Member II
Refurbishing a cheap Disco 1
- Thread starter systemdelete
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Pathfinder I
Like most surfaces it can in the right conditions, but I’ve found it’s far less glare than a shiny hood.
It’s very similar to the install I had on my FJ. I just committed to a more permanent install this go around after seeing how well it worked for my application.
Pathfinder I
Well we’ll know in 24 hours how the adhesive works. :)
Member III
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I think heat melts tar the last I heard. This should be an interesting experiment !
Pathfinder I
Well the last install’s issue was the panel was stuck down TOO well. I damaged and a vinyl wrap it removing it. Plan here is a few dabs of this to keep the mIddle from ballooning, with a bead of UV stable black silicone around the edges. After curing I can cut the silicone with a razor and the roof adhesive can be softened back up with mineral spirits should I need to replace a panel in the future. . .at least that’s the idea.
I tested a few different approaches on the old panel. This looked more promising than most. Many adhesive just wouldn’t cure in the middle of the panel, and several of the ones that did were too permanent.
Member III
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With your past experience you know a whole lot more about it than me. Except for having to set in the sun for the solar collectors to work, I think the idea is good.
Member III
What brand panels did you go with? I’m having trouble finding some that I like that have good ratings
Pathfinder I
I went with lensun. I used an 80w from them on my previous car and was very impressed with the output vs rated output. They aren’t cheap panels but they don’t completely break the bank either.
Pathfinder I
Got the new water pump installed today along with a new pulley, belt, fan clutch, and overflow tank. Then filled her up with coolant and took her out for a test drive. All seems well amazing how much quieter the new “non-HD” fan clutch is.
Member III
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Pathfinder I
Water pump and bearings showed up today while I was running errands.
Member III
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Pathfinder I
I’m about 90% satisfied with the panel install. Learned a few things but not sure if I’ll bother remounting them since it’s mostly cosmetic.
Got the controller hooked up for now so I can start reviewing logs later this week.
Contributor II
Just came across this thread this evening and am loving it :)
Congratulations on finding a rust free vehicle, it makes a huge difference. The inbuilt anti-corrosion system must have worked perfectly!!! a.k.a engine and transmission leaks!!!!
I've very much enjoyed reading each description and photographs of your journey. Please keep us updated.
I think a restoration of any Land Rover vehicle is and opportunity and a challenge ;)
Congratulations on finding a rust free vehicle, it makes a huge difference. The inbuilt anti-corrosion system must have worked perfectly!!! a.k.a engine and transmission leaks!!!!
I've very much enjoyed reading each description and photographs of your journey. Please keep us updated.
I think a restoration of any Land Rover vehicle is and opportunity and a challenge ;)
Pathfinder I
Worked on adding some accessories after the solar installation.
First the cameras
Rear camera tucked under the third brake light.
Front camera tucked behind the mirror.
ARB remote temp monitor, mounted so co-pilot can monitor if desired.
First the cameras
Rear camera tucked under the third brake light.
Front camera tucked behind the mirror.
ARB remote temp monitor, mounted so co-pilot can monitor if desired.
Pathfinder I
Ended up touching up the one panel’s install where it had a bit of a gap.
Loving the RTV to mount them. It’s working better on the installed panels than the sample I tried. The key is that the excess simply rubs off of the front of the panel with a little friction. This allows you to get a good seal but easily remove and excess that might interfere with the panel’s function.
Loving the RTV to mount them. It’s working better on the installed panels than the sample I tried. The key is that the excess simply rubs off of the front of the panel with a little friction. This allows you to get a good seal but easily remove and excess that might interfere with the panel’s function.
Pathfinder I
Did a few little things, starting to work out what all will be where on the dash. Mounted my echo auto, and an ultra gauge. Built all the pages I want to monitor for the UG and set them to flip every 20 seconds.
Also found my evap leak while changing my transmission fluid.
Also found my evap leak while changing my transmission fluid.
Member III
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Sorry @systemdelete but I don't even know what your talking about. There are some of us out here who don't understand all the lingo. When you say you found a evap leak, are you talking about something on the a/c system or the transmission that you were changing the oil on ? It looks like something on the radiator. What is a UG ? What is an echo auto and ultra gauge. What is building pages and what are you monitoring ? I love seeing and knowing what your doing to your rig but I find it hard to follow when you use terms I don't understand in your descriptions and lack of explanations.
If it's too much trouble, don't mind me I'll just move on. I hate being a pain in the ass.
Pathfinder I
The full “evap leak” story-
The “evap leak” or OBD code p1448 has been a persistent yet intermittent PITA since I repaired the O2 wiring early in the month. Once this O2 wiring was repaired the vehicle’s computer had been able to properly control the fuel system once again. That triggered many automatic fault checking routines within the engine management required for emissions, one of which is the evaporative emissions system. Each time it ran that protocol it triggered a pending code, then when it reran the test to confirm 8 out of 10 times it would pass the second time and the pending code was erased. Needless to say this was rather annoying, but it did skate by without a check engine light just long enough to get my tags.(emissions check is required for tags here)
The other afternoon while tinkering with my solar controller I heard a telltale whistle of a vacuum leak but it disappeared as soon as I changed to looking for it.
While checking my transmission fluid post the drain and fill, the vacuum noise happened again while idling in neutral. This time I caught it, and traced it to the vapor canister mounted in the fender. As I attempted to unplug one of the lines it crumbled in my fingers, apparently being previously glued together in an attempt at repair.
About my dashboard interfaces-
I’m a strong proponent of keeping the stock vehicle stock where I can make it work. One place I generally do this is the stock stereo. Not only are the stock stereos good for security(i’d propose that no one steals stock tape decks these days) but keeping them keeps all the dash buttons working and the dash dim for nighttime drives. Many of the newer radios are far too bright and flashy for my tastes.
Unfortunately I also need a good Bluetooth hands free system as it’s illegal here to hold a phone while you drive. Enter the “echo auto”, awhile back I was invited by amazon to beta test the echo auto. I have a dozen or so echo devices around the house so I’m very familiar with the voice interface. The “Echo Auto” moves that voice interface into your vehicle. My original “integration” plan was a cassette adaptor which the factory tape deck rejected throughly. Plan B as it were, was a cheap fm transmitter. That has been working fantastically as a hack to get the echo auto’s audio connected to the factory stereo so I can use it’s mic array for calls. Now when in my Rover my phone connects to the echo and I can make and receive calls from my phone, listen to podcasts, and for fun I can tell the echo “fire the photon torpedoes!” To which it will respond with Star Trek sound effects played through the stereo.(useless but fun on road trips)
Echo Auto and the cheap FM transmitter
The UltraGuage is a product that I bought to try out because I wanted to leverage some of the real time data available over OBD2 to more closely monitor a few key areas of the engine management. In the next three photos you can see the three “pages” I built so that I always see coolant temp in the upper left hand corner, but the other three gauges change every 20 seconds. It still needs to be setup fully, and calibrated but it’s mounted and starting to report data.
The long term verdict is still out, but so far I like it. I used an app for some of the same functionality in my FJ but hated having to flip back and forth between Gaia and the OBD app on the iPad, plus the iPad is bright to have open all the time at night on road trips.
UltraGauge Automotive OBD2 Scanner, Code Reader, Gauges & Mileage Calculator - All New v1.4
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JZJ1LLD/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_zjDQDbTJXYVHH
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Member III
- 2,827
- First Name
- Jim
- Last Name
- covey sr
- Member #
-
16986
- Ham/GMRS Callsign
- none - BREAKER BREAKER HAND HELD CB AND WALKIE TALKIE
Thank you for this post. I really feel stupid now. You are an expert IMO and in other peoples opinion as well I think. Keep on with the excellent build on your rig. I will just shut up, listen and learn what I'm capable of learning from now on. :<)
