Defender + Series owners

[crankin]

Are those holes running down the side?

[red64chevelle]

I have a 73 Series III 88 and a 86 Defender 110.

I was driving the Defender more often, but I am getting ready for a 300TDI/R380 swap. Lately the Series has been the normal driver. RR Diffs are on their way to get the highway driving under control.

[mrdoiron]

Are those holes running down the side?

Rubber access points to allow a disconnect of bolts point inside to bulkhead - due to having added a new defender bulkhead plus the one piece roll cage which goes down through the wings to the frame, needed a way to allow a quick disconnect of wings to bulkhead as a result. A bit of McGuyver, and end result looks a bit unique...

[crankin]

Rubber access points to allow a disconnect of bolts point inside to bulkhead - due to having added a new defender bulkhead plus the one piece roll cage which goes down through the wings to the frame, needed a way to allow a quick disconnect of wings to bulkhead as a result. A bit of McGuyver, and end result looks a bit unique...

Can you get a close up?

[mrdoiron]

Can you get a close up?

Those are access holes for the fender-to-bulkhead bolts. When original conversion work was done, the roll bar was welded to the frame, covering any access to those bolts. So when the rusted-through bulkhead was replaced, everything had to come apart. The rubber plugs, from a Ford pickup rear bed were an available option, so then cut the holes in the fender to match the plugs, corresponding to the location of the 4 bolts each side...allowed a solution so as to not meddle with the integrity of the roll bar.
I'll send a picture when I get it back (having far seal and clutch plate redone at present - (Steve at Rovers North helping with parts , thanks for help with Jay btw), so I'll post a picture later when I get it back with a plug out to show...but if you look at the picture, if you were to pull any of those plugs off, you'd see the bolt inside and how close the roll bar is to them, preventing access to them from inside the wheel well. The holes are about 1cm from the edge of the fender/bulkhead, so a common bent ratcheting wrench can be maneuvered to remove the bolts.

mike

[crankin]

Pretty smart!