 | Home > My Defender > 110 Puma Slovakia mods |
 
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| tatra805 Member Since: 16 Aug 2011 Location: Dolany Posts: 436   
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Hi everybody,
Hereby my 110 and the mods i did so far. I'll post everything in this topic and hopefully somebody can get something useful out of it. Let me first introduce myself, I am a Belgian living in Slovakia for 6 years now. Since my childhood and frequent holidays in the UK i got the defender fever. Funds restricted and wisdom limited it took me the long road to finally come home with this 110. There's no substitute for the original. I was driving (the 4wd list) 2 samurais, a nissan pickup and my Tatra805 and was ''involved''in the local (belgian) off-road scene back in the days when changing 10 splines in the dark was as normal as spaceframes are today. 
Last in the list was an 1991 Discovery V8 which i restored from ready for the scrapyard to ready for overlanding but other financial priorities forced me to sell it. 
Click image to enlarge So now a couple of years wiser i finally got my dream on the driveway, a 110.
Puma-TD5 The reason for going for this latest model and not a TD5 is twofold. First of all I believe in the engineering of LR.  With its drawbacks and its good points. I can honestly not see a reason to buy a previous generation car for use in Europe.
And secondly, I do appreciate the differences with the TD5 interior. The 110 will be used for travelling and the comfort is welcome in that case. Driving the 110 from Belgium to Slovakia (1600km; 1 day) certainly showed the advantages of the Puma over the TD5; In traffic jams or cities I do agree the TD5 5speed box is easier but overall my vote goes to the Puma. Intended Usage. The main use of the defender will be towing our horses, getting hay with the horsebox, etc say 5000km per year and for the rest it will be our holiday vehicle for wandering through Europe. Heavy off-road and events are not in plan. I had my share of them for years and no more time or interest in that direction.
So basically this will be another “overlander” type thing.
TBC [/img] Admin note: this post has had its images recovered from a money grabbing photo hosting site and reinstated  Last edited by tatra805 on 18th Mar 2012 6:38pm. Edited 1 time in total |
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20th Aug 2011 5:59pm |
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| tatra805 Member Since: 16 Aug 2011 Location: Dolany Posts: 436
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While it is tempting to spend the cash on all the goodies and accessories immediately I am also very aware of the snowball effect it creates.
While my discovery was kitted out with about everything (and a sublime car after that) I decided to take it basic and slow(er) this time. No lockers, no lifts, no panel cutting. So hereby in steps the mods I did so far. No intention to play prophet just hope someone might get ideas or eventually some help out of it. • Audio The favorite one first. (with the benefit that you can enjoy this during all next hours you spent installing other things) The OEM LR headunit refused to play CD’s and has a lot of interference of the radio tuner while playing the ipod (you even notice this with the stock speakers at higher volumes). The 10cm speakers turned out to be acceptable in combination with the added drivers so I left them in, also because in this size it is hard to find something that really brings an improvement in combination with the new hardware. For the headunit I went for Alpine. The sound quality is definitely better than other brands in the same price bracket. It has integrated USB-BT-Phone and Aux in as well as a separate cable from the back to attach the Iphone-Ipod and take over full functionality. Click image to enlarge Other components: - Signat 4x80Wrms Class A amp Channel 1, bridged 160WRMS to subwoofer Channel 2, 2x 80 to center and tweeters - Kicker subwoofer. Closed box design. Under cuby box, inclined so opening faces forward. (doesn’t give the kick in the back effect and is much more and longer bearable on longer trips) Keeps the sound image together. To avoid vibration a 3cm mdf plate fixed onto the metal gearbox cover and covered with some carpet works great.
I really do not like the boom-car or the typical Audi-VW setup where bass is coming from the rear, MB sound is way better just because the subs are door panel mounted and you are facing the music as on a concert instead of sitting between the violins and the drums. I was continuously playing with MME settings of my Audi before, while now in my MB I never change anything, no matter what genre I’m playing.
- MB original 2-component Bose system. The tweeters fit perfectly in the protection grids of the OEM tweeters and I mounted the mids in the center cubby box facing forward. Might seem a controversial position but I really experimented multiple evenings to find out what the gives the best result (excluding those positions where I’ll have to cut into the dash)
This position is as good as the best, with an added effect. If you switch Right-Left canal on these you get a real center stage effect. Just as if you would have a center speaker as in the D3 HK setup.
- 6x9 (now sony, will be replaced by JBL in future) under back seats simply facing upwards. (directing these gave a disturbed sound image while now they add to the mid-level without dominating. I had to add these to absorb current peaks which distorted the Bose speakers. Works a charm. (Bose adds a halogen bulb in their cabinets to do the same, I decided to create some more sound level instead of additional heating ) In all honesty, whether driving or being parked the sound image is stunning now. I almost would be arrogantly optimistic and claim it sounds better than the HK of the D3 (just that bit wider in bass and highs) Another note, the alpine has crossover filter settings as standard, (so not just the high-mid-low equalizer but a real cut off frequency setting) they work great for the mid-highs and thus reducing the distorting bass currents to the OEM drivers. (which are really messy with bass) The subwoofer crossover setting did not work well with my amp so I disabled it and used the hardware CO from the amp to drive the sub. This gave a much better result. I do know that it is impossible to choose a speaker from a rack or demo-stand and I did have the possibility to test out these drivers before buying them, which is a great advantage. As a reference, sony 10cm explod 2 ways were really unbalanced and too harsh in highs with almost no mid and a metallic bass, the oems were a lot better. Blaupunkt Velocity mid-lows were also no good, the bridge with the tweeters range was too big leaving a gap in the highs. JBL GTO’s were ok but not in combination with the dash tweeters. If I would only want to put 4 10cm drivers I would opt for these. Generaly the OEM drivers are not bad at all, so one could put in a crossover, cut off all frequencies under 100hz and add a sub driven from 100hz and they will sound much better than without the cross-over. 
TBC Admin note: this post has had its images recovered from a money grabbing photo hosting site and reinstated |
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20th Aug 2011 6:06pm |
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| tatra805 Member Since: 16 Aug 2011 Location: Dolany Posts: 436
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• Tires: 235/85R16 BFG AT
I won’t start a discussion about tires, had different types and sizes over the past years and acknowledge their pro’s and contra’s. The reason for staying stock size and road biased were: - No vehicle lift or hitch lowering needed, - AT for general use on and off-road. If AT with TC does not do it I better turn around, stay home or take the tractor, especially when towing the trailer in winter. - Mudplowing is not the aim here and I prefer the road handling of the AT above the relative better offroad capabilities of a general MT design. - BFG AT is winter tire approved (mandatory in Slovakia) so I don’t need a second set (at 5000km per year a waste of money) I did consider the GG AT2 because of the general positive reviews but found a couple of guy’s indicating the stiffness differences between the 2 related to heavy load or towing applications where the BFG came out as the superior one. • Rooftent / Roofrack My eezi awn left from the discovery lived non-stop for 5 years on top of my van. This learned me that although always available it sits exposed for 99.8% of its time. And although restricted to the cover it makes the tent look worn quickly. On the 110 I decided to only fit it when travelling and therefore will not fit a roofrack. I do like the looks of a roofrack a lot but I do not have any use for it other than carrying the tent. Besides the only roofrack I would consider is one connected to a rollcage. That way it adds protection and wont damage the integrity of the body construction. This combination adds a lot of safety but also again weight. As we are not planning on doing crazy offroad ventures while travelling (if yes than it will be in convoy anyway) I rather go the light way. The Disco roofbars are a bit higher than the defender ones but this then allows for a neat storage place for the table in the future. • Winch Superwinch Husky. (to be done later this year) Heavy and slow but reliable and available. (previously mounted on the Tatra). I would not install a winch for the purpose of this defender if I had to invest in it. During my travelling I never HAD to use one. If stuck, then the high-lift as winch got me out and kept me cautious not to get stuck. Simply too much hassle getting unstuck and you’ll always get stuck or at noon on a 38 degree windless day or just before dark in soaking rain. It will be mounted on a Mantec winchbumper with the Dixon bate toweyes , the classic Camel 110 setup. The Husky comes off a 1992 Camel trophy discovery and came fully waterproofed and with heavy duty electrics in separate sealed boxes. A main switch on the battery box and a warning light indicate the winch is switched on. Remote control plugs in at the winch and in the cab. Decided not to put fix switches in the dash because usage will be limited. • Snorkel, RAI No thanks, yes thanks I do see the benefit of a RAI, also in dry conditions but the reason for putting the snorkel at this stage is purely cosmetic, missus liked the looks of it so i had no choice than to fit one immediately.
Rai’s do have one disadvantage to my opinion, being a false sense of security. The fact that wading capabilities are restricted keeps you also away from the other risks involved with it. I also do not have the intention to flood my SE interior and electrics just because I now can. Mantec A general remark about the Mantec is how it does not follow the body nicely. When I first put it on I had the same problem; if it aligned with the windscreen frame it wouldn’t fit 100% with the bodywork. After taking it off to do some test runs related to my MAF codes I found that when mounting it back the trick is to set it in the intake hole and then pull it horizontally towards the back of the car before mounting it to the windscreen frame. All of a sudden all aligned nicely, even the holes for fixing it were not offset. Guess you have to find the right angle before tightening up the bolts.
TBC |
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20th Aug 2011 6:14pm |
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| tatra805 Member Since: 16 Aug 2011 Location: Dolany Posts: 436
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- Heat control
I purchased this item as a indoor-outdoor thermometer. The unit has a couple of extra functionalities which are really nice and justify its price. You can program a high and low limit which will actuate the NO or NC contacts of a relais. High-limit is connected to the airco switch in parallel. So the manual airco now is a thermostatic one. (still can be switched manually by the original switch) Do not understand why LR didn’t do it in the first place. The second contact goes will go in series with a switch to the webasto. If temp drops below the set value it powers the webasto controller. Webasto controller is wired in such a way that it needs to be switched on before reacting to the temp gauge signal. That way I still have full control and can keep the webasto switched off if I want to. With both systems connected I basically will have a full thermostatic heating. (and not to forget, the webasto can be set to cool down the vehicle also) * Inside storage organization
Why this design, what are my considerations? - As I will not have a roofrack I will be carrying everything inside. I do want to keep goods separated; the clean from the dirty and the light from the heavy. - I need to be able to convert back to normal loading space in minimal time in case I want to transport the dogs or other cargo. - A definite must for me is that the rear seat area is unaffected. I want to be able to seat 4+1 at every moment. Had it many times ones camp was set that the group wants to go out eating in town (or shopping) and each pair had to take its car because we all had only 2 seats. Besides the SE interior is too nice to damage. - It is very convenient on long trips to have a bit of spare space. The back seats will be quickly taken for coats and things or a quick nap in the back while cruising the highways. I do like the mantec solution for its simplicity but cannot justify the pricing for holiday use only. Same goes for the drawer systems available. So I had a couple of checkerplates bent to measure. Basically these are 4 shaped forms attached to each other and to the car using the rear seat mounting points. It is a non-permanent and non damaging concept that protects the loading area and stays in place all time. On the wheel arches a new raised floor is placed on which the main ‘daily’ cargo will be stored in boxes.
Carpets To preserve the original carpets I replaced them with some cheap alternative. Nevertheless a couple of notes on this. Look out for any carpet with a latex backing, these absorb/hold water and do not drain it off. (and you wont notice till you take out the flooring on top of it) The more fine fibres used the more water it will hold, even if it is a synthetic material the water will be trapped between the fibres and stay there. I went for a rough version with no backing layer (some type of sprayglue is used instead and normally these carpets are fully glued onto floorings to give them full stability). They drain easy, they don’t hold that much water. The drawback is that they do not have enough mechanical strength. Therefore I only use them as damping layers (between checker plate and loadspace) or glued onto a surface (covering of MDF plates) The rest of the cargo area is arranged as follows after playing around with the boxes and other stuff we want to have with us. It is really worth going through all setups trying out every possibility. Between wheelarches ground level: - 1x 90L of water with next to it waterpump and related electrics - 2x euro box holding Toolbox and recovery gear and spare parts, fluids etc - High Lift next to these Raised Floor: SHORT TRIP/ 4 people Click image to enlarge (fridge on left, not on picture) - Compressor and electrics related - Fridge and electrics related - 2x Zarges - up to 4 Big Euro boxes - 2 Small Euro boxes - portable toilet LONG TRIP/ 2 people Click image to enlarge - Compressor and electrics related - 2x Zarges - up to 8 Big Euro boxes - 2 Small Euro boxes - 2 Jerry cans 25l - Camping Table/Kitchen - Fridge and electrics related moved behind driver. Box Business We searched many suppliers for storage boxes which would suit our needs without costing a fortune… First of all, if money is not an issue just go Zarges and Peli and you’ll have the best for the rest of your life without discussion. Unfortunately we are not in this situation so we started to look at plastic alternatives, WOLF boxes being the most obvious first candidates with second hand army surplus stuff second. Both again being overpriced to our opinion and I wanted to avoid having to construct the loading area around the boxes so I wanted to have choice in sizes. Alternatives to the Zarges type of boxes were out of the question, I once bought a set of these and although at first they looked a good alternative I soon found their strength to be very inferiour. Looking into domestic plastics. Most of the closable boxes or do have a questionable mechanism or have such dimensions one wonders who designed them. Rounded corners might look nice but they rob a lot of space and serve no purpose. The Action-Packer range from Curver are worth a look but rather expensive and unfortunately I could not source them locally anymore. (and again rounded corners) Closable or open is a nice discussion to be had. After a couple of days any box will start to collect dust when it is used. If your aim is to throw all your opened food into one; just forget it because your spaghetti will not nicely stay in its wrapping and your peanuts will definitely try to explore the whole box interior. It can also be interesting to have them tasting as coffee or having your rice waffles tasting as your mint-thee. My point being you’ll need to pack them in separate smaller boxes anyway. Stretching this principle to the other cargo we opted to use these simple open-top nesting Euro-boxes. We bought covers made for the top boxes in the car. A stack of these and a cover make an easy bench, cooking stand, dish/clothes washing table (with the top one empty and filled with water) For keeping things organized you can buy inserts and shelves. The best of all? They cost about 7 euro per piece. Yes, that is SEVEN, not 70 or 170 as for the alloy ones. With the cover and the inserts, delivery etc your cost per box is about 12 euro. So our complete storage costs us about the same as one Zarges box. We have these in daily use in the company for more than 10 years and I cant fail them so I quite sure we’ll enjoy them for long time. Window grids: Thoughts on these: If you want to protect your windows from cargo you’ll need to buy the internal ones. Which do add security also but will in case of vandalism leave you with a broken window from the outside. If you opt for the external ones your car becomes a magnet and you wont have protection when loading-unloading the inside. The main issue to me is the place you are going. With the intention to stay within Europe’s wide borders I do not see any reason to overdo it. Common sense will help you more than a grid to my opinion. Therefore I designed the top shelve which is at window level with sides so cargo cannot slip into the windows. Easy usable strapping keeps everything from flying around. A minor investment with 2 benefits consists out of tinted windows, we have it planned as one of the next steps. These days this doesn’t attract the attention it used to do and it helps to keep temperatures a bit lower. Do nevertheless go for the expensive foils and have them professionally installed if you don’t want them to fall off within a year. Admin note: this post has had its images recovered from a money grabbing photo hosting site and reinstated |
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20th Aug 2011 6:29pm |
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| K9F Member Since: 12 Nov 2009 Location: Bournemouth Posts: 9610  
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Tatra,
Welcome to the site. Very interesting read! Our ex au-pair came from Slovakia (Sala) and I spent a very relaxing holiday there fishing for carp and drinking Bajant and something noxious that tasted like petrol by the river with her father who didn't speak a word of English. Half a dozen beers later he could speak better English than me and I thought I could speak better Slovakian than him. Happy days, hot as hell in the Summer.  If you go through life with your head in the sand....all people will see is an ar5e!!
Treat every day as if it is your last....one day you will be right!! |
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20th Aug 2011 9:44pm |
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| tatra805 Member Since: 16 Aug 2011 Location: Dolany Posts: 436
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Hi K9F!
thanks for the reply, appreciate all feedback on the build. The petrol stuff will have been Borovicka, local medicine they say. If it was homemade still don't know what is worse the evening itself or the day after.  Surely improves communication skills
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21st Aug 2011 11:09am |
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| tatra805 Member Since: 16 Aug 2011 Location: Dolany Posts: 436
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Zagato, you are right, maglite clipped on the rear door.
Better to put the pop up on the front windscreen, most of the time all others are driving in front of me
thanks for the |
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30th Aug 2011 8:20pm |
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| CR Member Since: 28 Jan 2010 Location: Ireland Posts: 947  
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what a great set of posts, all mods well thought out, no bull, bravo my friend and a great looking dog
CR |
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31st Aug 2011 8:49am |
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| twopoint6khz Member Since: 18 Aug 2011 Location: North Lakes Posts: 654 
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Yeah, lovely truck, like the subtle mods, lots of inspiration for doing mine up
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31st Aug 2011 9:03am |
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| rossy Member Since: 29 Nov 2010 Location: Co. Roscommon Posts: 1296 
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OMG I wish I had the confidence to do those jobs ! Amazing truck. Have to agree with your choice of tyres. They're the same as mine and I find their wet grip and quietness impressive. I don't have ABS and despite practically standing on the pedal I can't get them to skid. Every tyre fitter I know swears by BFG
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2nd Sep 2011 9:52pm |
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| tatra805 Member Since: 16 Aug 2011 Location: Dolany Posts: 436
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UPDATE on inside storage
After our first trips and some weeks of daily use I decided to make a drawer and locker. Being tired of too many things having an own life in the back while driving. Using MDF plates, screws and glue, carpet and some checker plate leftovers. Total cost, about 100 euro all-in including labour to have the MDF cut by a local carpenter who also supplied the bearing-sliding mechanism. The place next to the drawer will be used for a connection plate for water/air.
Bought some cargo rail and fixings from a site sponsor to reinforce and allow to fix the boxes and fridge and all set and done for the next trip. Click image to enlarge Yes I am curious how the sliding mechanism will cope over time but looks as it has a chance to be strong enough, surprisingly very little give or play in it.
Dimensions of the plate (this is for my interior with the checker plate lining, you might need to change some dimensions)
:) Admin note: this post has had its images recovered from a money grabbing photo hosting site and reinstated |
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27th Feb 2012 9:31am |
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| tatra805 Member Since: 16 Aug 2011 Location: Dolany Posts: 436
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Hella Halogen to HID conversion
Worth every penny at todays prices, hereby how and why I did it Considerations I very much liked my lightforces on my disco1 before but with the 110 being an ongoing project I wanted to have some small driving lights added while funding the mantec husky bumper which will later allow for bigger spots. So a small light I can put on the rollcage or roofrack later on if I one day win the lottery. The Hella FF50 was the well reviewed and cheap priced choice. I ordered a xenon (hid if you like) replacement set from a tuning shop, doubling the price of this setup but still less than half of a lightforce halogen set. The hid’s are 4300°K ones, the higher you go the more blue and the less output these have so I preferred them above the popular 6000°K. Although converting the wipacs to HID is legally possible I do not like the reaction time of the HID’s for high beam. By keeping the halogen std lights I have immediate reaction time with nice full power within a couple of seconds from the HID’s now. Simply said, :-0
How to do it? The installation is straightforward; enlarge the opening till the bulbs go through, Fit the grommet and bulbs and assemble. Mount the ballasts under the wings and connect via the relay of the Hella set and you are ready. Admin note: this post has had its images recovered from a money grabbing photo hosting site and reinstated |
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27th Feb 2012 9:33am |
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| tatra805 Member Since: 16 Aug 2011 Location: Dolany Posts: 436
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UPDATE on cargo barrier
Made a dognet from some 40x40 mesh and profiles, then went to IKEA…
Dognet is attached on hinges at the bottom and 2 bolts at the top. nicely folds flat in the cargo area if long stuff needs to be transported. Grundtal all the way. Stainless steel shelving system at low pricing. In short, for 100 euro I was able to secure the whole cargo area. Sides by using the 120cm shelving and drilling the lining of the defender. Tubes need to be shortened about an inch but it all works out nicely. (besides the 1 hole I drilled in the wrong place so the 1 tube is not parallel)
A 120cm shelf attached to the dognet for storage of light stuff high up. A 80cm shelf with fixing brackets of an individual tube and some cutting and welding makes for the back window protection. Click image to enlarge Made it as a hinge so when camping have a shelf on the back door. Click image to enlarge Added some old damper rubbers to avoid the rack damaging the car when door shuts by itself, and this avoids rattling noises also.
Agree this is not a Mantec solution but I am satisfied, it serves it pupose, does not restrict rear-view as much as the grid-type screens and when looking through the windows from the outside it is clear the cargo area is secured.
:) Admin note: this post has had its images recovered from a money grabbing photo hosting site and reinstated |
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27th Feb 2012 9:47am |
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| Zagato Site Supporter Member Since: 08 Jan 2011 Location: Billingshurst West Sussex Posts: 5013
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Impressive stuff
It's much more satisfying when you design, build and fit things yourself rather than just buying ridiculously expensive stuff off the shelf, especially when the quality of half of it isn't very good or it hasn't been thought out properly |
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27th Feb 2012 10:07am |
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