Lons
Old Oak
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I just fit in a lot of things into my day but nowhere near your production output Mike.Sheesh, Bob, have you nothing better to do?![]()
Wow, never have I done this amount of cleaning. I do see your point in keeping up the value .Despite what my wife thinks.Well OK then maybe I am.
There's cleaning wheels and then there's cleaning them properly, pampered with a bit of minor paint correction and a good wax polish front and back.
Three wheels on my wagon.
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The last one finished, phew wide 20" wheels are damned heavy.
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This is the first car I've had long enough to need to replace the tyres and it was £900 3 years ago.I also rotate the wheels every 6k miles to even out tyre wear. Replacing all 4 tyres at the same time can very often get you money off deals.
When we bought our current car, Mazda CX-3 AWD, it was four years old with 4000 on the clock. So still fitted with the manufacturer’s tyres out of the factory. They were Toyo GP’s. The GP standing for ‘gripless’. They were ghastly and the car never felt that stable on the road especially as compared to the previous car - an Audi Q3 Quattro with Michelin Cross-Climates. At the first hint of snow on our hill, the Gripless lived up to their name and we had to abandon the car at the bottom of our hill. Said hill stormed up in the Q3.This is the first car I've had long enough to need to replace the tyres and it was £900 3 years ago.They're a lot more now.
Only around 4000 MILES a year these days ScottHow many Km do you travel in a year? I cover about 30,000 km so a tire rotation 5 times in a year. Subtract one for winter tires, dang , so every 2 months for a rotation. Glad I do my own winter and summer installs myself.![]()
I remember the conversations at the time Roger.After 3 years ownership I admitted defeat, reluctantly prised open the wallet and shelled out £800 for a set of Cross-Climates. Even though there was a good 15000 miles of wear left on the Gripless. Transformed the car.
If you say so AlMy car got a thorough wash for the first time in a while last night. Well, it rained, but that's the same thing, right?
That would drive me nuts Wallace.I think the longest ive gone without washing..... the car was 5years. It was a new skoda yeti and it must of had some kind of coating because when it rained it looked quite sparkly. The window rubbers started to grow green though.
Same here; proper deluge in the night for about twenty minutes. Sparkling motor this morning.Blimey Bob, that's slightly more thorough than I've ever been with a car to say the least!
My car got a thorough wash for the first time in a while last night. Well, it rained, but that's the same thing, right?
Yeah, because otherwise, pre-galvanised chassis, the alternative was welding patches on every few years.Same here; proper deluge in the night for about twenty minutes. Sparkling motor this morning.
I'm not obsessive about cleaning cars @Lons but when we had our Defender some years ago it was scrubbed and cleaned most weekends, inc the underside, for which I used a power washer with an 'L' shaped wand to get into all the 'crooks n'nannies' - Rob
I had my Defender treated by a guy who worked at the old Greenham Common airbase in one of the units. He apparently removed (pressure blasting of some sort) the original underseal installed at the time of construction (which he said was paper thin) and applied a chemical concoction of some sort to the chassis. It wasn't as good as genuine galvanising but it was far better than the factory installed underseal -RobYeah, because otherwise, pre-galvanised chassis, the alternative was welding patches on every few years.
We had three decent camping holidays on the Continent in ours (twice to Switzerland and once to France) and 'cruising' at 55mph in the Landy, you could physically watch the fuel needle dropping, but we did get (as it was brand sparkly new) one or two very admiring glances from the French Gendarmerie as we passed.My mate has an old Defender and very deep pockets, the only problem is that his pockets are now empty.![]()
What year was it mate? Was this a 'proper' Defender 90 or modern one?We had three decent camping holidays on the Continent in ours (twice to Switzerland and once to France) and 'cruising' at 55mph in the Landy, you could physically watch the fuel needle dropping, but we did get (as it was brand sparkly new) one or two very admiring glances from the French Gendarmerie as we passed.
At our campsite at Lauterbrunnen near Interlarken, the attendant smiled when we turned up at reception and jumped on his push bike (with us following) to show us to our camping pitch. When we turned up there were two other Defenders in adjacent pitches and ours made a third; even more comical was that they were all the same colour! (Alas, no pics)
We eventually sold it as SWIMBO was then commuting up the A303 to Andover every day and a Defender ain't the best vehicle for that job - Rob
Purchased new in 2005, 2.5 litre 5 cylinder motor, bench seating. My youngest brother had a 'new' one and mentioned more than once that it was a total load of crap; good for going to WR with the yummy mummies but not for much else - RobWhat year was it mate? Was this a 'proper' Defender 90 or modern one?
..... 'cruising' at 55mph in the Landy, you could physically watch the fuel needle dropping,......


.......My fave was the 101 forward control......
..... In some of them, you filled both fuel tanks by lifting out the seat squab and unscrewing a fuel cap the size of a saucer;.....
When SWIMBO was on a 6 month deployment in the Falklands in 2008, a beaten up Army 110 landrover was all she drove. There were no tarmac roads apart from in Stanley, everything was rough gravel and MoD staff were instructed to drive at 30mph (tacho in all vehicles) in the middle of the road as they were raised around a metre higher than the surrounding 'countryside'. Plenty of 'runs ashore' though; this was one of her pics:I droive all kinds of Landies whilst in the T.A. for 27 years. I was always thoroughly glad to "sign them back in" at the end of an exercise or expedition. Rough, not all that tough, thirsty and utterly basic; uncomfortable for long periods. In some of them, you filled both fuel tanks by lifting out the seat squab and unscrewing a fuel cap the size of a saucer; VERY strange feeling watching the liquid inside gradually rise, and you thought about static electricity, and the lack of a grounding tab on most of the early versions....

Absolutely, Mike.Yeah, my brother's was like that. With a manual change-over valve between the two tanks. With practice you could stall through lack of fuel and coast whilst you reached down to swing the valve over, and get going again without stopping. No amount of practice, though, prepares anyone for using the hand throttle....located in the footwell of the passenger seat!