This year... what can you say. .. thx CCP.
I replaced the bulb inside the Hella maplight with a LED kit after Greg, a local FFR owner, sorted out the part at Jaycar.
The main news - we decided to upgrade the 'camper' in Long Range Camping Vehicle with a slide-in camper, the kind you can jack up and drive out from under. We are using a set of Reico Titan camper jacks. The way they mount and their size means they also get used as stabilizer legs. They can raise the camper 3ft/900mm (old school mechanical winder model) and each leg is about 10kg.
The first move was to source a Defender Truck Cab. We found one, a 2001 unit, after hunting around 4 states by phone and emails. Just took a fair while...
While we collected new weather seals and other parts required we also began to remove the Maggiolina RTT and the ROPS, and the canopy. When we have finished our "grey nomad" phase the truck cab can be swapped back for the original canopy etc.
Yesterday the windscreen frame was dropped forward onto the pads after removing the wiper arms and the metal guard for the windscreen water sprayers. In the small gap between frame and the top of the dash there was a good collection of dried insects, a straw, and a spare part - long before we owned 50-257 someone lost a small fitting and screw down in there and obviously couldn't get it out -its the little fitting that mounts one end of the blackout flap across the array of idiot lights behind the steering wheel.
a. The rubber weather seal between the windscreen frame and the top of the firewall/bulkhead was (happily) free of corrosion. After a cleanup and another coat of paint a new (genuine) seal will go in.
b. The door seals are way out of date and new ones are ready to go on but first a good solvent clean up, some fishoil on the bulkhead steel sections, some careful use of butyl rubber and cloth tape etc to make a good seal. The new seals we got: one genuine seal ($140) and one Bearmach ($44) due to stock issues. I was in a hurry and it presented a excuse to test for a performance difference. After 5 years I also ordered a new sunvisor. Spending money.. no one cares anymore - the local LR Dealer in Canberra sold out of all of their bright shiny luxury models pretty fast if thats an indication. Dear daughter looked for a new buzzbox but couldn't wait 8 weeks for a manual model - so she looked at used items but then then resigned to keeping her 2005 Barina - prices are going up and up at the moment. Not a good sign.
c. Today the door tops came off. The rusty studs issue was experienced on one stud only. The window felts will be replaced too. A LH door lock mechanism and other bits are also waiting to be fitted.
Thats up to date.
ps, a welder is coming to size up the camper subframe thingy next week.
