For those who don't know the unofficial National bird of Wales is the Red Kite. It is of course a Raptor
What has that got to do with land Rovers I can hear you saying.
Well recently we had a Red Kite fly over our house and it reminded me I had a job to do .. So out with the old and in with the new
When we went to the Malvern Show this year we stopped by the Raptor Engineering stand we purchased one of their binnacle mounts and binnacles to replace the tatty and rattly one we had. We opted for both the binnacle and the mount in metal as the standard Land Rover parts are famous for breaking
The instructions from Raptor had been fairly simple - look for the multiconnectors and undo them.
That seemed simple enough so we started with the instrument lights unit which were held in with 2 screws and it was easy to reach in and disconnect the 2 white connectors
Then we undid the screws on the side of the binnacle (only one was actually holding it in) and we could pull it carefully and see the wires.
At this point we could disconnect the speedo cable. It was a simple job to press both sides of the connector cable and pull the cable backwards
The only problem was the cable to the pre-heat button which was attached to the gauge wiring the wrong side of the connector and the screw that held it in was rusted solid. After quite some deliberation I decided to cut that one and fit a new connection in so it would be simple if I ever needed to take it out again
After that it was the removal of the bolts holding the binnacle mount to the dashboard and then slowly and methodically a case of refitting every bolt and screw where it came from (except where new ones had come with the Kit of course). Small hands were an asset with this so Rhian helped doing the hard work
The Speedo cable plugged in as easy as it came out so that was easy and we upgraded the bulbs to new LED's as well, and the result. .. clean instruments that work and do not rattle around when you are driving and I can see at night
All in about three hours for us. I am sure someone more experienced could do it faster, but it's done and hopefully something we never need to worry about again
What has that got to do with land Rovers I can hear you saying.
Well recently we had a Red Kite fly over our house and it reminded me I had a job to do .. So out with the old and in with the new
When we went to the Malvern Show this year we stopped by the Raptor Engineering stand we purchased one of their binnacle mounts and binnacles to replace the tatty and rattly one we had. We opted for both the binnacle and the mount in metal as the standard Land Rover parts are famous for breaking
The instructions from Raptor had been fairly simple - look for the multiconnectors and undo them.
That seemed simple enough so we started with the instrument lights unit which were held in with 2 screws and it was easy to reach in and disconnect the 2 white connectors
Then we undid the screws on the side of the binnacle (only one was actually holding it in) and we could pull it carefully and see the wires.
At this point we could disconnect the speedo cable. It was a simple job to press both sides of the connector cable and pull the cable backwards
We had been told not to connect these from the back of the speedo/fuel gauge and temperature gauge bit to go behind them and find another multiconnector, which is the black one in the picture below. It was really stiff, but once freed, the units would have come out had not a previous owner had an alarm fitted which was spliced in in places, but with a modicum of labelling of wires carefully and a set of photographs taken at each stage it wasn't too bad a job.
The only problem was the cable to the pre-heat button which was attached to the gauge wiring the wrong side of the connector and the screw that held it in was rusted solid. After quite some deliberation I decided to cut that one and fit a new connection in so it would be simple if I ever needed to take it out again
After that it was the removal of the bolts holding the binnacle mount to the dashboard and then slowly and methodically a case of refitting every bolt and screw where it came from (except where new ones had come with the Kit of course). Small hands were an asset with this so Rhian helped doing the hard work
The Speedo cable plugged in as easy as it came out so that was easy and we upgraded the bulbs to new LED's as well, and the result. .. clean instruments that work and do not rattle around when you are driving and I can see at night
All in about three hours for us. I am sure someone more experienced could do it faster, but it's done and hopefully something we never need to worry about again
