUILD THREAD - SANKEY TRAILER - IG@landroveranorak "You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia |
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22nd Mar 2020 10:00pm |
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blackwolf Member Since: 03 Nov 2009 Location: South West England Posts: 17353 |
No particular problem, it's just that there'd be even more stuff in a congested area.
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23rd Mar 2020 12:19pm |
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LandRoverAnorak Member Since: 17 Jul 2011 Location: Surrey Posts: 11324 |
Ah, ok. Thanks. Darren
110 USW BUILD THREAD - EXPEDITION TRAILER - 200tdi 90 BUILD THREAD - SANKEY TRAILER - IG@landroveranorak "You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia |
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23rd Mar 2020 12:35pm |
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LandRoverAnorak Member Since: 17 Jul 2011 Location: Surrey Posts: 11324 |
So, after my regular run to work and back today (which could be the last time for a while ), I'm pleased to confirm that my 110 has been transformed! Between the suspension refresh and the snorkel, it's like driving a different vehicle.
The latter, in particular, is a revelation. I wasn't really aware of a problem before but the power delivery is now so much smoother that I wonder how I managed. Gone is any hint of hesitation or jerkiness at low revs and it now pulls very smoothly throughout the whole rev range. The existing intake duct clearly just strangles all of the get up and go out of the engine. Whether by a snorkel like mine or an induction kit, I'd highly recommend allowing your Puma engine to breathe properly. Darren 110 USW BUILD THREAD - EXPEDITION TRAILER - 200tdi 90 BUILD THREAD - SANKEY TRAILER - IG@landroveranorak "You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia |
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23rd Mar 2020 11:20pm |
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blackwolf Member Since: 03 Nov 2009 Location: South West England Posts: 17353 |
It is remarkable just how great is the improvement, isn't it?
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24th Mar 2020 6:02am |
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Grenadier Member Since: 23 Jul 2014 Location: The foot of Mont Blanc... Posts: 5804 |
Nice write up LRA.
LRA, Blackwolf, I cant remember, but have you both had yours remapped? I seem to think so. I’m thinking of doing the lower-half conversion (I.e. No snorkel) at the same time I do remap, new rad, new hoses. Planned for end of spring. Monsieur Le Grenadier I've not been everywhere, but it's on my list..... 2011 Puma 110DC - Corris Grey |
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24th Mar 2020 7:08am |
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LandRoverAnorak Member Since: 17 Jul 2011 Location: Surrey Posts: 11324 |
No, I haven't had mine remapped. I do have a larger intercooler, fitted because the original split, but the difference is negligible without a map to take advantage of it.
Getting it remapped is on my list of things to do but knowing the benefits that this particular snorkel was supposed to bring, I wanted that in place beforehand. To be honest, I'm now going to see how it goes for a while and the remap has moved further down the priority list. Of course, I might not be driving anywhere for some time in the present circumstances Darren 110 USW BUILD THREAD - EXPEDITION TRAILER - 200tdi 90 BUILD THREAD - SANKEY TRAILER - IG@landroveranorak "You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia |
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24th Mar 2020 9:10am |
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