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November 14, 2012

Land Rover Upgrades 2.0 - Part B

Hi Folks

Been very quite for 1 year - sorry about that.  Got the Blog mojo back and thought we would post some pics of some of the things we have done to Dassie the Land Rover.  We are going to add some more pics to this post shortly, but the key items are shown in the images below.  The main focus has been on the interior re-wiring and solar system as well as some basic tidy up jobs to sort things that broke or wore out on the trip through Africa.


Base vehicle is 300 TDi 110 Hard Top Defender 2 seats front plus 2x side seats rear.  Rear is designed to serve as place to sit when cold / wet / privacy AND convert into bed for emergency sleeping when in  cities or for emergencies / bad weather.  We did this because we found that we liked the compact foot-print of a Land Rover but sometimes wanted some privacy and shelter from the elements - its not always hot and dry!

Although during most of our trip we were warm, there were times in the mountains, high winds and storms where you just want to sit inside and eat, talk and escape curious people.  The Land Rover has a strange comforting smell (to us it does) and whilst space is of a premium, the cosy nature of the rear compartment is now something we really enjoy.  The side windows do give a real feeling of the space being bigger than it is, with a cool breeze that makes the interior a nice place to sit.  A small fold out table is big enough to prep meals and use a laptop but small enough to pack away when needed.


The floor is removable and we can attach it to the storage box to make a sleeping platform.  Its not exactly spacious, but it gives us the compromise of a useful seating area, storage, place to work on the laptop / plan and sleep if needed.  We had to modify the dog guard so we can crawl in, but its cosy and will do as a compromise.  Vicks made some nice seat covers and I added the checker plate.

Actually the word compromise is the most often word used when preparing for an overland vehicle / trip.....get used to it!


Nick and Vick
Stonehenge to Cape Town 2010/11
48,361km in 366 days
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