 | Home > Maintenance & Modifications > A day in the life of Miffy the 110... |
 
|
|
|
| geobloke Member Since: 06 Nov 2012 Location: Nottinghamshire Posts: 4410  
|
Miffy almost has her load bed back together, getting there inspire of the "light Welsh mist" that persists today. Without that dog crate in the back it looks cavernous...
A tip for anyone who has similar drawer systems to these that do not use standard metal runners, these are all plastic and run on two plastic rails, smear a little beeswax on the runners. it makes getting heavily laden drawers out a cinch. Not that they were difficult to open before, they are just much easier now.  Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Just one more little irritation to deal with. Those damnable screws that seized in place and sheared off when removing the door jam and seal. Ironic thing is that I didn't need to remove it at all. Balls. Memory is faulty I thought I had placed the floor mat over the top of the hatch instead of cutting it around the hatch. Doh...! Click image to enlarge Hmmm, grind and drill? Hate drilling tiny screws out, perhaps this time I should drill out, tap and use M3 bolts or something... |
||
12th Sep 2021 12:04pm |
|
| geobloke Member Since: 06 Nov 2012 Location: Nottinghamshire Posts: 4410
|
If you go down to the woods today…
Click image to enlarge Miffy prowling about the woodlands of Anglesey whilst preparing for a student field trip. Any excuse… Right…! 🤠 |
||
|
14th Sep 2021 7:02pm |
|
| donmacn Member Since: 06 Nov 2017 Location: Nth Scotland Posts: 1851 
|
I feel your pain here - I remember being similarly fed up in the same place at some point in the past. I considered rivnuts, but in the end went for bigger screws, though you can't go too big or there's a risk they'll foul the door. Mine were stainless - as I have one of the stainless thresholds, but slathered in duralac to separate them from the alu. Donald 1994 Defender 300Tdi 110 SW - owned since 2002 - 230k miles and going strong (The 'rolling restoration' or tinkering thread: http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic58538.html ) 2000 Range Rover P38 4.0L V8 in the past.. RR classic - fitted with 200Tdi 1984 RR classic - V8 with ZF auto box 1993 Discovery 300Tdi not to mention the minis and the Type 2 VW camper... |
||
|
14th Sep 2021 7:12pm |
|
| geobloke Member Since: 06 Nov 2012 Location: Nottinghamshire Posts: 4410
|
Ah yes the pain is so very real and irritating. Been thinking about grinding them flush and drilling new holes
Bigger pan heads will be the solution I think. Just not too big |
||
|
14th Sep 2021 8:38pm |
|
| L110CDL Member Since: 31 Oct 2015 Location: Devon Posts: 10848 
|
Great that Miffy is out n about again
 Clayton.
1996 Golf Blue 300Tdi 110 Pick up. Keeper. |
||
|
14th Sep 2021 9:38pm |
|
| geobloke Member Since: 06 Nov 2012 Location: Nottinghamshire Posts: 4410
|
It’s hard to keep a Defender down for long and yes it is great to be bumbling about in her again. I absolutely love our Freelander (Phoebe) but she’s just a little too clean cut, proper, the sort you’d take home to meet the folks. Miffy on the other hand is the sort you visit confessional about
|
||
|
14th Sep 2021 9:45pm |
|
| L110CDL Member Since: 31 Oct 2015 Location: Devon Posts: 10848
|
Liking the way of thinking of that  Clayton.
1996 Golf Blue 300Tdi 110 Pick up. Keeper. |
||
|
14th Sep 2021 9:53pm |
|
| geobloke Member Since: 06 Nov 2012 Location: Nottinghamshire Posts: 4410
|
It has been a busy week for the old girl. She has been on a student field trip to southeast Anglesey. Filled to the brim with surveying and geophysical gear. But no matter how full the day is there is always time for a brew up on the old faithful Coleman stove, what trip to the woods could possibly start without one...
Click image to enlarge Then a little drive through the woods to the dunes just in time for the students of the day to arrive Click image to enlarge Warning! Defender on Survey... Click image to enlarge A splattering of Leica gear on the beach Click image to enlarge and... A lot of beach in the back of Miffy
Click image to enlarge Gets everywhere, going to finding grains of sand in dark places for weeks and weeks
Now to clean up and get eh TransK9 back where it should be Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Oh and of course a Defender's weight in data to process, I guess it'll keep me busy as these nights draw in and Wales is draped in its Winter cloak of drizzle, mizzle, sleet, hail, snow, mist and fog  |
||
|
17th Sep 2021 2:06pm |
|
| geobloke Member Since: 06 Nov 2012 Location: Nottinghamshire Posts: 4410
|
No kidding sand sand everywhere...
It was a super couple of days in the searing heat of the Welsh summer sun. Stunning. Let the data processing commenceth... But back to the important things in life, that of Miffy... Next few weeks I want to do a coolant and oil flush and refill. She's done a good number of thousand miles on the new head and the time has come to make sure she's clean as a whistle before winter arrives. Plus, I must give the paint man a call and see where Miffy's new doors are |
||
|
18th Sep 2021 2:27pm |
|
| geobloke Member Since: 06 Nov 2012 Location: Nottinghamshire Posts: 4410
|
Just a good photo of the ol lady from this morning sat in Nant Ffrancon. Beautiful morning for a dog walk on the way to work.
Click image to enlarge |
||
|
23rd Sep 2021 4:50pm |
|
| L110CDL Member Since: 31 Oct 2015 Location: Devon Posts: 10848
|
Great pic
Clayton.
1996 Golf Blue 300Tdi 110 Pick up. Keeper. |
||
|
23rd Sep 2021 8:49pm |
|
| 8619simon Member Since: 04 Nov 2016 Location: North Wales Posts: 252  
|
A lovely spot |
||
|
23rd Sep 2021 9:31pm |
|
| geobloke Member Since: 06 Nov 2012 Location: Nottinghamshire Posts: 4410
|
If you are interested this is the B-road that parallels the A5 down Nant Ffrancon. It is the road that made me realise that B-roads are often better than A-roads
Love a good B(ack)-road they are often (especially round these parts) as beautiful as green lanes, just metalled |
||
|
24th Sep 2021 8:53am |
|
| geobloke Member Since: 06 Nov 2012 Location: Nottinghamshire Posts: 4410
|
Winter's coming... Time to flush and refill the coolant system on the ol girl. It has been a good four years or so, but considering I have replaced the head this year having the right ratio of antifreeze to water would be a good thing. Incidentally for a TD5 that is 50:50 antifreeze:water and only use OAT antifreeze.
Out with the buckets... Click image to enlarge If you have a steering guard on your defender then the TD5 drain screw is perfectly positioned to hit the guard and head off in two directions, hence the two buckets. Once the coolant has drained out lightly blow in to the upper bleed hole and more will flood out. Click image to enlarge I used Holts Speed Flush this time around. Add to the header tank and refill the system with water until it flows out of the bleed hole. Heater on max (for what that is worth in a Defender). Bring the old girl to operating temp. I find that about 1400 rpm is a decent fast idea for this process and a broom handle Click image to enlarge In approx. 15-20 minutes the engine is up to temp, the heaters are blowing like a volcano (stiff summers breeze) and it is time to drain the system again... Click image to enlarge ... and flush with fresh water until it runs clear. I find using the front heater hose is a great place to flush and reverse flush the system. Then fill up with 50:50 mixed coolant. I guesstimated that there was about 2-3 litres out of a total of 13 litres still sitting in the system. So to get close to the right ratio, add 2 litres of 100% antifreeze and the rest as 50:50 mix. Run and bleed the system up to temperature then allow to cool over night. In the morning the level in the expansion tank will be low. Before filling up check the antifreeze ratio with a suitable tester. Miffy's was below the 50:50 (or -37 degC) level at a smidge over 29 degC. Pretty close but not good enough. Click image to enlarge The Gunson is a good DIY coolant tester and is dead easy to use. Less than £10 from Amazon. The next step was to remove the mixed fluid from the header tank (saved for top-ups if necessary), I used the Gunson like a syringe, and refilled with 100% antifreeze. The next step will be a drive to get the system flowing and hot then re-check tomorrow morning. This is a much more involved method than I have previously used. In the past I have flushed with fresh water than added the requisite amount of antifreeze and filled to the top with water. It is much easier than the iterative method, but I have read that this is "the wrong way" to do a flush and replace. As far as I can see if the engine is gradually brought up to temp (rather than started and driven away) then the water and antifreeze will mix. How quickly it reaches fully mixed I do not know. Hence the change in method as an experiment. |
||
|
26th Sep 2021 10:35am |
|
|
|
| All times are GMT |
< Previous Topic | Next Topic > |
Posting Rules
|
Site Copyright © 2006-2025 Futuranet Ltd & Martin Lewis
