8 Tins of Paint and a Numberplate

The evenings of the last 2 weeks have been warm and still

Perfect weather for respraying work so I've cracked on with it and now Katy has been sanded, primed, sanded primed and top coated with 3 tins of primer and 5 tins of Ford Ivory topcoat

It's by no means a professional job. All I've done are the bad bit's, but the difference it makes to her appearance even up close is quite dramatic. She no-longer looks like something that's on the verge of total breakdown and should attract quite a lot less attention from people thinking that she's too scruffy to be on the road (e did get some looks of disapproval)


We're off to see my family next week and we're looking forwards to some admiring looks along the way from all the Land Rover fans out there


Also with all those trips to Halfords for paint I picked up a replacement rear number plate to replace the one she had an advisory on  in her MOT test. So Mr Plod will be happy when he sees her on the road as well

Limestone Paint

I am repainting some of Katy

She needs a complete respray, but I can't afford the time and effort for all the prep as I want to use her through the summer

All I knew was it was "cream" because that's what it said on the VIN. I did some minor painting last year and had trouble finding a good match, but I rememberd seeing (but can't find it now) either on Land Rover Scene or Land Rover Addict that Ford ivory was a close match ...

It's a much better match and therefore probably confirms that is indeed the colour that Katy has been (VERY BADLY) resprayed with.
So now I think I can truly agree with the comment that Mandy (one of the regulars in those places) made when she said, back when I first joined, that "Limestone is the most photogenic and bestest colour a Landrover can be"

Paint Like Confettii and Fridge fitting

Whoever painted Katy did a really awful job of it. some strange pink undercoat put on in places over the several coats of army camouflage paint.

The paint is peeling and flaking all over the place and she really needs a complete respray, but for now she's going to have to put up with me doing some scraping, sanding and painting where it's really bad

I've got about 75% of the worst bits scraped and sanded now and a coat of acid etch primer sprayed on just to cover it up. she looks like a Dalmatian at present

As it started to rain I had to stop doing that, but it did mean that I completed most of the wiring for the fridge we bought recently as well. Just need to complete the earth connection and it will be ready for fitting and then cold beers galore

The fitting instructions for this fridge include a pair of large vents, but I've decided not to do that

What I've decided to do is to fit a powerful 12v PC cooling fan over the existing small vent hole. This is rated at only 20 dB which is good because the fridge is completely silent when running. I've fitted a switch to allow this to be turned on and off so we can turn it off in the extremely unlikely event that this quiet sound is disturbing our sleep. in that case we may also need to turn off the fridge so if that happens I'll probably end up fitting the larger vents

Cooling Systems

When we bought Katy there was one item that really stank .. that was the fridge that had been closed for a long time. It also rattled, was rusty, had missing bits, didn't keep cool and only ran on the 12 volt supply, so we bought one of these

It's a Dometic RM123 which according to the sales blurb ...

The Dometic RM 123 copes with 12 volts DC, gas as well as mains power and comes with an electronic reignition device which automatically relights the flame if blown out.Features include

• Super-compact outside dimensions (Yes it will fit that was a key factor)
• Door with magnetic seal and security latch (To keep Rhian away from the cold beer)
• Flexible arrangement of shelves (To be able to store more beer)
• Thermostatic control for 230-volt and gas operation (it can even make ice cubes for her G&T)
• Electronic reigniter ignition (something techhie)

I'm planning to fit it electric only for now as all the cables are in place. and see how we go before fitting gas which I think we would only use on a long travel in non sunny climates

Please Note 

This fridge has been removed as we could smell gas fumes when it was running. Whilst we suspect this may have been something due to the installation, we are not in any way now recommending a fridge of this type (3 Way) regardless of the manufacturer

Interior Decoration & Less Rock and Roll

It's been quiet on here for a while for 2 reasons

First because it's been the winter and that's not a pleasat time for working on a vehicle

Second because I'm in training for a long distance walking challenge and wallking up mountains with my camera instead as you can read about on the photoblog if you are interested

However spring is coming so it's time to get ready, so this weekend we measured up for curtains and Rhian did a mamoth amount of sewing and we're ready for a nicer place to be in the evening and won't be woken by the sun streaming in so ealry in the morning

One small step towards a happier camping life

Also I popped up to the corner shop (Bearmach) and purchased a new set of heavy duty shock absobers to hopefully reduce some of the wobbles when driving. I'm still taking advice on what springs to order so expect an update on that soon